WITH International Women’s Day around the corner as well as the UN Commission on the Status of Women coming up in New York, a number of individuals and groups locally are preparing to participate in these critical online sessions.

The amazing Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform is one of the officially-accredited groups from the region to input.  

Sarah Douglas of UN Women spoke at the launch of their new branding and website recently, saying how women in Northern Ireland are such an inspiration across the globe. When it comes to the peace process here and with the Russian military action in the Ukraine, her words carried more weight than ever. 

Evidence clearly shows that high levels of military spending in post-conflict settings increase the risk of renewed conflict.  It also shows that investing in gender equality has a high return in peace dividend.

2021 marked the 21st anniversary of UN Article 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. This is the article that the UN put in because of the participation of women’s in the peace process locally, reflecting, in particular, the work of the NI Women’s Coalition. 

“Low representation in formal peace processes has seen little progress over the decades since resolution 1325 was adopted,” said Sarah. “We reported last year that women comprised only six per cent of peace process signatories, six per cent of mediators and 13 per cent of negotiators from 1992 to 2019.”  

Two key messages came out of the UN Secretary General's report last year: First, we need to curb military spending; Second, we need to do more to support women’s meaningful participation in peace and security processes.  “The evidence clearly shows that high levels of military spending in post-conflict settings increase the risk of renewed conflict.  

It also shows that investing in gender equality has a high return in peace dividend. “Yet, we continue to over-spend in the former and under-invest in the latter. Last year, global military expenditure increased by 2.6 per cent even in the face of the contraction in the global economy of 3.3 per cent and the competing demands of Covid.  Yet the share of bilateral aid supporting feminist, women-led and women’s rights organisations and movements in fragile or conflict-affected countries is a mere 0.4 per cent.” 

Louise Kennedy, Chair of the Women’s Platform, told the launch it was important to hear diverse women’s voices and praised younger women, who have differing views on how they view gender, and older women, who have a very particular wisdom and experience that they are willing and able to impart. 

CAILLEACH IN THE CULTÚRLANN

Which brings me back to art. This week, I got to view Eimear Nic Roibeaird's first solo exhibition in An Chultúrlann since she graduated from Belfast School of Art.

Her exhibition, An Chéad Bhean, uses the villainous Cailleach figure as inspiration.  This is the name given to those Irish women who possessed “unattainable power that neither Nationalism or Christianity could reach."

The exhibition consists of a large dreamy oil painting called ‘All Things Soft and Warm/I Am Here’, which consists of three figures, one bent over in the middle as if the weight of her lived experience is just too much.

Smaller drawings, bilingual poetry and a series of heads or threesome paintings are also on show.  

Nic Roibeáird is part of a strong, younger generation ready to share their differing views.  Yet not everyone agrees with art — indeed, that’s part of the fun of it as young women continue to challenge us. 

BENDING GLASS

Joanna Leech, another young women artist, has curated a closing exhibition as Flax Artists Atudios leave Havelock House. She received support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive (DFA) in partnership with Flax Art Studios. Bending Glass tells the story of master glass bender and neon sign maker Adrian McNevison of AM Light. 

The archive images, along with contemporary art made by Michael Hanna, Stuart Calvin, Johanna Leech and Susan Hughes, offers the opportunity to say goodbye to the building while at the same time getting the chance to view the exhibition.