UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.
UN-Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. In Sierra Leone, women have played critical role in harnessing peace during the 11 years’ war. They contributed to bringing democratic rule in the country and to the restoration of peace. In 1995, the Sierra Leone Women Movement for Peace in collaboration with other women’s groups galvanized support for democracy through the Bintumani one and two, calling for elections before peace and negotiating with rebel leaders 17. These conferences were held with relevant stakeholders, government, CSOs, traditional leaders, women groups, from national and sub-national levels The consultations contributed to the conduct of four successful general elections (2002, 2007, 2012 and 2018). Their active involvement through the Elections Situation Room (ESR) in the 2012 and 2018 as a crucial conflict prevention and conflict resolution mechanism have reinforced the pivotal role that women play in peacebuilding. An emerging wave of young feminist groups such as Girl Empower Sierra Leone, Girl-Up initiative have become critical thought leaders in influencing behaviors, practices and shaping ideologies for promoting women’s participation in politics and in protecting women and girls from gender-based violence. Leveraging on media platforms, they have contributed to shaping the social media platforms to promoting girls’ leadership and voice in political and public spaces.
The role of CSOs and women groups in the prevention of conflicts, peacebuilding and promotion of women’s political participation have been monumental and well documented in Sierra Leone. Their response to the civil war, the peacebuilding processes and democratic governance has been prominent in ushering in a democratically elected government. Their active involvement through the Elections Situation Room (ESR) in the 2012 and 2018 as a crucial conflict prevention and conflict resolution mechanism have reinforced the pivotal role that women play in peacebuilding. Relying and drawing inspiration from UN Security Council resolution (S/RES/1325) on women and peace and security passed in October 2000, women CSOs have contributed to women political participation, actively demanding affirmative action for equal representation in all spheres of life and advocating for legal reforms that promote and protect women’s rights. In this context, UN Women, UNDP, and World Vision proposal is seeking to implement the project to promote and sustain Women-Focused
CSOs, facilitate shared objectives, joint planning, and monitoring for women political participation, conflict prevention and peacebuilding during the next general elections in 2023 in Sierra Leone
Reporting to the project coordinator with guidance from programs specialist on technical issues, with the overall Direct supervision of the Head of Office the Communications Officer is responsible for assisting in the planning and implementation of the Office communications and advocacy strategies to increase the standing and awareness of UN Women with partners, the media and the public.
The Communications Analyst works in close collaboration with the Programme, Operations and technical teams in the Sierra Leone country Office HQ/Regional communications teams, staff of other UN Agencies, Government officials, media, multilateral and bilateral donors and civil society.
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