Conference

2020 is an important year. 

It is the year that not only celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace in Beijing but also the 20th anniversary of United Nations Security Council 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

For this reason WIIS Austria is hosting its first conference in Vienna, cooperating with the International Institute for Peace and the Austrian Institute for International Affairs.

Less Arms, More Peace:
Vienna Conference on
Women, Peace and Security
&
the Future of Disarmament

When: October 22, 2020 – 1pm to 8 pm
Where: Online via Zoom – The link will be sent out prior to the event!

Click here for more info on the conference.

With decades-long conflicts seeking to come to an end – for instance in Colombia and Afghanistan – the topics of disarmament and the role of women in peace building find their way into scientific and policy debates. Nuclear proliferation in North Korea and elsewhere as well as the collapse of the Iran Nuclear Deal restore concern of a renewed international arms race.

In celebrating 20 years of Resolution 1325, the conference should shed light on women as  active change makers in nuclear non-proliferation and conflict disarmament, rather than being portrayed as victims of war, violence and instability. Prior to Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security entering into its third decade and the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference 2020, which will take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York from April 27 to May 22 2020, this conference aims to emphasize the pivotal role of women in the mostly male-dominated technical field of disarmament.

Vienna, our host city, is a historically meaningful place to hold this conference, as international conferences on disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation take place here regularly as well as hosting the event, that set the precedence for women’s rights as we now them today: the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights.