Gender and Peace-building: Lessons from SAWID’s Inter-Africa Dialogue By Vuyo Mahlati,

1. Gender and Peace-building:Lessons from SAWID’s Inter-Africa Dialogue By Vuyo Mahlati, South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID) Development Commission Convener Commonwealth Meeting, 5 June 2010 Barbados

2. The Beginning South Africans in solidarty with women of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Inter-Congolese Peace Dialogue at Sun City and Pretoria in March and December 2002. 5-day in-depth interaction between 125 women from the DRC and 200 South African women at Esselen Park in March 2003. This Forum was preceded by a 2-day facilitated workshop on leadership, intended to remove the communication barriers that had previously frustrated dialogue among the various warring parties in the DRC. The South African women were requested by the DRC women to play a broader peace role among women in the Great Lakes Region.

3. The Beginning Cont. South Africans were called upon to assist the DRC women mainstream gender issues in the DRC Constitution-making process by sharing the South African experience in promoting a pro-women agenda. After the dialogue, women from the DRC interrupted the Inter-Congolese Peace Dialogue represented by an all-male delegation and demanded that an agreement be signed.

4. SAWID FORMED IN 2003 • While supporting others South African Women recognized that there is a VOID that needs attention back home. • Around 1000 women met in 2003 in response to the African Heads of State appeal to build a partnership between government and all segments of civil society, in particular women, youth and the private sector in order to strengthen solidarity and cohesion among our people. • SAWID is an independent South African women’s Forum committed to provide a platform for every woman to be heard through dialogue to improve the status of women. SAWID facilitates partnerships with National and international bodies to shape community, provincial, national and continental agendas. • Specifically: Partnerships that would strengthen solidarity and social cohesion and that would promote and consolidate peace, security and stability in their communities and on the continent; thus creating a conducive space for socio-economic development and the eradication of poverty.

5. WOMEN FOR GENDER EQUALITY • SAWID agenda informed by individuals and groups engaged in: • Promotion of participation of women in leadership and decision-making processes • Gender Mainstreaming: Policy, Advocacy and Capacity Building, Research • Development & Social Cohesion Sector-specific Initiatives (service delivery facilitation) • Multi-faith Religious formations • Pressure/Interest Groups, Traditional & Political Women Leagues

6. VISION Women, united in our diversity, acting together for a better future. www.sawid.co.za

7. SAWID PROGRAMMES • SAWID National Annual Dialogue Forum and Regional Coordination and Support • Pan-African Peace and Reconciliation Dialogues • SAWID Youth Forum (YSAWID) • Economic and Social Development Programmes • Older Persons

8. PEACE BUILDING PARTICIPATION FRAMEWORK The South African Foreign Policy (Department of International Relations and Cooperation) White Paper on South African Participation in International Peace Missions AU & UN Protocols

9. Dialogue for: Solidarity and Awareness-Creation • Sharing women’s experiences (Positive role women play & negative consequences of conflict -mass rape and gender-based violence) • Create Awareness on the: • Sources and effects of violence and armed conflicts, • Interplaying factors, structural and systemic dimensions, • Impact on women, children and families • Structural Formations and Terminology

10. Dialogue for Change Engendering Priority areas: Constitution making, Electoral System & Defense Protocol Translating International Commitments on Gender Equality and Peace building into Action (UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security) Strategies for Security sector reform (from neighborhood peace initiatives, to domestic policing & defense, to security structures locally and globally)

11. SAWID JULY 2004 BURUNDI PEACE DIALOGUE Sawid invited around 100 women from all the different parties in Burundi and a South African delegation of around 200 women to attend a Peace Dialogue at Esselen Park.  The objectivesof the South African women were to exchange strategies regarding women’s integration within our own political parties, to share experiences across our political spectrum about how South African women achieved a common women’s agenda during the democratisation processes leading to the elections of 1994, through the Women’s coalition and the Women’s Charter for Effective Equality process, to outline processes that were followed to ensure that South African women were included in key decision-making state institutions, to highlight the dividends of peace for women’s development, and to build solidarity among African Women.

12. Other Dialogues • SUDAN CONFERENCE (2007) AND PEACE DIALOGUE (2009) • AUGUST 2008 SADC WOMEN AND PEACE DIALOGUE • The objective of the dialogue was to give support to a new drive for African Women’s involvement in the prevention and management of conflict as well as the preservation of peace through ‘civil and humanitarian diplomacy.’ Women from the various SADC countries shared experiences, vision together towards conflict-free communities in SADC and the African continent; identify early warning signals of conflict and suggest local interventions to prevent it.

13. XENOPHOBIA IN SOUTH AFRICA: Grounding Peace in Our Communities • July 2008 Alexandra Peace Dialogue • The brutal attacks on various African nationals leading to killings and the displacement of many from their homes left the nation traumatised, guilty and distressed • Personal healing through introspection and empathetic dialogue towards Plan of Action for Grounding Peace in our Communities

14. Lessons/Recommendations: Engendered Sustainable Peace-building Framework Strategic Approach to Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (the civil and humanitarian diplomacy) Strengthen Women’s Participation at all levels (leadership/operational) Strengthen National, Continental and Global networks of Peace-building with women as peace negotiators Mechanisms for warning signs

15. Lessons/Recommendations: Funding for Preventative & Support Initiatives Dialogue as an essential strategy for sustainable peace Initiatives promoting peace culture and tolerance Initiatives addressing Violence against women and girls Involve women in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration operations Research on Gender Equality and Peace-building

16. Lessons/Recommendations: Intensified Advocacy Advocacy for International, Continental & National Instruments and Policies supporting gender equality in peace-building and security reform Enabling Legislation and Enforcement for uprooting Gender-based Violence Commitment to Poverty Eradication (Millennium Development Goal 1)

17. “Give us the peace we deserve” Vuyo Mahlati socialwheel@live.com

18. THANK YOU