Continuing their participation in the international campaign “16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence,” representatives of Eritrea and Somaliland of the regional alliance of the Greater Horn of Africa G40 travelled to Brussels to present their strategic plan for 2013 – 2014 to the representatives of the External Action Service y DevCo (EU), U.N Women, as well as units of Africa and the foreign affairs office of the Belgian Government.
The objectives of the plan at the regional level include:
1) Gender mainstreamed into policies and legal frameworks on peace and security.
2) Increased and enhanced women’s participation in decision-making on democracy, peace and security.
3) Reduced violence against women in conflict and post conflict situations.
Their strategy will be launched at both national and regional levels. Planned activities include the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the contribution to the development and / or implementation of Resolution 1325 in eight countries through the active participation of civil society, the strengthening of the functionality and visibility of the Regional Alliance for the achievement of its objectives; and visibility and training on sexual and gender-based violence.
The meetings were attended by Kaltum Nima Hassan, director of Women Action for Advocacy and Progress Organization (WAAPO) and Selamawit Gebreyohannes, president of the Eritrean Women for Development Association. They were received by Dr. Hadewuych Hazelet, head of the Crisis Management and Planning Directorate, Mr Jeremy Lester, Advisor on Crisis Prevention and Peacebuilding (Africa), Mr. Fermín J. Melendro Arnaiz, head of the Geographial Coordination Unit for East and Southern Africa, and others responsible for the African Unit of the European External Action Service and of Development and Cooperation of the European Union, the Office of the Special Representative of the European Union for Sudan and South Sudan and the European Parliament.
Representatives of civil society organizations also met with representatives of the G40 regional alliance and Club de Madrid officials, who were received at the offices of the European Peace building Liaison Office (EPLO).
The committee also met with UN Women staff in order to participate in their groups of civil society participation in peace and security, as experts on the situation in the region in terms of human security.
Lastly the committee had a meeting with representatives of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, a donor of the Club de Madrid´s project “Women’s Leadership for Peace and Security in the Greater Horn of Africa” since 2009, At the meeting, the committee had the had the opportunity to share the results of their investment which continues working in both the Club of Madrid and the G40 regional alliance.
Since its inception in 2009, this project initiated by the Club of Madrid in collaboration with its partner organizations, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and Isis-Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange has promoted the participation and contribution of women political dialogues and decision-making processes on security in one of the world’s conflict prone areas. The conclusions set out here will serve as a basis for analysis in a session of the Annual Conference of the Club of Madrid “Solutions for the XXI Century: A focus on women” that will be held on December 17 and 18 in Little Rock, Arkansas, hometown of Bill Clinton, who will also act as host of the event.
To contact the G40 Regional Alliance:
President: Cecilia Alupo engole, E-mail: tesowomen@yahoo.com
Communication: Ms Asma Ahmed, Email: Asmaa@idcs-sd.net
http://g40women.wordpress.com/
