Civil society initiatives

Different peacebuilding initiatives led and carried out by women’s civil society organisations took place in 2020.

This section reviews some of the most important ones.

In March, the UN Secretary-General sent out his call for a global ceasefire due to the coronavirus pandemic, urging all armed actors to cease violence to guarantee the protection and health of the population in places affected by armed conflict. In response to his appeal, different civil society organisations expressed their support for the initiative. Women’s organisations suggested including the principles of gender equality and the assumptions of the women, peace and security agenda in his appeal. Thus, five organisations (WILPF, MADRE, Kvinna till Kvinna, Medica Mondiale and the Nobel Women’s Initiative) came together to present five feminist principles for a meaningful ceasefire, including guarantees for the full and effective participation of women and civil society groups; action based on social, economic and humanitarian priorities; the prioritisation of urgent and non-discriminatory access to services for survivors; a commitment to taking practical action

to ensure the sustainability of ceasefires; and the reallocation of military expenditure to fund local civil society initiatives for recovery, reconciliation and reconstruction.

Moreover, more than 90 women’s organisations from Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Palestine issued a joint statement echoing the Secretary-General’s call, urging the armed actors of the Arab countries to observe the ceasefire and begin negotiating processes to end the armed conflicts affecting the region. The appeal was made to coincide with the religious holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Thousands of women demonstrated in four of the main cities of the DRC in October, demanding justice for the sexual violence and murders committed in the armed conflict in the country. The demonstrations were peaceful, although in Kisangani, one of the towns where many of the abuses investigated by the UN took place, the authorities prohibited the demonstration and the police intervened by using excessive force, beating the protesters.

The largest demonstration, in Bukavu, was joined by around 3,500 victims of sexual violence. Led by lawyers, it commemorated the 10-year anniversary since the United Nations documented hundreds of crimes that had taken place in the country between 1993 and 2003. The demonstrations were supported by Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, who is committed to caring for and supporting victims of sexual violence. Solidarity with Mukwege was expressed during the protests, who had received threats because of his work with victims of sexual violence. The head of the OHCHR, Michelle Bachelet, had condemned the threats made against Mukwege and asked the Congolese government to guarantee the safety of the Nobel laureate, his family and the work carried out at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu. As a result of the pandemic, in May the UN had withdrawn the protection it offered Mukwege, though it restored it in September. One of the demonstrators’ demands was for the 2010 United Nations reports to serve as the basis for prosecuting those responsible and for the international organisation to be required to publish the names of perpetrators that had not previously been disclosed.

Women played a leading role in the massive protests against Aleksandr Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus, both before and after the August presidential election, which was won by Lukashenko, who had been in power for 26 years, while the opposition denounced electoral fraud.

Women participated both in street demonstrations and in opposition political leadership. Activists from Belarus stressed the high number of female participants with nonviolent strategies for action. Some local feminists also said that the way some protests were represented and promoted, such as those of the Women in White, Women’s

organisations suggested including

the principles of gender equality and

the assumptions of the women, peace and security agenda in the UN

Secretary-General’s appeal for a global ceasefire

48. WILPF, The “Women in White” and Belarus’ Emerging Women’s Movement, WILPF, 16 October 2020.

played on stereotypes and were described as a march of beautiful women, showing that women were not yet perceived as political actors.⁴⁸ Women were involved in the protests both before and after the election. After the election, the protests continued to have a high level of female participation. Notable in this regard was the first women’s march following the first three days of post-election protests, which included more than 200 women and suffered serious police violence. Some analysts described this demonstration as a catalyst, multiplying people’s participation in successive protests, specifically including women, and helping to focus on a nonviolent strategy for action.

The disqualification of the candidacies of Sergei Tikhanovsky, Viktor Babariko and Valery Tsepkalo, and their personal persecution, led to the political initiative

of several women, some of them without previous experience in the political sphere. Tikhanovsky’s wife, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, presented her candidacy, which was authorised by the authorities and received the support of Babariko and Tsepkalo. In addition, Veronika Tsepkalo (Valery Tsepkalo’s wife) and Maria Kalesnikava (Babariko’s press officer) joined Tikhanovskaya’s team, promoting female political leadership and thereby questioning the decade-long regime of male domination and vertical power politics. They also challenged Lukahshenko’s delegitimising strategies, as he questioned Tikhanovskaya’s candidacy during the campaign through gender stereotypes. Some analysts mentioned the regime’s underestimation of female candidates. Opposition activists said that Lukashenko’s misogyny was a factor that mobilised many women against him.