Since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000, the importance of women’s participation in peacebuilding has been both recognized and widely defended. However, in practice, since its adoption women and women’s rights and women-led civil society organizations continue to face challenges to participate meaningfully in high-level decision-making forums, and their participation is still not supported widely by international and national actors.
That’s why the LEAP4Peace Consortium – a partnership comprising of NIMD, the Burundi Leadership Training Program (BLTP), the Gender Equality Network Myanmar (GEN), and Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS) – held a panel event on women’s participation in promoting and maintaining peace in Colombia and Myanmar.
The event was hosted by the UK Mission to the UN in New York on Friday 21 October. It was organized in coordination with WO=MEN and the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund. It was a chance to hear from Colombia, Myanmar and women’s rights organizations, who provides reflections and discussed lessons learned, opportunities and recommendations on what is needed to ensure women’s participation in peace.
The discussion also drew the link between rapid response funding mechanisms and long-term capacity building and programming, exploring how these different approaches can feed into each other to promote the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.
The Pillars for Peace Summary Report
As part of the event, the LEAP4Peace Consortium also launched our summary report building on the Pillars for Peace report, which the Consortium published last year.
The report examines the role that women have played in negotiating and maintaining peace, drawing on the wide range of experiences of women in Burundi, Colombia, and Myanmar working on peacebuilding and meaningful participation in peace processes and democracy.
It outlines the varied roles of women politicians, women activists, women’s rights organizations and women-led civil society organizations in peacebuilding and in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women Peace and Security.
The report also sets out the key successes, challenges and recommendations for national governments, political parties and institutions, civil society and the international community to ensure that women are represented and contribute to local, national and international peace efforts.
Read the summary report here. Or, you can access it in French or Spanish here.
About the LEAP4Peace Consortium
NIMD is a proud member of the LEAP4Peace Consortium. Together we support women in Myanmar, Colombia and Burundi, so they can play a meaningful role in political leadership, conflict resolution, and peace building in their countries. Other members in the Consortium are the Burundi Leadership Training Program (BLTP), the Gender Equality Network Myanmar (GEN), and Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS).
Our ultimate aim for the coming five years is to contribute to a conducive environment for women’s full and meaningful inclusion in political and decision-making processes, as a means of sustaining peace in Burundi, Colombia and Myanmar.
Learn more about the LEAP4Peace Consortium.