Gender Concerns International has been active at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs meetings to collect and review recommendations for the next National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security. Civil Society Organisations have provided input on how to improve and more effectively implement UNSCR 1325 in the Netherlands and abroad.
As the current NAP II is ending this year, the time has come to review what was successful and what could be improved in the new NAP III, which will run from 2016 until 2019. Gender Concerns highlighted among other initiatives the Bayan II project in Afghanistan, which seeks to train and include more women in Afghanistan security forces and get more qualified female politicians. This project, funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has just begun, and is currently in the inception phase.
The Dutch NAP is unique in its kind, it is the only NAP in which the civil society is actively included and a signatory. Therefore, it is important that we as a civil society group, express our ideas and present a unified and coherent civil society voice. To achieve this, Gender Concerns International participated in several review events to provide our input for the civil society recommendations. After several preparatory meetings to gather feedback, the civil society met with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 24 April 2015 to discuss what the starting point for the new NAP should be. Gender Concerns actively part took in this discussion and was selected to join the reading committee for the new NAP III.
By joining the reading committee during the drafting of the NAP III, Gender Concerns is able to provide direct input and oversee the compilation - provide checks and balances during the drafting process and ensure that the voice of the civil society is strong, clear and taken deeply deliberated. Together, the various members of the vibrant Dutch civil society can create a new NAP that will ensure that the goals of UNSCR 1325 can be achieved worldwide.