Meet Our Young Woman Leader from South Sudan.

 Pikyiko Eunice Jacob is one of the young women who have gone through the Peace Centre’s leadership training. She is a South Sudanese young woman leader currently working with Crown The Woman- South Sudan as a project officer. Crown the woman- South Sudan is a women-founded and women-led nonprofit. It is a non-governmental, non-political, humanitarian and national grassroots organization that aims at empowering girls and women to ensure they harness their potential and contribute to nation building economically, socially and politically.

Eunice describes herself as a hard worker and a good listener who is trying to do her work to the best of her abilities. 

“I love to learn new things, because the world keeps changing and I’m inquisitive by nature, I tend to ask questions so I can learn.” she says.

Eunice’s first interaction with the centre was when she attended a workshop/ mentorship session in November of 2019 in South Sudan. She shared her passion for working on women issues and trying to find ways to empower them. “The Peace Center made me realize that this was an achievable goal and my capacity was built during the mentor-ship session.”

Her realization was further built on when a group of young South Sudanese women were chosen as representatives visiting Uganda to learn and share experiences with The Peace Centre. Here Eunice was taken through practical ways in which she could become a better leader and was also able to draw up a vision board for her next 5 years. “I relate to The Peace Centre because they are empowering young women, helping them realize their passions and figure out how to achieve them. “

Eunice remarks that her journey with Women International Peace Center has been the best journey so far of her life so far. It’s not only been engaging but has also been very empowering. It helped her build her capacity, especially as a public speaker. Although she admits that she’s not exactly where she is and she is always working towards the one hundred per cent stance. She’s sure that with the continuous support of The Peace Centre she will be able to convey information with the confidence she previously lacked.

Eunice practices her public speaking during one of the workshops

 “Before working with The Peace Centre I was just a young woman that had a lot of dreams and aspirations but didn’t know how to put my point across. My dreams were big with no way of execution, However, with the centre’s help I was able to identify the different ways I can make a change in my community, how to present myself and it has broadened my thinking capacity, and how to adapt in my community.”

Eunice sharing her dreams and vision board during the recent exchange visit.

 Her experience at the peace centre helped her realize that “you don’t have to wait to graduate to become a leader or have a leadership role”, “being a leader is not about your age, experience or qualifications. It is a calling.

When asked about her stance on feminism she replies, “I was not a strong feminist before but with the various conversations and books I have read about feminism, I have realized that we women should fight for our rights in the community be it small or big, to have equal opportunities. I have also learnt that I can’t effectively do my work if I’m not looking after myself or exercising wellness.

The Role and Prospects of Women Refugees in the South Sudan Peace Process.


25th to 26th FEBRUARY 2020; ADJUMANI – UGANDA

As part of its strategic goal to increase women’s participation in peacebuilding, the Peace Centre held a conference in form of an interdisciplinary dialogue that brought different actors together to engage with South Sudan women and girls refugees in Uganda.

The conference aimed to provide a platform for women refugees and other actors to access information on the progress of the peace processes in South Sudan and design strategies for continued incorporation of their voices and presence. It also provided an opportunity for women to share their experience in peacebuilding, learn from best practices, plan to address Women, Peace and Security concerns such as under-representation of women in defining and delivery of humanitarian-development services, shortage of specific measures and mechanisms to facilitate women’s sustained participation in the peace processes and accountability for gender-responsiveness.

This promoted women’s effective participation in decision making relating to the consolidation of peace and humanitarian assistance as well as contributed to closing real and perceived gaps between often-isolated local women (including refugee women) and larger national level women’s rights organizations engaged in advocacy on key peacebuilding processes hence facilitating connections between the refugee women and other counterparts supporting the engendering of the implementation of the peace agreement and related transitional processes in South Sudan.

The Conference convened  100 Participants including; Women Peace Mediators from Refugee Settlements in Yumbe, Adjumani and Kotido, Civil Society Leaders engaged in peace processes in South Sudan, The Peace Centre Staff, UN Women, Local Governments, Office of the Prime Minister,  UNHCR, Implementing partners and aimed to achieve the following objectives:

•             To provide a platform for refugee women to understand and receive updates on the peacebuilding processes in South Sudan

•             To link the refugee women with other women involved in advocacy towards engendering the peace processes in South Sudan 

•             To ignite women’s ability to participate in the formal and informal peacebuilding processes right from the refugee settlement for sustainable peace in South Sudan. 

The conference was a major success as it had the following outcomes:

  1. An outcome document that presents the recommendations of the refugee women to the Government of National Unity of South Sudan and the Government of Uganda was developed.
  2. During the conference, even though our focus was on informing the refugees of the ongoing peace process(es), there was a lot of conversation on their return back home, the conference received a report from the Office of the Prime Minister on the number of refugees arriving in Uganda currently, and this was explained as fear of the outcome of the recently sworn-in Transitional Government in South Sudan. Based on this the women demanded for specific actions relating to their return including a ceasefire and disarmament.
  3. Improved Relationship between refugees from Yumbe and Adjumani through networking.  Most of the participants were joyful about the conference as they made new friends and were able to see the ones they hadn’t seen in a while
  4. Increased understanding on the peace building processes in South Sudan and the role of women in Peace building with Presentations from;
    Betty Sunday from Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO South Sudan who opened up on the context of the South Sudan peace process.
  • Jackline Nasiwa, Executive Director Centre for Inclusive Governance Peace and Justice (CIGPJ) gave a review of the transitions in South Sudan from 2013 to date, the role of women in peace processes and updates on the peace process; government being dissolved and appointment of 5 Vice Presidents, one being a woman.  She also encouraged the women to organize themselves and be hopeful for peace in South Sudan
  • Last but not least Dr Ronald Kalyango explained research findings on the implementing the revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) from a gender perspective. From this, he was able to discuss the barriers to women’s participation in security sector reforms such as; resistance to women in military and societal borders by prescribing child care to women which holds them back.
  • As a way forward, he listed recommendations like ensuring gender responsive budgeting, setting guidelines on how the government will encourage women participation in elections and supporting affirmative action for women participating in all institutions and processes. All this set the stage for a productive and involved discussion about the South Sudan peace process.

Launch of the Research study on Gender Dimensions of the Implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan.

February was an exciting month that kicked off with the launch of the research report on the Implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan from a gender perspective. This research launch came on the occasion of the new political dispensation in South Sudan with the impending formation of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) in February.

This Research Study examined the opportunities, constraints, and extent to which women influence the peace process in South Sudan; and how women and young women’s advocacy efforts can be supported in ways that create new spaces for them to engage key decision-makers at national, regional and international levels. Methods of data collection included in-depth interviews with key informants, document review as well as a validation workshop with key stakeholders in Juba, South Sudan in December 2019 and January 2020.

The report also captures the following thematic areas of the Revitalized Peace Agreement; Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (TGONU), Permanent Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements, Humanitarian Assistance and Reconstruction, Resource, Economic and Financial Management, Transitional Justice, Accountability, Reconciliation and Healing, and Parameters and Review of Permanent Constitution.


Women’s participation in peace processes is critical for sustainable peace. Women should be supported to participate in both the peace processes and the transitional government of National Unity- Zainab Osman

Participants during the launch acknowledged The Peace Centre for good work done to ensure a gender perspective is taken into context in the implementation of the TGONU. Several limitations were identified as challenges facing women in the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan. As a means of communicating strategies to support advocacy by women organizations, several recommendations were proposed.

Convening on Women’s Leadership in Peacebuilding in the Great Lakes region of Africa

The end of this decade presents a strategic opportunity for women’s rights advocates working towards the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda in the Great Lakes Region to collectively reflect, look ahead, and prepare to take fruitful action. In 2020, the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020) by the African Union comes to an end. The same year marks 25 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The year 2020 will also be the 20th anniversary of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Within the Great Lakes Region, women’s rights organisations have been monitoring progress and advocating for the implementation of diverse regional and national instruments. While there has been some progress, a significant implementation gap remains and the WPS agenda is yet to be achieved.

It is in this context that Global Fund for Women and the Women’s International Peace Centre co-created a space for regional exchange for three days. From the 12th to the 14th November, 48 women human rights activists and organizations from Burundi, CAR, DRC, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda came to Kampala to convene on peacebuilding, ending sexual and gender-based violence, and combatting the negative impact of the extractive industry on peace and women’s rights. Together, they assessed the progress and gaps in the WPS agenda in the region and defined a creative common vision and agenda for feminist peacebuilding.

The overall objective of the convening was to engage in key conversations and exchanges around how to strengthen our collective capacity to promote women’s leadership in peacebuilding and reconstruction, address sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations, and address the impact of the mining and extractive industry on women and girls’ rights and lasting peace in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

On the first day, an opening session with keynotes on women, peace and security in the Great Lakes Region kicked off the convening. It was followed by a lively discussion. Hereafter, representatives of key regional mechanisms such at the ICGLR Regional Training Facility and Women’s Forum, the African Union FemWise-African Network of Women Mediators and women mediators’ networks in Burundi shared about their work and gave participants the opportunity to ask questions. The day was rounded off by plenary sessions on good practices and strategies in regional advocacy and action as well as about feminist peacebuilding strategies.

The second day started off with three thematic panels. Civil society actors discussed and presented on progress, best practices and lessons learnt on the topics of women’s leadership in peacebuilding, sexual and gender-based violence, and women’s access to and control of natural resources and the impact of the mining and extractive industry on women and girls’ rights and regional peace. The division in break-out groups gave the practitioners the reflective space to assess what has worked and what has not and identify key areas for collective action and advocacy. The day ended with a plenary discussion on emerging security threats and implications for work in the field of women, peace and security and a talk on wellness, self-care, safety and integrated security for women’s rights organisations and women human rights defenders.

The final day of the convening was dedicated to defining a common vision and collective action to advance the WPS Agenda in the Great Lakes Region in 2020 and beyond. Therefore, the participants first discussed key action points in-country groups before presenting their findings to the plenary. They talked about their vision for women in peace and security for the upcoming decade, in which ways the existing instruments could help to promote this vision and which kind of change they would like to see for African women in the area of peace and security. The outcome was a collective roadmap defining windows of opportunity for the WPS Agenda beyond 2020.

Reclaiming our Space; Women influencing Multiparty Democracy

On the 26th to 27th September, Women’s International Peace Centre, in partnership with Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) and Eve Organization for Women Development convened a two days Think Tank under the theme;  Reclaiming our Space; Women influencing Multiparty Democracy” for Women in Political leadership to reflect on strategies of enhancing the influence and strategic participation of women in multi-party political dispensation and national development. The Think Tank brought together 15 women politicians from 5 political parties, Ministry of Gender, and CSOs.

In August 2015, following almost 2years of on-and-off peace negotiations mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), parties to the conflict and other stakeholders signed the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The agreement provided for the formation of a Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) and for national elections after two and a half years. It also envisaged broad security sector reform, transitional justice, and a constitutional development process.  In December 2017, the High Level Revitalisation Forum commenced resulting in the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) in December 2017, the Declaration of Principles in February 2018, the Khartoum Declaration Agreement (KDA) in June 2018 and the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) on the 12 September in Khartoum, Sudan. In all these processes, women played key roles as mobilisers, advocates, mediators and negotiators. Organized under the auspices of the South Sudan Women’s Coalition, women pushed for inclusivity and secured space for the technical team to access the negotiation venues in Addis Ababa and Khartoum. They also influenced the peace agreement to Include a provision to have at least 35% affirmative action /women representation in all committees and for the implementation of the agreement and at all levels of decision making.

Our Key objective was to strengthen debate on women’s participation and influence in post conflict governance and decision making in South Sudan and specifically providing  a space for critical dialogue and analysis on women’s engagement and influence in politics and national development for meaningful gender equality and equity and also develop a strategic agenda to strengthen capacity of women in decision making.

Protecting women’s space in politics is especially important in the conflict resolution area. Despite women’s longstanding role in informal dispute resolution, their near absence from peace talks and similar international security processes & mechanisms requires particular attention.


Ms. Jackline Nasiwa presents two papers on #UNSCR1325 and its linkage to the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and Women and Peace building framing in South Sudan in line with R-ARCSS implementation.

 

Women Leading Change in Post Conflict Governance in South Sudan & DRC

The Centre with support from African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) are implementing a 2yr project onWomen Leading Change In Post Conflict Governance” in South Sudan focused on supporting advocacy for the implementation of the National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 for the inclusion of a significant number of women in implementation of the peace agreement and in mediation processes. The project also seeks to enable national monitoring and reporting on 1325 implementation progress against the AU Continental Results Framework in an effort to advance the women, peace and security agenda. Our mission to Juba, South Sudan on 15th April introduced the project to the Ministry of Gender and targeted women’s rights organisations working on UNSCR 1325 as well as gather key information on the current status of women’s participation in post-conflict governance and 1325 NAP implementation.

Gender-responsive governance reforms are intended to connect the numeric and the substantive representation of women. Gender-responsive governance ensures that institutions respond more effectively to women’s needs and priorities; enhance women’s wellbeing, livelihoods and citizen-ship rights; and build government institutions that require and produce more participation by women, and not only by women elites, but also by grassroots women.

Women’s Informal Peace Efforts: Grassroots Activism in South Sudan

Authors; Helen Kezie-Nwoha and Juliet Were

The ‘Women and Peacebuilding in Africa’ project looks at the cost of women’s exclusion and the possibilities for their inclusion in peace talks, peacebuilding, and politics in Somalia, Algeria, northern Nigeria, South Sudan, and Sudan. The project also examines the struggle for women’s rights legal reform and political representation as one important arena for stemming the tide of extremism related to violence in Africa.

The three themes that make up the project are:

  1. Inclusion and exclusion in postconflict governance
  2. Women activists’ informal peacebuilding strategies
  3. Women’s legal rights as a site of contestation

The ‘Women and Peacebuilding in Africa’ project is a consortium between Center for Research on Gender and Women at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI)  and Isis-Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE). The project is funded by the Carnegie Foundation and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

20 years of UNSCR 1325 in South Sudan, Uganda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nepal.

This edition focuses on the women, peace and security issues discussed during the institute, as informed by the UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 1325 and 2250, Sustainable Development Goals (5, 16) and related national frameworks (including national action plans). It takes a closer look at the state of conflict and post-conflict in the 5 countries, progress in implementing UNSCR 1325 which centres women’s concerns as well as women’s responses to peace and security gaps and challenges.

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