The Secretariat of the League of Arab States (LAS) - Department of Social Affairs- and Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) concluded a joint training for members of the Arab Women Mediators Network (AWMN) on “Women Mediating Access to Resources in Climate-Affected Contexts" with the support of the Regional Office for Arab States of UN Women (ROAS).
H.E. Dr. Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, Assistant Secretary General, Head of the Social Affairs Sector at LAS and H.E. Ambassador Ahmed Nehad Abdel-Latif, CCCPA’s Director General expressed appreciation of the on-going cooperation to strengthen capacities of Arab countries in the fields of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, asserting that this training, held during the period 1-3 October 2023, comes in the context of the implementation of the MoU signed between the two parties last March and builds on previous cooperation including the first in-person training course held for AWMN in November 2021.
They noted that the training aims at equipping AWMN’s members with the needed skills and knowledge to enable them to advance gender and climate sensitive approaches to resource-based conflict mediation towards sustainable peace and development, taking into consideration the key role of women in this context and the fact that they are disproportionately impacted by climate change.
The training kick-started with a high-level opening ceremony that witnessed the participation of H.E. Khadija Al-Makhzoumi, Minister of Environment and Climate Change in the Federal Republic of Somalia, who stressed the pivotal role of women in forging inclusive and durable peace in their communities that suffer from resource scarcity due to climate change. She hailed Egypt’s efforts, under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, in supporting Somalia in all areas, pointing to the historical bilateral relations between the two countries.
In his opening remarks, CCCPA’s DG stated that this training timely coincides with the anniversary of the adoption of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Thus, it represents a tangible step towards advancing the implementation of the WPS agenda in the Arab region through promoting the role of women in conflict resolution and mediation, as well as a contribution to the operationalization of COP27 Presidency initiative Responses for Sustaining Peace (CRSP), of which capacity building is a main pillar.
Ambassador Abdel-Latif explained that at this critical stage fraught with challenges that continue to reverberate through the Arab world, there is an urgent need to address the interplay between access to natural resources and conflict in the context of climate change.
The Director of the Women’s Department at LAS delivered the Secretariat’s remarks during the opening ceremony. She highlighted the importance of strengthening the role of AWMN both regionally and internationally through technical support and capacity building. She affirmed that LAS pays due attention to boosting women’s role in mediation and peacebuilding efforts on national, regional and international levels. She added that this training aims at empowering women to meaningfully participate in building resilience to the different concurrent risks, particularly climate change and resource-based conflicts.
In her remarks, Ms. Susanne Mikhail, the Regional Director of UN Women for the Arab States emphasized the need to leverage the expertise and knowledge of the members of the Arab Women Mediators Network gained during the extensive capacity building programmes they obtained since the launch of the Network. She also mentioned that the full operationalization of the Network requires going beyond capacity building for its members towards their effective deployment in mediation efforts in the region.
The training was delivered by utilizing experiential and interactive learning approaches, with a strong emphasis on scenario-based and problem-solving exercises. In addition, tailor-made modules and case studies were developed to respond to the capacity building needs of participants. The sessions addressed different topics, including the root causes of conflict, the interlinkage between access to resources and exacerbating conflicts, climate change and its detrimental consequences on diminishing resources, nexus between gender and climate change and environmental mediation.
It is noteworthy that the Arab Women Mediators Network (AWMN) is a pioneering initiative that brings together Arab women diplomats to share their own expertise in conflict prevention and peaceful settlement, taking into account lessons learned of women involved in the peaceful resolution of conflicts. Currently, the AWMN has 18 members, representing their Arab states.
