In June, BWF president Babara Tanne and Research officer Genevive Asire attended the 2nd Annual meeting and workshop of the Pacific Women’s Mediators Network (PWMN) in Suva, Fiji. The meeting provided a platform for sharing experiences, best practices, and lessons learned among participants to facilitate peer learning and networking.
The Pacific Women Mediator Network (PWMN) is a programme of GPPAC Pacific funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). It works to:
Facilitate and engage in political processes aimed at driving a gender-inclusive conflict prevention agenda across the Peace, Development and Humanitarian Nexus.
Advance the inclusion and meaningful participation of women as mediators and negotiators in all phases of conflict prevention and peacebuilding in the Pacific.
By 2026 the network aims to have a cadre of 30 Pacific Island women, of which 50% will be young women, organized and resourced to lead CSO engagement in political dialogues, including local and traditional leaders.
The workshop also provided an opportunity for the PWMN to understand the GPPAC pacific island women, peace and security agenda building on the localization and translation of UN Security Council 1325 - the efforts to ensure the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda informs national conflict prevention efforts.
‘It was a very eye opening experience, it was also my first time to fly on a plane and travel overseas, I was so happy to share my ideas with other young pacific women, and the other women representatives from around the pacific" - Genevieve Asire, BWF's Research Officer.
The meeting was precended by the Pacific Women's Mediators Learning Exchange where members presented research findings from a variety of case studies. BWF presented their research on climate change mitigation. You can read more about BWF's work in that area - here.
The workshop covered a variety of intersecting issues including Pacific geopolitics, socio-economic issues resulting from climate change, peacebuilding in the midst of natural and humanitarian crises, investing in young women's leadership, and national security.
"Sustaining peace in Bougainville means that we need to invest more in our youth, especially the young men in peacebuilding effects. We are keen to see their interest in supporting the work that is seen as "women's role" and more so, helping to empower and transform the lives of their peers and together crete a peaceful society for our future generations. It is also important to overcome the society issues and any frustrations leading to the long outstanding tabling of the referendum results" said Babara Tanne who highlighted how the WPS agenda is guiding sustaining peace in the transition, particularly since the 2019 referendum through the work of BWF and Nazereth Centre for Rehabilitation.
This workshop coincided with the meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum Sub-Committee on Regional Security (FSRS), which concluded in late June, and the UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review on June 28 where members of the PWMN TWG attended.
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