Women in Mediation Action Group

The Women in Mediation Action Group is a working group and sub-committee to the UNMWG.

The primary objective of the action group is to advocate for women’s effective participation and representation in mediation, collaborative processes, dialogue, and peacebuilding globally. MBBI believes that women’s participation in such processes is critical for sustainable peace.

Another key objective of the working group is to improve the inclusion of women in decisions that affect women. This begins with equal representation of women at high-level negotiations and consultations on national public economic and legislative change, especially relating to issues affecting women such as sexual and domestic violence, health care, reproductive rights, child care, income equality, indigenous affairs, and educational opportunities for girls. By improving access to mediation and collaborative processes for women, the working group hopes to improve access to justice processes, in particular in regions of the world where current legal and normative frameworks may create barriers for many women.

The Women in Mediation Action Group believes women’s equal representation in leadership, political, and community roles is a powerful antidote to the insufficient or recessive progression of human and gender rights.  In particular, we advocate for the United Nations’ member nations to fully achieve Goal 5 (Gender Equality) of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Working Group achieves these objectives by focusing on women’s empowerment globally by the development of conflict resolution, mediation, leadership, and negotiation skills and by advocating for gender equity in decision making roles, especially on matters affecting women.

Our dedicated team of MBBI members has worked on many events over the years to promote these objectives, including:

• Participating with a large delegation to every Session of the Commission on the Status of Women since CSW58
• Presenting high-level panel events (parallel events) at the CSW on topics such as:
  • Climate Change and Women, Peace and Security
  • Workshop on Collaborative Processes and Mediation
  • Technology and Peacebuilding
  • Women as Agents of Change

To read past written statements to the Commission, see below:

• MBBI Statement to the CSW 67 (E/CN.6/2023/NGO/165)
• MBBI Statement to the CSW 64 (E/CN.6/2020/NGO/132)
• MBBI Statement to the CSW 63 (E/CN.6/2019/NGO/109)
• MBBI Statement to the CSW 62 (E/CN.6/2018/NGO/132)
• MBBI Statement to the CSW 61 (E/CN.6//2017/NGO/37)
• MBBI Statement to the CSW 60 (E/CN.6/2016/NGO/76)

For more information, please reach out to Mina Vaish, Co-Chair or Archana Medhekar, Co-Chair