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Redesign the Table:

By Sharon Bhagwan Rolls Redesign the Table was produced ahead of the
annual convening of the UN Commission on the Status of
The 20th anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Women and ahead of the 20th anniversary of the adoption of
Council Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security) serious UNSCR1325 addressing four key pillars of the WPS agenda:
consideration must be given to shifting the power to national Participation in Peacebuilding and Prevention; Protection of
and local women’s rights actors, to strengthen agency, amplify Women Peacebuilders and Women’s Human Rights Defenders;
voice, and build on collaborative opportunities including wom- Relief and Recovery; and Accountability of State, Inter-Govern-
en-led coalitions and feminist best practices: mental Organisations and Multilateral Systems to the Sustain-
“Addressing gender-based violence… contributes to ing Peace and Human Security Agenda.
achieving personal peace. Once personal peace is there, we The report draws on the rich experience and exper-
can find family peace, community peace, and the overall re- tise of GPPAC Pacific network members in ending conflict
gional peace” – Agnes Titus, Program Coordinator at Nazareth and bringing peace to their respective countries including Fiji,
Centre for Rehabilitation Papua New Guinea including Bougainville, Solomon Islands,
Elections in Vanuatu, Bougainville and New Caledonia Tonga and Vanuatu.
this year have highlighted the need for greater resources to Since 2007, the GPPAC Pacific network have collab-
support women’s leadership in ensuring peaceful elections, and orated and engaged in local, national, as well as regional and
the transitional peace and political processes that follow. global processes bringing attention to how the Women, Peace
There is also an urgent need to end the violence in and Security (WPS) agenda can be localised into peacebuild-
Tanah Papua, as well as proceed with a human rights investi- ing, non-violence and conflict prevention action in the Pacific
gation and an independent Pacific-led peacekeeping mission. region.
Such a mission must be accompanied by gender and youth The report was coordinated through the GPPAC Pacif-
inclusive community level dialogue and mediation, peace edu- ic Secretariat – Transcend Oceania, through the GPPAC WPS
cation and trauma healing. small grants facility, supported by SIDA drawing on the rich
“2020 - It is time to redesign the table” is the central experience and expertise of GPPAC Pacific network members
message in the publication “And She Persisted for Peace: in ending conflict and bringing peace to their respective coun-
Redesign the Table” of the GPPAC Pacific network. tries including Fiji, Papua New Guinea including Bougainville,
The report provides a key set of forward looking rec- Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
ommendations for national and inter-governmental leaders and
organisations

Building Just’Peace Communities in Chang- proach: “We are bringing together the Toda 2016 to recognise that food security is an
ing Environment and Climate Peace Institute together to explore conflict. important priority for communities.”
Pacific Island people are on the forefront of peace and mobility concerns in the context “We are making sure diverse women are
climate change and as COVID19 arrived of climate change in Fiji.” participating and the way in which they are
into the regions, we recognise that values of “We are addressing the key climate change consulted and participating – this is the
trust, collaboration and truth are important challenges confronting communities in Fiji” purpose of the “sense making process” –
values that must be at the basis of the added Kevin Clements the Director of the taking into account the WPS agenda – and
response said Rev James Bhagwan of the Toda Peace Institute of who reminded par- this is linked with the work we are doing with
Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC). ticipants that climate change and COVOD19 the Shifting the Power Coalition and so we
He was speaking at a recent consultation require maximum attention and collaboration are making this a priority” said Adivasu Levu
that saw GPPAC Pacific members– Tran- to identify ways to contribute to the develop- of Transcend Oceania as she explained how
scend Oceania, Pacific Centre for Peace- ment of policies. a new Talanoa Storytelling Methodology
building and PCC highlight how they are “This is one of the first times that we have is paves the way to the next phases of the
making connections between peacebuilding, had island countries closed to each other. Building Just’peace Communities in Chang-
conflict prevention and the climate crisis. This has important implications for the ing Environment and Climate in Fiji.
This is about sustaining human security displacement and migration. There is a need It builds on the way in which Transcend Oce-
for communities who are on the frontline of to integrate the broadening of the security ania has been convening listening exercises,
climate change said Adivasu Levu, Execu- agenda in light of the adoption of the Boe to identify the experiences, the challenges
tive Director of Transcend Oceania who are Declaration” said Bhagwan and the opportunities to support peacebuild-
the local hosts of the consultation which is Food security, he added is an important ing approaches in two communities in Fiji
undertaken in collaboration with the Toda indicator for crisis response and prevention: who are dealing with the reality of relocation.
Peace Institute and Conciliation Resources “You have to look at conflict situations, after
and through a comparative learning ap- natural disasters such as TC Winston in