GAPS March Newsletter

Welcome to GAPS March wrap up. 

It was a very busy month for GAPS! 

The sixty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) took place in New York this month, which saw women-led civil society coming together to advocate for women’s rights. The Agreed Conclusions focused on technological change and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. GAPS’ Director, Eva Tabbasam, attended the first week of CSW67, where she held advocacy meetings with partners focusing on feminist funding and financing, Feminist Foreign Policy and Women, Peace and Security. 

In the margins of CSW67, GAPS had a very special announcement, with the launch of our very first podcast, ‘Mind the GAPS’. In the podcast, we explore the world of Women, Peace and Security through speaking to experts and practitioners from around the world working under the umbrella of Women, Peace and Security. A new episode bi-weekly focuses on another important aspect of the WPS Agenda, where we will be speaking to some brilliant guests who will share their takes and recommendations on this important topic. A special thanks to the support of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and through their funding of the LEAP4Peace Consortium, which GAPS is a member of. You can find out more and listen to our podcast here. 

On International Women’s Day, the UK launched their new International Women and Girls strategy. GAPS welcomed this strategy as an opportunity to meaningfully implement commitments to women’s rights and gender equality across the triple nexus of development, peacebuilding and humanitarian response. As a response, GAPS released an official statement to the launch of the UK’s International Women and Girls Strategy, which discussed funding limitations, approaches to implementation, and synergies with the Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan (WPS NAP).  

Following the launch of the UK’s 5th WPS NAP on 23rd February, GAPS network published an initial response, which outlines GAPS’ reflections both on the NAP itself and implementation, including ongoing development of the UK Government’s domestication focus and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) plan. Moving forward, GAPS will continue to support the UK Government in strengthening its focus on the prevention pillar of Women, Peace and Security to move towards a comprehensive approach to conflict prevention. 

On 7th March, the House of Commons introduced the Illegal Migration Bill that extinguishes the right to seek refugee protection through irregular routes. GAPS are deeply concerned about the human rights violations that this Bill will pose and the undermining of the UK commitments to Women, Peace and Security. The Bill, if passed, will have a devastating impact on women and girls, place the UK firmly outside international law and exacerbate hate against some of most marginalised in our community. 

Finally, the APPG on Women, Peace and Security held an event on ‘Women in Peace Processes’, with guest speakers Asma Khalifa, Marwa Baabbad and Louise Winstanley, focusing on the context in Yemen, Colombia and Libya. You will be able to read about our event on the GAPS  website  later in April. 

February Reads

Monthly Action Points (MAP) for the Security Council: March 2023

For March, in which Mozambique has the presidency of the UN Security Council, the MAP provides recommendations on the situations in Afghanistan, Myanmar and South Sudan.

 

Why Wait? How the Humanitarian System Can Better Fund Women-Led and Women’s Rights Organisations

Following on from “Why Not Local?”, this report provides analysis from across three contexts: Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Ukraine. It reveals the pervasive systemic barriers preventing WROs/WLOs to access humanitarian funding. 

 

Emerging Trends Within the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda

This report has identified emerging issues within the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. Climate change has long been identified as a key cross-cutting issue and several potential avenues for WPS policy are identified. 

 

Center Stage or Behind the Scenes? Measuring and Supporting Women’s Contributions to Peace and Conflict in Central Mali 

To contribute to discussions about designing, implementing, and conducting research on community-level programs on Women, Gender, Peace, and Security (W/GPS), Mercy Corps conducted research in central Mali in 2022 on the role of women in intercommunal conflicts and local-level peacebuilding.  

In case you missed it

In response to the Migration Bill, UNA-UK published a statement. 

ActionAid’s recent article assesses the UK’s International Women and Girls Strategy. 

You can also find Gender and Development Network’s response to the UK’s International Women and Girls strategy here. 

Job Board

Plan International UK

Communications Manager, (London). Apply by 3 April.

Womankind Worldwide

Communications Officer, (Kenya). Apply by 1 May.

Policy and Advocacy Officer, (London). Apply by 30 April.

Co-chair, (London).

Christian Aid

Emergency Programme Manager Syria, (London). Apply by 16 April.

Finance Manager- Ukraine Response, (London). Apply by 11 April.

International Alert

Director of the Global Peacebuilding Unit, (Multiple Locations). Apply by 16 April.