Empowering women

andya — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:44:23 +0000

Just a year away from the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which called for improved representation and contribution of women to peacemaking, 30 senior level women active in peace
processes from across Africa, were brought together by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue to discuss how to improve the participation and contribution of women in peace processes.

These women mediators, advisers to peace processes, members of negotiating teams, representatives of governments and multilateral and regional organisations, discussed the roles and contributions of women to peace talks across Africa, and the challenges they face during such high-level negotiations.

“The African Woman’s Decade 2010 – 2020 higlights an upcoming opportunity to galvanize a collective effort by regional institutions, national governments and NGO’s to increase and also enhance the role of women in peace making across Africa” said Yodit Lemma from the HD Centre’s office in Nairobi.

Participants included Betty Bigombe, Chief Mediator in the Ugandan peace process with the Lord’s Resistance Army; Anne Itto, Deputy Secretary General of the SPLM, SPLM delegate to the Naivasha Peace Talks; Hon. Santa Okot, Member of the LRA delegation to the Juba peace talks, and; Margaret Vogt, Deputy Director, Senior Political Adviser to the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation.

“We hope that this event will draw out new thinking for practical approaches to enhance women’s participation in formal peace processes,” said MeredithPreston-McGhie, Senior Programme Manager at the HD Centre.

Participants looked at women’s contributions to peace negotiations, the challenges they face, and strategies to address them. They also discussed the low representation of women at the peace table, raising gender issues during negotiations, the relationship between mediators working at the political level and those active at the civil society level, and existing mechanisms that promote women representation and participation in peace processes.

The recent adoption by the Security Council of two Resolutions – UNSCR 1888 which provides concrete building blocks to address sexual violence in UN-mediated peace processes, and UNSCR 1889 which seeks to empower women and improve their protection during post conflict period – has created a new momentum for a stronger role of women in peace processes.

The HD Centre is hopeful that this Roundtable will contribute significantly to this momentum.