As Vice Chair of the Gender Is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC), ACCORD conducted two virtual strategy sessions for the GIMAC Young Women’s Network Council. The GIMAC Young Women’s Network (GYWN) was established in 2018 to recognize and amplify young women’s voices and their advocacy efforts in their local communities, nations and regions. The network’s advocacy work seeks to address gender equality and the effective participation of women across the six thematic areas of focus, which include governance; peace and security; human rights; health; education; and economic empowerment. The Network is led by a youth steering committee known as the Young Women’s Network Council with representation across Africa. To date, GYWN has successfully organised eight trainings to educate women and young girls on how to advocate for their rights; and has provided spaces for young people to share their experiences and challenges. As the GYWN continues to grow, there is need to build the capacity of its leadership through trainings and educative workshops for the council of the young women’s network.
The strategy sessions that were held on 30 August and 29 September 2022, provided a platform for, the sharing of experiences and lessons learnt from the previous Young Women’s Advocacy trainings; discussions on the type of capacity building required; and to concretize actions steps for the next young women’s advocacy training that will feed into the GYWN planning for 2023.
ACCORD’s support to the GIMAC Young Women’s Network Council contributes to enhancing the capacity of women (and youth) to influence, participate equally, lead peace processes and support the implementation of post conflict reconstruction initiatives.
