YouSaid · the spoken record

Vilakazi

lines on the record
11
first
2019-10-07
most recent
2019-10-07
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

  1. “In conclusion, we believe that through this platform, African countries can build and maintain peace by engaging with all women as they operate from their local spaces, connected with others by their participation in the annual dialogue platform. In the final analysis, our objective is to enable communities to own and drive their peace processes, making this a lasting principle that underpins engagement for development and builds social cohesion across African borders. That is our story, our journey and our resolve to convene annually as African women on African soil, driven by an African agenda for inclusive development and the maintenance of peace in our communities.”

    2019-10-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8633 (2019) · source

  2. “It is apparent that preventative diplomacy is, and has been, utilized by the United Nations system at large, and the office of the Secretary-General in particular through its role of good offices. However, that has not always been regarded as a central pillar of the work of the Security Council. As African women, we therefore hope that through the African Women in Dialogue platform this pillar can come to fruition, and I urge members of civil society tojoin us and support grass-roots-level dialogue that is led by women in all their diversity and unity. We hope that following this briefing, the Security Council will resolve to embrace, support and adopt the practice of inclusive dialogue as a credible and viable tool for preventive diplomacy and thereby inspire others to do the same.”

    2019-10-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8633 (2019) · source

  3. “We therefore seek the support of the Council to help support and enable African Women in Dialogue processes, as located at the village, community and country levels, through its multilateral agreements. The commitments made by the Council on the topic "Peace and security in Africa: mobilizing youth towards silencing the guns by 2020" will remain an elusive ideal, among others, if women and youth are not adequately engaged as core participants in the ongoing peacebuilding process. Chapter VI, Article 33, of the Charter of the United Nations states that parties to a dispute shall seek a solution through political means, including negotiation and mediation. For that to happen, we argue that supporting inclusive dialogue, as in the model of the African Women in Dialogue platform, should be the tool used to fulfil that Article.”

    2019-10-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8633 (2019) · source

  4. “Some of those women have never travelled outside their villages and, as such, may first have to apply for a birth certificate and then a passport, followed by a visa, which are issues of identity and are still central to building peace on the continent. All of that is taxing and expensive in terms of finances, emotions and time. I ask that those leaders therefore please lend a hand if they come across such requests. In essence, the African Women in Dialogue platform presents a unique, much-needed opportunity for all of us to be authentic about the involvement of African women in their diversity, as active players in conflict prevention and preventative diplomacy. It is a known fact that the ongoing conflicts in Africa continue to form the bulk of the items on the agenda of the Security Council, and we wish to change that for the better.”

    2019-10-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8633 (2019) · source

  5. “We even train women on how to use dialogue as a tool for mediation and include self- mastery discussions. The African Women in Dialogue will review resolution 1325 (2000) and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, among many other documents that we have discussed over time. As we speak now, the team back home is finalizing logistics for the unparalleled 2019 African Women in Dialogue to be held from 4 to 8 November. It is possible that some of the African leaders present at this meeting will hear ofthe group of women back home challenging their officials to provide them with travel documents to go join other African women in Johannesburg.”

    2019-10-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8633 (2019) · source

  6. “We do that work fully aware that it is no easy task, that it is expensive, complex and obscured by stereotypes and requires hard work. As my colleague Ms. Maite already alluded to, dialogue has the benefit of helping us rise above our differences and seek that which binds us. It has been proven that dialogue spaces can be used as platforms for development, while acting as preventative systems for potential conflict and can bring about post-conflict resolution. The agenda for the 2019 five-day African Women in Dialogue attests to that, as we cover a broad range of topics - from entrepreneurship and women's economic opportunities to unpacking the opportunities, challenges and even the inherent threats of the fourth industrial revolution and discussing issues of African feminism.”

    2019-10-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8633 (2019) · source

  7. “The African Women in Dialogue week becomes a festival of ideas, guided by an agenda for a peaceful, just and better continent, with women connecting, learning from each other and sharing as they showcase the incredible work of women from villages, towns and communities across the continent. Our model is simple, yet it requires patience and resourcing and appreciation of the individuality of each woman attending. The model requires paying conscious and deliberate attention to the support needed to maximize the presence and contribution of each participant. Beyond the five-day dialogue, the platform seeks to continue an ongoing chain of women connected throughout the years, using dialogue to overcome barriers and find solutions.”

    2019-10-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8633 (2019) · source

  8. “Our inclusivity guide insists on 60 per cent attendance by grass-roots and marginalized women - the women we often speak about and purport to represent. Our aim is to bring them into the room, because their experience, voice and power are among the key ingredients necessary to help us unite to heal our continent and move towards peaceful coexistence. Women attend the dialogues as individuals, not representing any specific mandate except our personal views, which we use to find solutions to our various struggles. All women are treated as equals by the African Women in Dialogue, with no class distinctions; we do not stand on ceremony but instead we recognize the experience brought by each woman in the room.”

    2019-10-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8633 (2019) · source

  9. “That realization motivated us to take the South African Women in Dialogue model, as shared earlier by my colleague, to the continent as a whole. From 19 to 23 November 2018, backed by many African women, we successfully launched the African Women in Dialogue platform, which was held over five days and attended by 1,000 women from 16 Southern African Development Community countries and beyond. The launch was held in Johannesburg. Bolstered by that successful inaugural launch, we are now ready to host the 2019 Dialogue, to be attended by another cohort of 1,000 women from all 55 African countries - an unprecedented achievement that will set the bar for future dialogues. Like the South African Women in Dialogue model, the African Women in Dialogue platform is designed to be inclusive, open to all, non-hierarchical and non-partisan.”

    2019-10-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8633 (2019) · source

  10. “Naledi Maite, led to the realization that an impressive number of African women occupy various important positions at the local and global levels, which we applaud and celebrate; however, we note that, as a continent, we have not yet built a mechanism to help us access and utilize their experience and expertise for the benefit of all. That has made it even more clear to us that, as a continent, we lack a mechanism to meet as African women on African soil. Often, we are convened by others outside the continent, at their expense and on their agenda. For example, we meet at the annual Davos World Economic Forum, at the Commission on the Status of Women and in many other forums. Although such exposure is necessary, their outcomes do not often translate into real value for the masses of Africans back home, in particular marginalized women.”

    2019-10-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8633 (2019) · source

  11. “Ms. Vilakazi: Let me also add my gratitude for this opportunity to brief the Security Council. As already said, my name is Linda Vilakazi and I come from Johannesburg, South Africa. I am an African and care deeply about the equal treatment of all people, in particular women and their inclusion at all levels of society. I work at the Zanele Mbeki Development Trust, where I coordinate the African Women in Dialogue platform, which was launched in 2018. Our collective experience gained through the successful 16-year-long journey of the South African Women in Dialogue platform, as already mentioned by my colleague Ms.”

    2019-10-07 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8633 (2019) · source