By Maya Sioufi,

• "Justice prevails in the end whether here or in the afterlife,” says Philippe Massoud, recalling the assassination of his father George in 1986, during the Lebanese civil war. Over coffee with his older brother Alex at Ilili, their upscale and trendy Lebanese contemporary restaurant in the Flatiron neighborhood in Manhattan, Philippe goes over his turbulent life path from an upbringing at the Coral Beach Hotel during the war to becoming a top-line New York restaurateur.

“They were trying to segregate Beirut between Christians and Muslims; we were a Christian family living on the Muslim side,” says Philippe, as he explains why he spent most of his childhood in the kitchen of the Coral Beach Hotel, built in 1964 by his father and family. By the age of eight, Philippe was already making culinary comments to the chefs on what ingredients were missing in a meal.

WOMEN IN LIQUICA DISTRICT IN TIMOR LESTE HOLD UP THEIR VOTER REGISTRATION CARDS AS THEY WAIT TO PARTICIPATE IN TIMOR-LESTE'S 2012 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS. (PHOTO: LOUISE STODDARD/UNDP TIMOR LESTE)

Women are often disproportionately affected by conflict and violence; the time has come to give them a greater role in peacebuilding and conflict resolution.

I recently had the honor of visiting Washington DC to participate in the launch of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, & Security, an initiative focused less on women as victims and more on involving them integrally in peace-building and conflict prevention.