Women also respond by participating in the troop contributing countries military and civilian police contingents. DPKO has made strenuous efforts to encourage Member States to send women on missions as their presence can assist in diffusing potentially tense situations. Much more, Mr. President should be done in order to encourage women to enter this service. Gender-sensitive training is also needed for these and all other staff. There is abundant evidence to show that even when having to flee to safety with their families or protecting them in refugee or displaced person's camps, women take on a number of peace-building activities.
Women are active at both the formal and informal levels.
With few exceptions, women are not present in formal peace negotiations. However, women have been part of these negotiations in Burundi, Guatemala and South Africa for example. Somali women helped to bring the clan leaders back into the negotiations at one stage and were permitted to join the negotiations as observers. Most of the activities however, take place at the informal level. Mr. President, women at the local level are a rich resource waiting to be systematically tapped by the international community.