Sri Lanka: Women Defining Peace
Violence against women is a means of exerting and maintaining gendered power relations and inseparably linked to the inequality between women and men. Women Defining Peace (WDP) has been designed to address the connected issues of women’s voice and influence in peace building and gendered violence against women. Understanding the Context Violence against women in many forms is widespread in Sri Lanka. These issues receive attention from the state, women’s organizations, civil society and other stakeholders, providing redress for victimized women and initiating preventive measures at different levels. Despite this attention, violence against women continues to take place in the private and public spheres. What this Project will do  WDP aims to prevent, reduce and ultimately eliminate gendered violence against women by implementing the following framework: - The Recognition of the issue will bring changes in understanding, acceptance, attitudes, beliefs and values relating to gendered violence against women.
- The need for Resources will bring changes in knowledge, skills, material and human resources
- The full realization of women’s Rights will bring changes in the legal, political and civic structures and systems
- The understanding of Power Relations will bring changes in individuals/household level, community/society and state
Peace means different things to different women in Sri Lanka. For some, the conception of peace is confined to the household and the elimination of violence against women within the home; others see it as a continuum from home to the community and beyond. Through sub-projects implemented by Sri Lankan organizations, WDP aims to: - increase women’s engagement and leadership
- increase the number and influence of women in politics and networks
- Strengthen women’s leadership role
- Address or respond to gender based violence in the context of conflict and its consequences.
How we're getting results The goal of the project is to promote the realisation of women's human rights by contributing to the eradication of gendered violence against women and the development of a sustainable peace that benefits women and men equally. To achieve this, WDP is: - supporting projects implemented by local organizations through three funds (Collaborative Funds, Women and Peace Fund, Rapid Response Fund)
- building capacity of the local organizations
- sharing and disseminating experiences, materials and resources.
After three years of implementation, several researches and documents have been developed on women’s land rights, women affected by conflict and displacement, gender analysis of the tsunami impact. Partners
WDP is a a CIDA-funded project implemented jointly by WUSC, Cowater International Inc. and MATCH International,WDP is working with a number of registered Sri Lankan organizations and private sector groups – for example: |
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