Women Leadership: Rising Voices in Conflict Resolution Call for Applicants All through the history of mankind, little credit if any has been given to women’s role in bringing about sustainable social change in their communities. Very little attention has been given to their role in transforming conflicts. Their role was absolutely stereotypical; women were the reason for wars to erupt, their participation in wars was restricted to boosting the army morals or healing their wounds. Recently and due to the spike in social justice movements all over the world, the focus on women’s role as agents of change has shifted dramatically. Women now are in the forefront of social justice movements, they became leaders in bringing about social change to their communities non-violently, without otherization or victimization. They came up with creative ways to express their opinions and practice their rights; they invented new ways of resistance and resilience. Women now are country rulers, judges, ambassadors and business women. Groups of women in Africa ended violent conflicts, women voices in Tahreer square in Egypt, in Tunisia, in Libya and in Yemen were louder than men’s. Women victims of hate crimes are now peace builders and peace advocates. In its continues effort to foster and support a more active role of women in transforming the IsraeliPalestinian Conflict, the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI), in partnership with the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa)-German Federal Foreign Office, is now offering a ground breaking project – “Women Leadership: Rising Voices in Conflict Resolution”. The project aims to develop the political leadership capacity of committed Israeli and Palestinian women representing various roles in society. Through an application selection process, 20 mid-career level women participants (10 Palestinian and 10 Israeli) will be provided with professional training and collaborative visioning opportunities over a 6month period. The training modules consist of three phases: Empowerment by training, joint strategy planning and on-the-ground action. Empowerment by training: This phase consists of two 3-day trainings led by expert facilitators, one uni-national and one binational. The uni-national training will cover women’s role in society and politics, as well as general management and policy development skills. The bi-national trainings will then focus on conflict resolution, negotiation skills and joint policy development. Both trainings will strengthen the identity, and the political communication and negotiation skills of the women. Joint strategy development: The strategy development phase will involve 3 half-day joint strategic meetings. During these meetings, participants will work collaboratively, under the guidance of professional facilitators, to develop recommendations for a conflict resolution strategy. The strategic meetings will focus on two key objectives: (1) the development of proposed policy changes, representative of women’s needs and roles in the conflict, and (2) a strategy for the public advocacy of these recommendations and ideas. The latter will include activities targeting media, politicians, academics and civil society on both sides.
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