Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) has launched a financing tool to accelerate women’s influence and participation in peace processes in Africa and other parts of the world.
The mechanism, Rapid Response Window (RRW) on women’s participation in peace processes, is designed to address the technical and logistical barriers that women and local civil society organisations often face.
Since its launch in 2016, WPHF has been working with civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Liberia, Malawi to provide crucial support to women.
‘The Rapid Response Window of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund will make a real difference in the lives of women peacebuilders, and through them, their communities and societies’, UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, said in a statement.
‘This tool will deliver flexible funding to civil society organisations so that women can take their rightful place at the peace table’.
The RRW, according to the statement, is supporting three pilot initiatives led by women’s CSOs Mali and Afghanistan.
In Mali, the RRW is supporting local consultations to strengthen advocacy initiatives for women’s participation in the implementation of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation.
‘Reinforcing women’s leadership is key to achieving sustainable peace in Africa. We need to invest in the training of women and the financing of women-led peacebuilding programmes, which is crucial to the peace and stability of our region’, Director of Mali’s Alliance for Research and Integreated Development, Massaran Traore, is quoted as saying.
Source: UN Women
Photo source: UN Women