The Arab world is currently facing several regional conflicts and crises which require in-depth exploration for a better implementation of Resolution 1325, and to contribute to a regional learning process that would in turn contribute to guiding policies related to women’s security and safety and promoting their localization.
From this standpoint, and to discuss the basic questions that shape the discourse of women, security, and peace in the Arab region, and to activate its agenda with a new approach at the local level, the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), co-funded by UN Women Jordan and within the Ford Foundation’s Build grant, held an international conference entitled: “Towards a New Approach to the Women, Security, and Peace Agenda in the Arab World”, on Sunday and Monday, 10-11 December 2023, with the participation of representatives of national, regional, and international civil society, in addition to public security officers and representatives of government sectors.
The conference, which included several panel discussions and open dialogues, addressed the most important issues and lessons learned from the region’s experiences in implementing national plans for the Women, Security and Peace agenda, and the extent to which it represents women and their role in community cohesion, as well as the challenges facing the activation of the localization of decision-making, and the capabilities needed to respond to upcoming crises and climate challenges.
CEO of ARDD, Samar Muhareb, stated that “The conference constitutes a platform for dialogue, exchange of knowledge, and efforts to advance the agenda of Women, Security, and Peace in the Arab world, as a strategic framework to respond to prolonged conflicts and crises, as well as Arab transformations,” considering that “even though this agenda did not save women in countries witnessing wars and disasters, is important in stopping crises and conflicts, and must be worked on very seriously in coordination with all parties locally, regionally, and globally.”
For her part, the Secretary-General of the Jordanian National Commission for Women, Her Excellency Eng. Maha Ali, explained that one of the most prominent achievements accomplished during the implementation of the first plan to activate the resolution is the development of two strategies for gender integration in the Public Security Directorate and the Arab Army, increasing the representation of women in these two institutions, and raising the percentage of women in leadership positions in the Arab Army, in addition to raising the percentage of women’s participation in peacekeeping missions in the security and military sectors.”
Al-Ali called for the protection of women in wars and conflicts, saying that “We’re here to discuss Resolution 1325, which now requires a new approach, as well as providing protection for women during wars and crises, especially in light of the violations and war crimes we are witnessing against women and children in Gaza.”
The introductory session, moderated by the Principal Advisor for Women and Youth Programs at ARDD’s Al-Nahda Center, Dr. Sanaa Al-Jelassi, discussed the capabilities that contribute to promoting the localization of the Women, Security, and Peace agenda, while Eleonora Banfi, Director of Al-Nahda Thought Center for Women’s Studies at ARDD, pointed to the organization’s role in promoting the localization of Resolution 1325 since 2012, and the efforts contributed through the establishment of the Jordan National NGO Forum in Jordan (JONAF), and working to develop the capabilities of local civil society organizations to enhance their response to the needs of society and sustain their development and relief efforts.
The first session, moderated by the Director of Programs at ARDD, Zainab Al-Khalil, discussed the main topics that the agenda for Women, Security, and Peace in the Arab region is supposed to address, where the speakers, including the Director of the Women’s Empowerment Foundation in Iraq, Suzan Aref, stressed the need to pay attention to women’s issues in an integrated manner, and the importance of states allocating appropriate budgets for “peacemaking”, in addition to enacting the necessary legislation that supports the activation of Resolution 1325 at all local levels, while demanding paying regular and integrative attention to women’s issues, as opposed to being limited to certain occasions, as well as implementing programs and projects that correspond to the needs of each community.
For her part, the Director of the West Asia-North Africa Institute in Jordan, Dr. Yara Shaaban, stressed the importance of conducting research to identify the actual needs of women and measure their participation using proper indicators, which would contribute to the proper activation of the Women, Security, and Peace agenda, stressing the need to focus on the concept of societal peace to achieve the required results in the long and short run.
The second session, moderated by Wesal Abdullah from the Arab Women Association, examined future steps to promote the localization of the Women, Security, and Peace agenda in the Arab world, while the director of the Aswat Nissa project in Tunisia, Oumaima Amara, indicated that there are positive experiences witnessed by many countries related to the national plans of Resolution 1325, citing Tunisian laws that came to amplify women’s voices on many issues.
Sanaa Al-Banawi, Program Officer for the Middle East and North Africa at the Global Network of Women Peacemakers (GNWP), said that the cornerstone of the success of Resolution 1325 localization is working on national plans that suit Arab societies, as well as providing support and partnerships between the various sectors to develop implementable plans that take into account the characteristics of each country, its unique aspects, and the challenges it faces.
The third session presented the topic of the Arab world’s readiness for the next crisis, including climate crises. CEO of the Peace for Sustainable Societies Foundation (PASS) in Yemen, Athar Ali Mohammed, saw that Arab societies are still far from implementing Resolution 1325 effectively, which highlights the efforts of organizations to work collectively in this regard, pointing out that political stability in any country contributes to activating the resolution.
The Director of Dibbeen Association for Environmental Development, Hala Murad, stressed the importance of specialization for the sectors that will be worked on within the environment file and Resolution 1325, indicating that the challenges of climate crises have become a reality that affects women and societies and threatens their security; hence, women must be more involved in environmental issues and decision-making positions.
The fourth session, moderated by UN Women Jordan’s Women, Peace, and Security Unit Project Officer, Anoud Majali, focused on the role of civil society and women-led organizations in community cohesion and their contribution to activating the Women, Security, and Peace agenda, as well as discussing the challenges faced by civil society organizations in this context, as part of the Joint Support Fund’s support for the second Jordanian national plan to activate Security Council resolution 1325.
According to the speakers, there are societal issues that require collective action, including issues of unemployment and community violence, among others, noting the importance of involving the largest number of community groups in training programs and workshops to ensure achieving the public good. Rakan Al-Rowwad, director of the Qantara Center for Human Resources Development in the Jordanian governorate of Ma’an, called for the need to involve men in specialized programs to empower women in various sectors.
Dr. Hanan Khreisat from the Tafila Women’s Union saw that civil society should build on previous experiences and benefit from diverse experiences. Captain Mohammed Erbaihat of the Jordanian Community Peace Center spoke about the establishment of the center in 2015 under the direct supervision of the Public Security Directorate, to keep pace with technical and technological developments in light of the tremendous development of digital platforms, while Abla Al-Hajaya Al-Maraghia from the Jordanian Al-Hasa Charitable Society focused on the role of local organizations in spreading awareness about the concept of societal peace and promoting the localization of Resolution 1325.
The speakers at the conference concluded their two-day discussions and presentations by emphasizing the move towards a new approach to the Women, Security, and Peace agenda in the Arab world, noting the importance of having the political will to activate Resolution 1325 at the local, national, and regional levels, stressing the importance of achieving a better understanding of geostrategic change and contributing to building a new economic model that responds to the needs of the most vulnerable groups and the needs of women and girls, including studying the specific impact of climate change on women and local communities, identifying issues and gaps within the accountability frameworks of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda that are related to climate change, and all the other strategies and plans that must be developed to include the existing mechanisms in centralized and decentralized structures.
Furthermore, the participants called for researching the current concepts and frameworks and the extent to which the WSP action plan adapts to the context of societies, whether in times of peace or during crises, in addition to identifying the most important issues of our time, and building evidence that would support the identification of better lines of activities that fall within the framework of the four pillars of the Women, Security, and Peace agenda, in case it was necessary to change them to include (human security, emerging new threats, social cohesion, climate change, and others).
The importance of representing women’s voices from all segments and their effective participation in the development of the National Action Plan and the Women, Security, and Peace Agenda was also highlighted, in addition to building effective and sustainable partnerships and relationships between several actors related to the themes of the conference, concerting efforts between the various sectors to build the capacities of local community organizations, and maintaining the level and continuity of funding that would ensure the sustainability of the work of these organizations through the participation of women and relevant groups in all stages of the implementation of Resolution 1325 through drafting, planning, implementation, and evaluation, in order to activate it and sustain its impact on societies.
