On May 3rd and 4th, ICAN and our partners from the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) were in Sweden for the Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development hosted by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Melinda Holmes, ICAN program manager, led the discussions of a session on “Preventing violent extremism through peacebuilding”, which ICAN cohosted with UNDP Oslo Governance Centre

The session focused on practical solutions for preventing and countering violent extremism, and peacebuilding. WASL members shared important insights and work of women on PVE

During the session, Mossarat Qadeem of Pakistan’s Paiman Trust spoke about reintegration, transformation of youth and developing counter narratives. Hamsatu Allamin of Nigeria’s NSR Programme discussed her work on challenging the narrative of Boko Haram.

Together with the Dag Hammaskjöld Foundation and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) – Sweden, ICAN also co-hosted the session “Strategies for Inclusive Peace and Development Processes.” The session focused on experiences on inclusivity related to: 1) connecting the local, national and global levels, 2) grassroots organizing for inclusion in rural areas, 3) transitional justice as a pathway to transformation, 4) implementing the Youth, Peace and Security agenda, and 5) inclusion of marginalized youth in “peaceful” countries. Focusing on “what works,” Visaka Dharmadasa (Association of War Affected Women, Sri Lanka) shared experiences from the transitional justice process in Sri Lanka and ICAN Program Manager Helena Grönberg facilitated the breakout discussion on how and why to ensure inclusive transitional justice processes.

As part of a soft launch for ICAN’s new Better Peace Tool animation on Transitional Justice, ICAN’s Helena Gronberg presented our Better Peace Initiative, and Visaka Dharmadasa (AWAW) explained how she has used the Better Peace Tool to facilitate women’s inclusion in Sri Lanka’s reconciliation process.