1325: Rhetoric or Reality?

Sep 1, 2020 | Ndeye Sow and Gemma Kelly
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Working on Women Peace & Security (WPS) issues since the 1990s, International Alert was directly involved in the global advocacy campaign “From the Village to the Negotiating Table” which helped to successfully influence the adoption of Resolution 1325 twenty years ago. The resolution was built on the foundations of a feminist movement, underpinned by gains fought for by women’s peace organizations over several decades.

Since 1990 International Alert has implemented WPS projects in Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, DR Congo, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, to name a few. These projects have yielded much success. Our social cohesion project in Northeast Nigeria has supported the reintegration, of women and girls associated with Boko Haram, back into their families and communities, and addressed the stigma and negative perceptions that they face. Our work in Afghanistan created an enabling environment to promote women’s participation in decision-making processes and to improve protection at the community level. Our recent project in Tajikistan has helped dramatically to curb the levels of violence against women and girls by empowering at-risk women and girls to provide for themselves economically as well as to seek more effective protection from domestic violence.