INTERNATIONAL: An Eight Day Journey: The N-Peace Training of the Trainers

Day One of the ToT
The first N-Peace Training of the Trainers (ToT) Programme kicked off today with twenty-two women peace builders from Nepal, Timor-Leste, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, taking part in day one of the eight day workshop (3-10 February) implemented by the N-Peace facilitator, UNDP, with the network training partner, the Institute for Inclusive Security, and the support of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).

UNDP's Radhika Behuria, Programme Specialist, opened the session with an introduction to the N-Peace Network, its history and upcoming activities including: country level dialogues; a Women, Peace & Security campaign incorporating the N-Peace Awards for 2012; and a knowledge exchange programme for women peace builders across the region.

Mirsad Jacevic, Chief Training Officer, and Allison Shean, Senior Trainer from the Institute for Inclusive Security then presented the agenda and design of the workshop, while inviting participants to share their objectives for the ToT and personal experiences as trainers and peace builders.

As shared by Maria Filomena Babo Martins, Chief of the Training Department at the Office of the Secretary of State for the Promotion of Equality (SEPI), Government of Timor-Leste:

‘In 1999, I worked as an interpreter at the police station. I am now a trainer on gender and peace building in my country. Currently we are carrying out training on Timor-Leste's Law against domestic violence. We are also currently training our Defense Force and Police on gender based violence and 1325.'

Shadia Marhaban, co-founder and President of the Acheh Women's League (LINA) and the only female member of the peace talks between the Free Acheh Movement (the GAM) and the Government of Indonesia in Helsinki (2005) that has ended their 30 years of war, also shared her perspective and experience:

‘Peace movements should not exclude any actors if we want to bring sustainable peace to our countries and communities. I have trained over 1400 former female combatants and believe it is imperative that we include all actors and all women in our peace building processes.'

Pinky Singh Rana, Founder of SAMANATA-Institute for Social and Gender Equality, Nepal, highlighted the importance of including men in the gender and peace building agenda:

‘How to engage men is a key issue. While you can carry out continuous advocacy on sexual and gender based violence, without men being involved it is only partly effective. We are not involving men in a meaningful way like we should be. I hope through this training we can come up with better ways to engage men in these issues.'

UNDP's Cherie Hart, Regional Communications Advisor, coordinated and facilitated the afternoon sessions, taking a three pronged approach to training participants in advocacy and communications, with skills building in public speaking and speech writing, creating persuasive editorials, and interview techniques with the media.

Day two of the ToT
Day two of the Training of the Trainers Programme commenced with a dynamic session on the phases of reconstruction and four pillars of peace building; security, justice and reconciliation, social and economic well-being, and governance and participation.

N-Peace trainers were taken through theory and conceptual frameworks in areas such as conflict prevention, management, resolution and transformation, while exploring some of the practical difficulties in their implementation; such as finding the balance between justice and reconciliation.

During the morning session, the women trainers also discussed their perspectives around key questions such as ‘Why are women critical to peace building?'

Sagun Basnet, Coordinator of Gender and Peace building Programmes at Nepal based NGO Equal Access articulated her group's response:

‘Firstly, women are half of the population in most contexts. In our group we talked a lot about the need for inclusivity. Peace building has to be inclusive to be successful. Therefore, it can not exclude women. Women have special skills and have been cultured and socialized in many ways to be peace builders; they have internalized the skills to be empathetic and caring.'

Hasna Banu Sheika, Gender and Justice Specialist for a project on Enhancing Access to Justice supported by UNDP Nepal, spoke on behalf of her group about key reasons for women's inclusion in peace building:

‘Women should be engaged in peace processes because women are used in conflicts in various roles, such as fighters or as caretakers. Women are experienced in conflict and women are used in conflict…Women are also the most affected by war. They become widowed then also often do not have opportunities to make a living to support themselves.'

N-Peace trainers were also presented with the perspectives and strategies of women who have played leading roles in peace making or peace building processes in diverse contexts - from Northern Ireland to Rwanda.

In the afternoon sessions, participants put their trainer hats back on to focus on experiential learning in theory, in practice, and as a method to be applied in training sessions. The Inclusive Security Curriculum, Women Wagging Peace, formed the basis of the second half of the day with the workshop participants being taken through the syllabus.

Day two of the training ended with a screening of the documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell, a remarkable story of Liberian women who came together to advocate for a peaceful resolution to end the bloody civil war in their country.

Day Three of the ToT
The morning sessions of day three delved further into the Inclusive Security Curriculum, Women Wagging Peace, with a focus on strategies for coalition building and advocacy.

Training design and learning methods were also explored and participants discussed the uses and implications of different methodologies in their cultural contexts.

The N-Peace trainers also reflected on previous experience as trainers dealing with policy-makers and high level bureaucrats, judges and security service personnel. As one trainer from Nepal commented:

‘A challenge I have experienced working with security personnel is that they are very rigid and have been taught discipline. It is difficult to get them to be open and interactive, particularly when they have a superior present.'

In the afternoon methods for conducting effective advocacy were explored and the participants focused on crafting recommendations to have policy impacts.

Day Four of the ToT
The end of day four marked the half way mark of the eight day ToT journey and began with the N-peace trainers being taken through the N-peace portal. An online workspace built for the trainers was introduced in this session as a virtual space to use for peer review and discussions, as each trainer works to design and implement their country level training programmes.

Hasna Banu Sheikh, Gender Justice Specialist of the Enhancing Access to Justice for Consolidation of Peace Project, then took the floor and engaged all participants in a dynamic morning energizer.

The latter part of the morning focused on the importance of design for effective training courses that can be both implemented and updated over a time.

It was noted that training modules should be adjusted to changing contexts, and this was underscored as particularly important in a post-conflict context where the policy landscape is constantly being transformed. Content for training programmes must therefore address this dynamic context.

A logic model for designing training programmes was introduced and participants subsequently put this tool into practice. In country groups the participants designed comprehensive training programmes on Women, Peace & Security (WPS) through firstly identifying critical issues to be addressed at country levels and crafting problem statements.

Subsequently, goals, objectives, and activities were delineated. These activities were underpinned by short-term, medium-term and long-term outcomes.

The country groups presented back comprehensive training porgramme outlines in a final session and received welcomed feedback from the Inclusive Security trainers.

Day Five of the ToT
The N-Peace trainers spent the most part of the morning in country groups finalizing the design of a 3 to 5 day workshop which will bring to life the training programme outlined on day four of the ToT.

The country groups broke down their trainings into a series of activities, applying newly learnt methodologies and outlining advocacy strategies in order to achieve short to long-term objectives.

All country groups presented back in plenary and discussed lesson learned during the practicum design exercise. The remaining part of the afternoon was spent in groups practicing the delivery of Curriculum activities and preparing to delivery two hours of their 3 to 5 day workshops on the morning of day six.