 I am Lita Norrie, I'm the Director for Women, Peace, and Security in the Office of Global Women's Issues at the U.S. Department of State. Hi, my name is Dr. Jennifer Hawkins and I'm the Senior Women, Peace, and Security Advisor for the United States Agency for International Development. Hello, my name is Brooke Owens and I'm a national security expert working with the Department of Defense as a Women, Peace, and Security Advisor. My name is Brigadier General Maura Hennigan. I am the President of Marine Corps University and Commanding General of Education Command. We're here today at the Institute of Peace to commemorate the International Women's Day. You know, it's actually quite simple, especially if you think of a profound statistic that we often refer to where we know that on or around 30 to 35 percent of peace negotiations are more likely to last at least 15 years when women are included. Our studies on global fragility have shown that gender equality is directly linked to a country's stability. So from a national security standpoint, it's in our best interest to promote gender equality as a means of providing greater global stability. I really believe when women's meaningful participation is so vital to the long-term success of peace processes because we really know when women have agency they are more likely not just to advocate for themselves but often the entire community. And I think that's this eye towards humanity and the ability for them to provide a very unique and forgotten perspective. They're able to provide solutions that have lasting impact across generations. Women, LGBTQI plus community, racial and ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups have all been disproportionately impacted by conflict historically and therefore they must be included in these processes if they're going to be able to effectively create positive outcomes. Not just women's participation in peace processes are important but their meaningful participation in political processes and other decision-making processes has led to an increase in development of policies and legislation and laws that protect women and girls from gender-based violence and a host of other issues. And it also creates really amazing role models for young girls to be when they grow up. In short, we know that identifying and removing barriers to women's meaningful participation across the peace and conflict continuum is not just the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do. I think we're at a time where we can really benefit from working with others. And I think if we lose a lot of our inhibitions as far as whether it be friendliness or just calm manner in which we go about doing things, I think there is a much greater chance that whether men or women can go and find opportunities to be able to help other individuals and truly create a peace around the world.