"Coalitions...like the one we are building here...are an opportunity to change the face of our country and the face of our world," said Rosa E. Salamanca Gonzalez, a Women Waging Peace delegate from Colombia.
The conference also served to recognize the efforts of women peacemakers that too often go unnoticed, Hunt said.
"We have learned that we women have special gifts that we have to use to turn violence into peace," said Sumaya F. Naser, a delegate from the Jerusalem Center for Women.
The relentless strength of women in conflict zones was also a predominant theme.
According to Mary Montague, a delegate from Northern Ireland, women are too often seen simply as mourners in conflict-ridden areas--not as potential peacemakers.
"But the women in Northern Ireland moved from being victims to being survivors, and from being survivors to being victors," Montague said.
The 1999 Hunt Alternatives Program is designed to emphasize the need for a presence of women in democratic peacemaking processes around the world.
"I commend the work of Ambassador Hunt, and all of the members of the Women Waging Peace Initiative," Kennedy said. "You are making an important contribution to peace, and your voices deserve to be heard loud and clear in all lands."