The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition (NIWC) has called on the Ulster Unionist Party to recognise the republican movement's "seismic shift from militant to civic republicanism" rather than focus on the issue of flags and emblems as further stumbling blocks to implementing the Belfast Agreement.
The coalition's MLA for South Belfast, Ms Monica McWilliams, said that the recent IRA statement and the response by the British security forces were "the most positive steps towards lasting peace since Good Friday 1998".
She continued: "I welcome the IRA statement as a step unprecedented and without parallel in Irish history. It is a positive and significant demonstration of their commitment to the peace process.
"The acceptance by the IRA that republicans and unionists have equal right to pursue their political objectives by peaceful means represents an important step in the decommissioning of mindsets, which this process has always required.
"We feel that the second part of the IRA statement, which refers to the creation of a peaceful society, is very significant and should be given proper attention."
It was counterproductive to put pressure on loyalist paramilitaries to issue a similar statement. They needed to be given time to respond whenever they and their community were ready, she added.
The NIWC was "enormously concerned" that the credibility of the two international weapons inspectors, the former Finnish president, Mr Martti Ahtisaari, and the former African National Congress negotiator, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, had been undermined by certain elements in the anti-agreement camp.
"There is huge concern that Mr Ramaphosa's and Mr Ahtisaari's mandate might not be properly respected. They have worked openly and transparently in everything they have ever done and do not deserve the criticism that has been levelled at them", Ms McWilliams said.
There was concern that the issue of sovereignty was being used to block progress and take away from more substantial matters, she said. The Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, had hoped to buy more time with his letter on flags, but had only created more pain in the process.
"People deserve to be remembered, but they also deserve change. The use of symbols must be governed by parity of esteem and of just and equal treatment for both communities, not the narrow relationship between sovereignty and symbols that we have heard much of this week," Ms McWilliams said.
While there had been a lot of focus on symbols and names with regard to RUC reform, the key test of the legislation would be how much of the Patten report it actually gave effect to.
The coalition's MLA for North Down, Ms Jane Morrice, called for a round-table meeting of all pro-agreement parties next Monday as "a visible sign of solidarity". One of the shortcomings of the short-lived Executive had been a lack of regular meetings and contacts between the different factions in the pro-agreement camp, she said.