Gender and Peace-building:
Lessons from SAWID’s Inter-Africa
Dialogue
By Vuyo Mahlati,
South African Women in Dialogue (SAWID)
Development Commission Convener
Commonwealth Meeting, 5 June 2010
Barbados
The Beginning
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South Africans in solidarty with women of the Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC). The Inter-Congolese Peace Dialogue at Sun City
and Pretoria in March and December 2002.
5-day in-depth interaction between 125 women from the DRC and
200 South African women at Esselen Park in March 2003. This
Forum was preceded by a 2-day facilitated workshop on leadership,
intended to remove the communication barriers that had previously
frustrated dialogue among the various warring parties in the DRC.
The South African women were requested by the DRC women to
play a broader peace role among women in the Great Lakes Region.
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The Beginning Cont.
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South Africans were called upon to assist the DRC
women mainstream gender issues in the DRC
Constitution-making process by sharing the South
African experience in promoting a pro-women agenda.
After the dialogue, women from the DRC interrupted the
Inter-Congolese Peace Dialogue represented by an allmale delegation and demanded that an agreement be
signed.
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SAWID FORMED IN 2003
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While supporting others South African Women recognized that there is a VOID
that needs attention back home.
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Around 1000 women met in 2003 in response to the African Heads of State
appeal to build a partnership between government and all segments of civil
society, in particular women, youth and the private sector in order to strengthen
solidarity and cohesion among our people.
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SAWID is an independent South African women’s Forum committed to provide
a platform for every woman to be heard through dialogue to improve the
status of women. SAWID facilitates partnerships with National and
international bodies to shape community, provincial, national and continental
agendas.
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Specifically: Partnerships that would strengthen solidarity and social cohesion
and that would promote and consolidate peace, security and stability in their
communities and on the continent; thus creating a conducive space for socioeconomic development and the eradication of poverty.
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WOMEN FOR GENDER EQUALITY
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SAWID agenda informed by individuals and
groups engaged in:
 Promotion
of participation of women in leadership and
decision-making processes
 Gender Mainstreaming: Policy, Advocacy and
Capacity Building, Research
 Development & Social Cohesion Sector-specific
Initiatives (service delivery facilitation)
 Multi-faith Religious formations
 Pressure/Interest Groups, Traditional & Political
Women Leagues
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VISION
Women, united in our diversity, acting
together for a better future.
www.sawid.co.za
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SAWID PROGRAMMES
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SAWID National Annual Dialogue Forum and
Regional Coordination and Support
Pan-African Peace and Reconciliation Dialogues
SAWID Youth Forum (YSAWID)
Economic and Social Development Programmes
Older Persons
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PEACE BUILDING PARTICIPATION
FRAMEWORK
The South African Foreign Policy
(Department of International Relations and
Cooperation)
 White Paper on South African
Participation in International Peace
Missions
 AU & UN Protocols
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Dialogue for:
Solidarity and Awareness-Creation
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Sharing women’s experiences (Positive role
women play & negative consequences of conflict
-mass rape and gender-based violence)
Create Awareness on the:
 Sources and effects of violence and armed
conflicts,
 Interplaying factors, structural and systemic
dimensions,
 Impact on women, children and families
 Structural Formations and Terminology
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Dialogue for Change
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Engendering Priority areas: Constitution making,
Electoral System & Defense Protocol
Translating International Commitments on
Gender Equality and Peace building into Action
(UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women,
peace and security)
Strategies for Security sector reform (from
neighborhood peace initiatives, to domestic
policing & defense, to security structures locally
and globally)
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SAWID JULY 2004 BURUNDI PEACE
DIALOGUE
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Sawid invited around 100 women from all the different parties in
Burundi and a South African delegation of around 200 women to
attend a Peace Dialogue at Esselen Park.
The objectives of the South African women were to exchange
strategies regarding women’s integration within our own political
parties, to share experiences across our political spectrum about
how South African women achieved a common women’s agenda
during the democratisation processes leading to the elections of
1994, through the Women’s coalition and the Women’s Charter for
Effective Equality process, to outline processes that were followed to
ensure that South African women were included in key decisionmaking state institutions, to highlight the dividends of peace for
women’s development, and to build solidarity among African
Women.
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Other Dialogues
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SUDAN CONFERENCE (2007) AND PEACE DIALOGUE (2009)
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AUGUST 2008 SADC WOMEN AND PEACE DIALOGUE
 The objective of the dialogue was to give support to a new drive
for African Women’s involvement in the prevention and
management of conflict as well as the preservation of peace
through ‘civil and humanitarian diplomacy.’ Women from the
various SADC countries shared experiences, vision together
towards conflict-free communities in SADC and the African
continent; identify early warning signals of conflict and suggest
local interventions to prevent it.
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XENOPHOBIA IN SOUTH AFRICA:
Grounding Peace in Our Communities
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July 2008 Alexandra Peace Dialogue
 The
brutal attacks on various African
nationals leading to killings and the
displacement of many from their homes left
the nation traumatised, guilty and distressed
 Personal healing through introspection and
empathetic dialogue towards Plan of Action
for Grounding Peace in our Communities
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Lessons/Recommendations:
Engendered Sustainable Peace-building
Framework
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Strategic Approach to Conflict Prevention,
Management and Resolution (the civil and
humanitarian diplomacy)
Strengthen Women’s Participation at all levels
(leadership/operational)
Strengthen National, Continental and Global
networks of Peace-building with women as
peace negotiators
Mechanisms for warning signs
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Lessons/Recommendations: Funding for
Preventative & Support Initiatives
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Dialogue as an essential strategy for sustainable
peace
Initiatives promoting peace culture and tolerance
Initiatives addressing Violence against women
and girls
Involve women in disarmament, demobilization
and reintegration operations
Research on Gender Equality and Peacebuilding
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Lessons/Recommendations:
Intensified Advocacy
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Advocacy for International, Continental &
National Instruments and Policies supporting
gender equality in peace-building and security
reform
Enabling Legislation and Enforcement for
uprooting Gender-based Violence
Commitment to Poverty Eradication (Millennium
Development Goal 1)
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“Give us the
peace we deserve”
Vuyo Mahlati
socialwheel@live.com
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THANK YOU
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