Open Letter To Stop War

Women’s Coalition for Peace in South Caucasus

11 August 2008

In light of the recent events in South Ossetia and Georgia, we at the Women’s Resource Center are taking action as part of the Women’s Coalition for Peace in the South Caucasus. The Coalition is composed of women’s groups in Armenia, Azerbaijan, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia that are united in a call for peace in our region. We work towards stopping all types of violence against women in conflict zones, and we believe that the voices of women need to be represented to realize this goal.

The Women’s Resource Center engages in mobilizing Armenian women to stand in solidarity with our sisters in Georgia and South Ossetia. The war of the past few days in that region is having a profound impact on the general civilian population as seen by the destruction of property, livelihood, normality and the senseless loss of life. The ongoing violence is exacerbating an already unstable situation as well as adding to the existing problems and dangers of the entire region in terms of creating countless refugees and internally displaced persons.

We condemn the actions of both Georgian and Russian authorities in harming peaceful citizens. We urge all sides of the conflict to return to non-violent processes in reaching a peaceful resolution. We also call on the international community to swiftly intervene in this situation and ensure that peace prevails in the South Caucasus region.

CALL FOR ACTION: in solidarity, we invite everyone believing in reinstating peace in our region to wear red and white ribbons and join our peaceful collective actions.

For upcoming peaceful actions in Yerevan, please contact the Women’s Resource Center.

Contact info:

Women’s Resource Center, NGO

34 Zarubyan st.

Yerevan, Armenia

Tel: + 374 – 93 -99-22-44

+ 374 -01- 51-91-68

e-mail: armwomen@namag.com