Founder Charter of the Regional Women's Platform on Security Sector Reform and Governance

To be a regional women's platform on security sector reform and governance that provides a space for dialogue, collaboration, networking and civil society organizations and the security sector to include women and gender perspectives in security sector reform and governance activities, programmes, policies and strategies through lobbying, advocacy, capacity building and research, visits and exchanges of experience at the national, regional and continental levels.

Objectives of the Regional Women’s Platform on Security Sector Reform and Governance

• 1. Improve monitoring and observation of SSR/G processes to ensure that women's perspectives and needs are integrated in accordance with existing normative frameworks of the United Nations (UN), the AU and ECOWAS;
• 2. Empower women on this issue and help bridge the gaps through inclusive political dialogue that promotes mutual understanding;
• 3. Jointly analyse gaps in the implementation of national and regional legal frameworks and the quality of security services and governance from a gender perspective, in order to help ensure that women's SSR perspectives and needs are integrated in accordance with the AU SSR policy framework and to involve women at all levels of the SSR process;
• 4. Create a lobbying alliance between women's organizations for political change and their involvement in HSS/G processes at the national level (Cameroon, Mali, Nigeria) as well as in the ECOWAS region; and
• 5. Strengthen women's advocacy and communication capacities to formulate progressive SSR/G proposals at national and regional levels (ECOWAS and ECCAS - Economic Community of Central African States).

Mission

The Regional Women's Platform on Security Sector Reform and Governance aims to contribute to the mission of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Competence Centre for Peace and Security, which aims to:

• Promote progressive approaches to democratic security governance and human collective security;
• Create forums for inclusive regional dialogues;
• Raise awareness of (inter)regional interdependence.

Main activities

• Dialogues
• Capacity building
• Lobbying alliances and advocacy
• Networking
• Research

Shared Values and Principles

The Regional Women's Platform on Security Sector Reform and Governance will operate on the basis of common values and principles for the achievement of its objectives, the benefits of its members and good working relations between them. The following criteria have been proposed:

• Integrity and transparency are essential in all platform activities.
• Members agree to join the regional platform because they are committed to the objectives of the project, and agree to withdraw their membership if this commitment is lost or in the event of a conflict of interest;
• Members agree to share their experience with other members;
• Members use the regional platform as a space for sharing knowledge, links, and initiatives;
• Members respect the diversity of views and convictions expressed while maintaining a commitment to discovering common perspectives;
• Members participate in the efforts to implement the activities of the regional platform whenever they are called upon in their areas of competence;
• Members adhere to the working methods adopted jointly by the regional platform;
• Members agree to make the regional platform an open space where others feel welcome;
• Members agree that their participation in the regional platform should be made public;
• Members undertake to respect the rules of confidentiality defined jointly, even after their membership of the regional platform has ended.

Working Methods

The Regional Women's Platform on Security Sector Reform and Governance will adopt a participatory and inclusive approach in its working methods, valuing the technical expertise of its members, whether individuals or organizations at the local, national, regional, or continental level.

The Regional Platform is ready to work with women's CSOs interested in security sector reform and governance, or organizations (at different levels) interested in peace and security issues and keen to promote women and gender in their work.

At the national level

With the support of FES country offices, alliances between CSOs, individual members and actors in security sector reform can be established at the national level, particularly in the target countries of the "Security for All" project, under the supervision of the FES Peace and Security Competence Centre (FES PSCC).

At the regional level

FES PSCC will coordinate the work of the regional women's platform at the regional and continental levels. This will be done on the basis of the achievements of the national sections of the network and also by providing civil society actors with the opportunity to influence the implementation of regional and international frameworks and commitments on women, gender, security sector reform and governance.

The work of the Regional Women's Platform will be facilitated by:

• an advisory board; and
• a technical committee.

The Advisory Board will be composed of a group of influential people working on gender and/or security sector reform and governance who can open doors and build alliances for the network at different levels. Members will not be remunerated and will be chosen based on their commitment, actions, convictions, and respect for regional diversity. They will come from different organizations and backgrounds.

The Technical Committee will include members from different organizations or individual experts whose expertise is necessary for the implementation and expansion of the network. It will also have a mix of civilian and uniformed personnel. Members of the Technical Committee will also not receive any payment.

To join the platform

Please fill in the membership form and send it back to us by email at this address: oureye.fall(at)fes-pscc.org, copying remy.diousse(at)fes-pscc.org.