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Author: Sharon

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Sharon

Promoting Women’s Effective Participation in Peaceful Electoral Processes in Uganda

Since the introduction of multi-party politics in 1988, Uganda has not experienced peaceful, violent free democratic electoral processes. Uganda’s elections continue to be characterised by violence, ballot stuffing, altering of results and in the end a myriad of election petitions. The political environment in the build-up to, during and after elections has become increasingly charged with a number of reports of harassment, intimidation, acts of corruption, human rights abuses perpetrated by different political nemesis over the years. While the government has enacted laws on guiding the electoral processes such as the Presidential Elections Act and the Parliamentary Elections Act, 2005 gaps were identified by the Supreme Court in its ruling on petitions made it to court in 2006 and 2016 with the greatest challenge in the conduction of democratic elections being the conflicts that emerge  before, during  and especially after elections.

With funding from Democracy Governance Facility (DGF), The Centre is implementing a project ‘Promoting Women’s Effective Participation in Peaceful Electoral Processes in Uganda’aimed at improving women’s engagement and influence on electoral processes. In its initial stages, the project will focus on broader interventions covering pre-election, election and post-election processes and shall be implemented in the districts of Arua, Kapelebyong and Kassanda respectively. The project builds on the success of The Centres’ implementation of the Women’s Situation Room composed of the youth peer-to-peer peace process and women advocates for peace programmes implemented in the build-up to, during and in the after-math of Uganda’s 2016 general elections. In addition, the project also contributes to DGF’s higher-level outcome proportion of population satisfied with the way democracy works in Uganda and DGF higher-level indicator ‘proportion of population who believe decision making is inclusive and responsive’.

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Sharon

Women’s Effective Participation in Peaceful Electoral Processes in Uganda Project Inception.

Women’s full and equal participation in political and electoral processes can be considered as one of the litmus tests for women’s empowerment and gender equality. When women participate in elections – as voters, candidates, electoral administrators, or party supporters – they can express their own needs and interests. Decisions reflect the electorate better; political processes are more inclusive and democracy is strengthened. However, despite some progress, globally women remain under-represented in all aspects of political life. Our project Promoting Women’s Effective Participation in Peaceful Electoral Processes in Uganda aims to strengthen women’s engagement and influence on electoral processes. National and local elections can support women’s political participation in multiple ways, but specific measures may be required to overcome gender-based discrimination. For instance, women candidates may face a lack of capacities or resources that prevents them from competing effectively. If polling stations are located in remote or unsafe areas, women voters may be reluctant to use them. Sometimes electoral management bodies are unaware of hindrances to women’s participation because they do not have the knowledge, skills or data to analyse and correct these. To ensure women’s and men’s equal participation in governance processes and the decisions that affect their lives is vital for achieving inclusive and effective governance. Read More “Women’s Effective Participation in Peaceful Electoral Processes in Uganda Project Inception.”

Magazines
Sharon

Women and Girls at the Heart of Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa

Through this 50th edition of Women’s World, we contribute to the body of feminist knowledge on the experiences and agency of women affected by forced displacement as a result of conflict, political turmoil or insecurity in Africa. This focus aligns with the African Union’s theme for the year 2019, as the Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa: Towards a Durable Solution to Forced Displacement. Read More “Women and Girls at the Heart of Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa”
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Sharon

Open Letter to the Group of Friends of UNSCR 1325

The Open Letter to the Group of Friends of 1325 calls on governments to accelerate commitments on Women, Peace and Security as part of their work on sustainable development, including on gender equality and peaceful and inclusive societies.

This letter is in advance of the 24th-25th September SDG Summit, which will also launch the 2019-2020 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) Review Process and where Member States have been asked to share Voluntary Accelerated Actions on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to scale up ambition and action. It is more important than ever that we call on member states to strengthen participation, protection, and rights of women and girls across the conflict spectrum by ensuring that policy coherence and women’s human rights are addressed in SDG implementation.

Download;
Press Release
Open Letter


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Sharon

Changing Our Name

45 years into our journey of amplifying women’s voice and power, we are pleased to share that Isis-Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE) is NOW to Women’s International Peace Centre (The Centre).

Isis-WICCE –named after the Egyptian goddess of wisdom and justice- started out in 1974 as a global women’s resource centre documenting and disseminating women’s ideas, concerns and experiences with the aim of ending gender inequality. This organically resulted into physical cross-cultural exchanges, bringing together women human rights defenders from diverse countries to discuss topical gender equality issues, share experiences and strategies to dismantle patriarchy and advance women’s empowerment across the globe.


The Board Chair officially announcing the change of the name from Isis-Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE) to Women’s International Peace Centre (The Centre).

With the move to Uganda in 1994, the organisation carved out its niche with a focus on women, peace and security. The international cross-cultural exchange morphed into the feminist leadership institute on peace building and human security; the resource centre focused on conducting research and generating feminist knowledge on women’s experiences and specific needs in conflict and post-conflict which also formed the evidence base for women’s advocacy for peace and gender-responsive post-conflict recovery in 27 countries.

Isis-WICCE also focused on healing women war survivors – addressing their psychological, physical and gynaecological needs – and mentoring women leaders and women’s groups to continue their peace building and conflict transformation efforts. With the move to a more holistic approach (of research, advocacy, healing, skills building and mentorship for peace), it has become increasingly recognized that the organisation is no longer solely a platform for women’s international cross-cultural exchange. As such, we deemed it necessary to adopt a name that reflects our core focus on igniting women’s leadership, amplifying their voices and deepening their activism in recreating peace.

The new name Women’s International Peace Centre reflects our commitment to create an incubator for women seeking to re-create peace and live in peace across the globe. The change in name is also timely as the name Isis has been adopted by other actors with views and actions antithetical to ours.

 

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Sharon

Women’s Political Participation for Peace and Security

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has experienced a series of conflicts since gaining independence in the 1960s with an impact on the governance and livelihoods of the citizens and spill-over to the neighbouring countries of the Great Lakes Region. A number of dialogues have been initiated through the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region; the Peace and Security Cooperation Framework for DRC and others. The DRC has launched its second-generation NAP and has been upfront in providing relevant frameworks to promote the women, peace and security agenda. DRC is also emerging from an electoral process held on 30th December 2018 that has brought in new leadership at different levels. Women have played a significant role in all these peacebuilding and governance processes. 

In this regard, The Centre has in partnership with Karibu Jeunesse Nouvelle Association des Femmes Des Medias and the Ministry of Gender,Family and Children conducted a five-day leadership institute from 20th to 26th June, bringing together 20 women leaders from political parties and the civil society on the topic “Women’s Political Participation for Peace and Security”. The training aimed to strengthen the capacity of women leaders to engage in and influence post-conflict decision-making and governance as well as to demand accountability from policymakers towards realising the meaningful inclusion of women in governance and decision-making in Democratic Republic of Congo -.

Participants looked at the background and context of Women, peace and security Participants looked at Transformative Leadership, Feminist Leadership, Communication in Leadership, training on UNSCR 1325, and coaching in Women’s Participation in leadership.

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Sharon

Promoting Peaceful Electoral Processes in Uganda through Constructive Engagements

Elections are an important mechanism in democratic and peace processes as they provide citizens with an opportunity to choose freely their political leaders and allocate power peacefully. However, underlying tensions in a society and high-stake competition can also result in violent and fraudulous elections. Based on its mandate in peacebuilding, Women’s International Peace Centre with support from Kingdom of Belgium are implementing a 2yr project “Promoting Peaceful Electoral Processes in Uganda through Constructive Engagements” in the districts of Kampala, Lira, Soroti, Luweero and Rukungiri.

Inception meetings were held to introduce the Districts to the project. The project aims to reduce violence and conflict in the electoral processes by;

  1. Creating a platform for research and knowledge generation and sharing on election-related conflict in Uganda
  2. Developing informed peace training content, programmes and tools to strengthen peace building for electoral processes.
  3. Strengthening capacities for coordination and information systems management for monitoring and tracking programme delivery.

The Centre will conduct research on Election Violence in Arua, Soroti, Rukungiri and Kampala District, design training materials, train 50 youth peer educators and 50 women peace advocates in trainers, hold Youth dialogues & debates establishing of youth peace committees to mitigate conflict during the electoral processes.

Programmes
Sharon

Research & Knowledge Creation

The Peace Centre researches and documents the critical yet often-neglected experiences of women in situations of armed conflict globally. Since 1996, we have provided data and information on women, peace and security, highlighting human rights violations against women and women’s human rights defenders.

We acknowledge that women are knowers and not merely sources of data. As such we listen to women’s voices to gain access to and amplify their insights, voices and experiences.

Isis-WICCE research has been conducted in 27 countries including 15 countries in Africa (Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Somaliland, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Southern Sudan) and 12 countries in Asia, Latin America and the Balkans (Albania, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, El Salvador, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri-Lanka, Yugoslavia and Nepal) 

Some of the researches conducted by The Peace Centre include; 

  1. Women’s Experiences of Armed Conflict in Uganda- Luweero District 1998
  2. Women’s Experiences of Armed Conflict in Uganda- Gulu District 2001
  3. Documentation of Teso Women’s Experiences of Armed Conflict 2002
  4. Restoring Hope in their Own Voices
  5. Women, Armed Conflict and Food Security in Uganda 2004
  6. Women’s Contribution to Poverty Eradication; The Missing Link 2004
  7. Empowering Women Against Poverty; Tapping the Knowledge of Grassroots Women 2004
  8. Facing The Rising Sun 2005
  9. Women on the Move; Engendering Peace Building in Uganda 2005
  10. Medical Interventional Study of War Affected Kitgum District 2006
  11. Nurturers of Peace, Sustainers of Africa; Selected Women’s Peace Initiatives 2006
  12. Women’s Experiences During Armed Conflict in South Sudan; The Case Of Juba County, Central Equatorial State 2007
  13. A Situation Analysis of the Women Survivors in Armed Conflict- Liberia 2008
  14. Child Marriage and Its Impact on Development Kasese 2011
  15. Unveling Justice; Rape Survivors Speak Out 2011
  16. Raising Hope; Reclaiming lives in Lira District, Northern Uganda 2011
  17. Invest in Women Develop South Sudan 2011
  18. A Review on Militarism, Sexual and Gender Based Violence against Women: Anecdotal evidence from Kasese District in Uganda, 2011
  19. Redressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence; A Review of Governments’ Performance in the Great Lakes Region of Africa 2012
  20. Kashmiri Women; The Burden of Conflict, Half Widowhood and Its Psychological Health Effects 2012
  21. Making Gender-Just Remedy and Reparation Possible; Upholding the Rights of Women and Girls in the Greater North of Uganda 2013
  22. Pushed to the Periphery; The Necessity of Women’s Innovation in Activating Post Conflict Reconstruction 2013
  23. Forced To Flee; Voices of Congolese Refugee Women In Uganda 2014
  24. Towards an Anti-Sexual Gender Based Violence Norm in the Great Lakes Region; A Civil Society Review of the Implementation of the 2011 ICGLR Kampala Declaration 2014
  25. Making A Difference Beyond Numbers; Towards Women’s Substantive Engagement in Political Leadership in Uganda- 2015
  26. Advancing Women’s Rights in Conflict and Post Conflict settings 2016
  27. Cost-Benefit Analysis of Cash Transfer Programs and Post Trauma Services for Economic Empowerment of Women in Uganda (EWP-U) Research Report 2018
  28. The Key to Change Supporting Civil Society and Women’s Rights Organisations in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Contexts Overarching Report 2020
  29. Supporting Civil Society and Women’s Rights Organisations in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Contexts South Sudan Report 2020
  30. Now and the Future Gender Equality, Peace and Security in a COVID-19 World 2020
Latest News
Sharon

Tracking Education of girls and women in conflict and post conflict situations in Africa

Crises and Conflict directly derails education, yet it is education that is a catalysis towards renascence of Africa. The number and intensity of violent conflicts has increased in the past decade and Africa has not been an exception. In 2017 Africa experienced 18 state-based conflicts, a decrease from 21 in 2016, though the continent experienced a significant increase in non-state conflict; and the denominator is that girls and women bear the greatest human casualties.  Based on the high population of girls and women affected by these conflicts, it is important that conversations majoring on education are focused towards actualization of education right during and post conflict periods. It is known that existing power dynamics and inequalities are amplified during conflicts, educational gains lost, social fabric torn, and thus jeopardizing the achievements of the continent’s Agenda 2063. 

There is need to deliberate, understand and exchange ideas on policies, legislation, plans, financing and monitoring reforms within the education continuum while being cognizant of conflict situations in Africa.  It is within this context that The Centre joined the Government of Kenya, the Canadian Government in collaboration with the Office of Special envoy of chairperson for African Union Commission of Women Peace & Security, and the Forum for African Women Educationalist (FAWE) in a one day conference focusing on girls and women’s access to education in conflict and post conflict situations in Africa and review existing implementation mechanisms by governments, CSOs and education stakeholders to harmonize execution, strengthen synergy and alignment to regional, continental and global educational frameworks.

The conference recommendations will contribute to the outcome document to be presented as African position on girls and women education in conflict during the Women Deliver conference in Canada in June 2019. The outcome of these deliberations will lead to formulation of policies for the continental position paper on girls and women education in conflict to be tabled at the African Union next Ordinary Session for endorsement and also inform the framework that the Office of African Union Special Envoy Women Peace & Security is currently adapting towards advocacy on education for girls and women in conflict, guide various government implementation strategies in conflict education as well as inform FAWE and other CSOs working education in conflict in Africa.   

The #EducationInConflict conversation was held at Windsor Golf and Country Hotel in Nairobi Kenya, on 22nd May 2019 bringing representation from Government of Kenya, Government of Canada, African Union,  all 33 countries where FAWE has presence, government representation from countries who are / have been faced directly /indirectly by conflict,  within the past decade, civil society under GIMAC, the academia and experts in education in emergencies.   

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