Commonwealth women involved in peace-building will converge in Accra on Monday for a mediation training aimed at equipping them with the appropriate skills.
The training, which will be held at the Kofi Annan International Peace-keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra by the Women, Peace and Security Institute (WPSI) is an initiative launched at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in April 2018.
The participants attending the training workshop include key female stakeholders including queenmothers, religious leaders as well as leaders of grassroots NGOs and other stakeholders groups.
It has the theme “Engaging grassroots and indigenous women in mediation and decision-making processes.”
According to a statement from the Department for International Development (DFID), said the key objective of the workshop is to build the capacity of the women for mediation.
It is to ultimately contribute towards the development process of their communities by increasing their participation in decision-making processes through mediation, peace-building and conflict resolution.
The workshop intends to build the capacity of the participants to ultimately contribute to the development process of their communities by increasing their participation in decisionmaking processes through mediation, peace-building and conflict resolution.
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In addition, it is expected to broaden their knowledge on conflict analysis to strengthen their capacity to engage in mediation processes in their communities, as well as and to create a network of indigenous women mediators.
Women Mediators across the Commonwealth (WMC) is a new network of women mediators, which is being coordinated by the international peacebuilding NGO, Conciliation Resources, with funding from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
WMC brings together women mediators coming together to exchange and learn from each other, and to advocate for the increased representation of women in peace processes globally. Coordinated by Conciliation Resources, the WMC is a platform for the peer-to-peer exchange and learning of women mediators from across Commonwealth countries.
By mid-2020, the network will include more than 50 women peacebuilders from diverse backgrounds and geographic locations. WMC members have mediation experience ranging from mediating conflict at the community level, to formally mediating conflicts as part of official peace processes.
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A unique feature of the network is that it connects the grassroots with the national and international – enabling the women to share their diverse experiences with each other. Through peer-to-peer mentoring, a series of workshops, and an online platform, the network will bring together these experienced mediators for the valuable sharing of lessons learned and best practices.
The network also raises the profile of individual mediators with specific thematic and geographic expertise who can be called upon for mediation work when required.
By Fred Gadese-Mensah/adrdaily.com
