Women, Peace & Security
This week UN Women and the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) are training women leaders to strengthen their mediation capacities in peacebuilding processes to prioritize women’s specific needs.
The training session, which runs from 19 to 23 July in Abuja, Nigeria, brings together 32 women from 16 West African countries and focuses on the techniques of mediation, advocacy, negotiation and the implementation of peace agreements. The training is in line with the strategic priorities of UN Women and UNOWA to increase women’s participation in conflict-resolution efforts, including conflict-related sexual violence.
The mediation training responds to a Regional Action Plan adopted by West African Gender and Women Affairs Ministers during the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution (UNSCr) 1325 on women, peace and security last year. One of the key actions includes increasing women’s representation in peacebuilding processes.
A UN Women review reveals that since 1992 fewer than 10 percent of peace negotiators have been women and there has been little appreciable increase since the passage of UNSCr 1325 in 2000.
This activity is implemented with the support of the Kingdom of Norway and in close collaboration with the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) and the Network on Peace and Security for Women in the ECOWAS Region (NOPSWECO).
For more information, contact:
* Marie Pierre Raky Chaupin, UN Trust Fund and End Violence against Women Coordinator, UN Women in Dakar, Senegal, mariepierre.raky.chaupin[at]unwomen.org, +221 33 869-9972
* Ikechukwu Attah, Programme and Communication Officer, UN Women in Abuja, Nigeria, ikechukwu.attah[at]unwomen.org