LAGO PATRIA, Italy – Joint Force Command Naples held a Workshop on "Women Peace and Security: The Role of Women in Preventive and Response Strategies on Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV)" on 16 November 2021 at the headquarters in Lago Patria, Italy.
NATO seeks to improve cooperation and coordination with the network of African Women known as FemWise Africa.
"The idea behind women's engagement in peace and security is really the understanding that in all conflicts, or in all issues related to peace and security, women and men experience conflicts differently. More importantly, in resolving conflicts, women and men have to both be engaged" said Gloria Kabage, Femwise Africa Secretariat.
Subject matter experts from the five regions in Africa and NATO experts provided rich insights on best practices and lessons learnt on CRSV in their respective countries, such as Zimbabwe, Eswatini, DRC, South Sudan, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Tunisia and Morocco.
The discussion was deeply enriched by the full participation of the around 100 virtual attendees that were following the workshop remotely.
Some important areas of cooperation were identified on the basis of inputs made by the SME's from FemWise and NATO members.
FemWise identified some best practices in preventative and response measures such as training of security sector officials, special courts, one stop centers, safe houses and clubs dedicated to peace.
The workshop also highlighted the need to collaborate with peacekeeping centres of excellence.