GOOD PIECE BY OUR FRIENDS. EVE Organization for Women Development Brief summary on the International Symposium on Negotiating A better Peace On June 22nd-25th 2014 the International Civil Society Action Network (INCAN), UN Women, US Institute of Peace, Crisis Management Initiative, the Global Network of Women Peace builders, and Cordiad with assistance from the Institute of Inclusive Security, and Athena Consortium had organized a three day an International Symposium on “Negotiating a Better Peace” in The US Warrenton Virginia at Airlie conference center the objectives were: • Strengthen ongoing efforts by actors in the focus countries • Help develop the first practical due diligence checklist and action points to be used by government seeking to enable inclusion of women and civil society in peace making • Inform the 2015 High Level Review and Global report on the implementation of UNSCR1325 • Put the words and spirit of the UNSCR1325 agenda, General Assembly’s resolution on the peaceful mediation of Disputes (2011) and the UN Guidance on Effective Mediation (2012) into practice. The participants were from different countries the focus countries was South Sudan, Colombia, Syria and Burma in addition to drawing on lessons from Afghanistan the Philippines and other relevant processes.The number of participants was above 70. Day one started with “Women peace talk panel” the delegation was from South Sudan, Colombia, Afghanistan, Syria and Myanmar. a. Ja Nan Lahtaw from Myanmar shared her experience in peace process, based on the question what has worked to enhance inclusion she stressed on the role of civil society organization in peace talks is crucial and it has to be taken as an opportunity they need to be on board, Ja Nan participated in establishing technical team and inclusive framework for peace talks that will bring all the stakeholders she work as an advisor to 16 arm groups this has helped them to understand the vital role of CSOs. b. Rosa from Colombia started with elaborating the meaning of inclusion, bringing more women on panel discussion this has impacted the peace talks in a sense that women issues were addressed, multilevel advocacy planning to ensure all the ideas are included. Women held summit and this has given a clue of how to go gender mechanism was put in place. At the negotiating table men are tough to convince but no option women have to be part of peace talks. It is important that people own the process. c. Palwasha Hassan from Afghanistan they focus on awareness raising and mobilization of women to take part in peace talks which being ignored for long time. Out of 20 groups 4 women were included in each group, inclusion needs confidence building and ability to be able to speak firm d. Betty Ogwaro a former minister of agriculture representing South Sudan shared her experience in peace mediation between LRA and Uganda government she stressed on the importance of women inclusion in peace talks she played a role of mediator in that peace process. She went on saying that international actors should not divide people because we in South Sudan are divided along our development partners. Day two focused on integrating gendered and inclusivity perspectives into the substance of peace agreements participants were divided into 5 groups the following were the main topics been addressed 1. Governance issues, notably power sharing and transitional institutions 2. Security issues particularly ceasefire accords and implementation mechanisms; 3. Transitional justice issues, including reparations; 4. Economic issues, including resource sharing and property rights; 5. Integration of specific social cohesion and peace building measures to promote a culture of peace and unity in divided societies Day three was about creating a golden standard: Guidance for effective peace processes, understanding and improving international practices. The participants were divided into four (4) groups the following were the main themes been discussed 1. Civil society perspectives on international actors 2. Reflections from senior international diplomats/envoys and their experiences in mediation 3. Setting standards of practice to support women’s inclusion through specific action points. The symposium was concluded by developing action points for the effective inclusion of women civil society representatives in peace processes below is the summary of action points during war, before talks, during talks and implementation phase. a. During war and before talks • Mapping of women’s peace work/ existing or potential groups and coalitions • Technical capacity building for CSOs and coalition building • Technical support for CSOs Preparing for talks; mediation team should ensure the following points are set clearly; • Appointment of gender advisor to envoy/ mediator at earliest stage • TOR of mediator specific reference to UNSCR1325 and outreach to women’s CSOs and design of inclusive process • Support to CSOs women groups are regularly informed and kept abreast of developments to enable them to react and provide input in a timely manner b. During talks; • Women’s peace group fully represented and supported • Women’s contributions integrated into entire process • Civic forums for participation of all interested CSOs in process, contributing ideas and demonstrating public demands for peace • Grassroots peace constituencies also supported and informed c. Implementation phase • Sustain support to women’s peace groups and advocacy groups to monitor implementation and be able to hold parties accountable • Encourage/ support women CSO leaders to enter political/ governance sphere and work transformation from the inside-out • Partner with CSO to carry message of peace agreement to rural and provincial communities • Maintain public information systems (media civic forums) in place to manage expectations. • Support to government officials by providing training to all officials on social and gendered conflict analysis so that they can understand impact of conflict, people’s needs, and prioritize actions and resources accordingly( e.g in health, education, security, agriculture etc) • Tie aid to transparency/ accountability including attention to differential needs of women/ men per sector.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 07:39:03 +0000
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