Young Women Peacebuilders -Programme in the Arab States Region

[Call for Applications]

Background:

Global data demonstrates that women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution is essential for achieving lasting, just, and positive peace. Women’s engagement both broadens the perspective brought to political dialogues and enables their voices and priorities to be reflected.

UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States has partnered with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, through its regional Women Peace and Security Hub, to offer a capacity-building programme on peacebuilding for young women to advance the implementation of international normative frameworks towards the achievement of gender equality and women’s rights. This includes the advancement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and UN Security Council Resolutions 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security and 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, and subsequent resolutions.

This partnership is part of the project “Enhancing Women’s Leadership For Sustainable Peace in Fragile Contexts in the MENA region,” funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

About the Young Women Peacebuilders -Programme:

The first cohort of the Young Women Peacebuilders (YWP) was in 2021. The programme at the time was offered directly by UN Women. Sixty – seven young women peacebuilders from twelve countries across the Arab States region were selected based on their evident records of leadership and accomplishment in promoting gender equality, women’s empowerment, and peacebuilding.

The 2023 YWP cohort will enable participants to take part in a capacity building programme offered by the Women, Peace and Security Hub at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs. The 50-hour training modules aim to familiarize its members with creative tools in reconciliation, conflict transformation and prevention, as well as exchange of experiences across the region, in order to prepare the next generation of peacebuilders.

The ultimate objective of the programme is to increase young women’s meaningful participation in political dialogues, peace processes and their capacity to resolve local disputes. The programme is dedicated to transforming young women’s potential to become leaders and peacebuilders in the Arab States region.  

Upon completion of the programme, participants will join the YWP Alumni Network and work closely with the Issam Fares Institute on the upcoming high-level Women Peace and Security Annual Forum to shape the women and youth peace and security agendas in the region in addition to other activities within the WPS Hub. 

Curriculum:

The capacity-building track on peacebuilding for young women will cover the following modules:

• Introduction to the UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security and UN Security Council 2250 on Youth, Peace & Security Resolution; as well as subsequent WPS and YPS resolutions
• Conflict theories and analysis, including how to conduct gender-sensitive conflict analysis.
• Conflict resolution methods
• Peace Theories and approaches
• Peace processes, formal and informal tracks
• Negotiation and Alternative dispute settlements
• Mediation process, skills, values, and phases
• Preventive methods
• Reconciliation
• Contextual dispute settlement
• Case studies
• Experts seminars
• Graduation Project

Duration:

• 50 hours of online learning activities.
• The programme will run every day from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM (except for Fridays and weekends) from 1 August 2023 to 31 August 2023

Delivery Language and Platform:

• Language: The programme will be delivered in Arabic. For international experts’ seminars, translation service into Arabic will be provided.
• Platform: The programme will be fully hosted online.

To be eligible for consideration, candidates must:

• Be a woman national of a Member State within the UN Women Arab States area of responsibility (Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen).
• Be aged between 18 to 35.
• Have a record of leadership and accomplishment in areas related to gender equality, women’s empowerment, and peacebuilding.
• Be a member of youth-led or youth-servicing organizations or remarkable informal youth initiatives with access to youth networks.
• Have access to, and be reasonably proficient in, communication technologies.
• Women from conflict or post-conflict countries, refugee women, women with disabilities and rural women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Benefits:

Members of the Young Women Peacebuilders will have access to the following:

• Mentorship sessions from UN Women and IFI staff and external experts to build their capacity on gender equality issues, awareness of the international gender equality and peace and security frameworks.
• The opportunity to engage and be part of an extraordinary group of young leaders from all over the region to exchange knowledge and best practices and collaborate in the development of large-scale initiatives.
• Nomination to attend high-level meetings to share youth perspectives.
• Invitation to attend IFI and UN Women regional office and country offices activities and opportunities.

Application:

If you are interested in applying for the Young Women Peacebuilders programme, please complete the application form available here: https://forms.gle/d5XLqwppppqtmJAZ6            

Deadline:

Deadline for applications: 7 July 2023.