A launch event for the joint project of CMI and West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), ‘Gender-Based Violence and Peace Mediation in West Africa’ was held in Accra, Ghana on September 15th, 2011. The launch event was a kick-off for the two-year project and brought together various actors working on gender based violence and peace processes from Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Speakers at the event included Dr. Sintiki Tarfa Ugbe of ECOWAS, Ms. Patricia Kamara from the Ministry of Gender and Development Liberia, Ms. Davidetta Lansanah from the United Nations Mission in Liberia Office of Gender Advisor (UNMIL-OGA) and staff from the arranging organisations. CMI Executive Director Ms. Tuija Talvitie’s launch event speech can be found here.
The Gender Based Violence and Peace Mediation project aims to increase the capacity of peace mediation actors in West Africa to include questions regarding gender and gender based violence in peace processes. Through a comparative analysis on experiences from West African conflicts and peace mediation processes, the project develops recommendations on how to address these questions effectively.
