Events

March 1-3: The Green Belt Movement hosted The African Regional Strategy Meeting with the Nobel Women’s Initiative on the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict was held at The Sarova Pan Afric Hotel in Nairobi.

The Campaign has generated international media attention on the issue and garnered an impressive social media following. There has been some progress towards the goals of the campaign, including the United Kingdom’s £1 million pledge to help stop rape and gender violence in conflict, the G8’s Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and the adoption of UNSCR 2106. In September 2013, during and after the UN General Assembly, More than 130 countries signed the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence Conflict, including many African countries.

The focus of the meeting was to develop an action plan for activities in Africa to raise the profile and advance the goals of the campaign. It was an opportunity to strategize ensuring meaningful commitment and participation by African leaders at the upcoming June Global Summit. This convening was highly participatory, facilitated peer-to-peer sharing, and be sensitive to the particular context of Africa as a region and the specific countries of participating activists so that the resulting acting plan is realistic and achievable.

As March 3^rd was Wangari Maathai Day in Kenya, the Nobel Women Initiative joined the Green Belt Movement to commemorate her legacy for action on the environment and ending violence against women.