Monday's program was full of provocative and interesting discussions by women working for rights and democracy in repressive and violent contexts.  Upcoming elections in both Sudan and Burma will present opportunities for democratic transformation, but also significant challenges.

In Sudan, the first general election since 1984 will be held in 2010.  There have been significant problems with the census, specifically that many displaced and refugee Darfuris were not counted. 

On Sunday, the presenter from Palestine made an impassioned speech, arguing that feminists in Palestine should be primarily part of the struggle against Israeli imperialism, rather than focusing on patriarchy within their own culture.

In a further discussion on challenges to democracy in national contexts, participants from Mexico, and myself from Canada, discussed the pressure on feminists not to “divide” the progressive forces in society, but instead, to work as united movements, men and women.

As a staff member of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, the path to Guatemala for NWI’s 2nd International Conference - Women Redefining Democracy - began long before my colleague Liz Bernstein and I boarded a plane in Ottawa on Tuesday morning. It began in meetings, conference calls and concept note drafts, and culminated in the big questions and reflections about the conversations we’ll be having here in Guatemala.