LAW Webinar: The promise, lived experiences and future prospects of the WPS Agenda: Perspectives from the ground
On December 9, 2020, LAW hosted a webinar on the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. The event marked the 20th anniversary of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325. The event brought together women leaders at the forefront of WPS implementation in Lebanon, South Sudan and Sri Lanka.
Three panelists spoke at the event: Ghida Anani, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Public Health in the Lebanese University and founder and Director of ABAAD MENA; Jackline Nasiwa, Director of the Centre for Inclusive Governance, Peace and Justice in South Sudan; and Ramaaya Salgado, Programme Officer and Country Focal Point for UN Women Sri Lanka. The event was chaired by Lucy Geddes, the head of LAW Sri Lanka. Antonia Mulvey, LAW’s Executive Director, gave opening remarks.
The participants discussed the implementation of the WPS agenda in Lebanon, South Sudan and Sri Lanka, including efforts to develop National Action Plans and challenges to implementation in these different national and regional contexts, as well as future directions. They also discussed global challenges, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted a decrease in funding for WPS implementation across many contexts. The second half of the event was dedicated to a lively question and answer session in which the panelists fielded questions on topics such as cross-border coordination of WPS efforts, the utility of using dedicated government agencies for WPS implementation, and opportunities WPS implementation at the grassroots level.