By Anthony Q. Jiffan, Jr.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has begun a three day in-country capacity building training for National Stakeholders and Women Peace and Security Focal Persons on utilizing the continental results framework for monitoring and reporting on the women, peace and security agenda.
The training which started on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 is currently taking place in Monrovia.
Speaking on behalf of the Gender, Children and Social Protection, Assistant Gender Minister Madam Ophelia J. S. Kennedy praised ECOWAS and other partners and participants for the in-country Pilot Training Workshop for national stakeholders on monitoring and reporting on the women, peace and security agenda in West Africa and particularly in Liberia.
Minister Kennedy said the Women, Peace, and Security agenda is a powerful framework that emphasizes the critical role of women in conflict resolution and peace building.
“Let’s be reminded that sustainable peace cannot be achieved without the full and active participation of women at all stages of peace building decision-making processes,” Madam Kennedy added.
According to the Assistant Gender Minister, the vital role of women in peace building and conflict resolution cannot be overstated, noting that women are not only victims of conflict; they are also powerful agents of change, resilience, and peace.
She indicated that despite their crucial contributions, their voices continue to be marginalized in discussions around security and peace building processes.
Madam Kennedy stressed that the presence of the participants at the workshop signified a collective commitment to ensuring that women’s voices are heard and their contributions recognized.
She continued: “This workshop aims to share knowledge, best practices, and innovative strategies for you to learn new ideas on how to effectively use the AU Continental Result Framework for monitoring and reporting on the progress on implementing national action plans for the Women, Peace, and Security agenda”
For her part, ECOWAS Country Representative to Liberia Ambassador Josephine Nkrumah recalled that over two decades ago UNSCR 1325 was adopted in relation to Women Peace and
Security taking due cognizance of the fact that whilst women bore the disproportionate brunt of violent conflict, they remained woefully underrepresented in the formal participation of peace processes.
According to her, it is a fact that sustainable global peace and security can
only be achieved when policies, legal framework and concrete action is taken to protect women in conflict.
“It is equally true that sustainable peace can only be achieved when the crucial platforms for peace processes create that space for women’s full and pivotal participation,” Ambassador Nkrumah emphasized.
She noted that UNSCR 1325 has over the period since its adoption birthed other resolutions on the various theme areas of Women Peace and Security.
Ambassador Nkrumah said in furtherance of those objectives, the African Union adopted measures to enhance women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution on the African Continent.
The ECOWAS Country Representative added that cascading downwards, the West African sub region has made considerable progress in developing policies and strategies for the WPS.
“However, we still observe weak implementations, studies have revealed inadequacies of member states’ monitoring and evaluation of WPS national policies and strategies” she said.
To address these challenges, she asserted, the ECOWAS Commission has validated a simplified version of this tool, establishing a regional WPS steering committee and providing requisite training to this body to support M&E and annual reporting on the WPS Agenda.
She indicated that the Commission through the Directorate of Humanitarian and Social Affairs in
collaboration with the Regional Steering Group, with support from the ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO), co-funded by the European Union, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development with implementing support from GIZ has begun organizing a series of workshops in some member states.
The program brought together several participants from across different sectors in Liberia.
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