Reporting from the Geneva Convening: Strengthening Synergies for Action

By Marina Kumskova, WILPF’s Women, Peace and Security Programme Associate

Madeleine Rees speaking at the dialogue on synergies between Sustainable Peace and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (Photo: Anwar Mhajne)

On the margins of the 17th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) undertook several initiatives, including in partnership with the Group of Friends of UNSCR 1325 and the Group of Friends of Sustainable Peace, to leverage the role of local women’s expertise and gender analysis for the UN work on sustainable peace. Reporting back from WILPF-led April 2017 convening, an event that gathered more than 150 women's rights and peace activists from around the world, WILPF shared the voices of local experts on how to make the United Nations more inclusive and make women count within the UN system for lasting peace.

The video shown during these engagements highlights the ongoing obstacles to women’s meaningful participation and its impact on sustainability of peace. At the convening, women called for a paradigm shift in the approach taken to peacebuilding, one which ensures that local women speak for themselves (rather than be spoken for), addresses women’s human rights and understands gender inequalities as one of the root causes of conflict. As Madeleine Rees suggested during one of the meetings, the absence of such an understanding currently challenges prevention work and restricts opportunities for peace.

Read the Summary of the “Sustaining Peace and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda: Strengthening Synergies for Action” Dialogue here>>

Read the Summary of the “Sustaining Feminist Peace: Preventing Conflict Through Women’s Meaningful Participation and Gender Justice” Event here>>