The initiative “Women in Equality for Lasting Peace (WELP): Sisterhood between Ukrainian and Sudanese women organizations”, is a conflict transformation and positive peace initiative implemented by SAGAPS in collaboration with Rotary District 2101 and six local NGOS, based in Ukraine and Sudan.
Originally, the WELP was a Social Change Initiative implemented by Sara Formisano, SAGAPS’s president, during her Fellowship program of the Rotary Peace Foundation at the Rotary Peace Center of Makerere University in Uganda.
The initiative was very successful, and one of the biggest achievements was the publication of the Ukraine and Sudanese peace statement, published and diffused internationally.
This initiative has been very successful and received approval not only from Rotary authorities but also from other organizations. From this success, the idea of turning this initiative into a two-year project was born, accompanying these organizations on a long-term training journey.
The partners involved decided to transform it into a two-project proposal and started in May 2024 the fundraising campaign to mobilize funds for WELP.
WELP project details:
Both Ukraine and Sudan are suffering from harsh conflicts that have led to the deaths of many civilians, including many women and children. Although the origins of these two conflicts are different, there are also many similarities. In Ukraine, there is a military occupation by Russia, while in Sudan, there is a civil conflict between two military factions vying for control of the country. The two wars also present important similarities such as the systematic marginalization of women in peace negotiation management. Fortunately, in both countries, there are strong women leaders who are working «above self», following the Rotary concept, to gain their political space necessary to enforce respect for human rights and gender equality.
Over the course of eight months, WELP has made great progress in helping women improve their mediation and facilitation skills through the exchange of experiences and know-how transfer, facilitated by online and in-person meetings among the leaders of these organizations.
What Rotarians who believe in positive peace processes are asked to do is to transform this initiative into a lasting project of real social change, also through a Global Grant, collaborating for the dissemination and implementation of the project.
Beneficiaries: Women from nations involved in war processes (Ukraine and Sudan) as well as women who intend to collaborate in achieving positive peace in at-risk countries. The beneficiary actors are the following the leaders of six organizations between Sudanese and Ukrainian Organizations. Once the leaders of these organization will be trained, they will go back to their home countries and organize local training for at least other 80 feminist leaders working locally on Women, Peace and Security Agenda.
Indirect beneficiaries: are NGOs and activist institutions working on the ground with women’s communities in peace processes, including Rotary districts operating in at-risk territories with a view to self-sustainability.
- Activities to be carried out – To launch the transformation of this initiative in a project with a workshop in person with the participation of interested Rotarians and the six women leaders of this initiative: three leaders from each organization will participate in the event. The idea is to discuss a standard curriculum for women’s empowerment by training them as pioneers of positive peace. Participants are senior leaders who will then serve as «trainers of trainers» once they return to their countries. At the workshop, participants will receive training in mediation techniques from Mediators Without Borders, an association working in collaboration with the Rotary Peace Foundation.
- Short-term results: Identify, use, and disseminate «the common training curriculum» to enhance women’s capacity to achieve equality in building positive peace, and expand their technical skills in negotiation, dialogue, and mediation. Based on discussions and needs and priority analysis, the workshop will be the basis for transforming the WELP initiative into a project lasting at least 18 months.
- Long-term results: What is discussed and achieved in workshops and any conference will then be published on the Spark website and on Rotary websites in pages dedicated to peace initiatives and available open source globally, and will be promoted among women’s associations as a good practice to learn from. The organizations participating in this initiative, in turn, are part of local platforms and are committed to dialogue and training other organizations once they return, with a multiplier effect.
Final goal: Integrate these proposals into the annual plans of Women, Peace, and Security agendas (UN Resolution1235).
