MENA AGENDA 1325 WORKING TOGETHER FOR PEACE strengtHenIng Women’s rIgHts and securItY In tHe mena regIon Women’s InternatIonal league for Peace & freedom
“the first group responsible for violence is the police” Woman, Tunisia, Spring 2012 “Weapons are not only in the hands of the state; Women are afraid of the arms held by their husbands and children. We need to start a public discourse about private Weapons” Woman, Lebanon, Spring 2012
dealIng WItH damagIng trends In slowly the old masculine structures are rebuilt and strengthened, and we see an increase of militarism, arms flow and violence that has gender tHe mena regIon specific impacts in the region. moreover, it is highly likely that social services will be cut or not be considered a priority as a result of increased military budgets. there is no doubt that women activists played a vital role in the uprisings demanding democracy in the middle east and north africa (mena) region. these are damaging trends that need to be dealt with immediately. they fought side by side with the men in the underground movements, in the streets and from behind computers. Women in the region have to integrate peace and security issues in their activities. they need to challenge the increased militarisation and the uprisings came with a promise of equality and freedom, but so far escalating violence and demand access to the decision-making process it is strikingly clear that the women’s efforts did not translate into an in accordance with the international human rights obligations. increased public participation in the reform process. In spring 2012 – one year after the uprising – Women’s International the promise of equality and freedom seems forgotten and women in the league for Peace and freedom (WIlPf) has started the mena agenda region find themselves more marginalised and excluded from the formal 1325 in order to draw attention to discrimination against women and decision-making than before. support the efforts to reinforce peace and security in the region. stories about acts of violation and discrimination against women are overspilling from the region; these incidents illustrate that women are still considered as subordinate to men.
PALESTINE mena regIon middle east & north africa “democratic transition is taking place at the expense of Women’s rights” Women, Morocco, Spring 2012 eIgHt countrIes during the first phase, mena agenda 1325 focuses on the following eight countries in the mena region: Iraq, libya, tunisia, egypt, Jordan, lebanon, Yemen and morocco. WIlPf has teamed up with a national partner in each country and invited national experts and grassroots activists from a variety of women’s and youth organisations to participate.
Women, men, and tHe rIgHt this is where mena agenda 1325 steps in. to Influence throughout 2012, the project is working to identify obstacles to, and opportunities for the advancement of, women’s rights and their influence on the peace and security policy-making in the region. each country has its own agenda and specific challenges, but what all eight countries have in common is that, historically, women’s rights have the issues being mapped include: been subordinate to men’s power. • What is the relationship between human rights obligations and women, peace and security in each country? moreover, as a result of this, women in the region face heavy obstacles • How safe are women human rights defenders and what can be done to that prevent them from participating in the public sphere and they are ensure their security? excluded from the decisionmaking process concerning peace and security. • How is the women’s rights agenda being addressed in peace building, conflict resolution, and in decision-making processes at government and grassroots levels? maPPIng tHe Issues • How can this be built so that women become partners in peace and security decision-making? to strengthen women’s rights and security in the region, women need • How is it possible to create and promote a strong network between to define their strategies, develop their knowledge about security policy women’s organisations and groups working with peace and security issues and use their networks. issues in the region? Without this they will not be able to gain access to participate in and influence security-related discussions and actions.
lInKIng state oBlIgatIons during spring 2012, WIlPf has coordinated and conducted national consultations in the eight countries. these focused on the existing specific challenges and opportunities facing each country, as well as identified the project will enforce and strengthen the link between the convention commonalities in the region. on the elimination of discrimination against Women (cedaW), the Beijing Platform for action (BPa), unscr 1325 and its subsequent resolutions the outcome of the national consultations is the foundation for an in order to strengthen the ‘women, peace and security agenda’ in the international conference with participants from each country that will mena region. take place in geneva, switzerland, in June 2012 during the 20th session of the Human rights council. according to these instruments, the state is obliged to realise women’s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for maintenance an outcome document will analyse the experiences and recommendations and promotion of peace and security. of women from the mena region and – not least – point out the way forward to strengthening women’s rights and peace and security in this highly militarised region. Process mena agenda 1325 is carried out in collaboration with partners, experts and grassroots activists from the eight countries, who are contributing to discussions at a national level.
“there is no clear understanding of What gender equality is” Woman, Iraq, Spring 2012 “everything in the region is changing, yet We do not have the language to talk about gender, peace and security. We need to create neW terms” Woman, Jordan, Spring 2012 Foto: UN Women/Fatma Elzahraa Yassin
“change Will not be transformative if Women are not presented in all elements of that change” Madeleine Rees, Secretary General, WILPF Foto: Rowan Farrell
donor and Partners lebanon: aBaad-resource center for gender equality mena agenda 1325 is coordinated by the Women’s International league tunisia: association des femmes tunisiennes pour la for Peace and freedom (WIlPf) with financial support from the recherche sur le développment government of norway, the government of the united Kingdom, the government of the netherlands, and the government of switzerland. iraq: 1325 ngo network the national partners are: libya: el Karama and the libyan Women’s Platform for Peace Jordan: arab Women organisation morocco: union de l’action féminine neXt steP the project will be brought back to the national level after the yemen: Human rights Information & training center international conference. each country will develop an action agenda to follow-up on the recommendations made. as the national consultations have already advocated for, emphasis will also be made on networking egypt: appropriate communication techniques for development and research on women, peace and security in the region.
“Women are absent from all negotiations, meetings and security decisions” Woman, Iraq, Spring 2012 “Women had a place to go and express ourselves during the uprising – We Went to the square. but noW, Where do We go? Which institutions support us to share our vieWs?” Woman, Yemen, Spring 2012
“We need to keep What We gained from the revolution. We need to change the portrayal of Women in the media and educate people about the history of Women’s struggle for equality” Woman, Egypt, Spring 2012 Women’s InternatIonal league for Peace & freedom
WIlPf 1, rue de Varembé case Postale 28 1211 geneva 20 / switzerland the Women’s International league for Peace and freedom (WIlPf) t: +41 (0)22 919 70 80 is a non-profit peace organisation that brings women together to e: mena1325@wilpf.ch oppose war, violence and global militarisation. www.wilpfinternational.org
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