USING 1325 IN TRANSLATION

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WIPNET - NIGERIA: THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSLATING SCR 1325

The women in peacebuilding program (WIPNET) of the West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP-Nigeria) with the support of NOVIB- Netherlands, recently translated resolution 1325 into 3 Nigerian languages -Ibo, Ijaw(Izon) and Tiv. In the article below, Bridget Osakwe, a program officer of WIPNET explains the motivation for the organization's translation efforts and the use of the translations in their peacebuilding work.

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The Vision of the Women in Peacebuilding (WIPNET) program is “A West Africa sub- region where women are key to decision making in peace and security. The goal of the program is to build women’s capacity to play active and visible roles in peacebuilding in West Africa.

WIPNET's work is based on the ideology of “Women’s peace activism” which calls for the cessation of physical violence during conflict and war and also the deconstruction of structural forms of physical violence which exist in everyday society by promoting social justice and fighting patriarchal systems.

In the course of consultations across West Africa, WIPNET learnt that women are excluded eitherby design or default from the peace process by themale establishment, and also they often suffer from lack of awareness and skills in peacebuilding, and also lack of confidence, exposure and opportunity to get involved.

Preceding WIPNET-Nigeria’s translation of the UNSC Resolution 1325, it has been key tool and backbone for the activities of the network in Nigeria. Definite effort was made at The Annual "Lessons Learnt" Conference of the network in 2005 which had in attendance over 50 delegates representing different women organizations, policy makers and partners developed an Action Plan on implementing and domestication the Resolution in Nigeria.

A high level of total lack of awareness of this Resolution and the power it weaves as an advocacy tool was discovered even among the delegates at the conference. This set the tune for the first identified activity in the Action Plan: Conceptualizing and translating the Resolution into 5 major languages in Nigeria namely: Yoruba, Hausa, Ibo, Ijaw(Izon) and Tiv.

The justification is that translating the resolution into the local languages will enable it be popularized at the grassroots level to raise the critical mass fundamental to pushing for the implementation of the Resolution in Nigeria. It is hoped that the women at the grassroots level will be able to relate with the resolution thereby claiming an ownership of it. The translations will also effectively sensitize the women at the grassroots level of the provisions of the Resolution.

WIPNET's Action plan on implementing 1325 also makes use of existing platforms; incorporating the Resolution into a capacity building workshop provided for by NOVIB, the Training of Trainers and step-down workshops at the community level with the translated versions of 1325. The Community Women Radio program was also identified as another means of disseminating and creating awareness on the Resolution.

In annexing other means, a Proposal for funding has been written on popularizing and domesticating UNSC Resolution 1325 in Nigeria. In order to not duplicate the efforts of other women organizations, WIPNET only translated the Resolution into Ibo, Tiv and Ijaw (Izon) languages. The translation process was concluded in June 2006.

The English language version of the Resolution is a standard feature of the resource pack given to participants at all WIPNET training programs and it serves as a reference of the training and also for WIPNET's Vision and Goal. The translated versions have so far been discussed with women associations in different parts of the country where the step-down training workshops have been conducted. In addition a Voices of Women Radio program will commence in the month of September will feature discussions on the Resolution, its domestication, and implementation

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For more information on WANEP/WIPNET-Nigeria please contact:

West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP)Nigeria,
Contact : Bridget Osakwe, Program Officer, Women in Peacebuilding program
55, Coker Road, Ilupeju Lagos, Nigeria
Tel: +234 - 1 819 8282
http://www.wanepnigeria.org/wp.html