The Regional Women’s Lobby for Justice, Peace and Security in South East Europe (SEE) met in Istanbul, Turkey from 17-19 May 2008. The Regional Women’s Lobby is comprised of women leaders from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosova, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

The charter states that members of the Regional Women’s Lobby “share a commitment to seeing their countries achieve full recovery from the devastation of the wars of the 1990s through advancement of justice and reconciliation leading to lasting peace, security and prosperity for future generations.” Members are committed to fighting violence, as well as political and religious extremism, which can destroy tolerance and threaten human security.

The meeting focused on creating a structure for the Regional Women’s Lobby. The structure consists of a Steering Committee, with a representative from each of the seven countries. The responsibilities of the Steering Committee will be to identify strategic priorities for action within each country, as well as other initiatives that arise. The Chair of the Steering Committee is Edita Tahiri, a politician from Kosova.

The Regional Women’s Lobby will also be supported by a Secretariat made up of three representatives from UNIFEM and will coordinate communication, fundraising and other events. Lastly, the Regional Women’s Lobby will establish an Advisory Board of peace advocates and politicians who can help advise the RWL on particular issues. From the meeting, the Regional Women’s Lobby also sent an open letter to the governments of Serbia and Macedonia regarding elections.