WPP New Years Letter

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year from the Women Peacemakers Program to all of you! We would like to take this opportunity to reflect on some of our accomplishments in 2013, and to share with you what we are planning for 2014.

Some of the WPP highlights of 2013 include:

• Finalizing the first regional WPP Asia Training of Trainers (ToT) Cycle “Together for Transformation: Gender-sensitive Nonviolence for Sustainable Peace” with a 7-day training in Jakarta, Indonesia during April. A total of 15 peace activists from 10 different Asian countries completed the ToT Cycle. Between the first and second training, the trainees implemented 13 Gender-Sensitive Active Nonviolence (GSANV) projects, reaching out to approximately 300 people in their home countries. 
• Adjacent to this ToT, we organized a 2-day WPP Asia Network Consultation Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Consultation Meeting resulted in a comprehensive WPP Asia Network strategy for the upcoming two years, in order to support gender-sensitive peace activism throughout the region. 
• The WPP Global Consultation on “Men and Women Working as Partners for Gender-sensitive Nonviolence” during May, with over 13 WPP partners evaluating the long-term results of WPP’s work on including a masculinities perspective in the Women, Peace & Security Agenda, as well as strategizing for new initiatives to advance partnerships between women and men for gender-sensitive peace. 
• Launching our annual May 24 Publication “Men and Women Working as Partners for Gender-sensitive Active Nonviolence” during a public event on May 28. With over 90 people attending the event, 10 WPP Partners were able to share their experiences in terms of women and men working together for gender-sensitive peacebuilding. 
• Celebrating the 13th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in October, by co-organizing a public panel discussion “Taking UNSCR 1325 to the Next Level: Gender Peace & Security – Movements, Masculinities & Mainstreaming” with GPPAC and Conciliation Resources, hosted by the Permanent Mission of the Netherlands to the UN in New York. Over 80 people attended the event, which focused on the transformative values of UNSCR 1325.

Of course, this is just a tip of the iceberg of what we did during 2013! You can read more in this report.

All the activities in 2013 provided us with a solid base for our work in 2014. Some examples of activities for the upcoming year are:

• A panel discussion on Religion, Gender and Peace, together with the Permanent Mission of the Netherlands to the UN, Cordaid and WPP Network Members from the ABAAD Resource Center for Gender Equality, City College of New York and Ecumenical Womens Initiative, during the 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March.
• A MENA Consultation Meeting in the spring, informing the development of a joint GSANV strategy for the region, including the second regional WPP MENA ToT Cycle on GSANV, to be organized late 2014.
• Worldwide celebration of the International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament on May 24, with a variety of events organized by WPP Partners. You are welcome to join this celebration and organize your own activity!
• A WPP Global Consultation on Gender and Militarism, taking place in South Africa during July 2014. The May 24 Pack of 2014 will also be dedicated to this theme.
• Bringing the WPP Asia Network together for an Asia Network Meeting in Delhi, India during November 2014.

Last but not least, we are happy to present to you our new website! Be sure to check out www.womenpeacemakersprogram.org to read all about our work, learn more about GSANV, retrieve the latest WPP reports and publications, and to stay up-to-date with the latest news and stories of our partners.

Besides our website, make sure to follow WPP on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates on GSANV and Women, Peace & Security.

Keep an eye out for the next and improved Cross the Lines edition, reflecting the feedback we received from you via the Cross the Lines survey.

Wishing you an inspiring 2014!

The WPP Team

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