Hibaaq Osman’s Remarks to Generation Equality Forum Mexico
Hibaaq Osman used her address to the Generation Equality Forum in Mexico to pay tribute to the contribution made to peace by women from the Arab region.
The remarks came in the session looking at the work of the Women, Peace and Security & Humanitarian Action Compact (WPSHA), of which Karama is a board member.
Hibaaq spoke alongside Ine Eriksen Søreide, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Government of Norway, as well as Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, Founder and CEO, Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, Rita Lopidia, Executive Director and Co-founder, Eve Organization for Women Development, Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls, Chair of the Board and Regional Representative of the Pacific, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Zahra Vieneuve, Steering Committee Member, Feminist Humanitarian Network.
Hibaaq Osman Address to Generation Equality Forum, 30 March, Mexico City:
I think it’s very welcome that the Compact recognizes that the work to increase women’s meaningful participation in peace needs to take place at many levels simultaneously.
Whether we are working as civil society, in government, international and regional organizations, the private sector, academia - we all have not just a role, but a responsibility to peace and to women’s participation.
It’s been very gratifying to see the discussions around what civil society can do complementing what so many women-led organizations have already been doing.
We have long been working to find the women who have put the work into building a constituency and their credibility to lead, and supporting them so that they are able to have an impact on these processes.
In the work of Karama over the last 16 years, it has been an incredible honor to do what we can to support the emergence of some truly remarkable women leaders.
We supported Zahra’ Langhi to co-found the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace. Through the most extraordinary difficult circumstances, Zahra has persevered and shone. This year, it was Zahra’ and the LWPP who blew the whistle on corruption in the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum.
We have worked closely with Mouna Ghanem, who served as a member of the Women’s Advisory Board to the UN Special Envoy to Syria, and who has been forthright in saying that such mechanisms are not meaningful forms of participation. Instead, Mouna has been doing truly remarkable work to develop a way forward for Syria, building a constituency across the complex Syrian demographic spectrum.
From day one, it has been my pleasure to work with Samia ElHashmi - a brilliant lawyer and legal expert. Under the previous regime in Sudan, Samia and women like her were kept well away from decision-making positions. But the opportunity provided by the transition now sees her appointed by the Minister of Justice to lead vital legal reform.
It’s such an amazing honor to work with Suzan Aref, who has done such brilliant work to make the women, peace and security a reality in Iraq. Her work leading the Cross-Sector Taskforce has shown a path for the Compact on how different parts of society can work together.
Amal Basha played such a vital role in the Yemeni National Dialogue to secure guarantees on women’s participation in government. Amal has been a key voice for human rights for Yemen, and last year led work to coordinate truly landmark report to the UN on the situation of women and girls in Yemen.
These are activists who again again have proved the impact of women’s meaningful participation in peace.
But by definition a movement cannot stand still. It has to be renewed, and the Compact recognises that movements must be durable and inclusive. We must look beyond the cities, across demographics, to be truly representative.
And we as Karama are doing more on this. We have been working to build the skills of the next generation of leaders, expanding our network, understanding the priorities of people doing work on the ground
We have been doing what we can to support and prepare women to participate effectively in peace, and to work with them as they carve out opportunities to make a difference.
What has been so important about the work of the compact - and I do want to thank and recognise the work that colleagues at UN Women have done - is to bring this work together across sectors so we can coordinate on the big picture.
Because for all that we have been doing as civil society, there are factors of such scale that we will struggle to challenge them on our own.
We do not want to be in a situation where the impact of positive and effective work is undermined by actions elsewhere.
Ultimately, there is nothing more effective at excluding women than the militarization of politics.
It is a simple equation - if you are spending money on military solutions, you are tipping the balance against inclusive political solutions to conflict.
Our working group has talked about international governments using the means available to them to provide incentives and exert pressure in conflict situations to advance women’s participation.
This is something that can make a huge difference.
Let me tell you. There is no better way to incentivize or impose pressure on conflict actors to get round the table and ensure women’s representation than by cutting off the supply of arms.
It is going to be easy to see the commitment of member states to the work of this compact over the next five years purely in budgetary terms.
If a government is paying lip service to women’s participation, while picking up the tab for the very guns that are barring women from the negotiating table, we will know about their real commitment to the Compact, and to peace at large.
You can appoint as many women envoys and provide as much training by the greatest institutions as possible. But if - at the same time - you are going to continue fueling conflicts, arming your preferred factions, you will be undermining that woman envoy, and no woman will be participating in any meaningful sense.