We are one weekend away from the start of an intense 5-day strategy session (September 21 to 25, 2009) where women from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burma, Nepal, the Netherlands and Canada will come together to share experiences on their work with implementing international policies like Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325 in conflict-affected countries, and begin a strategic and practical “grounding” in their work with SCR 1820.

The goals of the session are to develop country- specific strategies and explore collective strategies for the full implementation of SCR 1820, which recognizes sexual violence as a tactic of war and links it with the maintenance of international peace and security; and to examine which components of this resolution have relevance to each women’s country.

The session will have several segments on various topics, including:

• An introduction to SCR 1820, highlights from the UN Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of the resolution since its passage last year, and UN member states’ and NGO positions on the report;
• What has and has not worked on when working with international and national laws/ policies in conflict-affected countries;
• The role of peacekeepers and whether the implementation of SCR 1820 can strengthen their capacity to combat sexual violence;
• Current data/information collection and reporting procedures on sexual violence in conflict, and guidelines for effective and ethical data collection;
• Models and approaches to psycho-social and medical support; and
• Challenges within justice systems in conflict-affected countries.

This blog will be a space where you can find papers and documents on SCR 1820; photographs, video and mini-interviews with participants; and quick updates and blog posts from participants as the session unfolds across what we hope will be an exciting and productive five days.