Strengthening Peace and Security Approaches through Long-Term Prevention of Conflict, Human Security Strategies and Documentation of Local Women’s Voices - Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)
The recommendations of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) propose a conflict prevention approach throughout the Global Study, in three priority areas: long-term prevention of conflict, human security strategies, and documentation of local women’s voices. For each area we provide examples on a country and regional basis, illustrating how recommendations can be adapted to local realities. While our input relates mainly to the Prevention chapter (VI) of the Study, it also addresses issues that are listed in other chapters (notably chapters II, V and VIII), as well as the theme of security which comes back throughout the Study.
Our recommendations are grounded in our global network of civil society experts and specifically in the perspectives of our regional Gender Focal Points, who keep stressing that implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda needs to build more strongly on women's activism in conflict prevention.
To the UN, its Member States, regional organisations, security providers and donors:
- Provide long-term support to local civil society, and to women within broader movements: create spaces to listen actively; respond to challenges as defined locally; and provide multi-year support to long-term cooperation and to women’s agency in peacebuilding movements.
- Adopt a Gender, Peace and Human Security strategy to implement the WPS agenda: address specific security challenges faced by women; facilitate a strategy that incorporates different gender perspectives; and pioneer a human security approach in UNSCR 1325 implementation practice.
- Support access to and capacity building on communication and technology, enabling women to document their perspectives: through in-country documentation; activist-oriented research in accessible formats; and digital tools for women enhancing their privacy and security.
Recommendations should be adapted to local contexts - for examples see our full paper.
1. In Azerbaijan, work with women activists in conflict-affected communities has shown that civil society development delivers concrete value, filling many of the security vacuums. Small, local level activist groups can contribute to building a sense of community, facilitate community decision-making, deliver reliable information, reach the most vulnerable groups and represent community interests with authorities.
2. In Canada, women peace activists and researchers have lobbied and informed about peacebuilding, conflict prevention and the role of women therein. Finding the window for participation in policy making considerably reduced, they have connected in loose networks to continue their work, for example documenting the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Canada through the creation of databases, a request for a national inquiry, and campaigns.
3. GPPAC's "Stories of Human Security" publication provides findings from six countries relating to the role of the state in providing security, rule of law, the need for empowered communities to ensure the right protection, security dialogues as a tool to enhance agency, and using UNSCR 1325 as an opportunity to emphasise a people-centred approach to security.
More examples in our full paper, in our publication "Empowerment and Protection - Stories of Human Security" and at https://www.peaceportal.org/web/taking-women-beyond-1325/women-and-conflict
