Globally, it is estimated that one in three women experience violence or abuse at the hands of an intimate partner or non-partner in their lifetime. Women and girls living in conflict-affected countries are at even higher risk of violence due to displacement, the breakdown of social structures, a lack of law enforcement, the entrenchment of harmful gender norms and the loss of livelihood opportunities for both men and women in the community. 

South Sudan and Colombia both experience high levels of gender-based violence (GBV). Femicide, domestic violence, rape, targeted killing of women leaders and more all persist. Women and girls do not have the same opportunities as men, with unequal access to education, work and unequal sharing of household tasks. Further, women are left out of important decision-making processes for peace.

Whilst they differ in their contexts, both countries are undergoing periods of transition towards reconstruction and rehabilitation from protracted conflicts. Both have signed recent peace agreements, yet both continue to experience high levels of violence, insecurity and poor economic recovery. The continuation of violence fosters the continuation of violence toward women and girls, historically used as weapons of violence in the decades of conflict in both countries. To allow the countries to progress in peacebuilding, the mental health wounds and destruction of social fabric in both contexts must be healed at an individual and collective level. Women are key actors in this transition, as highlighted under the UN1325 resolution on Women, Peace and Security. By incorporating a gendered approach to allow women to heal and realise their capacities, we ensure that women are paving their own futures for peace, and be actively involved in peacebuilding processes. That is why, over the years, at HealthNet TPO we will continue to highlight the inspiring work done by women and their communities in these two countries, so that they and other key actors in peacebuilding can learn from one another about processes related to individual and collection healing and rebuilding. 

In South Sudan and Colombia, women, men girls and boys gathered to make their voices heard and to call an end violence against women in their communities.

In Terekeka County in South Sudan, more than 600 women, men and children joined the streets to march, dance, sing and raise their voices to “Take Action, Be Accountable and End Violence Against Women and Girls”. The event called upon all stakeholders to strengthen their systems and remain committed to protecting women and girls. It called upon local Chiefs to implement existing laws and regulations, to listen to women who report violence and to prosecute abusers. Safe spaces must also be implemented for women and girls, and to continue raising awareness to GBV, especially in rural communities to disseminate GBV referral pathways and help women realise their rights.

In Colombia, 3000 women from all over Colombia protested on the international day for the elimination of violence against women on the 25th November. The march was called “Un viaje de Alegría y Fiesta por la Vida” - ‘A journey of joy and celebration for life’. Of the march, our partner in Colombia Ruta Pacifica de las Mujures expressed, “We must sustain efforts for peacebuilding and demand urgent action for protection services. We must break the silence and the fear by speaking up.” CODACOP, another partner, also honoured the memory of the women leaders who were taken from us and whose legacy contributes to advancing women rights.

In both South Sudan and Colombia, HealthNet TPO works under the framework of the UN Resolution 1325 for Women, Peace and Security (WPS). We support survivors of sexual and gender-based violence through local leaders of peace called psychosocial focal points, who provide mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) to those who are suffering. MHPSS is essential to both the individual and collective healing process. Bringing people together and creating safe spaces allows collective healing, fosters trust and builds strong community networks. Women and girls can realise their rights and their full potential, enabling them to become active in their communities once again and to lead productive and peaceful lives. More importantly, they are enabled to create the platforms in their communities for their voices to be heard, participating and adding their voice to the decision-making processes and advocated for women’s rights and sustainable peace in their countries. 

In doing so, MHPSS is a vital component to supporting peaceful, resilient and inclusive communities and societies. Conflict destroys so much more than infrastructure, livelihoods and human security - it destroys the links within the fabric of society. People who have witnessed such violence, destruction and personal loss continue to experience negative emotions of fear and insecurity. Feelings of hatred, fear and mistrust can easily be expressed through ongoing violence. This was conveyed by Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, who said “people who have suffered losses, attacks, family separations and gender-based violence carry grievances and wounds that can perpetuate repetition and cycles of violence”. Boys who have grown up with violence around them and who have witnessed atrocities, grow into men that express their own trauma through violence, because that is all they know. In fact over the past 35 years, 85% of countries that have emerged from conflict return to violence. By addressing the root cause and healing trauma through MHPSS, to both women and men, we aim to put an end to these cycles of violence.

By understanding this connection between conflict and wellbeing, mental health interventions should work towards conflict resolution and be integrated within approaches for peacebuilding. If stronger partnerships are built between those working within MHPSS and peacebuilding, then it will encourage healthier wellbeing for individuals and communities living in post-conflict areas, and contribute to sustainable peace. 

Great advances have been made towards including MHPSS in the conflict and humanitarian response at the national and community level. Global initiatives like the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Reference Group on MHPSS have produced key guidelines on integrating MHPSS in emergency settings. Whilst, a framework for integrating MHPSS within peacebuilding does not yet exist, the IASC Working Group on Peacebuilding and MHPSS is developing an inter-agency Knowledge Product on MHPSS and Peacebuilding that can foster the collaboration between MHPSS and peacebuilding practitioners.

In 2019, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs created an advocacy and consultation process for MHPSS and peacebuilding practitioners as part of the 2020 UN Peace Building Architecture Review, and in July 2020, the report of the UN Secretary General on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace included a clear ambition towards enhancing the integration of MHPSS into peacebuilding, stating “the further development of the integration of mental health and psychosocial support into peacebuilding is envisaged with a view to increasing the resilience and agency of people and communities.”

In order to realise this ambition, a recent report by the Centre on International Cooperation (Arthur, 2021) offers four opportunities to improve MHPSS in peacebuilding suggesting that supporting national capacities, integrating MHPSS as a normal part of peace strategies, increasing expertise on MHPSS as part of peacebuilding and forming creative partnership to support an integrated approach.

For the Women, Peace and Security programme, the gendered component to peacebuilding teaches us that if we are to achieve peace, women must be engaged and actively involved at all levels, including through MHPSS. Women are key actors in the transition of healing from conflict to move towards peacebuilding. However, the risks that women leaders take on when amplifying their voices, prevent the programme from success. Women human rights defenders in Colombia, especially Afro-descendant, indigenous and LGBTIQ activists, are at heightened risk of gendered-based violence for defending their rights, their land and their communities. Similarly, in South Sudan, defenders and peacebuilders face routine targeting and surveillance. Women’s participation must not be prevented because of insecurity, but they must be actively supported within an enabling environment to participate at all levels – grassroots to regional and national. This includes access to education, protection against sexual and gender-based violence and the oppportunity to heal through mental health and psychosocial support.