Women Peace And Security April E-News 2018

Editorial: Sustaining Peace: Towards An Integrated Approach That Puts Local Women's Voices And Rights At The Center
By Joy Onyesoh, WILPF International Vice President and WILPF Nigeria President

WILPF International Vice President and WILPF Nigeria President Joy Onyesoh contributes as civil society speaker at the High-Level Breakfast on Gender Equality as a Key to the Sustainability of Peace hosted by Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia, Germany and Switzerland (Photo Credit: WILPF)

I was excited to receive an invitation from the President of the General Assembly to make a statement at the opening segment of the High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace on 24-25 April 2018. This has turned into an affirmative and reflective week for me in many ways.

As a member of an organisation that has been advocating for an integrated approach over the last 103 years, I felt so proud to hear the reaffirmation and reinforcement of our core messaging, including around the need to amplify local women’s voices, increase funding for gender equality and constructively engage with women civil society, being repeated at the UN. At a time when historical peace discussions are being initiated in the Koreas, yet when violence continues from Syria to Myanmar, this focus is critically needed.

One of the refreshing moments for me was the diversity of speakers from outside of the UN system, who were invited to address the General Assembly. We had speakers with very practical backgrounds, who work on youth and women’s issues. I also appreciated the commitments that Member States and the UN made on driving an integrated approach with women’s voices at the center of all efforts.

On the other side of the coin, it felt sad to note that what we at WILPF have known and advocated for years is becoming an aha moment for the UN just now. This reinforced the fact that we are on the right track and that there is a strong need for our ongoing and consistent engagement at all levels.

However, the road to sustaining peace is not yet perfect. 

Some gaps that stood out for me in the dialogue, including the lack of concrete ways of operationalising engagements on the ground with local women, practical mechanisms for ensuring core funding for women who work on Women, Peace and Security, lack of political will and commitment to discuss demilitarisation, political economies, and power relations. Others included the lack of integration of women’s meaningful political participation in the conversation about rights, peace and security and resource distribution, and the need to build narratives that recognise local expertise and knowledge that exists on the ground.

These gaps were evident in the approaches participants took to the dialogue. 

Some participants presented themselves as the experts on the subject matter and demonstrated a closed mind as to what the sustaining peace agenda should encompass. It felt like they needed to educate those of us who seem to have missed our way in a global discussion and had come with a very limited perspective. These groups often forget that sustaining peace involves putting local women’s voices and rights at the center.

Other participants, I believe, sincerely wanted to exchange information and were authentic enough to acknowledge the fact that we all come to the table with diverse realities, from our different fields, and recognised the importance of working collaboratively to connect all the dots to make a difference in the world. This group recognised the value of local gendered conflict analysis and its impact on the very essence of an ongoing conversation on sustaining peace.

This divide was the case even during civil society exchanges on the margins of the High-Level Meeting. While sitting in a room filled with diverse humanitarian, development, peace and human rights actors and exchanging experiences from the week, it was clear that power dynamics occur at all levels. 

This experience made me even more appreciative of WILPF values, of our Integrated Approach, and our local to global perspectives that put us in an empowered space to make a difference at multiple levels.

Our work has already significantly benefited from an integrated approach that the UN system is only exploring at the moment. The work that is done at WILPF’s New York and Geneva offices becomes so profound when you find yourself in a space with diverse actors from different fields on a local level. From the UN system to civil society space, WILPF stands out as a unique movement that has intentionally given itself to making an impact for feminist peace in this chaotic world.

I know that we do have a long way to go, but we are slowly and purposefully making a difference in the world.

I am happy that I could participate in this event and I go back more determined to keep up the work we are doing on the ground with the support of our dynamic and dedicated members everywhere.