The Arab world is currently facing several regional
conflicts and crises that require in-depth exploration for a better
implementation of Resolution 1325, and to contribute to a regional learning
process that would in turn contribute to guiding policies related to women’s
security and safety and promoting their localization.
اضافة اعلان
From this standpoint, to discuss the basic questions that
shape the discourse of women, security, and peace in the Arab region, and to
activate its agenda with a new approach at the local level, the Arab
Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), co-funded by UN Women Jordan
and within the Ford Foundation’s Build grant, held an international conference
entitled: “Towards a New Approach to the Women, Security, and Peace Agenda in
the Arab World.”
The conference, which included several panel discussions and
open dialogues, addressed the most important issues and lessons learned from
the region’s experiences in implementing national plans for the Women, Security
and Peace agenda, and the extent to which it represents women and their role in
community cohesion, as well as the challenges facing the activation of the
localization of decision-making, and the capabilities needed to respond to
upcoming crises and climate challenges.
CEO of ARDD, Samar Muhareb, stated that “The conference
constitutes a platform for dialogue, exchange of knowledge, and efforts to
advance the agenda of Women, Security, and Peace in the Arab world, as a
strategic framework to respond to prolonged conflicts and crises, as well as
Arab transformations,” considering that “even though this agenda did not save
women in countries witnessing wars and disasters, is important in stopping
crises and conflicts, and must be worked on very seriously in coordination with
all parties locally, regionally, and globally.”
“The conference constitutes a platform for dialogue, exchange of knowledge, and efforts to advance the agenda of Women, Security, and Peace in the Arab world, as a strategic framework to respond to prolonged conflicts and crises, as well as Arab transformations,”
For her part, the Secretary-General of the Jordanian
National Commission for Women, Her Excellency Eng. Maha Ali, explained that one
of the most prominent achievements accomplished during the implementation of
the first plan to activate the resolution is the development of two strategies
for gender integration in the Public Security Directorate and the Arab Army,
increasing the representation of women in these two institutions, and raising
the percentage of women in leadership positions in the Arab Army, in addition
to raising the percentage of women’s participation in peacekeeping missions in
the security and military sectors.”
Al-Ali called for the protection of women in wars and
conflicts, saying “We’re here to discuss Resolution 1325, which now requires a
new approach, as well as protecting women during wars and crises, especially in
light of the violations and war crimes we are witnessing against women and
children in Gaza.”
The introductory session, moderated by the Principal Advisor
for Women and Youth Programs at ARDD’s Al-Nahda Center, Dr. Sanaa Al-Jelassi,
discussed the capabilities that contribute to promoting the localization of the
Women, Security, and Peace agenda, while Eleonora Banfi, Director of Al-Nahda
Thought Center for Women’s Studies at ARDD, pointed to the organization’s role
in promoting the localization of Resolution 1325 since 2012, and the efforts
contributed through the establishment of the Jordan National NGO Forum in
Jordan (JONAF), and working to develop the capabilities of local civil society
organizations to enhance their response to the needs of society and sustain
their development and relief efforts.
The first session, moderated by the Director of Programs at
ARDD, Zainab Al-Khalil, discussed the main topics that the agenda for Women,
Security, and Peace in the Arab region is supposed to address, where the
speakers, including the Director of the Women’s Empowerment Foundation in Iraq,
Suzan Aref, stressed the need to pay attention to women’s issues in an
integrated manner, and the importance of states allocating appropriate budgets
for “peacemaking”, in addition to enacting the necessary legislation that
supports the activation of Resolution 1325 at all local levels, while demanding
paying regular and integrative attention to women’s issues, as opposed to being
limited to certain occasions, as well as implementing programs and projects
that correspond to the needs of each community.
“even though this agenda did not save women in countries witnessing wars and disasters, is important in stopping crises and conflicts, and must be worked on very seriously in coordination with all parties locally, regionally, and globally.”
For her part, the Director of the West Asia-North Africa
Institute in Jordan, Dr. Yara Shaaban, stressed the importance of researching
to identify the actual needs of women and measure their participation using
proper indicators, which would contribute to the proper activation of the
Women, Security, and Peace agenda, stressing the need to focus on the concept
of societal peace to achieve the required results in the long and short run.
The second session, moderated by Wesal Abdullah from the
Arab Women Association, examined future steps to promote the localization of
the Women, Security, and Peace agenda in the Arab world, while the director of
the Aswat Nissa project in Tunisia, Oumaima Amara, indicated that there are
positive experiences witnessed by many countries related to the national plans
of Resolution 1325, citing Tunisian laws that came to amplify women’s voices on
many issues.
Sanaa Al-Banawi, Program Officer for the Middle East and
North Africa at the Global Network of Women Peacemakers (GNWP), said that the
cornerstone of the success of Resolution 1325 localization is working on
national plans that suit Arab societies, as well as providing support and
partnerships between the various sectors to develop implementable plans that
take into account the characteristics of each country, its unique aspects, and
the challenges it faces.
The third session presented the topic of the Arab world’s
readiness for the next crisis, including climate crises. CEO of the Peace for
Sustainable Societies Foundation (PASS) in Yemen, Athar Ali Mohammed, saw that
Arab societies are still far from implementing Resolution 1325 effectively,
which highlights the efforts of organizations to work collectively in this
regard, pointing out that political stability in any country contributes to
activating the resolution.
The Director of the Dibbeen Association for Environmental
Development, Hala Murad, stressed the importance of specialization for the
sectors that will be worked on within the environment file and Resolution 1325,
indicating that the challenges of climate crises have become a reality that
affects women and societies and threatens their security; hence, women must be
more involved in environmental issues and decision-making positions.
The fourth session, moderated by UN Women Jordan’s Women,
Peace, and Security Unit Project Officer, Anoud Majali, focused on the role of
civil society and women-led organizations in community cohesion and their
contribution to activating the Women, Security, and Peace agenda, as well as
discussing the challenges faced by civil society organizations in this context,
as part of the Joint Support Fund’s support for the second Jordanian national
plan to activate Security Council resolution 1325.
According to the speakers, there are societal issues that
require collective action, including issues of unemployment and community
violence, among others, noting the importance of involving the largest number
of community groups in training programs and workshops to ensure achieving the
public good. Rakan Al-Rowwad, director of the Qantara Center for Human
Resources Development in the Jordanian governorate of Ma’an, called for the
need to involve men in specialized programs to empower women in various sectors.
Dr. Hanan Khreisat from the Tafila Women’s Union saw that
civil society should build on previous experiences and benefit from diverse
experiences. Captain Mohammed Erbaihat of the Jordanian Community Peace Center
spoke about the establishment of the center in 2015 under the direct
supervision of the Public Security Directorate, to keep pace with technical and
technological developments in light of the tremendous development of digital
platforms, while Abla Al-Hajaya Al-Maraghia from the Jordanian Al-Hasa Charitable
Society focused on the role of local organizations in spreading awareness about
the concept of societal peace and promoting the localization of Resolution
1325.
“We’re here to discuss Resolution 1325, which now requires a new approach, as well as protecting women during wars and crises, especially in light of the violations and war crimes we are witnessing against women and children in Gaza.”
The speakers at the conference concluded their two-day
discussions and presentations by emphasizing the move towards a new approach to
the Women, Security, and Peace agenda in the Arab world, noting the importance
of having the political will to activate Resolution 1325 at the local,
national, and regional levels, stressing the importance of achieving a better
understanding of geostrategic change and contributing to building a new
economic model that responds to the needs of the most vulnerable groups and the
needs of women and girls, including studying the specific impact of climate
change on women and local communities, identifying issues and gaps within the
accountability frameworks of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda that are
related to climate change, and all the other strategies and plans that must be
developed to include the existing mechanisms in centralized and decentralized
structures.
Furthermore, the participants called for researching the
current concepts and frameworks and the extent to which the WSP action plan
adapts to the context of societies, whether in times of peace or during crises,
in addition to identifying the most important issues of our time and building
evidence that would support the identification of better lines of activities
that fall within the framework of the four pillars of the Women, Security, and
Peace agenda, in case it was necessary to change them to include (human security,
emerging new threats, social cohesion, climate change, and others).
The importance of representing women’s voices from all
segments and their effective participation in the development of the National
Action Plan and the Women, Security, and Peace Agenda was also highlighted, in
addition to building effective and sustainable partnerships and relationships
between several actors related to the themes of the conference, concerting
efforts between the various sectors to build the capacities of local community
organizations and maintaining the level and continuity of funding that would
ensure the sustainability of the work of these organizations through the
participation of women and relevant groups in all stages of the implementation
of Resolution 1325 through drafting, planning, implementation, and evaluation,
in order to activate it and sustain its impact on societies.
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