ECOWAS Holds FemWise Stakeholders Consultation and Validation Workshop

A Regional Stakeholders’ Workshop on the Operationalization and Institutionalization of the Network of West African Women in Conflict Prevention and Mediation (FemWise-West Africa) commences on the 20^th of April, 2022, in Lagos, Nigeria.

The Three-Day Workshop is expected to explore strategic advocacy tools, capacity building, and networking that will enable the implementation of the regional commitments for women’s inclusion in conflict prevention and peace-making processes at all levels.

It will also review and validate relevant documents, including a draft Statute that defines the mandate, function and strategic engagement of the FemWise-West Africa, a draft Standard Operating Procedures and Knowledge Management Framework, among others.

Futhermore, the Workshop  affords the FemWise- West Africa Steering Committee Members, the opportunity to effectively operationalize the objectives of its network in line with the AU Agenda 2063, the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), and the Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Recall that in 2017, FemWise-Africa was established by the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State within the context of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA), as a subsidiary Mechanism of the AU Panel of the Wise, to strengthen the role of women in conflict prevention and mediation as well as peace-making, post-conflict reconstruction and development efforts, while encouraging the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to establish same structure.

In this regard, the ECOWAS Commission in 2019 formally launched the Network of West African Women in Conflict Prevention and Mediation, in 2019 with a seven-member Steering Committee, elected to steer its affairs.

The Regional Stakeholders’ Workshop which is being organised in conjunction with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für International Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) through the ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) Project, is co-funded by the European Union and the German Government (Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (MBZ).

Participants will include experts from AU FemWise Secretariat, the UN Mediation Standby Team, the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), the academia, the West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) and FemWise-West African Steering Committee Members.