L’Alliance: a safe space promoting women’s leadership and participation in Haiti

Date: Wednesday, 21 August 2024

Creating a safe space where women can meet in Port-au-Prince is critical during Haiti’s political transition. In this photo: Maria Isabel Salvador, Special Representative to the United Nations Secretary General, Haiti; Marie Francoise Suzanne, Minister for the Status of Women and Women's Rights; Marie Goretti Nduwayo, UN Women Representative, Dorothy Senatus, President of the Women's Alliance and other leaders of the Alliance Network.

The Alliance of Civil Society Organizations for Peace and Women’s Empowerment, known as “L´ALLIANCE” (AOSCPAFH, for its acronym in French), inaugurated its headquarters in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, July 31st, with the participation of government actors including a delegate of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Gender and the Citizen’s Defender’s Office, the private sector, civil society, UN agencies, and other international organizations with presence in Christ-Roi, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Established with the technical and financial support of UN Women in May 2022, in partnership with the Peace Building Fund, the members signed a memorandum of understanding, becoming the largest group of women’s organizations in Haiti with 11 platforms and networks of 742 women’s organizations and 236,928 members.

In this photo: Marie Goretti Nduwayo, UN Women Representative, Haiti Country Office.

The participation of the Ministry of the Condition of the Status and Rights of Women, the Office of the Citizen’s Defender’s Office, and Prime Minister delegates, in this initiative strengthens collaboration among key actors to boost the implementation of the third axis of the “Political Agreement for a Peaceful and Orderly Transition,” signed on April 3rd, 2024. The inauguration ceremony marks an important milestone in promoting the participation and representation of women’s organizations in civil society through regular meetings to share knowledge, exchange views, and build the capacities of Haitian women while incorporating their points of view with a gender perspective and a human rights approach in the national peacebuilding agenda.

In this photo: Rosemina Percy, General Coordinator of Karavan Fanm Pou Chanjman and West Departmental Delegate of the Alliance.

Creating a safe space where women can meet in Port-au-Prince is critical during Haiti’s political transition. UN Women aims to support women in contributing to the national dialogue, constitutional reform, and elections, among others.

The Alliance advocates for achieving gender parity on the political level and engaging women in improving the country's social, economic, and political governance, promoting a human rights approach. To this end, the organization has set up departmental cells in 9 departments to collaborate with national and international partners and implement communications and advocacy strategies to promote and enhance female leadership.

In this photo: Maria Isabel Salvador, Special Representative to the United Nations Secretary General, Haiti.

The Alliance is implementing lobbying and advocacy strategies, acknowledging the role women play in the construction of a democratic and inclusive nation through the restoration of peace and security in the country by engaging in the implementation of Resolution 1325 adopted by the UN Security Council on October 31st, 2000. The Alliance will conduct the necessary operations for a better nationwide implementation of this resolution while reaffirming women’s contributions to the prevention and resolution of conflicts and peacebuilding.

To strengthen the participation of women in peace processes, the Alliance will conduct training and awareness sessions to boost their involvement.

The inauguration of the Alliance headquarters in Christ-Roi is a crucial step in centralizing and coordinating efforts to achieve these ambitious goals. This new physical space located in Port-au-Prince will facilitate meetings between members, collaboration with other organizations, government institutions, and partners, and will be equipped to host capacity-building activities, such as training, workshops, and seminars practical for the individual and collective development of women to strengthen female leadership.

In this photo: Dorothy Senatus, President of the Women's Alliance.

During the inauguration ceremony, Ganette Galiotte, coordinator of the Women Candidates Network and director of operations of the Alliance, stressed the importance of this event: “We are gathered here today to inaugurate the headquarters of the Alliance of Civil Society Organizations for Peace and the Empowerment of Haitian Women. It is a great pleasure for us to share with you this moment full of good energy in favor of real participation of women in spaces of power and decision-making.”

Ms. Galiotte also congratulated Mrs. Dorothy Senatus, President of the Alliance, as well as the executive committee and the Board of Directors for their tireless efforts: “I congratulate the President of the Alliance, Mrs. Dorothy Senatus, who has been leading the institution like a good captain for nearly two years.”

She recalled the history and mission of the Alliance, created following a dialogue workshop organized by UN Women Haiti in September 2021: “It is a group of networks and platforms of women’s organizations that want to put their strengths and energies together to promote political participation and female leadership.”

The sustained continuity of efforts of The Alliance in collaboration with UN Women, and the Peacebuilding Fund to support the implementation of Resolution 1325 in Haiti by increasing women’s leadership and participation in the prevention, resolution of conflicts and peacebuilding is a strong demonstration of resilience of all the women’s organizations of civil society who work united towards attaining sustainable peace in Haiti.