Exercise 2: Case study on the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security

resolutions: implementation, analysis and recommendations

I have chosen to look at the role of Tunisian NGO Aswat Nissa in implementing the WPS
resolutions through their various initiatives. Aswat Nissa means «the voice of women» in
Arabic, and was established in 2011. It is politically independent and advocate for the
integration of a gender approach in public policies by encouraging Tunisian women to make
their voices heard and take their rightful place in public and political life. I will focus on their
program “Ambassadors for Women, Peace and Security”, which was launched in partnership
with UN Women and the Center for the Democratic Control of the Armed Forces (DCAF) in
2017. The program initially aimed to facilitate a constructive and inclusive dialogue between
civil society and parliament in order to adopt a National Action Plan (NAP) reflecting the
different perspectives of Tunisian women in matters of peace and security. 45 female deputies
from three different regions in Tunisia participated in training sessions on Resolution 1325,
making the link with the CEDAW and the Beijing platform for action. The politicians also
received training on the prevention of violence against women, which was adopted to the
local context by focusing on the organic law to combat violence against women which was
passed in 2017. Moreover, gender experts from DCAF provided training on the integration of
a gender perspective in the Security Sector Governance and Reform (SSR). Two experts from
the gender division of DCAF Geneva provided the training with the help of national specialist
on the security sector reform in Tunisia, with the support of Aswat Nissa. The objectives were
to strengthen the knowledge of the elected women in SSR and to strengthen the capacity of
local politicians to work concretely for the inclusion of a gender perspective in the SSR
process.

Following the training sessions, Aswat Nissa launched launched the advocacy component in
favor of the implementation of Resolution 1325 and the integration of gender perspectives in
the SSR in 2018. There were promotion actions all over the country, organized by the WPS
ambassadors who originate from different regions. They started with the collection of data
concerning citizens’ perception of security and the participation of woman in the security
industry (500 questionnaires). This led to a study “Women and global security: towards a
gender-sensitive security sector reform in Tunisia” and a policy brief “The place of gender in
the security sector” with recommendations for a better participation of women, aimed at
legislators, political parties and security forces, which was presented at a conference in
october 2018 in partnership with UN Women. This was also the occasion to announce a
network of 12 women deputies from different parliamentary groups to become Ambassadors
of the WPS agenda in Tunisia at the end end of the project.

In addition to working with women politicians, Aswat Nissa organized working meetings with
deputies from different parliamentary groups and various committees. The aim of these
meetings were to present the WPS agenda and Resolution 1325, to introduce the SSR and the
role of parliamentarians in integrating gender equality into the SSR. Aswat and DCAF also
organized a conference on WPS to encourage a dialogue on the role of women in conflict
prevention, peacebuilding and good security sector governance with a larger audience and
journalists. As a continuation of this initiative, Aswat started a new program in 2019 called
“Ambassadors for prevention of violent extremism” where 45 young female politicians from
different regions received training on UNSCR 2242. These women make up a network to
prevent violent extremism in Tunisia and carry out prevention actions in their regions and
communities.

Aswat takes on the role of as a facilitator and coordinator for its projects, bringing together
outside experts and national ones in order to adapt the resolutions to the local context. By
training women from different political parties and regions they ensure an impact on both the
local and national level. By focusing on women who participate in political life they can have
important influence on national legislation, policies and programs. Training women from
different political parties and regions also ensure that the importance of the resolutions are
widely understood and taken into account regardless of which parties or groups dominate such
actions. When it comes to the project on preventing violent extremism I would say that there
is also an impact regionally and internationally because radicalized individuals tend to leave
the country to join terrorist organizations, and carry out actions in the region as well as in
other parts of the world. However the prevention efforts take place at the local level and this
is where the ambassadors can play the most significant role. This must also be understood in
the context of the Tunisian NAP, where prevention of violent extremism is an important
aspect. Awareness-raising and advocacy goes through reviewing studies and speeches around
societal norms and establishing a substantial communication strategy with the collaboration of
the media to fight against violence and extremism.

Tunisia’s difficult economic situation is the years following the revolution, the political
instability and multiplication of political parties with diverging interests create a complexe
backdrop to carry out the initiatives. Therefore it is important that the actions are seen as a
part of a bigger picture with, amongst others, the need for economic development, especially
in marginalized regions, in order to prevent violent extremism and violence against women. I
believe the training of only female politicians is justified as it creates a safe space for women
to express themselves and learn. Moreover, the training of women from political parties
raging from islamist and conservative to liberal ones ensures that the perspectives of different
women are taken into account. However the success of these initiatives in the long run is
dependent on the ambassadors being able to convince the men in decision making positions of
the importance of these questions too, particularly because they still make up the largest
numbers. In that sense the focus on producing studies and advocacy is extremely important.
Finally, the creation of networks of women ambassadors for WPS and prevention of violent
extremism provides a forum where they can voice their concerns, share good practices and
lessons learned. The various conferences organized by Aswat reunites political actors,
representatives from the tunisian government, civil society and international organizations,
which also cultivates the exchange and interaction between different actors.

Overall Aswat’s initiatives are clearly coherent with the axis of the NAP 2018-2022 and they
have succeeded in adapting international commitments and resolutions to the national and
local context, which is necessary for it to be carried out and have an impact. This is apparent
in a large variety of their actions from participation to prevention and the focus on data
collection and advocacy. In order to contribute to a more effective implementation of the
WPS resolutions in the country Aswat should seek dialogue with other NGOs working on the
same issues in order to maximize the outcome of actions and avoid duplications. One example
would be to work with Association Pour la Droit à la Difference (ADD), which was also a
part of the NAP consultations, and who work on preventing youth radicalization in regions at
risk. They could collaborate on advocacy towards the population and the government as well
as the prevention efforts on the local level. Another for improvement would be to take on a
more active role as a watchdog for the NAP implementation in Tunisia. Their privileged
relationship with politicians and the government provides a strong position to monitor that the
NAP is in fact carried out and put pressure on the government. Their connection to the local
level also makes them legitimate to localize the NAP and come up with more concrete
measures to be carried out locally in accordance with the NAP. Finally there is room for
improvement when it comes to measuring the impact of their programs and projects. It would
be interesting to see in what way the trainings of female politicians have had an impact on the
adoption policies and laws related to peace and security. However it is difficult to separate the
impact of their actions from other ones, and it must be seen in a long term perspective. When
it comes to citizens’ perception of security and the participation of woman in the security
industry it would be possible to carry out another study to see if it has changed as a result of
advocacy and other actions

References:
Association pour la promotion du Droit à la Différence (ADD) & ONU Femmes (2017) Le
plafond de verre : Etude basée sur l’Analyse en Composante Principale (ACP) sur les
processus des facteurs majeurs de la radicalisation des jeunes des deux sexes à Zarzouna et
Douar Hicher en Tunisie, [online], pp. 1-44, available:
http://www2.unwomen.org/-/media/field%20office%20maghreb/documents/publications/
2017/07/etude%20fr%20vf%2026%2007.pdf?la=fr&vs=4342

Aswat Nissa (2017) « Ambassadrices pour les femmes, la paix et la sécurité », available:
https://www.aswatnissa.org/projet/femme_securite/ambassadrices-pour-les-femmes-la-paix-
et-la-securite/

Aswat Nissa (2019), “Ambassadrices pour la prevention de l’extremisme violent”, available:

https://www.aswatnissa.org/projet/femme_securite/ambassadrices-pour-la-prevention-de-
lextremisme-violent/

National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security Tunisia 2018-2022, via Peace Women,
available: https://www.peacewomen.org/action-plan/national-action-plan-tunisia

ONU Femmes & CREDIF (2017) “Etat des lieux de la mise en oeuvre de la résolution 1325
en Tunisie » [online], pp. 1-120, available :
https://maghreb.unwomen.org/-/media/field%20office%20maghreb/documents/publications/
2017/07/etat%20des%20lieux%20fps%20-vf/etat%20des%20lieux%20fps%20-vf.pdf?
la=fr&vs=4145