On December 2 to 4, 2019, The WPS Group, in collaboration with Gender Associations, held a 3-day Gender Equality and Women, Peace and Security in International Missions course.
The course aimed to deepen practitioners' understanding of gender equality concepts and provide them with the tools to implement the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in conflict and post-conflict contexts. Using adult-based learning methodology combining theory and practice and based on an integrated approach to the implementation of the WPS agenda, the training facilitated active collaboration among diverse audience members and promoted self-reflection and open dialogue about competing world-views, experiences and visions.
The course brought together 15 participants (11 women and 4 men) from diverse police, military, and civilian backgrounds. Led by a team of 4 women facilitators (1 police, 3 civilians), it also featured presentations by women human rights defenders, gender advisers (civilian, police, and military), and a senior women police leader.
We believe that the advantage of this course lies in its ability to provide participants with a more holistic view and understanding of the WPS agenda, given that different institutions and government departments tend to understand WPS in ways specific to their own work. An important part of this training is its ability to draw on these different perspectives - military, policing, and non-governmental organizations - and draw participants' attention to the importance of connecting these perspectives to ensure a more comprehensive implementation of WPS. The success of the course also lies in the importance placed on self-reflection, allowing participants to explore their own biases. The course not only sought to provide participants with a deeper understanding of the issues at hand, but also how best to advocate for equitable policies and practices through mentoring, advising, transformative leadership and communication, and negotiation and advocacy.
Photos by Melanie Mathieu (www.melanie-photo.com).
I was greatly impacted after learning and hearing about all of the stories and experience by the various experts. I look forward to applying what I have learned here into my own work.
I had very limited knowledge of this subject matter prior to taking this workshop. I found this very relevant to the work of police officers in general and especially in preparation for Deployment to a UN mission.
The course was an excellent introduction to key areas of WPS. The experience was valuable and provided excellent opportunities for networking with diverse actors in this space.
I really enjoyed this course! The content on resolutions and frameworks was very comprehensive and relevant. I also really appreciated the networking opportunities too. You had a great mix of interesting people. Meeting and hearing about the experiences of the women’s rights activists was impactful.
We cannot thank our participants enough for their enthusiasm, open mind and willingness to get out of their comfort zone. Thank you for trusting us.
We are especially grateful to the team of people that made this course possible. This course was specifically designed by Kristine St-Pierre, Nicola Popovic (Gender Associations), and Carole Doucet. Important thanks also go to Jennifer Savidge (military gender adviser), Sylvia de Sousa (police gender adviser), Rasha Jarhum (Director of the Peace Track Initiative), Rehata Hashmi (Founder of Sisters Trust Canada), and Isobel Granger (Ottawa Police Service). A special thank you as well to Nobel Women's Initiative's Sister-to-Sister Mentorship Program and the young women's rights activists from around the world who spent a few hours with us in dialogue and exchange.
Photos by Melanie Mathieu (www.melanie-photo.com).