[Winner Announcement] PEACE Award: Civil Society Organizations Competition on Good Practices in Women, Peace and Security in Southeast Asia

To raise awareness and elevate the efforts of CSOs, UN Women launched the CSOs Peace Award Competition in 2024 entitled “CSOs PEACE Award: CSOs Competition on Good Practices in Women Peace and Security in Southeast Asia”. The competition targeted CSOs actively working on WPS in the ASEAN region and Timor-Leste. The aim was to highlight innovative, replicable, and impactful initiatives that empower women and promote their participation in peace and traditional and non-traditional security initiatives. By sharing these narratives, we not only celebrate the achievements of these organizations but also create a platform for learning collaboration, and increased awareness of the WPS agenda.

This initiative falls under the ASEAN Regional project “Empowering Women for Sustainable Peace: Preventing Violence and Promoting Social Cohesion in ASEAN,” generously funded by the Governments of Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Korea.

Winners

Cambodia

• Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT)
  • Media for Peace: ACT through its Executive Director shares a story on employing the media as a platform to advocate for peace by increasing the understanding and awareness on peace among journalists and the media community. The initiative has succeeded in reaching indigenous communities in some of the most remote parts of Cambodia, where literacy levels are low and communication limited. As a result, women in these areas now confident to speak on issues of conflict and peace.

Indonesia

• 1st Place: Wahid Foundation
  • Peace Villages: Women’s Leadership in Building Sustainable Peace: Wahid Foundation tells a story of the “Desa Damai” the Peace Villages, an initiative that targets marginalised groups in economic empowerment, conflict prevention training, women’s leadership strengthening in peacebuilding, and sustainable environmental practices while fostering awareness on democratic values and equitable treatment. The groups are included in in the Peace Villages to expand and develop women peace cadres who actively promote tolerance and peace to build robust social cohesion. The program demonstrates that women’s leadership is the cornerstone of resilient and inclusive communities. It is a testament to the power of collective effort in nurturing peace and security.
• 2nd Place: Lembaga Penguatan Masyarakat Sipil (LPMS) Poso
  • Women in efforts to prevent violent extremism: The Poso Civil Society Strengthening Institute (LPMS) has been actively involved in conflict resolution and deradicalization since 2000. Since 2016, they have engaged the wives of ex-prisoners to counter violent extremism by empowering them with knowledge, skills, and psychosocial support. These women play a critical role in influencing their husbands’ reintegration and promoting peaceful coexistence in society. Through the PROPOSOKU program (Psychosocial Program for a Stronger Poso), in collaboration with The Habibie Center and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, LPMS facilitates reintegration efforts, reduces extremist influences, and supports economic empowerment for ex-prisoners’ families. The initiative aims to break the cycle of radicalization by fostering gender equality, economic stability, and social inclusion. The program has shown promising results in influencing ex-prisoners to disengage from extremist groups and rebuild their lives within the community.

Philippines

• 1st Place: Pakigdait Inc- Bae Mediators
  • The “Bae” of Peace: Women, Conflict, and Transformation in Camp Bilal: A story of a group of women named ‘Bae Mediators’ that have contributed to conflict resolution and community healing using a women centred conflict resolution approach in the Mindanao region in the Philippines.
• 2nd Place: Sinagtala Center for Women and Children in Conflict
  • Weaving Peace and Empowerment: Sinagtala focuses its work on women’s economic empowerment as a peacebuilding strategy. By fostering economic independence and social cohesion, the initiative disrupts the narrative that these women are merely victims of war. Instead, they become key players in conflict prevention and resolution.

Thailand

• 1st Place: The Network of Civic Women for Peace
  • Empowering women to promote meaningful participation in peacebuilding: Through their work, Civic Women for Peace supports education of youth to reduce chances of their recruitment into armed groups, supports women to transition from being victims to peace advocates through sharing their stories and forming women led networks to advocate for safety in public spaces alongside engaging the media to drive the WPS Agenda. Their work has been recognised nationally.
• 2nd Place: Centre for Girls Foundation
  • Empowering Women and Communities to Prevent Human Trafficking in Border Districts of Chiang Rai Province: The Center for Girls Foundation’s exemplifies how grassroots CSOs can empower women and communities to address pressing security challenges. By building local capacity, fostering collaboration, and utilizing innovative media campaigns, CFGF is not only combating trafficking but also advancing the WPS agenda in the region. This initiative demonstrates the critical role of CSOs in shaping a more peaceful and secure future for women and communities in the ASEAN region.

Timor-Leste

• 1st Place: Ba Futuru
  • Women participation in the WPS Agenda: Ba Futuru shares on their work with women in various aspects of WPS through a participatory human rights-based approach. They highlight the importance of strategic partnerships with government and security agencies.
• 2nd Place: AJAR
  • Supporting survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in post conflict: A story on restoration and reconciliation post conflict as AJAR and her partners offer individual and collective reparative support to victims while at the same time encouraging the government to fulfill its responsibilities in establishing reparative programmes for the victims.

The schedule for awarding ceremony will be announced later.