Exchanging Peace, Exchanging Ideas: Bringing the Peace Exchange to Sierra Leone for continued implementation and Localization of UNSCR 1325 & 1820

By Lauren von Eckartsberg and Shabnam Moallem

After hand delivering surveys on the implementation of Sierra Leone’s National Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and 1820 (SiLNAP) to districts with poor connectivity, Amara Sowa sits at his desk to type up the handwritten responses of the participants.  One by one, he enters their feedback into the questionnaire revealing how local councils have implemented the Localization strategy since its inception in 2012.

In 2012 the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) brought the localization strategy to Sierra Leone in collaboration with its in-country members Mano River Women’s Peace Network (MARWOPNET), Women’s Forum, National Organization of Women (NOW-SL), Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET), and Women’s Partnership for Justice and Peace (WPJP), in partnership with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs (MSWGCA) and the Decentralization Secretariat (DecSec) of the Ministry of Local Governance and Rural Development (MLGRD).

Launched in all 19 local district councils, the Localization program brought together local officials, paramount chiefs, police officers, women’s organizations, teachers, religious leaders, monitoring and evaluation officers, media, and technical staff to bring the international policies of UNSCR 1325 and 1820 and their national counterpart, the SiLNAP down to the local level for sensitization and local ownership of the implementation process.

The following year, GNWP launched the Sierra Leone Localization Guidelines as a practical manual for how to implement SiLNAP at the local district council level.  One of the lead consultants tasked with authoring the Localization Guidelines was Amara Sowa from the Decentralization Secretariat.

Having been a key actor in the localization process in Sierra Leone from the beginning, Sowa has not only been a resource for his own country’s development of localization materials, but he has also been a contributor to the Liberian localization program this past March as part of GNWP’s Peace Exchange. The Peace Exchange component of the localization program allows for key actors and implementers from different countries to participate in another country’s process to allow for cross learning and information sharing.

Just as Sowa was able to lend his expertise to the Liberians, Adonie Greaves, the Assistant Superintendent for Development in the Grand Bassa County of Liberia is now here in Sierra Leone as a Peace Exchange member to return the favor. Although both following the Localization process, different methods of decentralization and engagement with government officials results in an informative dialogue between the Peace Exchange members and the local officials.

Greaves arrives as the workshop is in full swing, and without missing a beat, joins the conversation of a local council and adds his expertise to their discussion of recommendations for the implementation of the Localization Guidelines in their district.  As a long-standing development official, Greaves has a deep understanding of how to bring multiple parties to the table to tailor policy implementation for the local context.

As the workshop ends, participants leave with knowledge and recommendations for implementation strategies from other countries and other districts, and with added energy to go home and better serve their community.