Go On! Women, peacebuilding & the rule of law

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia of interest) On behalf of WILIG, the Women in International Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law, we are delighted to announce the following program: "Women, Peacebuilding, and Advancing the Rule of Law," to be held 6:30-8:30 p.m. on September 30, 2009, at Tillar House, ASIL's headquarters, at 2223 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
Cosponsors along with WILIG are ASIL's Transitional Justice and Rule of Law Interest Group, Vital Voices, the American Bar Association's International Law Section, Africa Committee and the Women's Interest Network, the Institute for Inclusive Security, and Women in International Security.
Women are an important part of the peacebuilding equation. Too often they are excluded or marginalized in the peace process. Limiting or excluding women from the peacebuilding process in a meaningful way not only leaves a critical resource untapped, but hinders a society's recovery. Women can be agents of change, advocates for justice and peace, and leaders in reestablishing rule of law. (credit for 2008 photo by I. Vuni of women at Uganda peace talks in Juba, Sudan)
Program Chair and Moderator is Melanne A. Civic, Senior Rule of Law Advisor at the U.S. Secretary of State's Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, who is on detail to the Center for Complex Operations, National Defense University.
The panelists, who will discuss the critical role of women in peacebuilding as well as comment on the July 2009 Report of the Secretary-General pursuant to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008), "Women and Peace and Security," are:
►Melanne Verveer, the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, who is also the cofounder and former CEO of Vital Voices;
►Swanee Hunt, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Austria between 1993 and 1997 and now is Chair of the Institute for Inclusive Security (formerly Women Waging Peace); and
►Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School and Director of the Transitional Justice Institute at the University of Ulster in the North of Ireland.
Details and registration here.

Go On! WILIG Networking Breakfast

(Go On! is an occasional item on events of interest) We are delighted to announce that WILIG, the Women in Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law, will sponsor a Women in International Law Networking Breakfast on Thursday, July 9, from 8:30-10 a.m. at ASIL's Tillar House headquarters, 2223 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

The program features accomplished professionals in law practice and academia, who will discuss their career paths and offer insights to women interested in pursuing careers in international law. The panel presentation will be followed by small-group discussions to foster networking opportunities. The panelists include our own IntLawGrrl Kristine A. Huskey, National Security Clinic, University of Texas School of Law, as well as: Laura Black, Office of the Assistant General Counsel for International Affairs at the Treasury Department; Andrea J. Menaker, White & Case; and Andrea J. Prasow, Office of the Chief Defense Counsel, Office of Military Commissions.

We hope to see many IntLawGrrls at this event! You can find more information about the program and registration here.

And heartfelt congratulations to Kristine and to IntLawGrrl Janie Chuang for organizing this wonderful event!

New IntLawGrrls: WILIG Co-Chairs Naomi Cahn & Ruthanne Deutsch

It's IntLawGrrls' great pleasure today to welcome as new bloggers the Co-Chairs of the Women in International Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law, better known as WILIG.
Naomi Cahn (right) and Ruthanne Deutsch (left) will be posting throughout the year about WILIG's events. (Ruthanne's joined Naomi as WILIG co-chair now that IntLawGrrl Susana SáCouto's become a WILIG co-chair emerita.)
The co-chairs' 1st post, the Go On! item below, announces a terrific upcoming program at ASIL headquarters, entitled "Gender Issues, International Law, and the New Administration." What's more, we're pleased to announce that Naomi also will post individually at IntLawGrrls.
Naomi is the John Theodore Fey Research Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. Her scholarship focuses on family law, feminist jurisprudence, and reproductive technology. Her most recent book is Test Tube Families: Why the Fertility Markets Need Legal Regulation (New York University Press 2009), and she's at work co-authoring a book on post-conflict and gender with IntLawGrrl Dina Francesca Haynes and our colleague Fionnuala Ní Aoláin. Naomi's both a Senior Fellow at the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and a member of Yale Law School's Cultural Cognition Project, which examines public attitudes towards gay and lesbian parenting. From 2002 to 2004, she was on leave in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Before entering academic in 1993, she'd practiced at the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson and at Philadelphia’s Community Legal Services. She earned a B.A. from Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, a J.D. from Columbia, and an LL.M. from Georgetown.
Ruthanne, an expert in constitutional law and public international law, practices as associate in the Washington office of Sidley & Austin. There she's taken part in briefing and preparing: cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and other appellate courts; and international trade matters before the U.S. Court of International Trade and the World Trade Organization. Ruthanne was graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where she's been a Global Law Scholar, an Executive Articles Editor for the law journal, and a Dean’s Visiting Scholar. She served as a law clerk to Judge Timothy B. Dyk, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Before embarking on her law career, Ruthanne had been an international development economist at the World Bank and at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Heartfelt welcome!

Go On! "Gender, International Law & the New Administration"

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia of interest) In this, our 1st joint post as Co-Chairs of WILIG, the Women in International Law Group of the American Society of International Law, we are delighted to announce WILIG's next event. Entitled "Gender Issues, International Law, and the New Administration," it will be held from 12 noon- 2 p.m. Thursday, July 2, at Tillar House, the ASIL headquarters located at 2223 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
This luncheon event will consider the positions of the Obama Administration on issues such as:

► Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women;

► Combating trafficking in persons;

► "Gender architecture," the restructuring of the United Nations to allow better focus and attention to gender issues; and

► Need for followup action on Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008), "Women and peace and security," in order to combat sexual violence during armed conflict.

Two panelists from the U.S. State Department will lead the discussion. They are Ambassador Melanne Verveer (above right), Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, and Ambassador Luis C. de Baca (left), Director of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking In Persons.

The event is free to ASIL members; $15 for all others. Registration and details here.