Empowering Civil Society for Women, Peace and Security: Strengthening Collaboration and Action in Timor-Leste

Under the second-generation National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 1325 (2024-2028) adopted by the Council of Ministers in January 2024, the Government of Timor-Leste is fully committed to strengthening protection and safety for women, girls and the most vulnerable groups in Timor-Leste, and promoting women’s full, meaningful and equal participation and leadership in peace and security. The MOI, through the NAP 1325 Secretariat, is leading the overall coordination, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the NAP 1325, and ensuring coordinated and effective collaboration with other participating line ministries and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) within the NAP 1325 Structure. Following the launch of the NAP 1325, UN Women has been providing support to the Ministry of Interior to strengthen its institutional capacity in sensitizing and disseminating the NAP 1325 (2024-2028) within its Ministry and the other participating line ministries at both national and sub-national levels.

In the NAP 1325 (2024-2028), the Government of Timor-Leste commends and recognizes the crucial roles of the civil society organizations in developing and implementing the Women, Peace and Security agenda in Timor-Leste, in both its first and second phases. The Government of Timor-Leste values the CSOs’ network and connection with the local grassroot communities in promoting women, peace and security, and strengthening prevention and response to violence against women and girls. Currently, 15 CSOs are actively involved in implementing the NAP 1325 (2024-2028). It is noted that enhancing capacities of the CSOs and women-led organizations in implementing and monitoring the national commitments outlined in the NAP 1325, and strengthening its advocacy for greater accountability is critical in promoting effective implementation of the NAP 1325, and ensuring that commitments to gender equality and women’s leadership are not only made but also fulfilled. With on-the-ground presence and extensive experience in directly engaging with the local communities, the CSOs and women-led organizations will contribute to the NAP 1325 by providing valuable insights, local experience and recommendations informing government’s policy and decision making, ensuring that the planning and implementation of the NAP 1325 is grounded in the real needs and experiences of women and girls, and the most marginalized groups.

To strengthen partnerships amongst the CSOs to ensure alignment and synergy in implementing WPS-related initiatives under the NAP 1325 framework, and monitoring the impact of those initiatives towards achieving the goals set forth in the NAP 1325, Ba Futuru and UN Women will jointly organize a workshop namely “Empowering Civil Society for Women, Peace, and Security: Strengthening Collaboration and Action in Timor-Leste”.

Objectives

• To enhance knowledge of CSOs to understand the global, regional, and national frameworks on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), including CEDAW, UNSCR 1325, the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on WPS, and Timor-Leste’s NAPs on GBV and WPS.
• To increase understanding of the CSOs regarding the roles and commitments of the Government and the CSOs in the NAP 1325 (2024-2028), and the monitoring mechanisms of Timor-Leste’s NAP 1325 (2024-2028), enabling CSOs to actively support the NAP 1325 implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• To strengthen capacities of the CSOs in developing advocacy and communication strategies that amplify the advancement of the local WPS agenda and engage a wide range of stakeholders in promoting gender-responsive approaches to peace and security in Timor-Leste.
• To provide a platform promoting partnership and fostering collaboration amongst the CSOs to discuss synergies and explore women-led and community-based innovative approaches for addressing and responding to these traditional and emerging security challenges in Timor-Leste, and develop a joint workplan/action plan on the NAP 1325 implementation in 2025.