Dear friends,

I am grateful to be here with you this morning, and I hope that this seminar will move the important issue of the security of refugee and displaced women further. I would like to thank the organizers, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, for their efforts and to join NUPI Director Lodgaard in welcoming our international guests. We really appreciate your participation and look forward to your contributions. I would like to convey our special thanks to UNHCR and in particular to Ms. Erika Feller, the keynote speaker, for your collaboration on this seminar. With so much academic and practical expertise present, I am confident that the discussions will be fruitful, which will ultimately benefit the cause of refugee and displaced women.

There were basically two reasons why the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs took the initiative to organize today’s seminar. As a member of the United Nations Security Council Norway is seeking to promote human security. Over the last couple of years, the Security Council has given increased attention to issues such as the protection of civilians and women and children in armed conflict.

Currently, Norway is engaged in developing guidelines for the Security Council on operational issues related to the protection of civilians, including refugee and displaced women. These guidelines are to be utilized when establishing or revising mandates for peacekeeping operations. I expect this seminar to add valuable input to this work.

Secondly, we have tried to time this seminar as a contribution to UNHCR’s ongoing global consultations on international protection, and in turn to the Agenda for International Protection. Hopefully, the seminar will produce recommendations that can be discussed during the global consultations in May, which are to focus on the protection of refugee women and refugee children.

Turning now to the substance of the seminar, I would like to make a few remarks inspired by the two concepts "gender mainstreaming" and "empowerment". Both "mainstreaming" and "empowerment" have had positive effects on the security of refugee and displaced women. The concepts can be viewed as stages in the process of transforming our view of refugee women from that of neglected or marginalized victims to resource persons able to take care of themselves and their families.

Starting with the assumption that as refugees or displaced, both women and men are victims, measures to improve the general security of a refugee or displaced population, such as non-militarization of camps, will have beneficial effects for both men and women. But this is not sufficient. In war or conflict, women are more vulnerable than men. Refugee women face additional - gender specific - threats and problems. Hence, we all agree that general measures are not enough to meet the special protection needs, both physical and legal, of refugee and displaced women. It is therefore necessary to focus on areas where the protection needs of women can be distinguished from those of men.

To find out what the needs are and how they can best be met, we should listen to the views and experiences of refugee and displaced women. Their voices must be heard and they should actively participate on all levels of the planning process, and in all aspects of the implementation of measures aimed at refugee or displaced populations. In most societies, women carry the major part pf organising and planning the daily life of their familiy. This experience and ability do not disappear as soon as they become refugees.

We still need more women in all committees, and on all levels, in refugee camps and settlements. Political and practical participation is important if their experiences and views are to have an effect. In my view, NGOs have a significant role to play in promoting the participation of women.

The UNHCR has a declared policy of integrating the resources and needs of refugee women into all aspects of program planning and implementation. This is commendable.

Participation and the right to make decisions regarding ones daily life is key to "empowerment" and thus to improving security. If women are not partcipating on equal terms – human resources are not fully utilised. Still there are institutional and attitudinal obstacles to be overcome if the full potential of women are to be realized. Legal restrictions on the independent status of women is one such obstacle. Another one is the lack of measures to help men deal with their problems, for instance frustration that translates into domestic violence.

Thanks to efforts of many of you, increased attention is being paid to the empowerment of refugee and displaced women. Last November, a book was launched at a seminar in Oslo called Caught Between Borders - Response Strategies of the Internally Displaced. This is a groundbreaking contribution to enhancing our understanding of how individuals, families and communities respond to the experience of displacement. It demonstrates how women are key to the survival and the well being of communities of refugees and displaced persons.

In conclusion, I would like to leave you with something the former Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees:

"Refugee women’s problems are fundamentally a human rights issue, and tackling them must become an irreversible part of our structures and operating procedures. We should not only content ourselves with ‘helping refugee women help themselves’; we must go far beyond and be part of their advancement and that of their families."

13 years on, we have come some way in promoting this human rights issue – but the validity of the message, and the challenge it presents, is still there.

I wish you a successful seminar which will help us face up to this challenge.