GAPS Newsletter: June 2022

30 June 2022

Welcome to our June wrap up.

This month, GAPS met with its members to discuss Women, Peace and Security priorities for the first time in-person before the pandemic. GAPS also have been continuing to attend meetings with the UK Government on various work such as the National Action Plan, PSVI, Afghanistan and Ukraine. The APPG on Women, Peace and Security held an event discussing women parliamentarians and their role in peace processes with a diverse group of speakers who spoke to these topics from the perspectives of Colombia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and the UK. The report will be available to read on our website in due course, alongside information on how to sign up to receive future event invitations.

Also this month, the GAPS Secretariat penned a response to the Government’s Rwanda Plan and the first deportation flight that was scheduled to go on 14th June. GAPS called for the flight to be halted, and for the government to consult with civil society organisations to put the needs and rights of asylum seekers at the forefront of any immigration policy.

Finally, following an external recruitment process for the GAPS Director, we are pleased to announce Eva Tabbasam’s appointment to this role. Please join us in congratulating Eva on our Twitter page!

Looking forward, the APPG on WPS and GAPS aim to hold the Annual Report to Parliament before Parliament closes for summer recess. Do sign up to the APPG’s database for more details.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter to keep in touch with our work in June.

March Reads

Monthly Action Points (MAP) for the Security Council: June 2022

For June, in which Albania has the presidency of the UN Security Council, the MAP provides recommendations on the situations in Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine.

‘What of our Unfulfilled Promises?’

This brief by Women for Women is a result of surveys and discussions with Syrian women in the Kurdistan region of Iraq about their experiences, priority areas of action, and makes key recommendations to decision-makers, institutions and stakeholders.

Building Power Together: A Girl-Led Research Project

This girl-led research project by ActionAid aims to shift power back to girls. The research presents key findings by girls within their communities in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Indonesia on issues related to their health, well-being and rights, and provides recommendations for stakeholders.

Government Responses to Covid-19: Lessons on Gender Equality for a world in turmoil

This collaborative report by UN Women and UNDP analyses the factors that led to a strong gender response to Covid-19, putting together recommendations for governments on how to address gaps where women’s needs are not being met.

In case you missed it

Saferworld’s Lewis Brooks and Julia Poch Figueras have written an OpEd on the Government’s new International Development Strategy, arguing that the UK must be cautious about adopting a ‘hard security’ approach that perpetuates and reinforces the same drivers of conflict.

This LSE blog post by members of Our Generation for Inclusive Peace argues that for the relief and recovery pillar of the WPS agenda to be effective, it must respond to crises beyond traditional understandings of conflict, and must centre affected communities.

This piece in Climate Diplomacy links the WPS agenda with the climate agenda, arguing that WPS NAPs can inform the climate agenda, and both of these issues are intertwined and complimentary.

Our sister network, the Gender and Development Network, is hiring for a Network Coordinator. You can find out more details about the role and how to apply on their website.