Resolution 1325: Women challenge to pursue their rights
By: Mayen Etim
KADUNA, North-West, Nigeria – President, Network on Peace and Security for Women in the ECOWAS Region, Dr Lydia Umar, has tasked women to familiarize themselves with the United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325 which calls for women engagement in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
She made the call at the 21st Anniversary celebration of the UN Resolution 1325 organized by Mercy Corp Women Peace Council, Kaduna North Local Government Area under the Community Initiatives to Promote Peace, (CIPP) in collaboration with Kaduna Peace Commission on Thursday.
Dr Umar said since Nigeria has a signed document on the above subject matter, the National Development Plan (NAP), it behoves on Nigerian women to seize the opportunity and work together for it success.
She disclosed that Kaduna State also has a NAP that lasted 2017 – 2020, saying it is expected that the State Government set up a committee to review the state NAP to come up with NAP 2, while at the national level, lots of efforts are being put in the right direction.
According to her, currently there were laws in Kaduna state that supports women peace and security such as the Violence Against Person Prohibition (VAPP) law which Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i signed in December 2018 and gazetted. “If this law is brought to fruition, it will take care of issues around women, peace and security.
“There is also the Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) law, which are the things the Women Peace Council (WPC) should encourage women to be abreast,” she explained.
The Programme Officer, Community Engagement and Outreach in Kaduna Peace Commission, Mr Barau Emmanuel, who spoke on the importance of Conflict Early Warning Early Response System (CEWERS), said the tool has proven to be very potent and viable in the quest to prevent conflict in the state.
He however said there were still works to be done in the area of enlightenment of citizens of its existence and how it works to key into its viability to make it succeed in preventing conflicts in the state.
To this effect, he said the Commission has carried out numerous engagement, and even to the National Youth Service Corp, (NYSC) camp where Corpers were co-opted as ambassadors of CEWERS and its working as they are posted to different communities in the State.
“It’s important that we have women to be ambassadors especially for the working of CEWERS considering their role in conflict and how it affects them.
“We have spoken with the women on how they could key in and be partners in not just reporting incidents to CEWERS, but also to help in terms of being responders in resolving conflicts that requires softer approach to resolve in their various communities,” he said.
In her presentation on the role of women in peacebuilding and security, Reverend Rose Northcott, described the ground breaking Security Council Resolution 1325, as the first to link women’s experiences of conflict to the international peace and security agenda.
She said many at times, women have averted conflicts and have been resolving conflicts, stressing that peacebuilding needs the involvement of women.
According to her, communities that uses all the talents, experience, and wisdom of both men and women are more able to address the needs of their members, adding that if women are excluded from participating in community decisions and leadership, or are so busy with household responsibilities that they do not have time to go to community meetings, then the talents, experiences, and wisdom of half of the population will not contribute to community life.
“Evidence indicates that women participants in peace processes are usually focused less on the spoils of the war and more on reconciliation, economic development, education and transitional justice – all critical elements of a sustained peace.
“A major challenge is that women are often not perceived to have the skills, knowledge or social status needed to bring about change in post-conflict environments. Changing this requires a mind-shift by negotiators and mediators on how they view the role of women,” Reverend Northcott said.
The District Head of Gabasawa, Alhaji Ibrahim Dikko, said one of the reasons our society is backward is the non involvement of women even though they constitute about 57 per cent of the population, while in other clime women are the most active part of the population.
Dikko who was represented by Alhaji Muhammed Attahir Baba, (Dan Masanin Gabasawa), said the challenges in the traditional set-up is the disconnect between the formal administrative peaceful mechanism and the traditional setting.
He explained that peace mechanism is an all inclusive thing, and as we continue sitting – the Government, traditional and religious institutions, and the women, he believed we will be there.
Earlier, Chairperson of Mercy Corp WPC in Kaduna North Council, Fatima Aliyu, said the gathering was to sensitized the women so that they go into action, familiarize themselves with the Resolution 1325, NAP, and then begin to carry out advocacy to look for funding from government so that it gives a budget for it implementation.
She added that the WPC was inaugurated in 2020 in four Local Government Areas of the State, namely – Kaduna North, Kajuru, Kachia, and Zaria,
The UN Resolution 1325 was adopted by the Security Council at it’s 4213th meeting, on 31 October 2000.