UN Advocates Women Inclusion In Peace Building
By Ignatius Ushie
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women has called for the inclusion of women in formal peace-building structures at federal and state levels.
Ms. Comfort Lamptey, UN Women Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, made the call at a high-level convening on women, dialogue and mediation in Nigeria recently.
According to Lamptey, “women’s participation in peace processes in Nigeria,ย is necessaryย given the changing nature of conflict and insecurity being recorded at present. Studies indicate that peace processes that include women as mediators, witnesses, signatories or negotiators are 35% more likely to last 15 years.
“The UN Secretary-General, in a call for a surge in diplomacy for peace, the Secretary-General highlighted the changing nature of conflict and stressed the need for mediation practice to adjust to include efforts at the local level to help build peace from the ground up.
“This approach is very much in line with our efforts to promote women’s participation in peace processes in Nigeria, especially given the changing nature of conflict and insecurity being recorded at present.
“We also know from evidence that having women at the peace table generates greater buy-in and strengthens accountability for implementation.
“Women’s participation also makes peace more durable because, with their input, agreements go beyond the realm of power to the realities of people. Studies indicate that peace processes that include women as mediators, witnesses, signatories or negotiators are 35% more likely to last 15 years” she said.
Also, speaking at the event, Ms. Lantana Bako Abdullahi, the Executive Director, Women for Positive Peace Building Initiative (WOPPI) noted that involving women in conflicts resolutions would help bring lasting solution to the myriads of problems facing the nation.
Ms. Abdullahi said that women being always the worst hit during conflicts are in better position to come up solutions that would end such disputes.
