PANAFRICAN CENTRE FOR GENDER, PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT
The PanAfrican Centre for Gender, Peace and Development (PAC) is a Center of Excellence launched by the international NGO Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) in 2005 in Dakar, sénegal, with the aim of providing training and
in-depth research on issues related to peace- building and development with a special focus on gender. The PAC supports FAS in the implementation of its program and supports all activities and projects involving a process of training or capacity building of different target groups on issues of peace, security and development related to gender.
Along the years the PanAfrican Centre for Gender Peace and Development (PAC) has therefore become a significant arm of Femmes Africa Solidarité, providing advanced training and research in peacebuilding and development issues with an emphasis on gender
During the year 2017; the PAC has trained
more than 200 people made up of women,
young people from civil society; journalists
and security professionals throughout different projects. This year’s activity report reflects the efforts of the PAC to respond to its vocation and triggered various processes to become a more autonomous center.
Training peacekeepers on preventing and tackling sexual violence in Senegal
The pilot project «Training peacekeepers on preventing and tackling sexual violence in Senegal” implemented by the PanAfrican Centre for Gender, Peace and Development (PAC) was launched in 2016 and ended in June 2017. The program funded by the British Embassy in Senegal and supported by the Embassy of Japan in Senegal and the African Union Commission Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security in collaboration with FAS and its Pan-African Center for Gender, Peace and Development, has contributed to the training and empowerment of officers, military cadres and police to prevent cases of sexual 14 2017 Activity Reportviolence during peacekeeping operations. The project also supports the United Nations Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council policy on «zero tolerance» against cases of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by the peacekeepers. It has therefore contributed to the strengthening of Senegalese Defense and Security Forces Personnel’s capacities on the prevention and the fight against cases of sexual abuse, through the acquisition of knowledge, analysis tools and management of cases of sexual exploitation and abuse. The uniqueness of the program is the combination of the members of CSO and grassroots women together with the police and military experts in delivering the training. The program conducted various activities namely:
- The harmonization and validation workshop on the training module
- The training of trainer’s workshops,
- The training workshop replication and the appropriation session.
Training peacekeepers on preventing and tackling sexual violence in Senegal, May 2017
The AGFA is a bi annual ceremony established in 2005, commemorating African leaders, who have made remarkable progress towards gender mainstreaming, as recommended by the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (SDGEA) at the 2004 Or-dinary Session of the African Union. Since its last edition in 2011, the project
«African Gender Award» has been suspended but has finally resumed its activities during the year 2017. Following several months of research on the performance of African countries in gender and women’s empowerment and two high-level meetings in Addis Ababa, the AGFA Selection Committee composed of eminent personalities and experts in that field unanimously voted in favor of the Republic of Namibia and its President Hage Gottfried Geingob as the winner of the award
CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD
- A module on «Training Peacekeeping Mission Personnel on Prevention and Combating Sexual Abuse» structured in 05 sub-modules with input from experts from the various Defense and Security Forces corps, academics and members of the civil society has been developed;
- More than 150 police, army and gendarmerie agents have been trained throughout Senegal;
- More than 16 senior officers from the various corps benefited from empowerment through the appropriation of the training module on preventing and combating sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping operations
- Creation of a task force capable of training and ensuring dissemination within the various bodies;
- • The # ZeroAbus # campaign to educate, train and equip defense and security forces on the prevention and fight against sexual exploitation and abuse has been launched;
- Relations between the partners (African Union, Great Britain and the Government of Japan) and the authorities representing the Defense and Security Forces have been consolidated to prevent abuse and exploitation in peacekeeping operations;
- A code of conduct for each Peace Mission has been developed;
- Institutionalization of gender in the curriculum of military schools and training centers following the implementation of the pilot project, at the request of the Ministry of Armed Forces is being implemented
RESULTS
- One of the major challenges was to continue interacting with the defense and security forces more closely in order to integrate the training module into the training schools and to monitor effectively the outcome and long term impact;
- There is a need to maintain this partnership and continue building on the program and its potential of being replicated in Africa and elsewhere. In that sense, the program needs to actively mobilize the participation of key partners such as ECOWAS, Gender Centre in Senegal, UN Office for West Africa, Sahel, UNWOMEN, and the Senegal Gender Ministry that is committed to supporting any efforts towards the replication of this program;
- The creation of a mobile training team deployed in the theater of operation will be a good opportunity to assess the knowledge acquired to educate and remind behaviors in preventing sexual abuses and exploitation
Africa Gender Forum Award (AGFA)
Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) and its Pan-African Center for Gender, Peace and Development (PAC), in partnership with the GIMAC network (Gender is My Agenda Campaign) established the African Gender Forum Award (AGFA) African Excellence on Gender
The AGFA is a bi annual ceremony established in 2005, commemorating African leaders, who have made remarkable progress towards gender mainstreaming, as recommended by the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (SDGEA) at the 2004 Or-dinary Session of the African Union. Since its last edition in 2011, the project
«African Gender Award» has been suspended but has finally resumed its activities during the year 2017. Following several months of research on the performance of African countries in gender and women’s empowerment and two high-level meetings in Addis Ababa, the AGFA Selection Committee composed of eminent personalities and experts in that field unanimously voted in favor of the Republic of Namibia and its President Hage Gottfried Geingob as the winner of the award
RESULTS
Five (05) Heads of State have been recognized since its inception: • Former President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal in 2005; • Former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa in 2005; • President Paul Kagame of Rwanda in 2007; • Former President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique in 2009; • Former President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia in 2011.
CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD
The non-submission of reports by the African countries on their performance in gender and women’s empowerment is one of the major challenges; • Difficulties related to the research on the performance of African countries in gender and women’s empowerment; • Maintain the award every 2 years.