Leda Werner Archives - 91��Ƶ News

DOJ grant will continue programs preventing sexual and relationship violence

Randi B. Hagi — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 15:36:00 +0000

Additional grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women will allow the Safer Together program at 91��Ƶ (91��Ƶ) to continue to offer a variety of trainings and support services to prevent sexual and relationship violence on campus.

Safer Together programming is coordinated by Grant Manager Leda Werner and guided by about 30 faculty, staff, students, and community partners who make up the Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT). Community partners include representatives from the Collins Center, First Step, Harrisonburg Police Department, and the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program at Sentara RMH.

Funding for the program was first awarded to 91��Ƶ in 2017, and is set to expire in March. That first round of funding allowed the CCRT to form and implement Green Dot bystander intervention trainings, prevention programming around healthy relationships and healthy masculinity, the revision of campus policies related to sexual and relationship violence to better support victims, and other initiatives.

The renewed grant provides an added three years of funding for existing Safer Together programming, as well as additional training for the CCRT and the campus community at large. Funding also supports a new part-time position working with survivors of sexual and relationship violence.

Whoever is hired into this part-time role will be available “as a confidential resource for students,” Werner explained: someone to whom students can disclose without that person having to file a report with the university. This person will be a resource for students to learn about resources available to them, such as health services, counseling, the Title IX process, community resources and service providers, restraining orders, or even options as simple – but important – as changing a class schedule or residence hall.

“These services will be available to those with acute, recent experiences of sexual and/or relationship violence, as well as those who have had those experiences in the past and would now like to seek support or services as part of the healing process,” said Werner.

The grant also provides funding for increased education on campus about stalking and dating violence – two forms of sexual violence that are often downplayed. Werner said that stalking in particular can be easily misunderstood, “partly because it’s often misrepresented by the media either as a stranger hiding behind bushes or as something that’s romanticized.”

Additionally, “sometimes people who experience stalking trivialize their experience or think it’s not a big deal because the individual acts in and of themselves don’t seem that ‘serious,’ such as leaving notes, non-stop texting, showing up at the same place, sending flowers, et cetera,” Werner said. “So education around what constitutes stalking and that it is a crime that should be taken seriously is something that we need to do more of.”

Education specifically for the CCRT will focus on a few key areas. One is cultural competency, including about the LGBTQ+ community, which experiences “higher rates of sexual violence” than those who identify as cisgender and straight, Werner explained. “In our educational programming, are we speaking about how sexual violence occurs within and to the LGBTQ+ community?”

Other aspects of the cultural competency training will examine how sexual and relationship violence intersects with other forms of oppression, thus uniquely affecting students with different ethnic backgrounds, racial identities, physical and mental abilities, and first languages.

Sexual violence is “one system of oppression that connects to and intersects with other systems of oppression – they all feed off each other and support one another,” said Werner. “So as we look at how we can prevent sexual and relationship violence on our campus, we really need to be dismantling all systems of oppression in order to make that a reality.”

Learn de-escalation and intervention techniques at Green Dot bystander training

Randi B. Hagi — Sat, 22 Feb 2020 15:53:59 +0000

Say you’re at a restaurant when you notice two women sitting at the bar. They look uncomfortable – an apparent stranger has been talking to them for about 10 minutes, slowly getting physically closer all the while. What do you do? Should you do anything?

One 91��Ƶ student who recently witnessed this scenario went up to the women, asked if they had met before, and chatted with them briefly until the stranger left. The two women expressed gratitude for this simple intervention.

That’s the type of action taught in “Green Dot” proactive bystander trainings – ways that anyone can help de-escalate or prevent situations of power-based personal violence. The trainings are tailored so that attendees can come up with a solution that’s within their comfort zones, such as starting a conversation with those two at the bar.

The next Green Dot trainings for students are Tues., Feb. 25 from 6-10 p.m. in the library’s JAMAR classroom and Sun., April 5 from 1-5 p.m. in University Commons 211/212. They’re led by Leda Werner, grant coordinator for student life; Jon Swartz, director of student accountability and restorative justice; and Jess Balac of the Collins Center.

“Oftentimes we see situations where we know we should step in, but we’re not sure how or what to do,” Werner said. “Green Dot gives folks tangible skills and tools to intervene in those instances and make a real difference for someone.”

This semester marks the full rollout of the trainings, which were first held last semester at 91��Ƶ for community advisors and pastoral assistants. Werner said they hope to expand the training to incoming students this fall.

Student Gabby McMillon said the training added to her “toolbox of skills.”

“I found the intervention framework to be very useful and accessible, and soon found myself practicing things I learned from the training,” McMillon said.

Green Dot enters phase II: Student leaders at 91��Ƶ receive proactive bystander training

Christopher Clymer Kurtz — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 13:34:13 +0000

Student leaders at 91��Ƶ have begun receiving Green Dot proactive bystander training.

During their week-long orientation, 34 community advisors and pastoral assistants participated in the training. This was the first student bystander training on campus; 68 faculty and staff received overview training in spring 2019. The Green Dot rollout will continue with additional sessions offered each semester, and all incoming students will receive training at the beginning of next school year in fall 2020.

With its tagline “No one has to do everything, but everyone has to do something,” the initiative “will be an incredible asset to the 91��Ƶ community as we stand together so that fewer people are hurt by power-based personal violence,” said Jonathan Swartz, director of residence life, student accountability and restorative justice and Green Dot training facilitator. The Green Dot facilitator team include other leaders in the Student Life team led by grant coordinator Leda Werner and Jess Balac of the Collins Center.

The program trains community members to act so that red dots – marks on a map indicating instances of power-based personal violence such as controlling behavior, threats or sexual assault – are far outnumbered by green dots. Including both reactive and proactive bystander interventions, green dots indicate actions such as defusing a situation through distraction, showing concern for someone who is being harmed, or asking someone who is causing harm to move away.

Barriers to intervening can be “anything from feeling unsafe to not knowing the full context to being concerned about damaging a friendship,” said Werner. “Thinking ahead of time about the ways in which we do feel comfortable intervening helps us to feel more confident to take action when we witness a situation unfolding in front of us.”

In the training, a majority of community advisors (CAs) and pastoral assistants shared that they personally experienced or knew someone who had experienced power-based personal violence, said Addison Hawpe. As a CA, she lives in a residence hall and provides support and leadership to other students, and helps build community.

“We all have times in our past where we wish we would have stood up, and wish we would have done more,” she said. “After this training, I have some more tactics – ‘direct, distract and delegate’ – and ways to be an active bystander. I can definitely pass these on to the residents on my hall as ways that they can be active bystanders, too.”

The training further challenged CAs to create “green areas where red dots don’t even have a chance to come,” said Hawpe.

“One of the main goals of a CA is to create that green zone in our spaces,” said CA Theo Yoder. Green Dot t-shirts, stickers and conversation points will cultivate awareness and help “make it clear that domestic and dating violence, sexual assault and stalking are just unacceptable,” he said.

“It takes a collective effort by all of us to ensure that our campus is safe,” said Werner, who manages a multi-year grant 91��Ƶ received through the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) to combat sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking on campus.

Launched in 2006 at the University of Kentucky, ’s Green Dot curriculum has been used at nearly 800 schools (), entities such as the U.S. Department of Justice, Oregon Tradeswomen and Bangor Savings Bank, as well as internationally, according to its website.

Green Dot is coming: 91��Ƶ group to attend initial instructor training

Christopher Clymer Kurtz — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 16:14:37 +0000

91��Ƶ is gearing up for implementation of Green Dot, a proactive bystander training. Five staff will attend a multi-day instructor training this month.

The phased roll-out will begin with faculty and staff in spring 2019, while students “will begin to see signs of the program on campus in fall 2019,” said Leda Werner.

She manages a multi-year grant 91��Ƶ received through the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) to combat sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking on campus. The first year of the grant, 2017-18, was devoted to needs assessment and planning.

The bystander training is one of several initiatives to be implemented in the next two years.

Empowerment to act

The imagery of the Green Dot program is simple: If a red dot on a map represents an individual act of sexual violence, a green dot can represent any individual choice that builds community safety and cultivates intolerance for sexual violence. That could mean actions such as defusing a situation through distraction, showing concern for someone who is being harmed, or asking someone who is causing harm to move away.

A key difference from other programs is that it goes beyond typical awareness-raising measures. The training empowers participants with “new actions and new ways of seeing and engaging that can enhance a community’s capacity for response and change,” said associate dean of students Jonathan Swartz.

“To keep people safe, it is necessary to widen the circle of responsibility,” Swartz said. “To me, that’s basically a call to all of us for active involvement in the safety and well-being of all of us.”

Equipping members of the campus community to step up in harmful situations is key, as “a lot of the time, the reason people don’t intervene to prevent or deescalate a situation of sexual harm is because they’re not sure what to do or say,” said Werner. “Through Green Dot trainings, confidence to step up in these situations will increase.”

Launched in 2006 at the University of Kentucky, the Green Dot curriculum has been used in more than 300 colleges (including James Madison University), 50 middle and high schools, 50 communities and across other entities on four continents.

Initiative begins with faculty and staff

The five staff attending the training include counseling services director Tempest Anderson, housing and residence life assistant director Matt Hunsberger, applied social sciences associate professor Carolyn Stauffer, Swartz and Werner.

The group will help to anchor further efforts on campus with faculty and staff in spring 2019. These discussions will include strategizing about ways to bring Green Dot to life on campus through, for example, course content, awareness campaigns and programming.

Later in the semester, bystander trainings will be extended to all faculty and staff. Participants will learn how to recognize warning signs, identify barriers to action, and reinforce social norms that are intolerant of sexual violence and foster “a community of safety and respect,” Werner said.

Beginning in fall 2019, the process will start over with students. By fall 2020, all incoming students will receive Green Dot’s bystander training.

“Our overarching goal is to shift the campus culture around response to and prevention of sexual violence,” said Werner. “We look forward to working with faculty and staff this spring on creating a strong foundation for that goal.”

For more information or to find out how to get involved, contact Leda Werner at leda.werner@emu.edu.

91��Ƶ awarded $300,000 Department of Justice grant

Lauren Jefferson — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 21:24:04 +0000

91��Ƶ has named Leda Werner as the project coordinator of a new grant funded by the U.S. Department of Justice that focuses on connecting with community partners to combat sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking on campus.

Harrisonburg Police Department investigator Aaron Dove meets with Leda Werner, grant project coordinator, and 91��Ƶ Director of Counseling Tempest Anderson.

The grant is for $300,000 over three years.

91��Ƶ was among 53 colleges and universities around the United States to be selected for funding. The Department of Justice (DOJ) administers authorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and subsequent legislation. This particular program — “Grants to Reduce Sexual Violence, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking on Campus” — was allocated a total of more than $5.7 million.

Werner was previously director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding’s Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership Program. Since its founding, 50 women from Africa and the South Pacific have earned a graduate certificate in peacebuilding leadership.

“Along with her work with peacebuilding leaders, many of whom were working on issues of sexual and domestic violence, Leda brings considerable experience in grant implementation, collaboration with partners and monitoring and evaluation,” said 91��Ƶ’s Title IX Coordinator and primary grant writer .

91��Ƶ’s long-standing relationships with the Harrisonburg Police Department and the Collins Center may have contributed to the university’s successful bid, Kniss said. , a nonprofit sexual assault crisis center, has provided trainings to 91��Ƶ students for the past five years.

Collins Center staff Ross Erb (left) and Jackie Hieberand provide a training for 91��Ƶ students in spring 2017. (Photo by Joaquin Sosa)

“The grant requires that campuses create and support external partnerships with at least one criminal justice system and one sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking victim service provider within the community,” Kniss said. “That’s a partnership we already had in place and we’d like to see grow, for the benefit of the 91��Ƶ community but also of the Shenandoah Valley community at large.”

The representatives from HPD and the Collins Center will be part of a core group, called the Community Coordinated Response Team (CCRT), which will meet monthly.

During the first year of strategic planning, this team will attend three DOJ-mandated workshops, followed by two more in 2020 as initiatives continue to be implemented.

The CCRT team will work with a coalition of internal partners including, among others, representatives of student life, residence life, faculty, human resources, Multicultural Student Services, International Student Services, student clubs and athletics. Undergraduate and graduate student representatives will also be included.

The collaborations will serve to strengthen current programming and develop new initiatives, Werner said.

Some of those programs are conducted by the 91��Ƶ Counseling program, which has been undergoing an expansion of services under Director of Counseling .

“This grant will enable us to review and develop our prevention education trainings for new students, student-athletes and coaches, as well as our men’s program focused on healthy masculinity,” said Anderson, also a member of the CCRT.

Other program requirements include training for campus security; services such as a 24-hour crisis hotline, counseling services, medical attention and legal assistance; and campus bystander training, offered through a globally known prevention program, Alteristic-Green Dot.

STAR director offers keynote at first Pacific Peace Conference in Fiji

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 14:28:09 +0000

Katie Mansfield, director of STAR, was among the speakers from the US, Ghana and Pacific Island countries at the first-ever Pacific Peace Conference in Suva, Fiji. Leda Werner, Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership Program director, was also in attendance.

Fourth cohort of Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership Program begins their studies at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute

Lauren Jefferson — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 15:43:20 +0000

Eight women who comprise the fourth cohort of 91��Ƶ’s Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership Program will return to Kenya this week after intensive studies at the .

The women, selected from a competitive process earlier this year, have diverse professional experiences and skills: they are writers, poets, court officers, county commissioners, non-profit CEOs, lawyers, and educators — peacebuilders all — representing Kenya’s various geographic regions, religions and ethnic communities.

Their coursework at SPI is the first step in a 19-month process that will ultimately lead to a graduate certificate in peacebuilding leadership.

“It’s been wonderful to see our WPLP cohort here on campus, taking classes and sharing about their peacebuilding work with other SPI participants,” said Leda Werner, program director. “Their coursework in peacebuilding leadership, conflict analysis, and responding to violent extremism blends academic theory and practical tools, providing them with a solid foundation needed to carry out their intervention plans in their communities later in the program.”

The fourth cohort is one of two cohorts sponsored by a $900,000 grant from (USAID) Kenya and East Africa. A second cohort of eight women from the Horn of Africa region will enter WPLP in May 2017. Launched in 2012, the WPLP program has graduated 42 women from Africa and the South Pacific.

New focus on responding to violent extremism

Rosa Wanyagi, USAID Kenya and East Africa representative.

Accompanying the group are Rosa Wanyagi, USAID Kenya and East Africa representative, and Nuria Abdi, a 2007 CJP graduate who serves as the cohort’s regional advisor.

The cohort is the first to engage with a new curriculum designed specifically to address USAID objectives of responding to violent extremism, women’s empowerment and good governance. Other structural and curricular changes reflect the program’s growth and development based on participant feedback and monitoring and evaluation data gathered from the previous three cohorts, Werner said.

SPI has been six weeks of “learning in class and outside of class on topics relevant for us and for our situations,” said Maryam Sheikh Abdikadir. The women engaged in personal assessments in the “Leadership for Peacebuilding” course, evaluating their own weakness and strengths and then learning new skills. Courses on conflict analysis and peacebuilding responses to violent extremism followed.

“So often we observe and end up judging,” Abdikadir said, “and being able to analyze perceptions, root causes, drivers, mitigators and allies within the conflict — that is really an important life skill that you can apply in all kinds of situations.”

Sharing and learning from international peacebuilders about their experiences with violent extremisim was “profound,” she added. “Listening to these examples from around the world caused me to look at my own situation differently.”

Nuria Abdi, regional advisor for the Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership Program, earned her master’s degree in conflict transformation in 2007 at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

The women are in the midst of discerning the specific conflict they’ll address in the intervention project, the final phase of the program. Among the possibilities: addressing historic clan conflicts, community conflicts and cross-border conflicts in the northeast, western, and Rift Valley areas of Kenya; bolstering the use in courts of alternative dispute resolution for family and community-related violent conflicts; and working to resolve negative social effects of a government-led security operation aimed at protecting Kenya from Al Shabaab attacks.

The women return to Kenya with assignments to finish this fall. In January, they will take Level 1 followed by an intervention design workshop led by . As the participants put their intervention plans into action in the spring of 2017, they are supported and guided through online praxis workshops, where they are joined by Abdi, WPLP staff and local and regional peacebuilding experts. A final class on mobilizing for systems change examines how to increase the reach of their intervention, which continue through the fall. A December 2017 graduation is planned.

WPLP Cohort 4

Maryan Sheikh Abdikadir works for Serve Women and Children Empowerment and Development Agenda, an NGO in Garissa and Kismayo that rallies Somali women to work for peace using clan and family networks. She also volunteers for NEPA, an association for Somali professionals, and is a writer and a poet for advocacy and activism. Maryam has a Bachelor of Education degree and an MA in development studies.

Judith Nasimiyu Mandillah has been a probation officer for 25 years, and is now the chief probation officer of the Kakamega High Court, where she leads and advocates for alternative dispute resolution processes. Judith has a BA in counseling from Kampala International University and is currently completing an MA in peace and conflict studies from Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.

Rachel Cherotich Mutai is the curriculum development coordinator at African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM), an NGO that works to promote community healing and reconciliation. She has conducted trauma healing programming for women, led youth leadership development activities, and been involved in a domestic violence counseling ministry. Rachel has a BA in Theology from Kenya Highlands Evangelical University and an MDiv from Africa International University.

Violet Wairimu Muthiga is the CEO of Sauti Ya Wanawake Pwani, a women’s organization based in Mombasa that works in six coastal counties. Violet conducts trauma counseling for mothers of youth who have been radicalized, reintegration programs for de-radicalized youth, and civic education related to UN 1325. Violet has a BA in sociology from Egerton University and is currently completing her thesis for her MA in project planning and management at University of Nairobi.

Sarah Chelimo Naibei recently transitioned into the role of assistant county commissioner from her previous position at the Peace and Rights Program where she played a role in the signing of a peace agreement between conflicting communities in Mt. Elgon. She has rehabilitated ex-combatants and child soldiers. Sarah has a BA in gender and development from Makarere University and an MA in project planning and management at the University of Nairobi.

Catherine Gaku Njeru is a gender specialist at the International Peace Support Training Center. Among other work, she has been involved in the design of Kenya’s national action plan for implementing UN 1325 and on training for the military in peacebuilding, and on child development and women’s empowerment programs. Catherine has a BA in sociology from Egerton University and an MA in project planning and management from the University of Nairobi.

Beatrice Kizi Nzovu works for Life and Peace Institute, focusing how communities—and specifically women—can build resiliency against violent extremism. She has worked with cattle rustling and resource issues in North and South Rift, land conflicts in the coast, gender mainstreaming at the regional level, and post-election violence. Beatrice has a BA in sociology from Maseno University and an MA in peace studies and conflict transformation from European University.

Shamsa Hassan Sheikh works for the Wajir County Land Management Board, where she designs and facilitates local alternative dispute resolution processes for land and resource-based conflicts. She also aids in the review and drafting of land and resource-based policies. Shamsa has a BA in law from the University of Nairobi.

Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership Program graduates 13 from Kenya and East Africa

Walt Wiltschek — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 18:27:16 +0000

Ruth Nalyanya works at a university in Kenya where ethnic conflicts regularly spilled over into campus life. She decided to address this negative pattern by conducting training sessions about acceptance and diversity. Then she started a Peace Club, followed by a Peace Choir and a Peace Band, and she brought in a variety of speakers. Her work eventually prompted the university to change the bylaws for student government elections, assuring the representation of minority groups. Now the administration plans to build peacebuilding training and initiatives into the university’s curriculum.

Nalyanya and 12 others from Kenya, Somalia and Somaliland became the newest graduates of the Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership Program (WPLP) in December, when members of two classes received their graduate certificate in peacebuilding leadership.

They join 29 previous graduates from Africa and the South Pacific who are making similar advances and repairing the fabric of their communities, thanks in large measure to the tools gained since the program started in 2012 at 91��Ƶ‘s .

Funding for WPLP is primarily provided through USAID Kenya and East Africa and by international development organizations that administer USAID grants.

“All of the women are doing amazing things in different sectors of the peacebuilding field,” WPLP acting director says. “They are all having big impacts in their communities and thinking about ways to scale it up and make larger systems change. They are just all really impressive women.”

The women are selected through an application process that seeks candidates with leadership skills and practical experience as well as a platform from which to engage their communities, Werner says. Studies begin with five weeks at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute in Harrisonburg, followed by coursework and a hands-on conflict analysis and development of an intervention plan in their home country. A mentor walks with them through the program.

Participants in WPLP often come from different tribes, ethnicities, religions and backgrounds but find common ground in the peacebuilding work.

“That’s one of the benefits of having the women together as a cohort,” Werner says. “They get to talk about those things. It’s pretty inspiring. They put those differences aside for the larger interest of their country. They want a peaceful Kenya or a peaceful Somalia, and peace for people in general. They learn from each other and begin to think about the ways that divisiveness has been created.”

Beyond expanding their leadership skills and bringing about change in their communities, the women also gain in confidence and increase their sphere of influence, Werner says.

Seven of the 13 women were present for the official graduation ceremony along with representatives from MCC Kenya, USAID Kenya and East Africa, and community members. Several mentors, friends and family members also attended, including Nelson Makanda, deputy general secretary of the All Africa Council of Churches, and Faustin Ntamushobora, former director of African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM).

Also present were SPI attendee Samson Sorobit and two women with long ties to CJP and to the Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) program: Tecla Wanjala, MA ’03 [read more about in Kenya] and local partner Doreen Ruto, MA ’06, who brought staff and board members from her organization, (DiPaD).

WPLP’s fourth class, with eight women from Kenya, will begin in May. Applications will open for the fifth class, with eight women from the Horn of Africa, in the fall of 2016, with coursework to begin in May 2017.

Editor’s note: As this article was being published, the CJP community learned of Doreen Ruto’s untimely death on Jan. 21, 2016. She is remembered with both joy and sadness in .

Founder of Messengers of Peace-Liberia to head regional advocacy for the United Network of Young Peacebuilders

Lauren Jefferson — Fri, 20 Nov 2015 19:44:31 +0000

Gwendolyn Myers, a graduate of the Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership Program at 91��Ƶ, has been appointed regional coordinator for West and Central Africa by the (UNYP). With two other members of her team, she will monitor and help to coordinate advocacy activities in the region related to the implementation of the with key stakeholders.

UNYP, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, has ties to 60 youth organizations in 45 countries. One of those youth organizations is , of which Myers is founder and executive director. In her organization, youth develop life skills through coaching, mentoring, advocacy and volunteering for peace and development (for information about MOP-Liberia’s accomplishments, click ).

Women’s leadership program built her skills

When reached for comment, Myers, who is currently residing in Washington D.C. as a fellow at the with the Institute for Global Engagement, called the appointment “inspiring, humbling and exciting.”

Gwendolyn Myers at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute at 91��Ƶ, where she took classes for her graduate certificate in women’s peacebuilding leadership. (Photo by Michael Sheeler)

“The tasks ahead are daunting,” Myers said, “but with the team’s effort and the anticipated collaboration, we will overcome all obstacles along the way as we promote the Amman Declaration on Youth, Peace and Security and advocate for the active and meaningful involvement of youth on peace and security issues within our region.”

She praised the preparation she received through the WPLP program and at the as “great help with my advocacy for sustainable peace and development,” she said. “91��Ƶ has equipped me with the right tools to carry on this task.”

Myers was a member of the first WPLP cohort with three Liberian women and others from the South Pacific and Somalia. She earned a graduate certificate in peacebuilding leadership in 2014.

“We here at WPLP and the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding are thrilled about Gwen’s appointment,” says WPLP director . “Her passion and energy are well-suited to this role and her past experiences speak to her ability to lead in this capacity. Gwen’s appointment is an excellent example of the leadership positions that women in WPLP are equipped to take on. We expect to see more graduates soon following in Gwen’s footsteps into positions of peacebuilding leadership.”

Several WPLP participants have gone on just as Myers has to have dramatic impacts in their countries and to be recognized for their peacebuilding efforts. This summer, , of Somalia, and , of Kenya, were awarded USAID’s prestigious .

With the support of two recent grants, WPLP is for a cohort of women from Kenya and Somalia, starting in May 2016. A second cohort of eight women from the Horn of Africa region will enter WPLP in May 2017.

Peacebuilding advocacy in Liberia

This summer and fall, Myers was instrumental in a nation-wide campaign in Liberia to publicize the Amman Youth Declaration. This document was drafted with input from 11,000 global youth at a conference in Amman, Jordan, in August 2015. It presents a “common vision and roadmap towards a strengthened policy framework to support [young people] in transforming conflict, preventing and countering violence and building sustainable peace,” according to the United Nations.

Members of the first cohort of the Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership Program, including Gwendolyn Myers (at left).

MOP-Liberia, led by Myers, celebrated International Peace Day with a week of activities in Monrovia, which included media engagement, interfaith interactions, community outreach into underprivileged communities, and a main event for the official launch of the Amman Declaration on Youth, Peace and Security in Liberia on the University of Liberia campus.

More than 500 youth representatives of national organizations joined the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Republic of Liberia to show support for the Amman Declaration on Youth, Peace and Security –“the first time that all Liberia rallied around any youth declaration unconditionally,” Myers wrote in a for the United Network of Young Peacebuilders.

Myers aided six peacebuilding youth from MOP-Liberia Inc together with the youth liaison adviser to the President of Liberia in introducing the document to the Liberian president; the two houses of Liberian legislature, the office of the chief justice, UN entities, the Carter Center, Action Aid and a number of local youth and civil society organizations.

Leda Werner Archives - 91����Ƶ News