British High Commission in Colombo (BHC) hosted a panel discussion on the role of women in peace building and announced new global programme of support to women mediators on Oct 23, a press release said.

It said that the BHC had hosted a virtual panel discussion on ‘New Barriers to Women in Peace building: Cyber-Sexual and Gender Based Violence, Gendered Disinformation and Hate Speech’.  Featuring on the panel, hosted by the British High Commissioner Sarah Hulton was: Amibika Satkunanathan (Chairperson, Neelan Tiruchelvan Trust); Dharini Priscilla (Programme manager, The Grasrooted Trust); Sachini Perera (Queer Feminist Researcher), and Shreen Saroor (Women’s Rights Activist).

The panelists, who are leading women’s and human rights activists, have extensively contributed to peace building and social cohesion in Sri Lanka. They drew on their professional and personal experiences in tackling gendered hate speech and cyber-Sexual and Gender Based Violence.  The Panel shared calls to action to work together with civil society and technology companies to tackle abuse; to challenge unequal norms; and to support victims of abuse including building online and offline responses.

British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Sarah Hulton in her opening remarks said: “In Sri Lanka, the British High Commission works to ensure that it delivers for women, girls and sexual and gender minorities. The UK is proud to contribute to demining efforts, where up to 40% of employees are female, and many are female heads of households. We have also worked with the Sri Lanka Police Force to promote gender equality and to respond effectively to Sexual and Gender Based Violence. Wider UK programmes have supported gender-sensitive justice mechanisms and women’s empowerment. Future plans include support to tackle harms faced by women, and vulnerable groups online.”

In a virtual address to the United Nations on Oct 29, UK Middle East Minister James Cleverly announced a new £1m global programme of assistance to women mediators across Commonwealth countries.  The funding will provide women on the frontline of peace talks with training, mentoring and resources for their participation in peace building.  It will also encourage the inclusion of women at all levels of negotiations, including at the UN.  This programme was complemented by new international guidance to protect women peace builders, initiated by the UK.

The event was held in honour of the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the first UN resolution to define the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.  The agenda aims to reduce the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls, as well as to champion the crucial role women can play in humanitarian action, conflict prevention, and resolution. At its 20th anniversary, the WPS agenda remains a vital issue, compounded by new and evolving barriers to peacebuilding, including climate change, COVID-19, and as the panel highlighted cyber-violence.

According to research by UN Women and the Council on Foreign Relations, when women meaningfully participate in peace talks, the resulting agreement is 64% less likely to fail and 35% more likely
to last at least 15 years. Yet between 1990 and 2017, women made up only 2% of mediators, 8% of negotiators, and 5% of witnesses and signatories in all major peace processes.