Women are not\nvictims, and when empowered and included in peacekeeping operations,\nsolutions are much more tangible and sustainable. This was the central message\nthat resonated from a discussion on International Women\u2019s Day at the UN University,\nof what could happen when women are given leadership roles in post-conflict\nsituations and what can happen when they are empowered in their everyday lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United Nations University on Comparative Regional Integration\nStudies (UNU-CRIS) invited SB OverSeas to be part of the panel discussion in\ntheir workshop in Bruges on \u201cWomen in Conflict and Emergencies: Lessons Learned\nand the Way Forward.\u201d The panel consisted of academics, students, and\npractitioners from all across the board in this field of study. The speakers\nincluded: Dr. Vanessa Newby, Dr. Adriana Banozic, Louma Albik, and two research\ninterns Olga Petrova, and Nani Makubalo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As these emotional stories of empowerment came to the forefront, it was\nclear that the energy in the room had changed. There was an urgent feeling of\nmotivation and encouragement to research more, to bring data to light, and to\nchange the way we describe women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The topic of this year\u2019s panel discussion revolved around potential\nremedies on how to address social violence and conflict and how to promote\ngender equality and women\u2019s rights. The panel discussion began with the role of\nwomen in peacekeeping operations and the importance of female representation in\nconflict-driven areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Louma Albik, the chairwoman of SB OverSeas, provided on the ground\nperspectives and recounted her testimony of what empowerment of women truly\nlooks like. SB Overseas runs schools and centres in Lebanon for Syrian refugee\nwomen and youth. She presented the work SB OverSeas has been doing at the three\nwomen\u2019s centres in Lebanon, which focus on vocational training, psychological\nsupport, and literacy programmes. These programmes are fundamental to the\nempowerment of women and youth in post-conflict settings. The stories recounted\nvaried, but they all had one commonality; the more women were included and\nparticipated in programs that gave them the tools to better themselves, they\nmore likely they were to better the lives of others around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The discussion also extended beyond conflicts, focusing on the role of\nwomen in natural disasters. Through various fieldwork studies, it was shown\nthat women who had a role in the post-disaster operations were able to minimize\nrisks and work better in a team setting which led to a positive progression in\nthe recovery of a disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the workshop came to an end, we could not help to think of all the things that are still understudied, all the programs that still need developing, and all the discourse about women that must be changed. However, on this particular day, a day of celebrating women, I could not help but feel a strong sense of empowerment and hope. Thanks to this workshop, and many of its kind, and all the amazing work these women, and millions of others have done, we are one step closer to celebrating women every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Written by Mariana Batista, intern at SB OverSeas <\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Women are not victims, and when empowered and included in peacekeeping operations, solutions are much more tangible and sustainable. This was the central message that resonated from a discussion on International Women\u2019s Day at the UN University, of what could happen when women are given leadership roles in post-conflict situations and what can happen when […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":6035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50,140,137,138,234,110,55],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-6033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy","category-awareness","category-belgium","category-empowerment-en","category-featured-for-homepage","category-lebanon","category-press-releases","tag-brussels"],"yoast_head":"\n