WISCOMP
invites applications for a South Asian Peacebuilding Workshop titled Enriching
Democratic Practice in South Asia:
Possibilities from the Field of Peacebuilding on the 30 – 31 of
October, 2010 in New Delhi. Click
here for details.
Annelise Ebbe and Ila Pathak, Whither Women’s Rights? A Report from Kandhamal, WISCOMP (2009)Navanita Sinha, Democracies in Transition: Opportunities and Challenges for Nepal- A Report, WISCOMP (2010)
The first Forum on Disasters and Security was held in Chennai, in September, 2006. Theoretical arguments for a re-envisioning of security got an unexpected fillip from the 2004 Tsunami and 2005 Kashmir Earthquake. Traditional entrenched notions of “state” security, sacrosanct interstate frontiers, autonomous decision making or complete self reliance seemed to be washed away in the span of a few minutes. The traumatic events created opportunities for setting aside old frameworks, within which we regard reconstruction and development and long standing hostilities within and between states. Disasters were seen as highlighting missed opportunities of the past and creating openings for a renewed commitment. As such it could be argued that beyond the physical devastation they caused, they also caused fundamental changes along many parameters in the affected societies.
The first WISCOMP Forum had the following objectives:
To take stock of the range and variety of initiatives taken and lessons learnt in the aftermath of the two disasters
To identify the theoretical areas where these initiatives and lessons must produce a change
To capture and anticipate new themes and trends in human security scholarship.
To shift the discursive frame so that human and state security are related in different ways
To addressing structural inequalities and vulnerabilities
To institutionalize gender mainstreaming and lobby for gender equity in laws and policies
To build the capacity of civil society to coordinate, collaborate and strategize in an accountable and introspective mode
To invest in public and media education on a host of issues including appropriate response.
Wiscomp
was established as part of the efforts of the Foundation for Universal Responsibility
to build a culture of coexistence and nonviolence that is gender-sensitive
and inclusive. A not-for-profit, non-sectarian, non-denominational organization,
the Foundation promotes universal responsibility in a manner that celebrates
a diversity of beleifs and practices, and that contributes to a global ethic
of nonviolence, coexistence and gender equity. The work of the Foundation
is global in its reach and transcends nationalist political agendas.
