As part of South Africa's broader peacebuilding strategy, women who have long been at the forefront of grassroots efforts to combat issues ranging from gender-based violence to environmental degradation, are now taking center stage.
In 2000, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 1325, which stressed gender equality to maintain international peace and security. Since its adoption, Resolution 1325 became an organizing framework for the women, peace, and security agenda, which focuses on advancing the components of the resolution. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls to leave no one behind, as women and girls suffer most from the devastating effects of war, violent conflict, terrorism, and violent extremism. The goal is to ensure that every person, in every country, can benefit from sustainable development and human rights without discrimination.
Against this background, the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda aligns perfectly with South Africa's vision of "a better South Africa, a better Africa, and a better world".
To further this vision, the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) in South Africa initiated a transformative project to promote WPS. This program empowers women as key players in peacebuilding and conflict resolution by addressing vital matters such as gender violence while promoting human rights for women as integral to sustainable peace.
While South African women may not face traditional war zones, they still face security challenges. Through promoting inclusive dialogue and empowering women as agents of change, ACCORD aims to bring greater equality and peacefulness to the future societies of Southern Africa.
allAfrica's Melody Chironda spoke with Lwandile Moyo, Programme Officer for the Programmes Division at ACCORD. Lwandile spoke about her role in In My Backyard: A South African Peacebuilding Initiative, including guiding this year's cohort, the inspiration and overview of the initiative, and the integration of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. She also shared her thoughts on balancing empowerment and accountability, managing resource constraints, and handling xenophobia and socioeconomic inequities. The second cohort consists of eight participants.
"My role primarily involves overseeing the entire training process, connecting participants with our experienced facilitators, and providing continuous support to ensure the successful integration of the South African National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security principles into local peacebuilding efforts, specifically focusing on the participation and prevention pillars of the agenda," said Moyo.
"It's a collective effort to ensure the success of this program; I am merely the focal person," she said.
The 'In My Backyard' peacebuilding initiative was born out of necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic and evolved to address the need for localized implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda.
"We aimed to empower women through the use of technology during the lockdown," she said.
"However, we soon recognized the value of bringing the group together and fostering group dynamics, which were lacking in an entirely virtual format. Given the challenges of being solely online, we decided to establish this initiative as a hybrid model, combining both in-person and online interactions."
Moyo said ACCORD's involvement in national policy inspired the Women, Peace, and Security aspect of In My Backyard. "Given that ACCORD forms part of the steering committee of South Africa's National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, through ACCORD's role in support of the National Action Plan (NAP), we recognized how there was a space for raising awareness and capacitating at a local level."
"The inspiration stems from the need to localize the women, peace, and security agenda, and recognizing that real change often starts at the grassroots level," said Moyo. "The initiative aims to empower local peacebuilders to take an active role in their communities."
Significance and Integration of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda
"The women, peace, and security agenda is crucial because it recognizes the essential role that women play in preventing and resolving conflicts. It also recognizes the need for building and sustaining peace," said Moyo.
The agenda prioritizes women's participation, protection, prevention of violence against women, and their roles in relief and recovery.
Regarding how ACCORD integrates the WPS agenda into their program, Moyo said that they "integrate the WPS agenda by providing training on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and South Africa's National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, emphasizing practical application in conflict prevention, mediation, and election-related conflict mitigation."
"This ensures that participants are well-versed in the policy framework and can effectively apply it to their peacebuilding activities," she said.
"The participants in the program, represent organizations embedded within South African communities," said Moyo. "These participants have a responsibility to navigate various issues that require mitigation and mediation to ensure conflict resolution and maintain peace within their communities.
Moyo addressed the potential tension between empowering local peacebuilders and ensuring their accountability to broader South African society. She emphasized their selective process and approach.
She added that they chose individuals already invested in their communities' challenges and the type of work that they do seeks to address those challenges within their communities.
"Again, going back to the fact that they have a responsibility within their community. Our participants represent organizations that they work [for], they represent organizations within their communities," added Moyo. "We then try and emphasize the importance of inclusive and holistic peacebuilding approaches that not only focus on, for example, immediate conflict resolution but also addresses the underlying systemic issues."
Beyond Funding
Moyo said that the initiative focuses on building sustainable local capacity. They aim to create a strong network of peacebuilders who can support each other beyond the program's duration through an initiative called "Finding My Network."
"Finding My Network facilitates connections between ACCORD's programs and networks where participants gain access to ongoing resources like mentorship, and opportunities for collaboration," she said. "But we also then encourage the development of local partnerships and community-driven solutions to ensure that the peacebuilding efforts are sustainable and resilient enough, even in the absence of external funding. So we believe that sustainability is not just financial resources."
"What we found with the first cohort, for example, is that they have partnered with themselves. We concluded our program with the previous cohort in 2023. And what we found was that even after that program came to an end, they have now been able to partner up with themselves, giving them the flexibility to work with ACCORD, work with other organizations."
This flexibility allows participants to work with ACCORD and other entities as needed, ensuring they receive the necessary support to continue their peacebuilding efforts independently.
"Where they require, whether it be technical or substantive support like proposal writing, concept notes, any level of substantive support, we can assist with that. It's not a constant hand-holding process, but we do, as and when they require assistance, not just financially, we are there to support," she said.
Empowering Changemakers
Moyo added that the initiative provides comprehensive training in conflict resolution, mediation, and early warning systems.
"We emphasize the importance of understanding the root causes of conflict and developing strategies that promote dialogue and reconciliation. The participants are trained to mitigate tensions that may arise by fostering inclusive and participatory approaches that involve all stakeholders," she said. "We just believe that by building trust and collaboration within their communities, they can address inequalities more effectively."
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Hopes and Aspirations for the Program's Impact
"My hopes and aspirations for the impact of this program are to create a lasting and positive influence on South African peacebuilding. We envision a network of empowered and skilled peacebuilders who actively contribute to preventing and resolving conflicts within their communities," she said. "And ultimately, for this initiative to serve as a model for effective and sustainable local peacebuilding efforts, we think that it might be an inspiration to similar programs across the continent and beyond."
"The first generation of South Africa's National Action Plan is ending in eight months," she said.
"We just hope that this initiative can assist in localizing as they plan for the next generation. We hope that this initiative can model and inform the next drafting of the second-generation national action plan ."
"We believe that a lot of things happen at local levels, and that's where change can come about," said Moyo.
"It's important to highlight that our cohort represents various communities across several provinces of South Africa, including Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape," she added. "This diversity ensures that we address the unique needs and issues affecting different provinces."
AllAfrica's peacebuilding reporting, featured on AllAfrica and freely available to online, print and broadcast media, is supported by funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a philanthropic organization.An element of AllAfrica's peacebuilding initiative is organizing interactions among peace and security scholars, non-governmental organizations, policy makers and print and broadcast journalists across Africa.
