2019 in Review: Our Local to Global Delegations of Women Peacebuilders
Throughout the year, we supported local women peace leaders across WILPF’s network of over 12,000 activists in over 39 countries, focusing on Colombia, Nigeria, Syria, Yemen, the Koreas, and the African and MENA regions. For example, in Nigeria, with our WILPF Nigeria section, WILPF’s WPS Director participated in the launch of the Nigerian Women Mediators Collaborative Initiative (NWMCI) in Abuja, Nigeria.
In the Korean peninsula, we mobilised with our coalition, the Korea Peace Now!campaign, to take steps by 2020 toward a peace agreement with women at the table and a disarmed region.
During the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, WILPF supported activists from the Koreas, Lebanon, Yemen, Palestine, Colombia, Nigeria, and Cameroon to mobilize to #MoveTheMoney and create feminist political economies of peace. Delegation members participated in discussions on feminist analysis of post-war reconstruction, the role of masculinities and militarism in the WPS Agenda, and the launch of our coalition KoreaPeaceNow! campaign, and attended other events throughout the two weeks of CSW63.
In July at the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, WILPF for the first time hosted a delegation to the HLPF. This included activists from the Cameroon, Norway, United Kingdom, and the United States. As part of our delegation action, WILPF co-facilitated a Group of Friends of UNSCR 1325 meeting with member states and UN agencies, and hosted a workshop on policy coherence in the 2030 Agenda. WILPF also contributed to events and strategic discussions on the SDGs and WPS, climate and peace, governance, systems reform, movement building, and the VNRs of Cameroon and the UK.
During the 19th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325, WILPF facilitated a delegation from Syria, Colombia, Korea, and Lebanon to New York. Among many other advocacy points of engagement with member states and other civil society organisations, the delegation attended the second Multistakeholder Forum on WPS (co-hosted by Sweden, UN Women, and the NGO WG on WPS, in which WILPF is an active member). WILPF’s WPS and Crisis Response teams also worked together to host an open side event on socio-political feminist activism in Syria.
The strength of WILPF’s advocacy comes from the power of our networks of women peace activists who work every day within their own countries to build peace. As we head into 2020, we are excited and proud to continue our work to strengthen accountability for the holistic implementation of the WPS agenda.