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Steamboat Springs — The power of women to create peace will be the subject of a speech given tonight by Swanee Hunt, director of the Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Part of the Seminars at Steamboat series, Hunt will speak at 5 p.m. at the Strings Music Pavilion on Pine Grove Road.

Her speech topic will be "Women Waging Peace: Lessons from the Bosnian War." The first 125 attendees will receive a free copy of Hunt's book, "This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace."

Hunt's work focuses on how women can serve as peacemakers in times of conflict.

Addressing the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight, she said, "Considering the daily news from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sudan, it is very timely for the U.S. Congress to focus its attention on finding long-term, sustainable solutions to deep-rooted conflicts. One such way is to highlight many contributions women make to peace and stability."

As a result of her work to develop a global network of women peace builders, more than 800 women have worked on 50 conflicts in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Colombia, Guatemala, the Middle East, Uganda and other countries. Her thesis is that "sustainable peace is fostered by fundamental social changes, and that women are crucial to these changes," said event organizer Jane Stein.

With the arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader and war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic last month, Hunt said "the Balkan people can now move forward, unburdened by one of the architects of mass murder. But the lessons reach far beyond Bosnia. Peace, healing and prosperity go hand in hand with justice."

Hunt is a former Denver resident and founded the Women's Foundation of Colorado.