Women's organizations taking ownership in peacebuilding efforts
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IDP and conflict affected women participants of the Open Day; Photo: UN Women
"This is the meeting that stands head and shoulders above all other meetings organized by us, because this is a meeting with real people where we can discuss issues on the ground related to women's capacities to engage in peace building", stated UN Resident Coordinator Niels Scott as he opened the event.
The Open Days provide the opportunity for women in conflict-affected countries to voice their concerns and priorities directly to UN officials, and for the latter to stay informed on key context-specific issues. The event in Tbilisi brought together 40 representatives of civil society organizations, as well as the UN representatives. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the implementation of the first Georgian National Action Plan for 1325 and to give recommendations for the development of the second Action Plan, in effect from 2016.
Maya Rusetskaia, Head of Women's Information Centre, presented recommendations from a recent report summarizing priorities of civil society organizations in relation to the first national action plan. She highlighted especially the lack of budget allocated for its implementation, and the limited Government consultations with citizens affected by the conflict and living close to the Administrative Boundary Lines.the break-away regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The discussion that followed focused on women's priorities in relation to the development of the second 1325 National Action Plan (2016-2017). Issues aired covered prevention of conflict and violence, participation in local planning and decision-making, economic empowerment as well as confidence-building between conflict-affected populations - highlighting the complexity of peacebuilding. Lack of access to information and health care services for people living close to the Administrative Boundary Lines were some of the specific concerns shared.
"We will analyze these recommendations and take them forward in different ways – some of them are not costly but require coordination, and others require investments. A lot of hard work by all of us remains to be done, to ensure women have fair share in building and enjoying fruits of safe and secure society”, stated UN Women Country Representative Erika Kvapilova at the end of the event.
The actions taken by the UN agencies in response to last year's Open Day will be presented in a report shared with the stakeholders, and recommendations from Open Days in 2015 will be carried forward by UN Women in its support to the Government of Georgia for the development of the second 1325 National Action Plan.