Speakers at a discussion in Helsinki on Tuesday underscored the need for fostering partnerships across continents for advancement of women, peace and security.
The discussion entitled “Women, Peace and Security: Comparative Insights from Morocco and Finland” was organised by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Finland in collaboration with the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation (CMI) at Balder Sali marking the 25th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration on Women’s Rights.
The discussants including policymakers and peacebuilding experts focused on various aspects of Women’s empowerment and explored future directions for feminist foreign policy and inclusive diplomacy.
In his inaugural remark, Ambassador of Morocco to Finland Mohamed Achgalou underlined the importance of addressing various perspectives affecting women and said that the Women, Peace and Security agenda remains a global priority.
“This is an important opportunity to remind the world that challenges affecting women and girls must be addressed from multiple perspectives,” he said.
Achgalou also reaffirmed the shared belief in multilateralism and peaceful conflict resolution.
“Looking ahead, we see promising opportunities for joint initiatives within the UN and in communities affected by conflict, where preventive action can make a lasting difference,” he added
Moderated by Nora Stenius, Co-penholder of Finland’s Fourth National Action Plan on WPS, Anu Apo, 1325 Coordinator of Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Naima Korchi, an expert on WPS and member of FEMWISE Africa and Elisa Tarnaala, Senior Adviser of CMI Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation took part in the panel discussion.
The speakers focused on how National Action Plans translate WPS commitments into measurable outcomes and emphasized the shared values and the importance of closer partnerships between the global North and South despite geographical and cultural differences.
“We need to foster partnerships across continents and create new networks to advance this human-centered agenda,” said Apo.
They said Finland is widely recognized for its feminist foreign policy, while Morocco has become a regional leader in promoting women’s participation in peacebuilding through African and Arab mediation frameworks.
“For Finland, partnering with Morocco and African networks opens opportunities to support women mediators at the field level and advance shared peacebuilding goals,” said Korchi.
Morocco’s first National Action Plan, launched in 2022, builds on decades of reforms in gender equality and active participation in regional and international mediation networks, including FEMWISE Africa and the Arab Women Mediators Network, they observed.
“Such diversity is key for building global partnerships for peace, where both North and South can learn from each other’s models,” Korchi added.
Focusing on role of youth and young women in peacebuilding, the speakers highlighted that
Finland, the first country to publish a National Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security in 2021, is now finalizing its second plan.
“At the national level, our challenge is actually the reverse — we need more young men to engage in gender equality and inclusion,” Apo observed.
The discussants also said that youths are representing about one-third of the total population in Africa and their inclusion is vital to ensure gender equality.
They pointed out that the African Union’s Youth Ambassadors for Peace initiative stands as an example of progress.
“Today, the South has many success stories to share. Women are leading mediation, building peace, and proving that gender equality is not only a Northern narrative. The future of peace belongs to both women and youth,” said Korchi.
Both Finland and Morocco outlined their current priorities as Morocco is evaluating its first National Action Plan while drafting the next, and Finland continues to integrate WPS principles into civilian crisis management and NATO structures.
