GAPS October Newsletter
Welcome to our October wrap up!
October was women, peace and security month at the UN. Ahead of the UN Open Debate on the 21st of the month, GAPS called on the international community to reaffirm its commitments to the women, peace and security agenda including but not limited to issues around; gender equality; women’s political participation; and human rights. We heard from civil society representative Celia Umenza Velasco who urged the security council to push the Colombian government on their commitments to the Peace Accord, and in particular address violence against human rights defenders, demilitarize the police force and ensure full political participation for women leaders. The UK Minister of State for South Asia, United Nations and the Commonwealth, Lord Ahmed of Wimbledon also reiterated the UK’s commitments to women, peace and security. Former Afghan women politicians made a powerful statement urging the international community to listen to Afghan women and not abandon Afghanistan. To find out more about WPS week, check out GAPS’s Twitter thread that outlines side events that happened on a variety of topics. You can also read WILPF’s full analysis of the open debate here.
Looking forward to November, the COP26 summit will be starting in Glasgow on October 31st. You can find out more information about COP26 and the programme of events on their official website. In partnership with UNA-UK, GAPS will be hosting an event to launch a policy brief based on an existing report titled ‘Defending the Future: Gender, Conflict and the Environmental Peace: A Policy Brief’. You can find details of that event below.
Finally, keep an eye out on the GAPS website and Twitter page for updates on what GAPS and members are planning for the upcoming 16 Days of Activism on Gender-Based Violence!
October Reads
Monthly Action Points (MAP) for the Security Council: October 2021
For October, in which Kenya has the presidency of the UN Security Council, the MAP provides recommendations on the situations in Colombia, Haiti, and Western Sahara, as well as on the thematic agenda item, Women, peace and security.
Report of the Secretary-General on Women and Peace and Security
Ahead of the UN Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, the Secretary General released the annual report outlining updates and progress across all areas of the women, peace and security agenda, and highlighting gaps and challenges. You can read the report in various languages.
Beyond the Vertical: What Enables Women Mediators to Mediate
This report from Conciliation Resources and the Women’s Mediators across the Commonwealth (WMC) focuses on the question of how to better create enabling environments for women mediators by drawing on the experiences of WMC network members.
Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Face of Covid-19 and Displacement: Restoring Resilient Futures
The ODI – Humanitarian Policy Working Group and IRC report uses research from Jordan, Greece and Nigeria to outline key restrictions for women as countries begin to recover from the pandemic, and provides recommendations for various stakeholders on how to enhance women’s access to economic opportunities.
Feminist Peace Series: Crisis as an Opportunity for Transformative Change
In this 2nd edition of the Feminist Peace Series by the Women’s International Peace Centre, the focus is on how feminist peace advocates are responding to Ciovis-19, and the implications of the pandemic on feminist peace.
Are we there yet? Localisation as the journey towards locally led practice
In an attempt to address the inequitable nature of current international development practice, this report reviews the barriers and challenges to localisation and locally led practice, with a view to informing a campaign for systemic change to move forward with this agenda.
In case you missed it
In collaboration with UNA-UK, and to mark the COP26 summit in Glasgow, GAPS is hosting an event on ‘Climate Change and Women, Peace and Security: Defending the Future’. The event is on 10th November at 14:15 (GMT). Register to attend here and share with your networks.
Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy are holding a joint event with ICAN and LSE Centre for WPS on ‘Putting Peace back into Politics‘. The event is on 9th November at 13:00 (GMT) and you can find out more and register here.
The Commonwealth Foundation has opened their 2021 – 2022 grants call. Find out more about elibility, the application process and key themes here.
The LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security have released a call for abtracts on Feminist ‘Political Economy and Peace: An Interdisciplinary Workshop’ . You can find out more here.
To mark the 21st anniversary of the women, peace and security agenda, IPI Global Observatory have released a series of articles on the future of WPS, including issues such as climate change and militarisation.
WILPF have relaunched their women, peace and security mobile app. You can download it wherever you get your apps.
Job Board
Amnesty International
Law and Policy Manager, (Scotland). Apply by 14 November
International Alert
Programme Director – Nigeria, (Abuja). Apply by 12 November
International Rescue Committee
Associate Director, Product Development and Operational Partnerships. (London). Open
Bilingual Integration Officer, (Southeast England). Open
Mercy Corps
Vice President of Global Policy and Advocacy, (Washington, DC or London, UK). Open
Oxfam GB
Advocacy, Campaigns and Media Manager, (Yemen). Open
Protection Officer, (Yemen). Apply by 3 November
Safe Programming Policy Advisor, (UK). Apply by 11 November
UNA-UK
Chair – Board of Directors, Open
Womankind Worldwide
Communications Officer, (UK). Apply by 10 November
Women for Women International
Head of Global Philanthropic Partnerships, (Multiple Locations). Open
Manager – Global Programmes Funding Opportunities, (Multiple Locations). Open
Associate – Global Business Development, (Multiple Locations). Open
Global Director of Policy and Advocacy, (Multiple Locations). Open