Svyatohirsk, Donetsk Oblast, July 2019 – More than 85 regional and local government authorities, members of the local councils, national police representatives and civil society activists from conflict-affected communities in Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhizhia oblasts increased the knowledge on the UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). 

Participants of the “Women, Peace and Security Localization Workshops” also reflected on the conflict dynamics in the country and community, identified the key actors peacebuilding and development processes as well as women’s specific roles in it.  

“Many efforts in peace negotiations and other peace processes have not succeeded because they exclude women. The Security Council Resolution 1325 and the supporting resolutions on WPS is an instrument that can address this problem. It calls on governments, the UN, civil society and other stakeholders to guarantee women’s meaningful participation in peace processes and decision-making. However, these will just be rhetoric if local women who live in conflict situations are not aware of the resolutions and how to use them. UN Women’s efforts in eastern Ukraine to build the capacity of local women and local authorities to use the WPS resolutions in ensuring women’s meaningful participation in peace and security decision-making are commendable,” says Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, Founder and CEO, Global Network of Women Peacebuilders.

Among the highlights, participants discussed about gender equality and its intersection with peace and security, the gender dimensions of conflict and its differential impact on women and men in communities, the linkage between peace and security, development and good governance.

Participants were engaged in reviewing the consequences of the conflict in communities through the main pillars of UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. The network of activists and local leaders brought together by this event agreed to to advance women’s solidarity in their push for peace in Ukraine and specific ways to support each other to successfully implement the localization process of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in Ukraine.

Background:

Workshop is implemented under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme by four UN agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The Programme is supported by ten international partners: the European Union, the European Investment Bank and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.