Women leaders in rural Ivorian started Monday in Yamoussoukro, the Ivorian political and administrative capital, training in mediation and conflict prevention, said a briefing note sent to APA.

This training session organized by the United Nations development system in Côte d'Ivoire in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair "Water, women and decision-making power" which will last seventy-two hours, aims to equip women leaders in rural areas of skills required for mediation and conflict prevention.

"We are in 2020, a pre-electoral period which requires more than ever unity in diversity and peacebuilding ... Let us seize the opportunity of this training to strengthen our capacities in negotiation and mediation techniques to prevent conflicts and keeping peace for our families and for future generations, ”said Euphrasie Kouassi Yao, the Ivorian President’s Special Advisor on Gender, in an opening speech.

Regarding the contribution to peace of the UNESCO Chair "Water, Women and Decision-Making Power", Ms. Yao indicated that "we have implemented the CREA-PEACE instrument with a view to giving action strategies to men and women in their legitimate quest for peace ”.

For his part, the governor of the autonomous district of Yamoussoukro Augustin Thiam praised the merits of this workshop for the attention of women believing that there is no lasting peace without them.

“Women have a decisive role in promoting tolerance for non-violence. They are the first school of life as a mother. They can thus influence their homes, associate their friends, brothers and sisters with the peace movement, organize awareness-raising and mobilization campaigns, ”said Mr. Thiam.

This workshop, organized as a prelude to the upcoming electoral deadlines in Côte d'Ivoire, notably the presidential election, will, among other things, allow women to contribute to a peaceful pre-electoral context and to diversify conflict resolution mechanisms at local level.