ICAN and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office are hosting “Appetite for Risk or Investing in Trust?  Lessons and Best Practices from ICAN’s Innovative Peace Fund (IPF) in Supporting Local Women-led Organizations’ Peace, Security and P/CVE Work” in London on February 19 – 20, 2019 at the FCO.  Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, Executive Director of ICAN; France Bognon, IPF Program Manager; and Monica Makar, ICAN Program Officer, will be representing ICAN in facilitating the meeting.

This two-day workshop will showcase the contributions made by women peacebuilders—including members of the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL)—to the women, peace, and security (WPS) and preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) agendas. Using the Global Solutions Exchange (GSX) format, this event will provide a safe space for in depth discussions and an exchange of analysis, ideas and solutions between local civil society actors and representatives of international policy institutions.

The purpose of the meeting is to hear the direct experiences of all stakeholders, namely grantees and partners, donors, and other international organizations engaged in grassroots P/CVE and peacebuilding grantmaking, to inform current and future development of peace/security policies and financing approaches.  We will introduce ICAN’s IPF model of providing funding and other support, including technical assistance and strategic advice, to women-led organizations in countries affected by conflict, fragility and rising extremism. Partners from Afghanistan, Yemen, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan, Somalia, Iraq, Libya and Syria will highlight the critical work of women-led organizations engaged in peace and security and PVE efforts, as well as share their lessons-learned in this field.  This roundtable discussion will identify entry points and opportunities for shifting current practices of grantmaking to women-led organizations in this field.