Gender Mainstreaming In Post Conflict Reconstruction

Issues of socio-economic development, democracy and peace are linked to gender equality. This book argues that gender equality needs to be placed on the policy and programme agenda of the entire spectrum of peace and conflict-related initiatives and activities to achieve conflict transformation.

Gender oppression has been a feature of war and conflict throughout human history, yet until fairly recently, little attention was devoted to addressing the consequences of violence and discrimination experienced by women in post-conflict states. Thankfully, that is changing. Today, in a variety of post-conflict settings--the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Colombia, Northern Ireland --international advocates for women's rights have focused bringing issues of sexual violence, discrimination and exclusion into peace-making processes. In On the Frontlines, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Dina Francesca Haynes, and Naomi Cahn consider such policies in a range of cases and assess the extent to which they have had success in improving women's lives. They argue that there has been too little success, and that this is in part a product of a focus on schematic policies like straightforward political incorporation rather than a broader and deeper attempt to alter the cultures and societies that are at the root of much of the violence and exclusions experienced by women. They contend that this broader approach would not just benefit women, however. Gender mainstreaming and increased gender equality has a direct correlation with state stability and functions to preclude further conflict. If we are to have any success in stabilizing failing states, gender needs to move to fore of our efforts. With this in mind, they examine the efforts of transnational organizations, states and civil society in multiple jurisdictions to place gender at the forefront of all post-conflict processes. They offer concrete analysis and practical solutions to ensuring gender centrality in all aspects of peace making and peace enforcement.

Issues of socioeconomic development, democracy and peace are inextricably linked to gender equality. The main argument of Gender Mainstreaming in Conflict Transformation: Building Sustainable Peace is that gender equality needs to be placed on the policy programme of the entire spectrum of peace and conflict related initiatives and activities in order to achieve conflict transformation. These include conflict prevention and early warning mechanisms; peace negotiations and agreements; peacekeeping, disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration; truth and reconciliation commissions; post conflict reconstruction; and peace building and peace education. In the Commonwealth, as globally, armed conflict has moved into the village, the community, the street and the home, resulting in a gendered distribution of suffering among women and girls, and men and boys. What is less well known, however, is that women have been making significant contributions to peace processes and rebuilding their societies in all phases of the conflict. In recognition of this, in 2000 the United Nations Security Council made an urgent call in passing Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325), for "the equal participation and full involvement of women in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security", and emphasised "the need to increase their role in decision making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution". Commonwealth Members Responsible for Women's/Gender Affairs, in their new Plan of Action for Gender Equality 20052015, reaffirmed the 30 per cent target for all women in all peace initiatives, which was endorsed by Heads of Government (CHOGM, Coolum, 2001), and encouraged member States to mainstream gender equality in all peace processes.Gender Mainstreaming in Conflict Transformation: Building Sustainable Peace is intended as a contribution to the achievement of these goals. It grew out of a series of symposia and workshops held by the Commonwealth Secretariat in the post Beijing decade in collaboration with other partners. These fora contributed a wealth of analysis and case studies that made it clear that women's participation in processes of democratisation, as well as in a broad spectrum of peace initiatives in Commonwealth countries, were not just an ideal but rather a reality that needed to be better understood by policy makers and other political and social actors working in fields including democracy, development, peace and conflict. This book brings together this body of work into an advocacy, capacity-building and policy tool to contribute to gender mainstreaming in all processes of conflict transformation and in building sustainable peace. As one of the Commonwealth Secretariat's publications on gender mainstreaming in key development issues, it will be of interest to those working to achieve gender equality, peace, democracy and sustainable development, particularly in situations of armed and other forms of conflict.

Although the civil war affects civilians, its impacts men and women in different ways, and it influence their gender roles and responsibilities. Comparatively little attention has been given to accessing the gender sensitivity of international organizations who implement post-conflict reconstruction programs. The different social, economic and political dimensions of war to peace transitions, and how they impact on gender relations, can shed some light on the complicated intersections of needs and interests in war torn societies. An examination of the policies of World Bank reveals that there is relatively little gender mainstreaming within their post-conflict operations. This research finds that lack of resources and coordination, the failure to build on local capacities, and a lack of commitment to gender mainstreaming are the main obstacles organizations face. To improve the situation it is recommended that organizations develop and use a 'gender checklist' at all stages of project planning, implementation and monitoring to ensure increased gender sensitivity in post-conflict programming.

This volume by international authors deals with the role of gender dynamics in the development of post-conflict societies. The authors describe and analyze diverse aspects of the intertwining of gender and other social and cultural relations from an interdisciplinary perspective. They analyze gendered post-conflict dynamics in diverse contexts asking for the consequences these developments have in the settings under investigation, such as Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Palestine and Afghanistan.

The end of formal hostilities in any given conflict provides an opportunity to transform society in order to secure a stable peace. This book builds on the existing feminist international relations literature as well as lessons of past cases that reinforce the importance of including women in the post-conflict transition process, and are important to our general understanding of gender relations in the conflict and post-conflict periods. Post-conflict transformation processes, including disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programs, transitional justice mechanisms, reconciliation measures, and legal and political reforms, which emerge after the formal hostilities end demonstrate that war and peace impact, and are impacted by, women and men differently. By drawing on a strong theoretical framework and a number of cases, this volume provides important insight into questions pertaining to the end of conflict and the challenges inherent in the post-conflict transition period that are relevant to students and practitioners alike.

This collection of articles explores conflict prevention through development projects in places where resources are scarce, and age-old agreements between groups come under strain.

This publication focuses on the gender dimensions of intrastate conflicts (civil wars), organised around eight key themes of gender and warfare, sexual violence, formal and informal peace processes, post-conflict legal frameworks, work issues, rehabilitation of social services and community-driven development. For each theme, the authors examine the impact on gender roles of conflict situations, the development challenges involved, and the policy options available to help build more inclusive and gender balanced post-conflict societies.

This book defines the relationship between gender and international security, analyzing and critiquing international security theory and practice from a gendered perspective. Gender issues have an important place in the international security landscape, but have been neglected both in the theory and practice of international security. The passage and implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (on Security Council operations), the integration of gender concerns into peacekeeping, the management of refugees, post-conflict disarmament and reintegration and protection for non-combatants in times of war shows the increasing importance of gender sensitivity for actors on all fronts in global security. This book aims to improve the quality and quantity of conversations between feminist security studies and security studies more generally, in order to demonstrate the importance of gender analysis to the study of international security, and to expand the feminist research program in Security Studies. The chapters included in this book not only challenge the assumed irrelevance of gender, they argue that gender is not a subsection of security studies to be compartmentalized or briefly considered as a side issue. Rather, the contributors argue that gender is conceptually, empirically, and normatively essential to studying international security. They do so by critiquing and reconstructing key concepts of and theories in international security, by looking for the increasingly complex roles women play as security actors, and by looking at various contemporary security issues through gendered lenses. Together, these chapters make the case that accurate, rigorous, and ethical scholarship of international security cannot be produced without taking account of women’s presence in or the gendering of world politics. This book will be of interest to all students of critical security studies, gender studies and International Relations in general. Laura Sjoberg is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida. She has a Phd in International Relations and Gender Studies from the University of Southern California and is the author of Gender, Justice, and the Wars in Iraq (2006) and, with Caron Gentry, Mothers, Monsters, Whores: Women's Violence in Global Politics (2007)

Gender and Peacebuilding offers a comprehensive and up to date analysis of how and why gender matters in contemporary peace operations. It draws on a wide range of examples from across the world to offer a nuanced account of the UN's attempts to mainstream gender into peace operations via Security Council Resolution 1325, and assesses the successes and failures of this effort to enhance the participation and protection of women and girls in peacebuilding operations. In presenting this mixed picture of progress and ongoing challenges, the book argues for bold steps forward that will enable peacebuilding to contest the current neoliberal order, address structural inequalities, and bring about feminist visions of peace and security. It is only by focusing attention on the economic empowerment of women and its ability to temper the dangers of neo-liberalism in post-conflict contexts that feminists can hope to achieve these aims. Timely, critical and engaged, this book provides an invaluable guide to the issues for students of peace and conflict studies, and sets the agenda for future scholarship and advocacy.