Building and Sustaining Peace from the Ground Up: A Global Study of Civil Society and Local Women’s Perception of Sustaining Peace

Abstract

Sustaining Peace is therefore a bold and novel agenda. However, while it is groundbreaking in many ways, the Sustaining Peace agenda is not entirely new for women’s rights organizations. Local women’s rights activists, especially in their efforts to implement the WPS resolutions, operate with a long-term vision, involve various actors, and promote local leadership and national ownership. In other words, sustaining peace is inherent to women’s rights and peace activists. Local women are therefore the leaders and pioneers of Sustaining Peace. Including them in the shaping of the agenda is not only right; it is also smart, as it benefits entire communities. The rich experience and local expertise of women’s civil society makes their insights invaluable and necessary to ensure that the Sustaining Peace agenda is effectively implemented.

To highlight the perspectives of women’s civil society on what Sustaining Peace means and how it should be operationalized, GNWP has utilized its wide network of women activists and CSOs to coordinate a global research, with support from UN Women. Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burundi, Canada, Colombia, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mexico, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sweden, Syria and Ukraine. A multilingual survey was also disseminated widely in these countries, and beyond – receiving nearly 1,000 responses across 48 countries. In total, over 1,600 people participated in the research through the survey, KIIs and FGDs.