Webinar on Women, Peace and Security on March 10th

On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022 (IWD), the Swedish Dialogue Institute for the Middle East and North Africa in partnership with the AUB Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI), organized a webinar titled “How Inclusive is a Sustainable Tomorrow?”

The webinar, which was held on March 10, 2022, was co-moderated by Ambassador Charlotta Sparre, Director of the Swedish Dialogue Institute for the Middle East and North Africa, and Karma Ekmekji, Senior Fellow and lead advisor to the WPS initiative at IFI. The event was part of the “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow”.

Speakers from various sectors explored ways to overcome gender discrimination and inequality in the context of climate change and peace building, through inclusive processes. They shared their experiences in relation to peacebuilding efforts and the roles they play in promoting inclusion in decision-making processes. The panellists focused on the importance of increasing women representation, as well as the relationship between the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda (WPS) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

They also shared recommendations on how they could work towards achieving inclusive representation in different sectors and at policy- and decision-making levels. Key recommendations were:

• Create conditions and platforms at all levels for inclusive participation of women in all parts of society, including in peace and development work as well as around policy- and decision-making tables.
• Further develop work that helps documenting areas of progress, challenges, and resources to contribute to development of evidence-based policies.
• Raise awareness on the growing evidence that more inclusive peace processes increase the chances of lasting peace, as well as on the potential gains for society as a whole if women’s participation in the workforce increases.
• Support programs that strengthen access to women’s economic rights and participation, including on entrepreneurship and innovation.
• Integrate gender sensitive techniques at all stages of peace building (conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and post-conflict reconstruction), as well as in programs supporting the implementation of the wider SDG Agenda.
• Break down the respective silos between experts on SDG and on WPS in order to integrate an inclusive and gender sensitive approach into all policy and decision-making processes.

You can watch the full session again here

For more information, read the full report on the Webinar on Women, Peace and Security.