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GNWP and its members
take the
Localization of
UNSCR 1325 and 1820 Program
to the Democratic Republic of Congo
From March 28 to April 3, 2013, the Global Network of Women
Peacebuilders, a program of the International Civil society Action
Network (GNWP-ICAN) and its members, lead by Cadre Permanent de
Consultation de la Femme Congolaise (CAFCO), will hold Localization of
UNSCR 1325 and 1820 workshops in Lubumbashi and Likasi, two cities in the
Katanga province in the south east of the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC). Other members include Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom (WILPF) - DRC, Réseau Femme et Développement (REFED), and
African Women's Active Nonviolence Initiatives for Social Change
(AWANICh) - DRC.
In these workshops, local
authorities such as governors, mayors, paramount chiefs, traditional,
cultural and religious leaders, women leaders, civil society
representatives and other local key actors will examine the UN Security
Council Resolutions (UNSCR) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and DRC's
National Action Plan (NAP) on UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 and
1820 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS).
Participants will identify
the specific provisions of the NAP most relevant to the social and
cultural context of their communities and discuss how these provisions
could be integrated into their local development plans. Additionally,
participants will express their personal commitments and action
recommendations that they can implement immediately as they are working
on their local development plans.
These workshops constitute
a bottom-up approach to the implementation of the WPS resolutions, with
local authorities and communities taking ownership of the implementation
of the resolutions. The resolutions call for participation of women in
all decision-making and peacebuilding processes, prevention of conflict,
prevention of sexual and gender-based violence, protection of women and
girls' rights, and promotion of a gender-perspective on peace and
security issues.
Follow-up to these
workshops will include the replication of the workshops in other
provinces of the DRC and the development of comprehensive guidelines to
be used by local officials throughout the country to integrate
Resolutions 1325 and 1820 in local development plans.
The Localization workshops
have already been implemented by GNWP-ICAN and its member organizations
in a number of countries, namely, Burundi, the Philippines, Nepal, Colombia, Sierra
Leone and Uganda. Nepal, Burundi and Sierra Leone have now developed Guidelines for the integration of
WPS resolutions in local development planning.
Follow us on  and 
for blogs, pictures and Tweets on the Localization Workshops in
Lubumbashi and Likasi.
GNWP-ICAN
and its members in the DRC thank the Government of the UK for supporting this program.
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