Gender Mainstreaming 18th -20th August 2008 Accra-Ghana Summary

As a prelude to the official launching of the desk, the Women Peace makers Program (WPP)-Africa Regional Desk hosted by the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) organized a gender mainstreaming training from August 18-20, 2008 at Sun Lodge hotel in Accra, Ghana. The training brought together a total of 15 participants from across 10 African counties representing Branches, Groups and Affiliates (BGAs) of IFOR. The overall goal of the training was to implement the IFOR Gender policy in the African context.

Participants were selected on the basis of their leadership position in the BGA and their expressed willingness to develop mainstreaming action plans for their BGAs. Furthermore it was expected that participants would share the training content at both organization and community level.

During the three-day training, participants reviewed the basic concept of gender and gender mainstreaming thereby exploring the link between gender, active nonviolence and peace building. The IFOR gender policy, which was passed at the Council in 2006, was also reviewed. Organized in the form of peer learning, the participants shared their organizations efforts vis-à-vis gender sensitivity, identified gaps and set benchmarks for improvement. This culminated in the formulation of BGA action plans for the implementation of the IFOR Gender Policy in the African context.