The Mano River Women"s Peace Network，for example，brings together women in West Africa from Guinea，Liberia and Sierra Leone and，in pursuing their vision of peace，rallied together to call for disarmament and played a crucial role in paving the way tosolving the conflict by having the there heads of government sitting at the same table.This joint peace initiative by the women of the Mano River region was awarded the UN Prize for Human Rights for 2003by the General Assembly in recognition of its outstanding achievement.
In this context，I cannot but commend the wonderful work being carried out by the "Women Waging Peace"，led by the vision，knowledge and relentless commitment of Ambassador Sewanee Hunt.She has created a network of women peacemakers from conflict areas around the world，ranging from the Sudan to Sri Lanka，Colombia to Bosnia，the Middle East to Sierra Leone.Since 1999，"Women Waging Peace"has been providing these amazing women with invaluable links to each other and with excellent connections with policy shapers.
A lasting peace cannot be achieved without the participation of women and the inclusion of gender perspectives in peace processes.Informal peace initiatives of grassroots women"s groups and networks，organized across party and ethnic，have carried out reconciliation efforts and have been increasingly recognized by the Security Council.The latter has met with women"s groups and representatives of NGO"s in missions to the Democratic Republic of Congo，Kosovo and Sierra Leone.
Much，never theless，remains to be done.Women are still very often ignored or excluded from formal processes of negotiations and elections.
Gender perspectives must be fully integrated into the terms of reference of peace-keeping-related Security Council resolutions，reports and missions.Peace support operations should include gender specialists and consultations with women"s groups and networks must beensured.Full involvement of women in negotiations of peace agreements at national and global levels must be provided，including training for women on formal peace processes.Gender perspectives should also be an integral part of post-conflict reconstruction programmes.A no-tolerance approach must be used in cases of violation of the code of conduct in peace-keeping operations.And gender sensitivity training must be provided to the peace keepers before they arrive in the zones of conflict.
Sustainable peace is inseparable from gender equality.When women are marginalized，there is little chance for an open and participatory society.
For a true culture of peace to be established，we need the involvement of the community itself.Four factors are helpful if we are to see a successful intervention on the part of communities working for peace，justice and reconciliation in a post conflict setting：
1.Strong civil society action at the grassroots level.
2.Regeneration of traditional values and norms that are eroded during conflicts.Traditional institutions，like the family as well as indigenous conflict prevention mechanisms sare useful tool in this regard.
3.Involvement of women：From Burundi to Somalia to Northern Ireland to the Middle East and Cambodia，women have shown great capacity as peacemakers.They assumed activist roleswh i le hold i n g toget her t hei r fa m i l ie s and communities.At the grassroots andcommunity levels，women have organized to resist militarization，to create space for dialogue and moderation and to weave together the shattered fabric of society.
4.Spreading a culture of peace：This，in my opinion，is most critical to the society.If the society is to come out of the shadowsof conflict and make a new beginning，its beginning，its members must be inculcated in a culture of peace.
In conclusion，let me reiterate why do I put such emphasis on culture of peace.Three reasons.First，it targets individuals.There cannot be true peace unless the mind is at peace.Second，it brings together all actors-people from all walks of life.Third，it sets its goals not on the principle of an eye for an eye but on tolerance，solidarity and dialogue to settle differences and heal wounds.
In the changed world we live in，it is time to discard the eye for eye approach.We have experienced enough violence.We cannot afford more.The time to act is NOW.
Peace is a prerequisite for human development.And peace cannot be achieved unless the mind ideology at peace.We all must undertake efforts to inculcate peace in ourselves.We can not expect to change the world if we do not start first and foremost with changing ourselves，vat the individual level.Peace is meaningful only when we have peace within and peace without.
