From Building Awareness to Building Peace – Local Actors in Gagauzia, Moldova, Commit to Implement Women, Peace and Security Resolutions in their Communities

August 15, 2018 by Shalini Medepalli

Editor: Agnieszka Fal Dutra-Santos

“Ordinary people and grassroots organizations need to better understand the position of the government, so that they can be part of Moldova’s overall objectives and implementation of the National Action Plan  Women, Peace and Security.” – said Oxana Allistratova, a former teacher who now runs ‘NGO Interaction’ based in Tiraspol, the capital of the separatist Transnistrian region.

Oxana’s organization promotes human rights, women’s participation, and protection for victims of domestic violence in the Transnistrian region. During the Localization of the United Nations Security Council (UNSCR) 1325 workshop in Gagauzia, an autonomous region of Moldova bordering the Transnistrian region, she shared the challenges women and human rights defenders face across the administrative line, and the hope that the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda may contribute to addressing them. The workshop was organized by GNWP in partnership with Gender-Centru, Foreign Policy Association (APE) Moldova and the Moldovan State Bureau for Reintegration, and with support from the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).

Oxana was one of several representatives of the Transnistrian civil society who attended the workshop. For two days – August 14 and 15, 2018 – they worked alongside civil society organizations from Gagauzia; local Gagauzian authorities; representatives of the Moldovan government; security sector and the media, to increase their understanding of UNSCR 1325, the supporting WPS resolutions, and the recently adopted Moldovan National Action Plan to implement them; and identify concrete actions to implement these policies in their local communities.

The importance of knowledge, awareness and education was one of the key issues consistently brought up by participants. For example, the need for government transparency; and for Romanian language to be taught throughout the country to facilitate communication, and provide equal opportunities to all, were some of the ideas that emerged from the discussions on the impact of conflict in Gagauzia and Tiraspol.

During the two-day workshop, national and international experts explained the history and content of the UNSCR 1325 and supporting resolutions; related regional policies, such as the EU Comprehensive Approach and EU Gender Action Plan; and the existing national policies and government commitments on women, peace and security—among other topics.  The participants also discussed the concept of gender, the impact of gender norms on the lives of women and men in Gagauzia, and the linkages between peace and security, development and good governance. The participants applied the knowledge they acquired to analyze the conflict in the Transnistrian region; its impacts, the needs of women and men; and identify concrete actions to address these needs, and implement the WPS resolutions. Civil society representatives from Georgia and Ukraine came to the workshop as part of GNWP’s Peace Exchange Program and shared their work in implementing the resolutions in their countries. This enabled the participants to analyze the similarities and differences between these countries’ contexts, and understand potential  obstacles and next steps forward.

The workshop allowed the participants to identify the gaps and challenges that still remain for gender equality and gender-sensitive security in Gagauzia and Transnistria. It also resulted in some concrete plans and commitments, and inspired hope. As Mavic Cabrera-Balleza put it in an interview following the workshop, “it is crucial for the local actors, not just those in the room, but in all of Gagauzia, to understand how local development plans are implemented; and how they can contribute. Only then that we can expect effective implementation.”