In 2013 and 2014, the ACCORD Great Lakes Project (GLP) has held different trainings and consultations in collaboration with the International Conference on The Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) secretariat. The purpose of trainings was to build capacities of women in peacebuilding skills. The consultations were intended to seek for avenues where GLP can collaborate with ICGLR in order to assist the institution in achieving its objectives as per the Memorandum of Understanding between ICGLR and ACCORD that was signed in 2011. Mainly the consultations sought at having a Gender Unit with the Secretariat and this was made effective since 2014.
The Gender Roundtable that was held on 22 and 23 September 2015 in Kigali, Rwanda was attended by ICGLR secretariat staff from the Gender, Women and Children Program, ICGLR Regional Women bureau and representatives of women organisations from the ICGLR twelve member States.
UNSCR 1325 stresses the importance of women’s equal and full participation as active agents in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace-building and peacekeeping. It calls on Member States to ensure women’s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security and urges all actors to increase the participation of women and to incorporate gender perspectives in all areas of peace building peacekeeping and conflict prevention and resolution. The ICGLR Gender, Women and Children Program intends to put in place a pool of women mediators to address the issue of women under representativity in mediation teams in the member states as it has been raised during the consultations and trainings.
The roundtable provided a space for not only women peacebuilders but also ICGLR secretariat’s Gender, Women and Children Program to analyse and share level of implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in member states; to reflect on how Women in the Great Lakes Region could be able to influence decisions and to reflect on how to strengthen and support women’s participation in post-conflict governance
The ACCORD Great Lakes Project is an initiative funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For more information please contact Dr. Patrick Kanyangara at Patrick@accord.org.za or Ms. Chantal Kanyange, GLP Project Officer at Chantal@accod.org.za.
