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Sharon

33rd GIMAC Consultative Meeting on Gender Mainstreaming in Africa, Addis Ababa

In February, Women’s International Peace Centre  as the Peace and Security thematic lead of the Gender is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC)  cohosted the 33rd GIMAC Consultative Meeting on Mainstreaming Gender Equality in African which took place on the 3rd to 4th February,2019 at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme: “Towards Gender Responsive Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement”. The theme was aligned with the African Union (AU) dedication of the year 2019 as the year for “Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement”.

This year’s theme sought to tackle the issue of forced displacement in Africa which is largely due to conflict, natural disasters, human rights violations or political instability that has resulted in over 12 million internally displaced persons and an estimated 6.2 million refugees and asylum seekers across the continent. Women and girls who are forcibly displaced by conflict, natural disasters, economic reasons or other causes, face specific threats and diverse forms of gender-based discrimination, violence and human rights violations. Their access to legal protection, safety, gender-responsive assistance, a life of dignity and respect for their rights is often further undermined by factors such as age, disability, previous marginalized social position among others.

#GIMAC33 Press Conference

The panel discussions tackled Governance, Peace and Security; Early Warning and Early Response for Prevention of Crises and Forced Displacement, Integration and Return of Refugees and IDPs: registration and documentation processes, discriminatory laws, and inclusion in national development frameworks, Gender-responsive Humanitarian Response: addressing human security needs of IDPs and refugees including physical, psychosocial, legal, health etc, Displaced Women’s Contributions to Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement and Seeking Accountability for Non-implementation of Policy Commitments, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Education in emergency situations, Accountability for Implementation of Policy Commitments and the Solemn Declaration Index Monitoring Report.

Our partners from Mouvement des Femmes et des Filles pour la Paix et la Sécurité (MFFPS) (Photo Credit GIMAC)

The 33rd GIMAC brought together over 250 delegates from over 30 countries, including representatives of Diplomatic Missions, African Union and United Nations officials, leading Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on Gender in Africa and other interested groups in advancing women’s rights in Africa.

Drawing from the two-day discussions, participants recommended an increase in public investment in provisioning of gender-responsive services in IDP settlements, Invest in education technology to refugees, IDPs and returnee children, introduce Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Conflicts, engage men as partners in the fight against SGBV and GBV and also encourage judicial institutions to establish mechanisms that will eliminate and fast track sexual and gender-based violence cases especially the inclusion of forensic technology and post-incident trauma care.

The 34th GIMAC will take place from 29th to 30th June in Niamey, Niger under the theme “1st GIMAC Strategic Engagement with AU, RECs and Partners on the AU Summit Theme of the Year.”

Latest News
Sharon

Regional Exchange on Women’s Participation in Peace Building

On the margins of the 33rd Pre-summit Consultative Meeting on Gender Mainstreaming in the African Union, The Women’s International Peace Centre held a Regional Exchange from 31st January to 1st February 2019 at Azzeman Hotel, Addis Ababa. The Regional Exchange brought together 35 women peace builders from Burundi, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda sharing information on women’s experiences of conflict/post conflict, promoting women’s rights and capacities and attempts to claim spaces to influence the peace processes. The women reflected on their role in peace building and conflict resolution in each country and at regional level, define a common vision for peace as women of the region and identified, shared priorities and approaches to strengthen the role of women in peace building and conflict resolution, nationally and at regional level.

As we approach the 20th anniversary of resolution 1325 in 2020, documented evidence demonstrates that though peace is more long-lasting as a result of women’s meaningful participation in peace, security and humanitarian processes, that value does not consistently translate into women’s inclusion or participation in peace negotiations and implementation mechanisms. Isis-WICCE/The Centre under its new strategic plan has renewed its commitment to facilitate platforms for women to claim space and participate in national and regional peace processes with impact.

At regional level, the Office of the Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security has created a continental results framework for monitoring and reporting on the WPS in Africa and the African Union has designated 2019 as the year to work towards durable solutions to forced displacement in Africa, many of which are caused by conflict; this was a critical moment to further reflect on progress in advancing the women, peace and security agenda.

Agenda 2063 presents the vision of the African Union, to build an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in international arena. Aspiration 4 reflects the goal of a peaceful and secure Africa. This is mirrored by the AU’s decision to Silence the Guns by 2020 and in declaring 2010-2020 the African Women’s Decade. 2019 marks nine years into both and provides an opportunity for reflection on the needs, concerns and agency of women on the continent along with efforts to address and amplify the same in line with peace building.

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Sharon

The Road Towards 20 Years of Women, Peace and Security – Strategies for Action; Civil Society Forum.

18 years since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda continues to falter. Despite eight resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and a strong evidence base for action, women continue to be side-lined. The numbers of women and young women engaging at the highest levels of peace decision-making in their countries and in regional intergovernmental processes continue to fall short; women, young women, and girls face gender-related barriers as well as other obstacles such as (dis)ability, ethnic, and sexual orientation, preventing their meaningful participation in community level peace and security processes; funding for women’s organizations remains dismal while funding for militarized security continues to increase.

2020 marks the 20th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325, providing an important milestone to mobilize around and demand accelerated action on the WPS agenda. In preparation for the 20th anniversary of UNSCR 1325 in 2020, members from the coalition NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security facilitated a forum during the October WPS Week that brought together global feminist peace leaders to start the conversation on how we can catalyze on moments ahead of the 2020 anniversary to ensure holistic implementation of the WPS Agenda moving forward

The forum aimed to create the space for women from across the world to network and share learning and experiences; identify key tensions and lessons learned in navigating the challenges of implementing the women, peace and security agenda; and identify key mobilizing opportunities for 2019 and 2020, around which to build collaborations

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Sharon

United Nations Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security. (1325 Week)

The annual United Nations Security Council (UNSC) open debate on Women, Peace and Security reviewed the Secretary-General’s most recent report on Women, Peace and Security, and focused on “Promoting the Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and Sustaining Peace through Women’s Political and Economic Empowerment” organized by the Plurinational State of Bolivia. This debate was an opportunity for representatives of Member States, Observer States and regional organisations to assess their progress in implementing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda as well as make new commitments towards advancing WPS at local, national and regional levels.

In his intervention, the Secretary-General focused on the importance of securing funding for women’s organisations and expertise, as well as supporting women’s participation in peacebuilding at the local level. Civil society speaker Randa Siniora Atallah, the first Palestinian woman to address the UNSC in official public proceedings, Shared the experiences of women in the Israeli occupation. The most prominent themes of the discussion included the barriers that structural inequality poses to women, the effects of the lack of resources on women’s meaningful participation, and the importance of civil society in future implementation.

Many representatives used their statements to address structural inequalities as an important theme to overcoming obstacles to women’s meaningful participation and how they are linked. The representative of Bolivia highlighted masculinities and patriarchal society as barriers to combating violence and ensuring women’s participation. The representative of Albania highlighted that masculinity was rooted in power. However, the discussion of such inequalities went beyond tangible barriers; for example, the representative of the International Organization of La Francophonie questioned the usefulness of discussing empowerment altogether, suggesting that the concept of women’s empowerment implied a stereotype that women required capacity-building to perform duties, a question which was not mentioned when discussing men’s capacity in peacebuilding. Therefore, the speakers agreed that it is critical to dismantle stereotypes.

Given the increase in civil society speakers that were invited to brief in the UNSC in the past three years, 6 (7%) of the 81 representatives praised this inclusion as progress for women’s meaningful participation. In particular, the representatives of Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands and the United States highlighted the importance of increasing the number of civil society speakers in future UNSC briefings.

Overall, the four pillars of the WPS Agenda, namely participation, prevention, protection and relief & recovery, were generally referenced by representatives. The theme of participation was addressed by 76 (94%) of the 81 representatives, primarily through general affirmations of the importance of women’s participation as a necessary step to accessing economic resources. Prevention and Relief & Recovery were both referenced frequently by Member States, by 55 (68%) and 53 (65%) representatives, respectively. These references were in the context of women’s participation as critical to ensuring peace in pre- and post-conflict societies. Protection was referenced by 48 (59%) Member States, largely within the capacity of providing protection services to women in relation to SGBV.

Latest News
Sharon

Livelihood Enhancement for Social Transformation for Women Living with HIV/AIDS

Being a woman, itself often confronts you with a long and difficult process of emancipation and empowerment. Women and girls living with HIV and AIDS are not only facing the feminist process but are moreover victims of stigma and exclusion, especially in rural areas.

The programme “Livelihood Enhancement for social transformation for women living with HIV&AIDS in Orungo Sub County, Amuria District” was designed to strengthen the livelihood capacity of women living with HIV&AIDS in Orungo Sub-County, Amuria district in Uganda, with special emphasis on the members of Akwenyutu People Living with HIV&AIDS (APHAS). The project has been in effect since in October 2015–June 2018 with the overall objective of the intervention to increase access to sustainable livelihood opportunities for women living with HIV&AIDS.  In 2016, Uganda experienced a prolonged drought resulting into poor harvests and famine. Families had nothing to feed on, had to depend on handouts and became destitute. For people living with HIV/AIDS, lack of adequate food was a challenge in the uptake of medication.

The APHAS leadership was responsible for reaching out to the identified households and ensuring that they reach the food distribution venue on the 24th of August 2017. Ever since, APHAS has organized awareness raising sessions through music, dance and drama to over 3000 women and men in different communities. Isis-WICCE has engaged in enterprise development, entrepreneurship training and providing agricultural inputs that included seeds and tools to APHAS members

In partnership with APHAS, Isis-WICCE also organized a Girls’ Leadership Camp at Orungo PrimarySchool under the theme ‘My Body My Power’ from 2nd to 3rd June 2018. The girls’ leadership camp was attended by fifty (50) school girls aged between 9 – 12years from five primary schools; Orungo Primary School, Moruinera Primary School, Ocakai Primary School, Ococia Primary School, and Otubet Primary School. The girls were skilled in leadership, understanding their bodies, discovering their dreams and setting goals.

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Sharon

Socio-cultural Transformation through Transformative Leadership

This year’s Feminist Leadership Institute under the theme “Socio-cultural transformation through the transformative leadership”  kicked off with 15 Deputy Chair of the all 13 districts of province 3 and Women Human Rights Defenders in Nepal. This was an opportunity to embed a feminist approach to bring social and cultural transformation, clarify transformatory leadership, enhance the knowledge of bodily integrity, value women work, and identity, develop an understanding on causes and consequences of violence against women from women’s perspective and build agency for Socio cultural transformation.

Our partner, National Alliance of the Women Human Rights Defenders (NAWHRD) recently organized the Feminist Forum in the all 7 provinces of Nepal with the theme “Women’s bodily integrity, labor and identity is a pre requisite of Federal Republic democratic Nepal”. This forum has acted as a common ground where the local level women representatives, women human right defenders, social activists, politicians, journalists and other stakeholders come together to discuss plan and strategize to create enabling environment to ensure women’s rights for the five years tenure at local bodies.

The forum enabled women leaders to understand their role to create enabling environment for every single woman in the country to enjoy their right to bodily integrity, work and identity curbed by the century long patriarchal socialization process.  In all these forums, the major difficulty shared by women elected was not receiving proper cooperation from Mayors on their work. It was realized that a lot of women elected are not clear on their role and are having difficulty to assert their rights that are ensured by the constitution. In this regard, NAWHRD, in partnership with Isis-WICCE is working together to provide support to strengthen leadership position of these women elected.

Latest News
Sharon

Women’s Participation in the Electoral Process in Bukavu, DRC

There is growing recognition that stable peace and national prosperity can only be achieved when institutions are democratic and representative of all groups of society. Women’s full and equal participation and the integration of gender perspectives are key to democratic electoral processes in post-conflict situations. Isis-WICCE has conducted a number of collaborative actions in the Democratic Republic of Congo in accordance with the framework for cooperation for peace and security in the DRC and the 1325 Resolution of the UN Security Council.

Our Partner Jolly Kamuntu of Karibu Jeunesse Nouvelle (KJN) welcoming participants

In 2017, we joined forces with Karibu Jeunesse Nouvelle (KJN) to campaign against sexual and gender-based violence in Bukavu, DRC and the role of young people and musicians and actors in this fight. This partnership is to further strengthen the capacity of women, youth, and the media to participate in the 2018 elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo. With funding from Global Fund for Women (GFW) we carried out civic education on Women’s Engagement in the Electoral process in  DRC in partnership with Association des femmes des Medias – Sud Kivu (AFEM) in Bukavu.  A training of 20 women leaders was conducted; 5 from each territory in Bukavu. In group discussions and pictorial reviews participants were able to appreciate the role of women in the electoral process, as well as improving the knowledge of women in the electoral process and the participation of women in the electoral process in DRC.

AFEM works for Congolese women’s advancement through available media outlets. On this foundation the organization establishes the vision of encouraging women’s freedom of expression, informing women of their rights and fighting for equal rights between men and women. It specializes in the production of rural and urban radio shows with a major focus on women, drawing on radio clubs and local activists as a base.

Latest News
Sharon

Grassroots Women Leaders Building Peace

The Women’s was a month full of exciting events with lots to learn from. This year’s 62nd session of the Commission on Status of Women (CSW) focused on the empowerment of women and girls in rural areas from 12th to 23rd of March. Our team had the chance to be part of the gathering in New York City, engaging in discussions to exchange knowledge and also host its own side event on Grassroots Women Leaders Building Peacebuilding.

In partnership with Cordaid Global Fund for Women, and Women’s Major Group we discussed Women’s Peace Building Initiatives; Experiences, Challenges and Opportunities in rural affected settings. Women and girls in rural areas are largely the primary survivors of armed conflict but their voices and representation are often excluded from formal peace processes or decision-making on peace and security.


Our all women panel; Carine Kaneza MFFPS, Emilie Nsimire Cordaid Goma DRC, Avia Scovia STEWARDWOMEN South Sudan, shared their experiences as women peace activists in Burundi, South Sudan and DRC with an emphasis on the inclusion of young women.

It is important for development actors to know that women and girls in rural areas have the capacity to articulate what they want. Existing gender inequalities, the absence of women at peace tables, and the nature of peace talks as negotiations between warring parties and formally educated technocrats often translate into the under representation of rural women during transitional and post-conflict decision making processes. This then manifests itself in the shortage of rural women’s voices and the absence of specific policies and actions addressing the needs and specific status of rural women affected by conflict.

Latest News
Sharon

Evaluation of Isis-Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange Strategic Plan (2013-2017)

Isis-Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange Strategic Plan, 2013 to 2017, was dedicated to visions and goals intended to transform the organisation into a powerful entity that works and co-creates with strategic partners in conflict and post-conflict environments in different parts of the world. The five-year plan emerged from an evaluation of the organisation in 2013; an external evaluation was commissioned in 2017. The specific objectives were to assess the contextual relevance of the Strategic Plan and its appropriateness to the needs of beneficiaries; the coherence of interventions in relation to the goals and results set therein; effectiveness, in terms achieving the intended results; efficiency in relation to use of available resources; impact with regard to benefits that have accrued, and the sustainability of the interventions.

Evaluation of IW Strategic Plan Final ReportDownload
Latest News
Sharon

31st Gender Is My Agenda Campaign

Our year begun with a number of exciting events and meetings from the 10th African Union Gender Pre-Summit (AU-GPS) to African Young Women and Girls Advocacy Training at the 31st GIMAC – AU Pre-Summit Meetings, and the Gender Is My Agenda Campaign.

The 31st Gender is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC) Consultative Meeting on Mainstreaming Gender Equality in the African Union and Member States took place on the 20th-21st January, 2018 at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme: “Corruption and Governance: Impact and Way out for Women, Children and Youth”. The theme was aligned with the African Union (AU) dedication of the year 2018 as the year for anti-corruption under the theme: “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation”.

African Young Women and Girls Advocacy Training was held under the theme: A Corrupt Free African: Unleashing potentials and Protecting Rights of Africa’s Young People Especially Girls and Young Women. The training aimed to build the capacity of youth to actively engage African leaders in designing solutions to the issue of corruption as well as prepare them to be frontiers of Africa Development and about 35 youth were trained. Our Executive Director, Helen Kezie-Nwoha facilitated the session on advocacy and lobbying and shared practical experience of how Isis-WICCE conducts advocacy and lobbying at the African Union using the GIMAC platform.

The 31st GIMAC brought together over 150 delegates from over 30 countries, including representatives of Diplomatic Missions, African Union and United Nations officials, leading Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on Gender in Africa and other interested groups in advancing women’s rights in Africa. Drawing from the two-day discussions, participants outlined key recommendations. The meeting identified strategies and interventions that have continental implications in order to forestall the continued impact of corruption in governance, which hinder development, weaken the fabrics of sanity in the communities, promote violence and encourages avoidable negative consequences or marginalization and ethnocentrism.

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