gender equality and peace essay

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Gender Equality and Peace: Are they connected?

Being the fourth and final civic issues blog, I wanted to share a few last thoughts with you today:

In the midst of my research, there’s no denying that great strides have been made in closing the inequality gap. However, our work is not done here. Many social and political tensions are sparked through inequality. So, today I propose this question: gender inequality and peace, are they connected?

A few years ago, Saferworld and Conciliation Resources released a “post-2015 development” agenda in which aimed to implement gender, peace, and security into the upcoming framework. This primarily focused on women empowerment. More so, it focused on paying attention to gender, violence, and inclusive-decision making. Part of their statement reads: “Only when all feel they have a stake in the future, and societies are able to manage competing interests constructively, will sustainable peace come within reach.”

Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia, has seen absolute destruction from an ongoing civil war and military rule. In the midst of the violence, women are often the most targeted victims, not men. Many of the leaders in the country have failed to understand that gender equality is imperative to leading a sustainable nation, thus, the violence continues. Though the leaders may be ignorant to this, several activists know and understand that the roles of women are critical in establishing peace and democracy. More so, women must be implemented and leading decision-makers to provide insight and manage conflict. Despite the repression, women activist groups have and continue to strive for the rights of women in the country. These groups will continue to advocate, but until gender equality and prioritized, the country’s future is in jeopardy.

In my research, I’ve found that gender equality and peace most definitely go hand-in-hand, and people recognize that as well. Several studies show that inequality and peace are in fact linked – but how? That’s the question being asked. Does violence spark gender inequality, or vise versa? Maybe it’s a two way street? This may be a question we never truly know the answer to, but can actively work to lessen the the inequality gaps across the world, hopefully leading to a world with more peace. Many sites and publications acknowledge that peace, in many cases, is a complicated formula and gender equality will not solve it alone; however, gender equality is just a missing piece of the puzzle. Women must be informed and empowered and willing to be an active force in the public eye. We must be willing to fight for our rights, giving every person, male or female, equal opportunities.

https://www.tni.org/en/publication/no-women-no-peace-gender-equality-conflict-and-peace-in-myanmar

http://www.saferworld.org.uk/resources/view-resource/787-gender-violence-and-peace

http://www.saferworld.org.uk/what/post-2015

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/mar/03/equality-peace-millennium-development-goals-2015-agenda

4 thoughts on “ Gender Equality and Peace: Are they connected? ”

I completely agree. Women make up about 50% of the population, so it’s only fitting that we will never have true peace until there is equality. How can equality exist if a half of the population is discriminated against? I love your writing and your blog was very interesting!

I really like how you brought up the question, “Does violence spark gender inequality, or vice versa?” I’ve never thought about this, but it is such an interesting question, with evidence that can go both ways. But ultimately, I totally agree with what you said in this blog. Peace is indeed very complicated, and while gender equality is a missing piece, it will not solve the problem alone.

I never thought about peace and gender equality being linked, and now that I have read your post it seems to make a lot of sense. I think that the state of the country, whether peace or war, could influence gender equality. Awesome blog!

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Can gender equality prevent violent conflict?

Catalina crespo-sancho.

Consultant, Transport & ICT Global Practice, World Bank

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Systematic Study of Gender, Conflict, and Peace

This article reviews the literature on gender, conflict, and peace. In traditional security studies there was not much room for gender or gender equality, while feminist theorists have claimed most of the research on war and peace. The empirical research on gender, conflict, and peace is a relatively new sub-field that brings together diverse traditions from sociology, feminist theory, international relations, and economic development. The common ground of all researchers included in this short review is the effort to systematically understand the role of gender in shaping outcomes of conflict and peace. Despite the increasing number of articles and new datasets, I identify four areas that scholars must address for the research agenda to further grow, deepen, and develop as part of the mainstream study of peace and conflict: women’s status and quality of peace, women’s participation, sexual violence, and gender mainstreaming to promote gender equality in development and peace.

If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman. Margaret Thatcher

1 Introduction

In a world increasingly concerned with gender equality, one might wonder why it is appropriate to begin a lecture with quote from a conservative and controversial female political leader. Yet, if you are an ambitious girl dreaming of becoming a general in the 1980s, a non-existent option at the time, there were very few female role models to aspire to; especially women who made it on their own without being sisters or daughters of well-known and connected men. For women interested in questions of society, politics and social institutions, female role models were few and far between.

When I first attended the Annual Meeting of Peace Science Society (International) in Indianapolis in 1997, the field of conflict and peace studies was very much shaped by the original “fathers” ( Boulding, 1990 ; Galtung, 1969 ; Rapoport, Chammah, & Orwant, 1965 ; Richardson, 1960 ). Sadly, there were few founding “mothers.” But within the last twenty years a plethora of female scholars has shaped the research agenda in the systematic study of conflict and peace such as Autesserre, Bakke Cunningham, Cohen, Fortna, Kadera, Leeds, Mitchell, Thomas, and Walter among others. [1] Not many of these female academics study questions of gender in security studies as such, but the quick rise of women researchers in all levels of academia has led to important contribution to research areas such as civil wars, rebel groups, terrorism, implementation of peace agreements, conflict fragmentation, conflict management, peacekeeping, horizontal inequalities and violent armed conflict, alliances, regional agreements and organizations, as well as the creation of new data sets. Among the expansion of research topics in conflict and peace studies, the systematic study of gender, conflict, and peace emerged as one of the most significant research frontiers.

Yet, as I will aim to show in the remainder of this article, a focus on gender in relation to conflict was initially controversial. The “gender question” was not part of mainstream security studies research, but rather the domain of feminist research. Ironically, the emphasis of some feminist research on women as victims of patriarchy contradicted the active role of women as participants in military campaigns and movements across time and space. It was specifically the role of women as fighters that generated new empirical research on women, conflict, and peace. This shift in empirical research on the role of women in active combat took place while new development studies explored the role of women in economic development.

2 Studying gender in security studies and feminist research

In traditional security studies there was not much room for gender or gender equality. The consensus was that gender has no or limited relevance to the topics appropriate to security studies, such as nuclear proliferation or international relations among states. There are three lines of thought as to why gender was not of interest to security studies scholars. One, historically most of decision makers were men, with very few women playing any role in decision making at the country level. Two, gender issues were not linked to high politics including national security. Three, for early empirical researchers in conflict and peace, gender was simply not a variable or something that could change. Thus, trying to include this in empirical models of war would not do much to explain changes in outcomes of war and peace across time or space.

On the other side of the theoretical and methodological research spectrum, feminist theorists have claimed most of the research on war and peace. War and political violence have been conceptualized as manifestations of hierarchical and patriarchal social structures. Hyper masculinities lead to dominance and violence. Military violence among and within states is an example of hierarchical power structures. For feminist scholars, anti-militarism defines their research agenda and methodology. As a result, they tend to also be anti-positivist, relying primarily on critical theories and methods to deconstruct social institutions and interpret violence during war and peace.

Feminist research has delivered very useful critiques on traditional security studies highlighting the relationships between gender and the power structures that generate violence. The critiques, however, never mounted to an alternative theoretical framework that can challenge existing assumptions of what drives political violence. A possible reason for the limited impact that feminism had on security studies was the paradox of gender stereotypes. While emphasizing masculinities and denouncing militarism, feminist researchers could not address the question of female combatants in both inter and intra-state wars.

Female combatants transcend types of conflicts, time, and location. From Boudica’s revenge on the Romans and the destruction of Camulodunum – modern Colchester, where I currently live – (circa AD 60), to the female snipers of the Soviet Union during WWII, such as Lyudmila Pavlichenko aka Lady Death reported to have killed more than 300 during WWII, to the Kurdish female fighters that pushed back ISIS, female combatants in EL Salvador, to the female combatants during the Greek and Spanish civil wars (1930s–1940s), and more recently the female fighters in Eritrea, there is no shortage of women taking up arms, as well as acting as agents of peace. There is one woman that stands above the rest in recent history: Laskarina “Bouboulina” Pinotsi from the Greek island of Spetses. Bouboulina was a business woman, a merchant with a commercial fleet under her ownership, a widower, and a mother. At the mature age of 50, Bouboulina participated in the Greek War of Independence (1821) as naval commander. She contributed four vessels, including the largest one to the fight. Further, she maintained land troops with men from her island Spetses. [2]

This woman was not a mythical creature or motivated by religious fervor. What was the motivation for her to assume such a role? And what was the impact of her participation to the actual fighting? Incidentally, Bouboulina allegedly personally protected Ottoman women during the fall of the city of Tripoli. Whatever this woman was, she was not a victim. [3] It is only fitting to such a female warrior that early empirical research on gender and conflict started from exploring women’s participation in armed forces.

2.1 Early empirical research: gender as an analytical tool

Mady Segal, a sociologist, was one of the first scholars who explored what affects the degree and nature of women’s participation in military forces in different contexts throughout history ( Segal, 1995 ). A little bit earlier Ester Boserup, a Danish economist who specialized in the economics of agriculture, was one of the first scholars to focus on the role of women in development. [4] Exploring the link between gender equality and development was part of mainstream research much earlier than the integration of gender as an analytical tool in the peace and conflict research ( Hughes, 2001 ). After the early work of Segal, it was Joshua Goldstein who put gender into the forefront of security studies and conflict research with his seminal 2001 book War and Gender . By combining six different disciplines this seminal work explored the gendered nature of warfare across human societies, especially the limited inclusion of women in war. Ironically, it was a mainstream male conflict researcher who propelled gender as an analytical framework in traditional security and conflict studies.

Researchers like Caprioli (2000 , 2005 ) and Melander (2005) have adopted concepts such as gender equality and power differentials between men and women from the feminist research tradition and incorporated them to empirical models of conflict and peace. The key message of their studies was that gender equal societies tend to have fewer conflicts both internally and externally . A possible mechanism that explain this empirical observation is the different quality of institutions and ways of handling social conflict that emerge in gender equal societies. Gender equality, defined as the provision of equal opportunities and access to resources for men and women, is inextricably linked with governance ( Hudson, Caprioli, Ballif-Spanvill, McDermott, & Emmett, 2009 ). Meanwhile, in a similar vein of research, Olsson (2000 , 2009 ) started exploring gender mainstreaming and women’s participation in multidimensional peacekeeping operations, while in my own work ( Gizelis 2009 ; 2011 ) I argued that multidimensional peacekeeping operations’ effectiveness improves when interacting with higher levels of women’s status in post-conflict countries. In the development side of things, Duflo (2003) , see also Breierova & Duflo, 2004 ) started questioning whether women’s empowerment makes a difference to development outcomes. In the first experimental studies exploring if women make different choices than men, Duflo’s research suggested that giving power to women leads to lower fertility rates. Furthermore, women make different financial decisions if given the opportunity, without minimizing the importance of fathers.

The years 2009–2010 were crucial for the newly emerging theme of gender equality in the conflict and peace research. In 2009 Louise Olsson set up the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) research working group 1325, named after UN Security Council Resolution 1325. Security Council Resolution 1325 was the first official document that requested the protection of women during and after conflict in particular from sexual and gender-based violence, supported their participation in peace negotiations, and recommended the mainstreaming of policies to promote the interests of women. The specific aim was to strengthen the systematic approach and support the collection of gender disaggregated data. I joined the group in 2010 and established a unique collaborative relationship with Louise Olsson that still goes strong.

Workshop on Gender and Local Ownership, Carlton House, June 2013.

The group combined a small group of selected academics some more established like Kyle Beardsley, Henrik Urdal, Ragnhild Nordås, Erik Melander, Dara Cohen, and Elizabeth Wood and some young PhD students at the very beginning of their careers such as Sabrina Karim, Helen Basini, and Jana Krause.

The FBA group 1325 met regularly from 2010 until January 2018. In these nine years the group created a unique environment bringing together senior and junior academics interested in the systematic study of gender, conflict, and peace. While some research projects used the theoretical underpinnings of feminist research, overall the group applied empirical research methods linking the study of gender equality to mainstream research on conflict and peace. The output of research produced by the group members fundamentally changed the research agenda: thirty articles, many in leading journals such as American Political Science Review, International Organizations , two books, an edited special issue, and sixteen articles in progress. This scholarly output rendered the study of gender a legitimate research question in the study of conflict and peace. [5] I am not claiming that FBA 1325 was the only reason the study gender in conflict and peace studies became part of the mainstream, but without a doubt the group created a unique space and supportive environment to foster research on the topic. The culmination of the collective work of the group, in addition to individual or collaborative projects, was the edited volume on Gender, Peace and Security: Implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (Routledge Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution).

Research for Peace, Folke Bernadotte Academy, Stockholm June 2015, Picture Sabrina Karim.

2.2 UNSCR 1325 and systematic empirical research

The shift in research on gender, conflict and peace happened at a time when policy-makers had expressed increasing interest in the production of solid research for the implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. This convergence of academics and policy-makers on the importance of evidence-based policy created an environment of expectations of establishing clear selection criteria for cases, building datasets, and developing appropriate analytical tools. There was an acceptance that comparability of selected evidence is of interest not only to academic scholars but also to policy makers who seek to fulfil the objectives of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. It is in this research and policy context that the systematic empirical research on gender, conflict, and peace grew and mushroomed. The remaining of this article will summarize key research findings in three areas: peacekeeping and gender, political participation of women, and protection from sexual and gender-based violence, as well as in overall health outcomes.

2.2.1 Gender, UN effectiveness, and peace

The literature uses two different concepts to capture peace. The first concept, most common initially in empirical studies, defines peace as “lack of active conflict” and measures as a function of time. Peacekeeping missions that produce durable peace are deemed to be effective as a conflict management tool. My own work on the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions suggests that higher female status interacts with UN involvement to lead to sustainable peace. The prospects for successful post-conflict peace-building under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) are generally better in societies where women have greater levels of empowerment. Women’s status in a society reflects the existence of multiple social networks and domestic capacity not captured by purely economic measures of development ( Gizelis, 2009 ) ( Figure 3 ).

Probability of success 5 years after and strict democracy by life-expectancy ratio for cases with an UN operation (solid line) and cases without an UN operation (dotted line) ( Gizelis, 2009 , JPR).

There is evidence that this interactive effect happens even when I look at peace as “quality of life” rather than the absence of armed violence ( Gizelis, 2011 ). [6] Looking at regions in Sierra Leone and Liberia I found evidence that there is more cooperation and less conflictual attitudes towards UN activities in areas where women have relatively higher status. The cooperative attitude of locals towards the UN is even more pronounced when UN missions focus on policies addressing the quality of life in communities. Improved health outcomes, especially for pregnant women, is one policy area where the presence of UN has a positive impact. Pregnant women have better access to antenatal care and vaccinations either because the UN is actively involved in initiatives such as vaccination programs that target pregnant women or because the presence of peacekeepers creates a safe environment in regions where the UN are deployed.

2.2.2 Female participation in political processes

UN Security Council Resolution 1325 focused on women’s participation in negotiation processes as one of the areas of interest. While there is limited evidence on how women’s participation impacts peace negotiations, research has focused on female participation in the political process of post-conflict countries. The numbers of female participants to peace negotiations tend to be very small making systematic studies difficult and unreliable. Ellerby (2013) developed a framework to evaluate women’s inclusion on peace negotiations, while O’Reilly, Súilleabháin, and Paffenholz (2015) compiled the first dataset of female negotiators.

Despite the small number of cases of female signatories to peace agreements, in one of the first comparative studies Krause, Krause, and Braenfors (2018) found that agreements signed by women show a significantly higher number of peace agreement provisions aimed at political reform, and higher implementation rates for provisions. Furthermore, links and networks between female signatories and women’s civil society organizations increase the chances that female signatories have a positive impact on the implementation of peace agreements. Recent studies on the impact of higher female participation on the quality of peace, are quite promising. Shair-Rosenfield and Wood (2017) found that higher female political representation increases the durability of peace. They identified female legislators’ preferences to prioritize social welfare spending over military spending as a possible to more durable peace. [7]

Despite the positive findings from recent studies, there is still scepticism to what extent female participation positively impacts political processes. Bjarnegård and Melander (2013) argue that most studies do not test the hypothesized causal mechanisms. Is it larger numbers of female legislators or underlying social structures that impact durability of peace and the decision-making outcomes by legislative bodies? Ellerby (2016) further questions what we really measure when we look at women’s participation. Is it just a question of numbers: the more women the better? Or there are more fundamental questions about the ability of women to have a meaningful voice on policy outcomes making a real difference. If the latter is the priority, then identifying when women can best articulate their true concerns and preferences is a more relevant question. Of course, this raises another question of whether all women share the same preferences. Can we treat women as one group when it comes to policy outcomes? Here the earlier work by Duflo can be a starting point to develop more nuanced arguments about women and political participation.

In accordance with agreed international conventions and decisions on gender equality increasing female participation is a highly desirable policy outcome. What are the best strategies to increase female participation? Here the literature remains quite inconclusive and rudimentary. Resolution 1325 promotes gender mainstreaming as a global strategy to promote gender equality in development and peace. Gender mainstreaming is based on three processes (1) to include both women and men’s concerns and experiences as an integral component of all policies and their implementation (2) to assess the implications for women and men of any action, policy, project and so forth (3) these two processes should be part of the core work for peace, not a separate project. Overall, the literature converges on the proposition that gender mainstreaming leads to more prosperous societies with less conflict. While there is limited evidence to support this thesis, if we assume that it is an intrinsically worthwhile aim to pursue what is the best way to achieve gender mainstreaming?

The literature identifies two mechanisms: gender balancing (to improve participation of women) and gender budgeting (to assess implications of actions on both men and women). Gender balancing by improving women’s participation produces a better peace outcome. Researchers who study the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions and post-conflict reconstruction have pioneered studies on gender balancing. The aim is to evaluate if gender balancing has a positive impact on improving the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions and on supporting security sector reforms for more efficient and less corrupt security forces. Gender budgeting is more relevant to development projects, since it is an approach to strategic planning using fiscal policy and administration to promote greater gender equality in a wide range of sectors.

In summary, the research on gender balancing in peacekeeping forces – still in its infancy because of limited data – finds evidence that female personnel in the military and police tend to be deployed in low risk missions or conflict areas. Ironically, these are not the areas where they are mostly needed. In high risk conflicts, for instance, it is more likely to have high levels of sexual and gendered based violence. Thus, all things being equal one might expect higher numbers of female personnel to improve the performance of missions with mandates to protect civilians from harm. In fact, the opposite happens. But what about sexual exploitation and assault (SEA) by peacekeeping forces? Does an increase in female personnel reduce the presence of SEA incidents in peacekeeping missions? Sadly, there is no evidence that this is the case. Yet, it is worthwhile to note that the levels of female staff remain extremely low (below 4 per cent of total forces) and there is no upwards trend. With such low numbers of female participation, it is unlikely to find any meaningful effect of gender balancing on UN mission performance. Eighteen years after 1325 peacekeeping missions remain highly gendered spaces ( Karim & Beardsley 2015 ; 2016 ; Karim & Henry, 2018 ).

UNPOL female officers, Parade during the Training Conference in Barcelona, October 2016, Picture Ismene Gizelis.

There are even fewer comparative studies on gender budgeting examining if women have different preferences than men over policies. Unfortunately, most of these studies are conducted in highly developed countries such as Switzerland. Women legislators tend to favour higher level of spending for public goods and the environment. Conversely, they vote for lower spending on agriculture and the military. Other studies in Sweden show that female legislators might vote for higher budget allocation for childcare and education relatively to elderly care; yet, voting preferences are not necessarily in line with female voters’ priorities ( Funk & Gathmann, 2014 ; Svaleryd, 2009 ). Research in Switzerland and Sweden cannot reflect the needs of women who live in lower levels of development. For example, agriculture is a major source of income for women, especially rural women in lower development countries. Similarly, electricity might be more relevant to women who spend time in unpaid work compared to other types of public goods. The complexity of local realities has led to limited evidence of success of gender-budgeting policies in post-conflict countries ( Stotsky, 2016 ).

2.2.3 Security and protection

Studying sexual violence in war is challenging because of the emotive nature of the topic. While we have seen a ground-breaking change in the stand of the international community in terms of recognizing and combatting the problem, the underlying assumptions about the nature and frequency of sexual violence in wars by policymakers, practitioners, and academics alike currently obscure the systematic understanding of how it impacts women and men. Empirical research can here make a strong contribution. Cohen and Nordås (2014) build on earlier work by Wood (2009) to develop the first comprehensive dataset on sexual violence in civil wars. Their systematic study of sexual violence highlights three key insights that to some extend contradict common perceptions among politicians and other stakeholders. One, there is a lot of variation in sexual violence patterns across and within conflicts. Two, violence does not follow the same patterns as other forms of violence against civilians, rendering most common explanations of violence during conflict unsuitable to understand the phenomenon. In fact, the commonly held belief that sexual violence is a strategic weapon of war is not supported by evidence, in most cases at least. Third, women and girls are not the only targets of sexual violence, although they remain the largest percentage of victims. Men and boys are targeted at a higher degree than expected or acknowledged. Finally, sexual violence is not a “silent crime” anymore. Recent evidence from my own work with Michelle Benson suggests that sexual violence might increase the likelihood of a UN Security council resolution controlling for all the other factors that might motivate the Security Council to focus on a conflict.

It might come as a surprise that sexual violence in conflict can impact the decision-making process of the Security Council, since there is a lot of emphasis in both research and media on the opposite problem; the sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) of vulnerable local populations by the peacekeepers themselves. Early attempts trying to evaluate the extent of SEA in mission reveal a lot of variation across missions. When SEA is occurring in missions, it is endemic among both the military and the civilian personnel ( Karim & Beardsley, 2016 ; Nordås & Rustad, 2013 ). Yet, the emphasis on SEA obfuscates the more common problem of sexual exploitation in the form for transactional sex. The presence of peacekeepers increases the opportunities for vulnerable women in post-conflict countries to seek transactional relationships with peacekeepers and aid workers setting back any goals for empowerment and sustainable development ( Beber, Gilligan, Guardado, & Karim, 2017 ).

3 Promoting systematic research in gender, conflict, and peace: gaps and challenges

The empirical research on gender, conflict, and peace is a relatively new sub-field that brings together diverse traditions from sociology, feminist theory, international relations, and economic development. The common ground of all researchers included in this short review is the effort to systematically understand the role of gender in shaping outcomes of conflict and peace. Despite the increasing number of articles and new datasets, I identify four areas that scholars must address for the research agenda to further grow, deepen, and develop as part of the mainstream study of peace and conflict.

One of biggest weaknesses of most of the research presented here is the limited understanding of causal mechanisms. We still do not know how gender equality impacts peace processes. And often we assume rather than show that gender budgeting and balancing policies lead to greater gender equality. As a result, existing research sheds little light on how gender mainstreaming policies interact with underlying economic and social structures in post-conflict countries. Sometimes gender balancing can hurt leading to backlash rather than promoting gender empowerment (see Karim, Gilligan, Blair, & Beardsley, 2018 ). The existing datasets – e.g. the Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict or Women’s Stats project – are not sufficient to realize the full potential of cross-national and time variant comparisons of links between gender equality and governance. Finally, lack of consensus on key concepts (e.g. what constitutes peace) hampers comparative research.

While these limitations constitute a major challenge for the field, I believe the biggest danger comes when research is “highjacked” and translated into policy by using oversimplified interpretations of the research findings. This is a concern for all research and not unique to the systematic study of peace and conflict. However, as the sub-field is still developing under the aforementioned constraints, engaging with policy-makers can lead to claims about relationships that are not well understood or substantiated. The new global policy threats such as the rise of populism in Western democracies and the current global economic crisis further threaten the viability of the field, as well as policies supportive of gender equality. Without a good understanding of how gender equality is linked to development and peace exaggerated claims can undermine the validity of research findings. Or policymakers can pay lip service to policies using ideological arguments rather than solid research evidence.

As a final note the study of gender, conflict, and peace is a mushrooming sub-field aiming to become part of the mainstream. The contribution of the field is the emphasis on gender as an analytical framework to understand processes of peace and conflict independent from other institutions. There is clear support to the claim that gender equality is a different dimension of development and social capacity. Yet, existing evidence on best policies and practices are more nuanced than often construed. This creates an opportunity for further research and a challenge to for the field to further develop and ascertain clear findings of what works and what does not.

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Article note

Prepared for the NEPS Lecture at the 18th Jan Tinbergen European Peace Science Conference, University of Verona, Italy, 18–20 June 2018.

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A Gendered Approach to Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution

Outline and Comment Critically on the Arguments put Forward in Support of a Gendered Approach to Peace-building and Conflict Resolution

Introduction

It has been over a decade since the passage of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, the landmark document reaffirming the importance of women’s participation and involvement at all levels of the peace and security agenda. The Resolution underlined the gradual acknowledgement among international organisations such as the United Nations (UN) that women and men have differential experiences both during and post-conflict, and that women have a unique set of challenges related to peacebuilding and security (Beever, p.21). Moreover, the informal contributions of women have been highlighted and declared invaluable to resolving conflict and building sustainable peace (Pratt and Richter-Devroe, 2011, p.490). However, formal peacebuilding and conflict resolution initiatives continue to ignore or marginalise issues of gender, and women’s involvement in formal missions and talks remains low (Diaz, 2010, p.1). Further, those which do take into account issues of gender, overwhelmingly fail to address structural inequalities and power dynamics which are the foundation of gender discrimination (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003). Arguments put forward in support of a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution come from a diverse set of actors, from a variety of disciplines, with different political opinions and different recommended methods. Many of these arguments, especially those which have been brought into mainstream discourse, are instrumentalist in their approach, seeing women as instrumental in bringing about sustainable peace, and focusing narrowly on ‘what women can do for peace’, neglecting the issue of what peace can do for women. Other peacebuilding initiatives and movements employ essentialist definitions of women, confining them to their roles as mothers and caregivers, and thus denying them access to the broader agenda of peacebuilding and conflict resolution (Puechguirbal, 2010, p.177). This essay will outline the range of arguments within the overall gendered approach, ultimately concluding that even a genuine gendered approach as understood by the UN and other peacebuilding community actors could fail to build a sustainable peace as it does not adequately address the fundamental economic inequalities created by the global neoliberal macroeconomic structure which also perpetuate violence and conflict.

Peacebuilding Defined

Confusion and disagreements over the meaning of the term ‘peacebuilding’ continue to play out among the variety of actors who use it. No definitive definition exists, and therefore academics, professionals, organisations, and activists involved in the field may use it to denote different meanings. Originally coined in 1975 by Johan Galtung, the term ‘peacebuilding’ intended to encompass a wider range of activities than the earlier notions of peacemaking and peacekeeping, by acknowledging the importance of identifying and building structures which might militate against war, therefore addressing the root causes of conflict (Barnett et al., 2007, p.37). The term was made popular in the international arena by UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in his 1992 Report An Agenda for Peace , and its importance was reaffirmed in his 1995 Supplement to an Agenda for Peace, though at the time peacebuilding was referred to as ‘ post-conflict peacebuilding’, thereby limiting the application of the term to activities taking place when conflict had ended, or was coming to an end. This is where the main discrepancy in understanding of the term peacebuilding lies today. Though Boutros-Ghali has since commented that peacebuilding may refer to activities both pre- and post-conflict, a number of academics and organisations, including the new UN Peacebuilding commission, tend to conceive peacebuilding as only applicable to post-conflict situation (Barnett et al., 2007, p.40). However, many actors working in peacebuilding adopt a much wider definition, linking it to Galtung’s concept of ‘positive peace’ and the more recent concepts of ‘human development and ‘human security’ as advanced by the UN (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003, p.5). In its broadest conception, peacebuilding can be understood to include the promotion of sustainable economic development, and social and political justice, in order to create a more equitable society, which can find alternatives to violent resolutions of conflict and where all citizens are free from both direct and structural violence (Barnett et al., 2007). This conception of the term encompasses the traditional notions of peacemaking, peacekeeping and conflict resolution, as well as peacebuilding. This essay will employ this broad definition of peacebuilding, considering the whole process from pre- through to post-conflict, including early warning systems, monitoring of instability, ceasefires and disarmament programmes, peace talks and agreements, and building positive peace and sustainable development.

The post-Cold War world continues to experience high levels of violence and instability (Alberdi, 2010, p.6). However, the nature of war has changed, with the majority of conflicts now being defined as intra-state conflicts or civil wars. The roles and responsibilities carried out by international institutions charged with peacebuilding and conflict resolution (namely the UN), therefore, have also changed. Since the early 1990s, the UN peacekeeping mission mandate has extended beyond military operations and mediation between nation states to “multidimensional missions” (Bertolazzi, 2010, p.6), which incorporate a wide range of activities. However, whilst billions of dollars are spent each year on such operations, sustainable peace remains elusive for large swathes of the world’s population (Anderlini, 2007, p.230). Civilian populations have been increasingly affected as the nature of conflict changes and as the line between the ‘home front’ and the ‘battlefield’ becomes increasingly blurred (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003, p.10). Ethnic conflicts, ethnic cleansing, and genocide have scarred many countries, as too has a rise in the profitability of the drug trade, causing an increase in deaths related to criminal gang activity, especially in South and Central America. Moreover, those countries that have transitioned to democracy and to relative stability face the threat of falling back into conflict, and the proliferation of light weapons and endemic violence against women continues (Moran, 2010, p.265). Thus, the concept of ‘positive peace’ remains for many a distant reality. Given this context, it appears that a different approach, one that takes a more holistic vision of peacebuilding and conflict resolution, is necessary. At the international level, there is now a general consensus on the need for a gendered approach. This is the result of long-term activism and lobbying by feminist and women’s networks and organisations worldwide (Pratt and Richter-Devroe, 2011, p.491). Indeed, even since 1915, women from different nations met together in a Congress of Women to protest against the First World War, and founded the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), which is still active today (Sharp, 2012; WILPF, 2012).

The Peacebuilding Initiative, a project designed in partnership with the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office to share information within the peacebuilding community, argues that there are two key dimensions in taking a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution. Firstly, the approach must acknowledge differences in women and men’s experiences, ensuring that women’s interests and needs are met. Secondly, it involves recognising the key roles that women play in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and facilitating those roles wherever feasible (Peacebuilding Initiative, 2009). However, it is not possible to clearly sub-divide the different strands relating to these two dimensions.  The main actors in the peacebuilding field – the UN and a wide range of NGOs, academics and activists – interpret their roles and implement their policies in a range of overlapping and sometimes conflicting ways. These approaches may be defined as ‘instrumentalist’, ‘protection’, ‘practical needs’, ‘participation’ and ‘transformative’. Hence, ideas about the meaning, intentions, and implications of a ‘gendered approach’ are varied and diverse, as are the actors who employ the concept. Furthermore, the gap between rhetoric and implementation is not insignificant.

The United Nations

The complexity of all of these overlapping, cross-cutting and sometimes contradictory strands in gendered approaches to peacebuilding is perhaps best illustrated by the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda. UNSCR 1325, adopted in October 2000, is a landmark document and the basis for the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda.  It was passed following the Windhoek Declaration and the Namibia Plan of Action of 1999, which called for the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations to undertake steps to improve gender balance and gender equality at all levels of peacekeeping missions (Bertolazzi, 2010, p.8). UNSCR 1325 subsequently affirmed this aim and promised protection of women’s rights as well as the guarantee of their equal participation in peace processes (Pratt and Richter-Devroe, 2011, p.490). It further affirmed its commitment to increasing women’s role in decision-making, expanding the role of women to UN field-based operations, providing training guidelines to all member states on the protection, rights, and particular needs of women, ending impunity with regards to rape and sexual abuse of women and girls, and increasing financial, technical and logistical support for a gender-sensitive approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution (UNSCR S/RES/1325 (2000)). However, the concept of gender mainstreaming, which has been adopted by the UN and other international institutions, and by national governments, has been criticised for turning gender into a ‘technocratic category’, whereby women’s involvement and empowerment has been reduced to a simple ‘tick box’ exercise (Cornwall, Harrison and Whitehead, 2007). Thus, an approach which was explicitly political and feminist in its conception, designed to challenge unequal gender relations in policy design and implementation as well as organisational structure, has been depoliticised as it has been adopted by the mainstream, and become bureaucratised, limiting its transformative potential. The UN Women, Peace and Security agenda is ambitious and transformative in rhetoric, and there are many different agencies and bodies in the UN which are truly committed to a genuinely transformative gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution. However, the UN encompasses a multitude of different agencies, departments, and therefore, opinions and approaches, which may compromise the coherence of its approach. Furthermore, economic and political imperatives dictate funding priorities, and the promotion of a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution may often be perceived as an optional add-on or additional complication (Onslow and Schoofs, 2010). Ultimately, the UN is limited in its power for delivering transformative change when it is at the behest of its member states.

Moreover, the UN itself, and in particular the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, also continues to marginalise women, and fails to promote them to high levels of leadership (Rehn and Johnson Sirleaf, 2002, p.66), despite its stated commitment to ensuring gender balance and equality. It is crucial that the ‘peacekeeping’ side, as well as the host community, give weight to the issue of gender in their own organisations (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003, p.25). Studies on the culture of large institutions, including the UN, has shown that such institutions tend to be “masculine” in culture and practice, favouring hierarchical structures, individualism, and competitive as opposed to cooperative or consultative ways of working (Pankhurst, 2000, p.11). Thus, it can be argued that the UN itself maintains a deep-rooted gender hierarchy, which militates against gender equality. Furthermore, high levels of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in troop-contributing country militaries reduces the number of women in peacekeeping forces. In 2008 only about 2% of military personnel in UN peacekeeping forces were female (Bertolazzi, 2010, p.6). Proponents of a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution argue that women’s involvement in peacekeeping missions in higher numbers will have positive effects for women in the countries where missions are stationed, by providing positive examples of female leadership (Bertolazzi, 2010, p.24).

Many authors argue that the UN continues to employ essentialist definitions of women as mothers, caregivers and providers. Women and children continue to be conflated into one category that signifies innocence, vulnerability, and in need of protection (Puechguirbal, 2010, p.172). Arguably, this focus on vulnerability and protection continues to form part of a stereotype of women which aims to justify their exclusion from negotiations and powerful roles, as they are portrayed as weak and thus, not suitable for the roles involved in peacebuilding and security. This has led some authors to argue that the celebration of the Women, Peace and Security agenda and UNSCR 1325, is little more than empty rhetoric (Puechguirbal, 2010, p.183). As victims, actors and perpetrators in conflict, peacebuilding and conflict resolution, the exclusion of women from formal processes in inexcusable. Their inclusion is imperative to reaching inclusive peace agreements that lead to  positive and sustainable peace (Sweetman, 2005, p.4).

Practical Needs Approaches

It is worth considering in detail some of the specific strands and arguments supporting a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution. The practical reasons for a gendered analysis are numerous. Actors in the field have made evaluations and criticisms of post-conflict operations and initiatives which claim gender neutrality. Many humanitarian organisations cling to the principle of neutrality in post-conflict relief operations, arguing that meeting the immediate practical needs of populations is their task (Peacebuilding Initiative, 2009). However, in practice, these operations do not exist in a vacuum, but work within communities which have their own gendered power structures in place, whereby women are often subordinated. An ostensibly ‘gender neutral’ programme, therefore, can easily reinforce existing inequalities and disadvantage women. This has been demonstrated in food distribution in refugee camps and in conflict zones. Humanitarian agencies have often neglected to implement special measures to ensure that women and girls receive (and are able to keep in their possession) equal amounts of food to men, sometimes resulting in women and girls malnutrition due to their lower status in society. Equally, some humanitarian interventions have given extra food to women on account of their assumed role in food distribution, but neglected to provide measures for their security which has sometimes increased their vulnerability to physical attack (Clifton and Gell, 2001, p.3). Simple practical considerations such as providing sanitary towels for women living in refugee camps who are menstruating are also often overlooked by humanitarian agencies (Rehn and Johnson Sirleaf, 2002, p.39). The needs for reproductive and sexual health services are also often greater amongst female refugee and displaced populations, yet this too is overlooked (Rehn and Johnson Sirleaf, 2002, p.39).

Protection Approaches

There is a general consensus that a crucial component of a gendered approach to peacebuilding is to acknowledge gendered vulnerabilities and ensure that women and girls are afforded protection from violence. Conflict and its aftermath affect women and girls, and men and boys, in different ways (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003; Sweetman, 2005). Men and women assume different roles and are targeted differently by virtue of their genders. Women have specific vulnerabilities and often experience multiple forms of violence during and after conflict, with brutality and frequency reaching new levels in times of conflict and societal breakdown (Alberdi, 2010, p.11). The targeting of women’s bodies has emerged a systematic strategy used during conflict. Specific forms of violence, especially sexual violence, are used against women in what has come to be defined as ‘gender-based violence’, violence that targets individuals or groups of individuals because of their gender. Furthermore, extremely high levels of violence against women after the formal cessation of conflict, problematises the notion of ‘peacetime’ for women [1] . However, a truly gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution must address not only how men and women experience conflict differently, but why. This means examining, for example, the reasons why women are more vulnerable during conflict:

Women are not more vulnerable per se in times of war; they are made more vulnerable because of pre-existing inequalities in so-called peaceful societies (Puechguirbal, 2010, p.176) Women do not suffer in war because of any intrinsic weakness, but because of their position in society (Pankhurst, 2000, p.7)

Ignoring underlying gendered power relations and inequalities in a society can lead to an oversight of some of the fundamental causes of conflict (Anderlini, 2007, p.29), and undermine work towards building sustainable peace. Furthermore, painting women purely as victims can obscure women’s agency and undermine the positive work which some women do in resisting conflict and violence, and can weaken future potential (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003). Moreover, it also belies the diverse roles that women play and the positions that they occupy in society. Women are also involved in supporting conflict and agitating violence, as well as directly participating in combat (Pankhurst, 2000, p.5).

Sexual Violence

Endemic sexual violence against women and girls is perhaps one of the leading reasons which has prompted arguments for a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution. Concurrently, a gendered approach also sheds light on sexual and gender-based violence, both during and after conflict (Peacebuilding Initiative, 2009). As stated above, the targeting of women’s bodies has come to be recognised as a systematic strategy used in conflict for political ends. Sexual violence against women during conflict often becomes the accepted norm, as militarisation and increased access to weapons result in high levels of brutality and impunity (IRIN, 2004, p.11). Sexual violence against women has been theorised in many ways (see, for example, Kelly and Radford, 1998; Kelly, 2000; Copelon, 1993). However, many authors argue that violent sexual attacks against women are one of the ways in which men communicate with each other during conflict (Anderlini, 2007, p.31). Deeply held patriarchal beliefs and strong patriarchal social relations are necessary factors in engendering high levels of sexual violence against women, and to the ‘success’ of rape as a strategy to humiliate and undermine male opposition forces (Pankhurst, 2008, p.306). Rape of enemy women in conflict can be seen as being aimed at men, using a woman’s body as a vessel (IRIN, 2004, p.7), violating both a man’s honour and his exclusive right to sexual possession of his woman as his property (Copelon, 2002, p.196). Thus, the rape of women as a strategy designed to humiliate men and the community “reflects the fundamental objectification of women. Women are the target of the abuse at the same time as their subjectivity is completely denied’ (Copelon, 2002, p.203).

The issue of sexual violence against women and girls, therefore, illustrates the insufficiencies of the ‘protection’ approach: a truly gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution must deal with not only the symptom, but also the cause, of such high levels of sexual violence. Without addressing the fundamental power dynamics and imbalances which are at the root of such violence, a sustainable and ‘positive’ peace for both men and women cannot be established (Gibson, 2011, p.96). Moreover, while sexual violence is rife, women’s ability to take part in peacebuilding, conflict resolution and development activities is severely undermined. There are numerous ongoing socio-economic and health consequences of being a survivor of sexual violence: for example, living with HIV, sexual infections and mutilations, and psychological trauma (Aroussi, 2011, p.580). Above all, the shame and stigma attached to women who admit to having been raped is devastating (Meintjes, Pillay and Turshen, 2001, p.12), therefore it is also crucial to challenge the social and cultural norms and their dictates about women’s honour and virtue as attached to sexual purity.

Increasing international recognition of this problem has led to a number of statements explicitly addressing sexual violence: the Rome Statute (2002) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) criminalises rape and sexual violence during conflict as war crimes and crimes against humanity; UNSCR 1820 (2008) designated rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war (Porter, 2007, p.20). However, sexual violence remains widespread, whereas enforcement mechanisms, and justice for victims, remain elusive. Over a decade after UNSCR 1325 was adopted, peace agreements are overwhelmingly silent on the subject of sexual violence (Diaz, 2010, p.17). Arguably, despite the powerful rhetoric around the subject, the prevention and prosecution of rape and sexual violence against women is not a priority for international actors involved in the peacebuilding and security agenda (Anderlini, 2007, p.35).

Instrumentalist Approaches

For many actors in the international arena concerned with peacebuilding and conflict resolution, the logic behind supporting a gendered approach is that it “enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of peacebuilding, and that women’s peacebuilding efforts are a valuable resource for the development of sustainable, inclusive approaches to peace and security” (Onslow and Schoofs, 2010, p.11). This can be defined as an ‘instrumentalist’ approach, which is concerned with what women can do for peacebuilding, not the reverse (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003, p.15).  Instrumentalist arguments for funding education programmes for women in post-conflict situations, for example, might state that as women are primary caregivers and educating them will be beneficial because they can pass their knowledge on to the next generation. Clearly, disregarding the capacities and efforts of 50% (or more) of the population can be seen as a ‘waste’ of resources. However, these approaches are based on efficiency arguments, as opposed to considering the intrinsic value of empowering women and girls. Instrumentalist approaches and arguments can be seen to be, in many ways, a result of NGOs and other groups in the peacebuilding community having to compete for resources in a funding context which is very much driven by the desire of donors to see concrete outcomes, and to meet specific targets.

Participation Approaches

A further strand of a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution is the requirement that women must be involved at all levels and all stages of the peacebuilding process. Examples of the crucial roles that women can play are numerous. The different roles that women and men play in society give them different insights and knowledge, and at present, much of women’s knowledge and insight is not taken into account. From early warning systems right through to post-conflict transformation and reconstruction, women’s contributions should be invaluable. Rehn and Johnson Sirleaf (2002) argue for a shift from a “culture of reaction” to a “culture of prevention”. In terms of early warning systems, women often have information about signs of potential conflict and escalating attacks. This information is garnered not through “high tech surveillance and espionage”, but through small signs of instability relating to day-to-day activities, such as market activity and timings, and the price of light weapons in the community (Rehn and Johnson Sirleaf, 2002, p.117). Furthermore, the position and treatment of the women themselves can be a sign of instability and escalating violence. These details are seldom taken into account by international actors in the peacebuilding arena, who may prefer more prestigious, and yet ultimately less effective, methods.

The argument for women’s participation is perhaps best illustrated with reference to two specific issues: sexual violence and formal negotiation. The necessity of women’s involvement is particularly clear in relation to the prevalence of rape and sexual violence. Firstly, women’s involvement in post-conflict truth and reconciliation commissions, which deal with sexual violence is crucial. Having women-only hearings for women to discuss their experiences has been hailed as successful in many different settings (Pankhurst, 2000, p.21). Secondly, rape and sexual violence have often been perpetrated by police and security forces. A gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution should ensure that women are trained and employed in the police and security services, as the presence of more women in these forces has been shown to be effective in reducing the levels of sexual violence (Pankhurst, 2000, p.20), also making it more likely that women will report sexual violence, perpetrated by other actors, to these forces (Rehn and Johnson Sirleaf, 2002, p.70). Furthermore, the men in these forces must be trained in gender-awareness and in dealing with sexual and gender-based violence.

Despite their peacebuilding efforts, the under-representation of women at the peace table continues to be much more marked than in other areas, with women’s participation remaining a largely unfulfilled target of UNSCR 1325 (Diaz, 2010, p.2). It is men who continue to dominate the formal roles in the peacebuilding process: A UN Report from 2010 suggests that since 1992, fewer than 10% of peace negotiators have been female (Alberdi, 2010, p.7). Men make up the majority of politicians, peace talk negotiators, formal leaders, and peacekeeping troops (Peacebuilding Initiative, 2009), and women’s roles in peacebuilding and conflict resolution (as well as in war) have been largely invisible. Moreover, where they are acknowledged, their roles are more likely to be notable at a local, not national or international, level (Gizelis, 2011, p.526). Women are involved in many different peacebuilding initiatives at the community level, as well as providing day-to-day and emergency support for their communities (Gizelis, 2011, p.525). Despite the fact that peace negotiations which are characterised by high levels of grassroots and civil society involvement have been shown to lessen the likelihood of a return to war (Diaz, 2010, p.2), formal talks have consistently failed to fulfil this involvement and bring in women’s organisations that are working at the local level, therefore, women remain largely absent from formal peace talks: “women’s activism in managing survival and community-level agency is predictably devalued as accidental activism and marginalised post-conflict, as politics becomes more structured and hierarchical” (Meintjes, Pillay and Turshen, 2001, p.9).

Moreover, where such participation is encouraged, women can be marginalised if they do not have the education and training necessary to fully participate (Pankhurst, 2000, p.18). Therefore, the gap between rhetoric and implementation remains wide. Arguably, this failure to involve women undermines the legitimacy of formal peace processes. The failure to engage women certainly undermines the prospects of building a sustainable peace, and ensures that  peace deals continue to be silent on, or to marginalise, issues which are of great importance to many women (Alberdi, 2010, pp.7-12).

Transformative Approaches

Numerous academics, activists and civil society groups have also put forward more radical and feminist arguments in support of a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution. These authors, such as Puechguirbal, highlight structures of patriarchy as a central reason why societies continue to resort to violence to resolve conflicts (Puechguirbal, 2010, p.179). These arguments can be labelled ‘transformative’, as they advocate a fundamental shift in gendered power relations, and a transformation, not reconstruction, of post-conflict societies. As Meintjes, Pillay and Turshen argue:

During the transition from war to peace, or from military dictatorship to democracy, the rhetoric of equality and rights tends to mask the reconstruction of patriarchal power, despite recent emphasis on women’s human rights (Meintjes, Pillay and Turshen, 2001, p.4)

This can be seen more explicitly in post-conflict efforts to restore and re-establish pre-wartime roles. Stereotypes of femininity are often emphasised post-conflict, with women’s roles as wives and mothers being extolled, whilst their wartime roles, which might have given them greater freedom or a wider diversity of roles, are ignored (Meintjes, Pillay and Turshen, 2001, p.13). As Pankhurst states:

The challenge to gender relations often becomes too great for patriarchal societies to maintain in times of peace, and women find their historical contribution marginalised in both official and popular accounts of war, and their freedoms in peacetime restricted or removed (Pankhurst, 2000, p.6)

The post-war period is seen by authors that advocate a transformative gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution, as a time when gender, gender roles and gendered power relations can be radically de/reconstructed (Moran, 2010, p.266). This applies both to the host community and to the ‘peacekeeping’ side of the operation: gender hierarchies are also perpetuated in the UN (Puechguirbal, 2010, p.179). Without challenging gender norms, and the attendant power imbalances between women and men, discriminatory attitudes and practices which disadvantage women and compromise their human rights will prevail post-conflict (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003, p.23). As Cynthia Enloe (2005) has argued, the international peacebuilding community, and indeed the UN itself, have not grasped the transformative ideas behind UNSCR 1325, and have failed to take in:

The genuinely radical understanding that informed the feminist analysis undergirding 1325. That feminist understanding is that patriarchy – in all its varied guises, camouflaged, khaki clad, and pin-striped – is a principal cause both of the outbreak of violent societal conflicts and of the international community’s frequent failures in providing long-term resolution to those violent conflicts (Enloe, 2005, p.281)

Ultimately, transformative approaches assert that building peace is not about returning to the status quo.

Stereotypes

Women as Victims

There are significant tensions inherent in advocating for women’s involvement in peacebuilding. Whereas war, and those agitating for war, often exploit gender stereotypes (Gibson, 2011), so too can peacebuilding and those advocating for peace. Arguing for women’s inclusion and involvement in peacebuilding and conflict resolution on the basis of their roles as mothers can essentialise women’s roles and perpetuate inequality, preventing transformative change (Whitbread, 2004). Reconciliation attempts in many countries have focused on simplistic stereotypes of women as victims and suffering mothers, and have conflated the categories of women and children into one, signifying innocence and vulnerability (Cupples, 2005, p.16; Puechguirbal, 2010). Stereotypes of women as inherently peaceful can also be damaging and reductive. A truly gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution must have a comprehensive analysis of the variety of roles that women play in society. Ignoring women’s participation and complicity in organised violence could lead to false assumptions about the potential role of women in peacebuilding (Pankhurst, 2000, p.9; Onslow and Schoofs, 2010, p.12). Furthermore, using the category ‘women’, without further differentiating between them, hides a wealth of different experiences: “no woman lives in the single dimension of her sex” (Meintjes Pillay and Turshen, 2001, p.5). For instance, wealthy women from privileged sectors of society will experience conflict and its aftermath in a very different way from the majority, who are too poor to emigrate when they are threatened with violence (Meintjes Pillay and Turshen, 2001, p.6).

Positive Masculinities

Just as it is crucial that we do not assume women to be perpetual victims, and as natural peacebuilders, it is key that we do not stereotype men in the same way, simply as perpetrators and aggressors (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003, p.9). A gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution must therefore also provide an analysis of the roles which men play in society and in conflict. Moreover, it is important to consider how masculine socialisation and norms are linked to the use of violence, and the pressure placed on men to conform to the traditional masculine role of fighter (Whitbread, 2005, p.43). Men, as women, are socialised to become part of a gender. Traits commonly identified in cultural definitions of masculinity often include egotism, aggression, dominance, and competition (Pankhurst, 2000, p.11). Clearly, these traits are easily linked with violent behaviour:

A gender analysis suggests that social norms about masculinity strongly influence the prevalence of, and tendency towards, the violent expression of conflict in many places. Peacebuilding should therefore challenge these norms wherever possible (Pankhurst, 2000, p.14)

As Moran (2010) argues, a gendered approach to peacebuilding is not complete if positive masculinities are not also acknowledged and supported. For example, men in societies where violence is rife, but who choose not to fight, should be supported as examples of challenging violent masculinities (Moran, 2010). Programmes designed to work with male teachers, peace activists, community workers and carers could all further a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution (Pankhurst, 2000, p.25). As Strickland and Duvvury (2003) argue, it is possible that men’s identities may emerge from a period of conflict more damaged than women’s, and if no attention is paid to supporting positive masculinities, “the reassertion of traditional gender norms and roles is inevitable” (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003, p.9).

The Guatemalan Case

The difficulties of designing and implementing a genuine gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution can be illustrated by the case study of Guatemala. Central America has experienced many protracted conflicts in its recent history, and in Guatemala, Latin America’s longest civil war raged for 36 years until the formal signing of the peace accords in 1996. Guatemala, similar to many South American nations, has a history of military dictatorship, widespread human rights abuses and a powerful culture of ‘machismo’ (Anderlini, 2007, p.153). Arguably, Guatemala is a “quintessentially misogynistic culture” (Jackson, 2007, p.8), with sexist attitudes pervading popular culture, state institutions and social relations. There is widespread societal acceptance and perpetuation of strong gender bias and deep ‘machista’ attitudes. However, the Guatemalan peace accords were praised for including systematic references to gender-related issues throughout the text, which is attributed to the involvement of women’s rights activists (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003, p.21). Specific commitments were made in to women on housing, land, attempts to find children and orphans, and on penalising sexual harassment (Porter, 2007, p.39). Though only two women were included in the negotiating teams of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) and the Government of Guatemala, participation of women’s organisations and civil society group was high. For this reason, the peace process in Guatemala has sometimes been commended by those who argue in support of a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution (Diaz, 2010). However, whether a positive peace exists in Guatemala today is very doubtful. Women are now being killed at the same rate as they were during the genocide in the 1980’s, as the phenomenon of ‘femicide’ has blighted Guatemala. In 2007, it was estimated that 2 women were killed each day, with the majority being raped before their death. The prevalence of violence in Guatemala today is linked to the failure of the government and international community to enforce the resolutions made in the peace accords. The men who committed sexual atrocities against women have rarely been brought to trial, with devastating consequences. As Beltran and Freeman argue:

The state’s failure to bring to justice those responsible for the atrocities perpetrated during the war or to fully implement the commitments regarding women’s rights contained in the Peace Accords has left a terrible legacy that continues to foster much of the discrimination and violence that threaten the lives of Guatemalan women today. (Beltran and Freeman, 2007, p.7)

Evidently, the implementation of the peace accords has been exceptionally ineffective, and a sustainable peace has yet to be built. Thus despite initial praise for the peace process and accords, and the central facilitating role played by the UN, the situation in Guatemala clearly provides support for the arguments put forward by feminist authors such as Puechguirbal, which criticise the mainstream gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution as superficial, arguing for a more fundamental gender analysis which addresses the deep rooted structural inequalities that perpetuate violence.

Fundamental Criticisms of the Gendered Approach

The arguments put forward in support of a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution, then, are complex and diverse. These arguments, and especially the way they are expressed through the Women, Peace and Security agenda advanced by the UN, are open to a number of criticisms, as seen above. However, there are more fundamental criticisms which critique the whole basis of the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda.

Firstly, to assume the primacy of any one component of a person’s social identity over another is inherently problematic: “Individuals constantly negotiate between the primacy of gender identity and the assertion of other social identities of ethnicity, class and religion”  (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003, p.8). UNSCR 1325 can be seen to privilege gender and marginalise other oppressions (Pratt and Richter-Devroe, 2011, p.495). The presumption that women involved in peacebuilding and conflict resolution initiatives will only articulate ‘gendered concerns’ (Pratt and Richter-Devroe, 2011, p.494) is short-sighted and arrogant. Gibbings (2011) argues that the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda has no space for criticism of imperialism and foreign military intervention by Western powers, as was demonstrated by the embarrassment generated by the comments made by two Iraqi women during their visit to the UN, where they spoke at a meeting attended by gender officers for different UN agencies and several representatives from member states. They criticised the US-UK invasion of Iraq, condemning it as imperialist, and also critiqued the UN for its lack of support (Gibbins, 2011, p.525). Indeed, UNSCR 1325 has been criticised for ostensibly giving power to Western countries to intervene in peace processes around the world on the pretext of protecting women’s rights (Aroussi, 2011, p.589).

Secondly, the implications of neoliberal macroeconomic policies such as structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) on building a sustainable and ‘positive’ peace are not adequately addressed by the UN or mainstream agendas on peacebuilding and conflict resolution. As David Moore argues:

The concept of ‘post-conflict’ [is] an excuse for the main development agencies and international powers to devote fewer resources to the amelioration of complex political emergencies in the third world and to allow structural adjustment policies to reign as usual, instead of the supposed dependency inducing tendencies of welfarist humanitarian assistance (Moore, 2000, quoted in Meintjes, Pillay and Turshen, 2001, p.3)

SAPs are implemented by international institutions such as the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who wield much power in post-conflict societies (Meintjes, Pillay and Turshen, 2001). SAPs commonly include measures such as privatisation, liberalisation of financial markets, de-regulation of labour, and a cut back in state spending on services such as health, welfare and education. The effects of SAPs on women around the world have been well documented. Privatisation of land seriously disadvantages women as they lose a prime agricultural resource (Meintjes, Pillay and Turshen, 2001, p.16). Tightly restricted welfare budgets lead to a neglect of women’s welfare requirements, which can have a negative knock-on effect for building a sustainable peace (Pankhurst, 2000, p.24). Ultimately, SAPs have exacerbated inequalities, deepened the poverty of the already vulnerable, and created instability. Concurrently, widening inequalities and deepening poverty are clearly an underlying cause of conflict globally (Pankhurst, 2000, p.2). Thus, while there are many academics and activists advancing radical arguments for a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution, the agencies involved in post-conflict peacebuilding programmes and reconstruction, as well as the donors who facilitate these programmes, often look for short-term solutions which are compatible with the dominant global neoliberal approach to economics and development.

The inclusion and empowerment of women in conflict prevention and peace processes is not simply idealism in the midst of international realpolitik. It is a necessary and infinitely pragmatic antidote to politics and business as usual, if the object is sustainable peace (Anderlini, 2007, p.232)

The need for a gendered approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution has been gradually acknowledged by the international peacebuilding arena, led by the UN. UNSCR 1325, the landmark document underpinning the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda, is ambitious and transformative in its rhetoric, and calls for women’s involvement at all levels of the peacebuilding agenda. There has been a marginal increase in the number of women involved in formal peace talks, protection of women and girls from sexual violence is, in theory, a priority for peacekeeping operations, and women’s peace coalitions have grown in strength and are now increasingly able to get women’s concerns on the agenda of peace talks.  However, positive examples do not amount to system change (Alberdi, 2010, p.3): women’s participation in formal peace processes remains low, their activism and contributions are consistently devalued, sexual and gender-based violence is endemic, and ‘women’s issues’ continue to be treated as marginal to the main peacebuilding agenda. Thus, the links between powerful rhetoric and actual policy implementation are questionable, and the UN itself can be criticised for failing to understand and progress the truly radical ideas which underpin UNSCR 1325. Furthermore, there are fundamental criticisms of a gendered approach to peacebuilding which undermine even a more radical conception of its meaning: namely, that without challenging neoliberal economic policies which widen economic inequalities, further disadvantage women, and foment violence and conflict, even a truly gendered approach to peacebuilding cannot and will not deliver the ultimate goal, which is a sustainable and positive peace.

Bibliography

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Beever, S., 2010, ‘Women’s Role in Peacebuilding: Nicaragua, El Salvador, And Guatemala Compared’, MA Dissertation, University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Bertolazzi, F., 2010, ‘Women with a Blue Helmet: The Integration of Women and Gender Issues in UN Peacekeeping Missions’, UN-INSTRAW Gender, Peace and Security Working Paper Series, (Dominican Republic: United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women)

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Carey, D., Torres, G., 2010, ‘Precursors to Femicide: Guatemalan Women in a Vortex of Violence’, in Latin American Research Review, Vol.45 (3), (California, USA: Latin American Studies Association)

Clifton, D., Gell, F., 2001, ‘Saving and protecting lives by empowering women’, in Gender and Development, Vol.9 (3), (London, UK: Routledge)

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Cornwall, A., Harrison, E., Whitehead, A., (eds.), 2007, Feminisms in Development: Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges, (London, UK: Zed Books)

Cupples, J., 2005, ‘Counter-revolutionary women: gender and reconciliation in post-war Nicaragua’, in Sweetman, C., Gender, Peacebuilding, and Reconstruction, (UK: Oxfam GB)

Diaz, P.C., 2010, ‘Women’s Participation in Peace Negotiations: Connections between Presence and Influence’, 1325 +10: Women Count for Peace, (New York, USA: UNIFEM)

Enloe, C., 2005, ‘What Is Patriarchy Is “the Big Picture”? An Afterword’, in Mazurana, D.,

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Gibbings, S.L., 2011, ‘No Angry Women at the United Nations: Political Dreams and the Cultural Politics of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325’, in International Feminist Journal of Politics, Vol.13 (4), (London, UK: Routledge)

Gibson, I., 2011, ‘Human Security: A Framework for Peace Constructs, Gendered Perspectives and Cosmopolitan Security’, in Journal of Peace, Conflict and Development

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[1] This can be illustrated by reference to Nicaragua, El Salvador and specifically Guatemala, where women are now being murdered at the same rate as they were during the 1980’s when the civil war reached its peak of violence (Carey and Torres, 2010).

Written by: Beth Speake Written at: University of Leeds Written for: Shirley Tate Date written: May 2012

Further Reading on E-International Relations

• Security Council Resolution 1325’s Impact on Kosovo’s Post-Conflict Framework
• Limits of Liberal Feminist Peacebuilding in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
• Assessing the Merits of Post-Fordism from a Gendered IPE Approach
• Liberal Peacebuilding and the Road to Hybrid Emancipatory Peace in Colombia
• Silent Birangonas: Sexual Violence, Women’s Voices and Male Conflict Narratives
• The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Cooperation and Conflict Resolution

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Gender Equality & Peace: Why Leadership Should Embody the Feminine and the Masculine

by Roya Akhavan

January 31, 2024

Despite visible advancements in international collaboration at the United Nations toward building a more peaceful world, military conflicts continue to wreak havoc across our planet. In this article, I highlight the critical imbalance between the feminine and masculine aspects of humanity in the global leadership culture as a root cause of our protracted progress toward peace and propose new ideas in the context of the United Nations Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. 

Gender Inequality as a “Men’s Issue”

Since the concept of equal rights for women first entered the arena of social action in the mid-nineteenth century, gender inequality has been framed as a “women’s issue.”  As such, achieving equality has been construed largely as an adversarial process; a fight by women in the face of resistance by men, who are presumed to benefit from the status quo.  Yet, a growing body of evidence in the 21 st century is making it clear that the traditional gender role socialization within the dominant patriarchal culture has harmed men as well as women, and that gender inequality is also a men’s issue.

Recent research presented at a Symposium entitled “Engaging Men as Allies in Women, Peace and Security,” held as a side event to the 30 October 2023 open debate of the Security Council on achieving the goals of the WPS agenda, has given further credence to this realization.  The research findings indicated that the “masculinity lens” of the dominant patriarchal culture remains a major barrier to women’s participation in peace building.  It also continues to cause insidious harm to men, including adverse effects on their physical and mental health and loss of life and limb in wars.  These hegemonic patriarchal values are also internalized by many women, who perpetuate them subconsciously in their role as agents of male socialization.  On a hopeful note, the results indicated that a large percentage of men express a desire for change in the rigid definitions of “masculinity” for future generations and reject violence as a concept associated with what it means to be a man.  In view of these findings, the Symposium highlighted the need for engaging men as allies in WPS efforts by better articulating why they need gender equality and how they benefit from it. 

Beyond Engaging Men as Allies

The recent emphasis on the need for engaging men in achieving the goals of the WPS agenda represents important conceptual progress in this arena.  It is important to recognize, however, that effective leadership toward peace requires us to go beyond engaging men as allies in support of women’s participation in peace and security issues.  What is required is a paradigm shift that elevates the values and behaviors associated with the feminine aspects of humanity– namely, compassion, caring, cooperation, communal orientation, emotional intelligence, and moral courage– in leadership by both men and women to resolve global challenges; a paradigm shift that goes beyond expanding the number of women in leadership positions to effect a complete transformation in how leadership is defined and enacted by all leaders. 

Embracing a caring and compassionate approach to leadership is not the domain of any one gender; both men and women are equally capable of it.  Indeed, these traits belong to the realm of the spirit of each individual, not their physical gender identity . What is required, however, is reckoning with the systematically ingrained and psychologically internalized patriarchal values that have glorified power over service and control over empathy throughout millennia.  

Even in the most progressive countries in the world, men continue to be hindered by their patriarchal socialization from cultivating such inherent human qualities as empathy and compassion because of the hegemonic cultural association of these traits with being “feminine” and, thus, “weak.” Similarly, women are often held back from rising to leadership positions unless they conform to the hypermasculine leadership model; one in which being “tough” is equated with being “strong.”

A Paradigm Shift in Peace Leadership

The contemporary practice of hypermasculine leadership at all levels of society– community, corporate, and institutional– stands in sharp contrast to the results of decades of leadership research, which have consistently shown that effective leadership is better aligned with the female gender role .  As such, our slow progress toward peace may be considered to stem largely from the suppression and devaluation of the feminine aspects of humanity, i.e., precisely those qualities that are indispensable for effective leadership toward building a more peaceful world. 

Thus, effective leadership toward peace requires that we empower all human beings, regardless of their gender, to act as peacebuilders.  It necessitates a comprehensive educational effort aimed at reframing the discourse on gender equality and raising consciousness among all agents of socialization– fathers, mothers, and teachers– about how the strict socialization of boys and girls into stereotypical behaviors that deny their inherent human qualities functions as a source of harm to them and as a primary barrier to peace.  

Recent books written by male authors on undefining masculinity and rescuing boys and men from the straight jacket of the “boy code” and the “man box,” reflect the growing awareness in the collective global consciousness about the need to promote a new approach to the socialization of children; one that shifts the emphasis away from adherence to performative roles based on their gender, toward authentic behaviors based on their nature as human beings. 

This new approach aligns with the advancements in thought within the relevant U.N. organizations, which in recent years have begun to emphasize the vital importance of including “men and masculinities” in the discourse on gender equality and peace building.  Against the backdrop of these advancements, the time has now come to engage boldly with the required paradigm shift; by creating new and inclusive spaces for dialogue between men and women as co-beneficiaries of gender equality, and by launching new education and training programs throughout the U.N. that focus on elevating and harnessing the feminine aspects of humanity in leadership by both men and women to resolve the persistent challenges to security in the global society.

Written by Roya Akhavan

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What does gender equality look like today?

Date: Wednesday, 6 October 2021

Progress towards gender equality is looking bleak. But it doesn’t need to.

A new global analysis of progress on gender equality and women’s rights shows women and girls remain disproportionately affected by the socioeconomic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling with disproportionately high job and livelihood losses, education disruptions and increased burdens of unpaid care work. Women’s health services, poorly funded even before the pandemic, faced major disruptions, undermining women’s sexual and reproductive health. And despite women’s central role in responding to COVID-19, including as front-line health workers, they are still largely bypassed for leadership positions they deserve.

UN Women’s latest report, together with UN DESA, Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2021 presents the latest data on gender equality across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The report highlights the progress made since 2015 but also the continued alarm over the COVID-19 pandemic, its immediate effect on women’s well-being and the threat it poses to future generations.

We’re breaking down some of the findings from the report, and calling for the action needed to accelerate progress.

The pandemic is making matters worse

One and a half years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the toll on the poorest and most vulnerable people remains devastating and disproportionate. The combined impact of conflict, extreme weather events and COVID-19 has deprived women and girls of even basic needs such as food security. Without urgent action to stem rising poverty, hunger and inequality, especially in countries affected by conflict and other acute forms of crisis, millions will continue to suffer.

A global goal by global goal reality check:

Goal 1. Poverty

In 2021, extreme poverty is on the rise and progress towards its elimination has reversed. An estimated 435 million women and girls globally are living in extreme poverty.

And yet we can change this .

Over 150 million women and girls could emerge from poverty by 2030 if governments implement a comprehensive strategy to improve access to education and family planning, achieve equal wages and extend social transfers.

Goal 2. Zero hunger

The global gender gap in food security has risen dramatically during the pandemic, with more women and girls going hungry. Women’s food insecurity levels were 10 per cent higher than men’s in 2020, compared with 6 per cent higher in 2019.

This trend can be reversed , including by supporting women small-scale producers, who typically earn far less than men, through increased funding, training and land rights reforms.

Goal 3. Good health and well-being

Disruptions in essential health services due to COVID-19 are taking a tragic toll on women and girls. In the first year of the pandemic, there were an estimated 1.4 million additional unintended pregnancies in lower and middle-income countries.

We need to do better .

Response to the pandemic must include prioritizing sexual and reproductive health services, ensuring they continue to operate safely now and after the pandemic is long over. In addition, more support is needed to ensure life-saving personal protection equipment, tests, oxygen and especially vaccines are available in rich and poor countries alike as well as to vulnerable population within countries.

Goal 4. Quality education

A year and a half into the pandemic, schools remain partially or fully closed in 42 per cent of the world’s countries and territories. School closures spell lost opportunities for girls and an increased risk of violence, exploitation and early marriage .

Governments can do more to protect girls education .

Measures focused specifically on supporting girls returning to school are urgently needed, including measures focused on girls from marginalized communities who are most at risk.

Goal 5. Gender equality

The pandemic has tested and even reversed progress in expanding women’s rights and opportunities. Reports of violence against women and girls, a “shadow” pandemic to COVID-19, are increasing in many parts of the world. COVID-19 is also intensifying women’s workload at home, forcing many to leave the labour force altogether.

Building forward differently and better will hinge on placing women and girls at the centre of all aspects of response and recovery, including through gender-responsive laws, policies and budgeting.

Goal 6. Clean water and sanitation

In 2018, nearly 2.3 billion people lived in water-stressed countries. Without safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and menstrual hygiene facilities, women and girls find it harder to lead safe, productive and healthy lives.

Change is possible .

Involve those most impacted in water management processes, including women. Women’s voices are often missing in water management processes. 

Goal 7. Affordable and clean energy

Increased demand for clean energy and low-carbon solutions is driving an unprecedented transformation of the energy sector. But women are being left out. Women hold only 32 per cent of renewable energy jobs.

We can do better .

Expose girls early on to STEM education, provide training and support to women entering the energy field, close the pay gap and increase women’s leadership in the energy sector.

Goal 8. Decent work and economic growth

The number of employed women declined by 54 million in 2020 and 45 million women left the labour market altogether. Women have suffered steeper job losses than men, along with increased unpaid care burdens at home.

We must do more to support women in the workforce .

Guarantee decent work for all, introduce labour laws/reforms, removing legal barriers for married women entering the workforce, support access to affordable/quality childcare.

Goal 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

The COVID-19 crisis has spurred striking achievements in medical research and innovation. Women’s contribution has been profound. But still only a little over a third of graduates in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics field are female.

We can take action today.

 Quotas mandating that a proportion of research grants are awarded to women-led teams or teams that include women is one concrete way to support women researchers. 

Goal 10. Reduced inequalities

Limited progress for women is being eroded by the pandemic. Women facing multiple forms of discrimination, including women and girls with disabilities, migrant women, women discriminated against because of their race/ethnicity are especially affected.

Commit to end racism and discrimination in all its forms, invest in inclusive, universal, gender responsive social protection systems that support all women. 

Goal 11. Sustainable cities and communities

Globally, more than 1 billion people live in informal settlements and slums. Women and girls, often overrepresented in these densely populated areas, suffer from lack of access to basic water and sanitation, health care and transportation.

The needs of urban poor women must be prioritized .

Increase the provision of durable and adequate housing and equitable access to land; included women in urban planning and development processes.

Goal 12. Sustainable consumption and production; Goal 13. Climate action; Goal 14. Life below water; and Goal 15. Life on land

Women activists, scientists and researchers are working hard to solve the climate crisis but often without the same platforms as men to share their knowledge and skills. Only 29 per cent of featured speakers at international ocean science conferences are women.

 And yet we can change this .

Ensure women activists, scientists and researchers have equal voice, representation and access to forums where these issues are being discussed and debated. 

Goal 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions

The lack of women in decision-making limits the reach and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergency recovery efforts. In conflict-affected countries, 18.9 per cent of parliamentary seats are held by women, much lower than the global average of 25.6 per cent.

This is unacceptable .

It's time for women to have an equal share of power and decision-making at all levels.

Goal 17. Global partnerships for the goals

There are just 9 years left to achieve the Global Goals by 2030, and gender equality cuts across all 17 of them. With COVID-19 slowing progress on women's rights, the time to act is now.

Looking ahead

As it stands today, only one indicator under the global goal for gender equality (SDG5) is ‘close to target’: proportion of seats held by women in local government. In other areas critical to women’s empowerment, equality in time spent on unpaid care and domestic work and decision making regarding sexual and reproductive health the world is far from target. Without a bold commitment to accelerate progress, the global community will fail to achieve gender equality. Building forward differently and better will require placing women and girls at the centre of all aspects of response and recovery, including through gender-responsive laws, policies and budgeting.

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Gender equality and peace are linked – the post-2015 agenda should reflect it

Progress on the millennium development goals (MDGs) for women and girls is disappointing, with efforts to improve maternal health among the most off track.

Gender parity in primary school enrolment is close to being achieved, but among the other goals, lack of adequate data makes it difficult to assess whether women and girls are truly benefiting. What is clear is that countries affected by conflict and widespread violence are among the furthest from achieving any of the goals.

As the debate on what to replace the MDGs with after 2015 gathers pace, there are continued calls for gender equality to be central to the framework.

Gender and peace are closely linked: peace is vital to promote gender equality, while gender inequality can also undermine peace and drive conflict and violence. This is one of the key messages in a new briefing, Gender, violence and peace: a post-2015 development agenda , published by Conciliation Resources and Saferworld.

A number of studies have found a strong correlation between levels of conflict and gender inequality, but the nature of this relationship is not always clear. Does violence fuel gender inequality, or gender inequality fuel violence, or both? In some cases, women advance their strategic interests during times of conflict, but this is often followed by the restoration of more unequal gender roles afterwards. In many of the countries that have experienced revolutions during the Arab spring, increased opportunities for women's political activism have been coupled with a violent backlash against women trying to claim their rights.

Conflict and violence have to date been the most important factors obstructing progress on the MDGs. In 2008, the eight African countries with the highest maternal mortality ratios were experiencing or emerging from conflict. As well as causing death, injury and displacement, conflict destroys infrastructure, disrupts markets and social ties, diminishes the capacity of states, and diverts vital resources away from development.

The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, recently observed that countries experiencing conflict and fragility face most difficulty in achieving the MDGs for women and girls because violence reduces their access to healthcare and welfare services, economic opportunities and political participation.

Whether gender inequality has an impact on conflict is harder to determine, but there is strong evidence that the gender norms that underpin inequality can drive conflict and violence, particularly when cultural notions of masculinity are associated with domination and control.

Research by Saferworld and others in South Sudan reveals that participation in violent cattle raids, which perpetuates conflict between communities, is seen as a rite of passage for young men. The bride price system, in which cattle are exchanged for girls and women, makes violent cycles of abduction and revenge worse . As a result, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) argues that addressing gender norms in South Sudan is crucial to addressing the causes of conflict.

What does all of this mean for discussions about the post-2015 agenda? Those calling for strong commitments on gender equality in the new framework should consider the importance of peace and non-violence in promoting it. As Saferworld and others have argued , including targets that address the most important drivers of conflict can help to ensure that men and women living in countries vulnerable to violence are not left behind.

Those advocating for peacebuilding commitments in the post-2015 framework would do well to apply a gender perspective to their thinking. A standalone goal on gender equality and women's rights can contribute towards peace, particularly if it addresses relevant discriminatory attitudes and social norms. Targets should address the forms of violence that most often affect women as well as men, and commitments on inclusive governance should aim to boost the participation of women and other marginalised groups in decision-making. Saferworld's briefing suggests example targets and indicators to these ends.

Next week, UN member states will meet in New York for the annual commission on the status of women, and negotiations have the potential to demonstrate international commitment to making gender equality a key priority for the post-2015 framework. It is vital that member states recognise the importance of overcoming conflict and violence in doing so. Saferworld hopes that those in the women's rights and peacebuilding communities can work together to demonstrate the links between their aims, so the chances of securing strong commitments in both areas are increased.

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• Millennium development goals
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Gender Equality and a Culture of Peace

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Part of the book series: Peace Psychology Book Series ((PPBS))

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Gender equality is both one of the eight domains of the United Nations Program of Action on a Culture of Peace, and also an important component of each of the others. It is both an important goal on its own, in terms of justice for women, and an important contribution to the promotion of peace. This chapter looks at gender equality in both of those contexts, as an important human rights goal for women, and as a framework for looking at the whole conceptualization of the Culture of Peace.

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Stephenson, C.M. (2009). Gender Equality and a Culture of Peace. In: de Rivera, J. (eds) Handbook on Building Cultures of Peace. Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09575-2_9

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Knowledge at Wharton Podcast

How gender equality can help build sustainable peace, june 13, 2019 • 44 min listen.

Impact investing in conflict-affected regions delivers greater returns when women are empowered, say experts.

Corry Van Gaal from Global Affairs Canada, Durreen Shahnaz from IIX and Wharton's Sherryl Kuhlman discuss how empowering women can reduce risks and enhance overall outcomes for impact investors.

Gender equality by 2030 is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the United Nations has identified. However, the U.N. faces challenges in raising the $5 trillion to $7 trillion needed annually to achieve those goals, and private sector investment is critical to fill that funding gap. Persuading private investors to back projects that advance gender equality calls for concerted efforts to show that empowering women could reduce risks and enhance overall outcomes, especially in creating sustainable peace in conflict-affected regions around the world.

The Knowledge at Wharton podcast series From Backstreet to Wall Street focuses on women, innovators and entrepreneurs who are building sustainable peace. In this episode, three experts share their insights: Corry Van Gaal, deputy director of the Impact and Innovative Finance group at Global Affairs Canada, a government agency; Sherryl Kuhlman, managing director of the Wharton Social Impact Initiative ; and Durreen Shahnaz, founder and CEO of the Singapore-based Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), a social stock exchange and the world’s largest impact investment private placement platform. (Listen to the complete podcast above.)

Two years ago, Canada announced its Feminist International Assistance Policy, which lays out a focus on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. That policy had pledged that 95% of Canada’s bilateral international development assistance initiatives would target or integrate gender equality by 2021 and 2022. It achieved its goals for that policy in just one year after its launch, according to Van Gaal. In particular, this program includes the empowerment of adolescent girls, and it has “a strong focus on the fight against sexual exploitation and abuse, and the promotion of gender equality and humanitarian action,” she said.

Women account for a larger share of the world’s poor — especially when they are girls or young women or even elderly women, said Shahnaz. Gender inequality is one of the big factors that cause conflicts, and therefore, empowering women with livelihoods is the way “to build sustainable peace from the ground up,” she added. “The only way we can meet this gap is to bring private sector into it. We have to make sure that the private sector learns how women empowerment can reduce a lot of the financial risk, and the political and the social risks.”

Impact Investing and Peace Building

A McKinsey study found that women’s economic empowerment could add $12 trillion to global growth by 2025. It is especially critical in areas where poverty and inequality continue to fuel conflict. In order to build sustainable peace in today’s world, market-driven solutions and women have to be part of the equation.

Van Gaal said her group is piloting new approaches and partnerships with financial institutions and businesses to support inclusive private sector development in low-income countries. The Canadian government and other donors are exploring innovative approaches to tap the private sector and banks to help create jobs and opportunities for vulnerable communities around the world, and also the social and economic infrastructure to bring peace and reduce conflict, she added.

“We have to make sure that the private sector learns how women empowerment can reduce a lot of the financial risk, and the political and the social risks.” –Durreen Shahnaz

The lack of access to services and finance in conflict-affected areas puts a strain on other parts of a country and on neighboring countries as people begin to migrate, said Van Gaal. The Canadian government saw opportunities in that situation to attract the private sector and financial investors to those regions. It attempts to do that through two new developmental assistance programs it launched in 2018 — a sovereign loan program, and an international assistance innovation program. “The intention behind these programs is to give Canada greater flexibility in working with new partners and in helping to de-risk some of these investments,” Van Gaal explained. Global Affairs Canada had committed 1.5 billion Canadian dollars over five years, and $493 million annually thereafter.

The Canadian government found that it could help private investors brave the risks of entering conflict-affected areas if it provides concessional finance, such as low-interest, long-term loans, first-loss guarantees or other mechanisms. “Those would help give investors the confidence that if they are interested in going [into conflict-affected areas], we can work alongside them to help make the risk profile of those investments more attractive,” said Van Gaal. At the same time, Canada also wanted to ensure that it is able to achieve the desired development impact, particularly for women, she added.

Shahnaz said an “an incredible correlation” exists between organizations working at the ground level in creating opportunities for especially women, and the role they play in creating and sustaining peace. She encountered that when the United Nations tapped her organization a few years ago to work in conflict-affected areas in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines. Studies have shown “a positive correlation” between country rankings of global peace and gender equality, she said. Women play a big role in mitigating the risks investors face in conflict-affected areas, she added.

IIX last year launched its Innovative Finance for Sustainable Peace Initiative at the U.N. General Assembly. Shahnaz listed its three objectives: One was to use the financial markets to drive sustainable peace across the world by creating what she called “business-worthy companies, and equal communities.” The second was “to embed a gender lens into the global peace dividend,” and to recognize women as not victims, but part of the solution for peace building, she added. The third goal was to galvanize the key stakeholders from both public sector and private sector — and the philanthropic community — to jointly create innovative financial products for peace.

In her previous posting as Global Affairs Canada’s team leader of private sector development in Bogota, Columbia, Van Gaal’s role was to help connect women farmers to markets in conflict-affected areas. Back then in 2015, rehabilitating violence-affected farmers was a crucial part of the peace-building process in Columbia. Van Gaal learned to “walk the talk” after she and her husband, Luis Meneses, formed a firm called MAMO Botanics, a social business that aims to help Colombian farmers grow environmentally sustainable crop alternatives to coca, the plant used to make cocaine. The Cacay nut they grow is seen as a miracle nut as its oil has anti-aging properties, according to the firm’s website .

“Often we can get into a situation where we’re reporting on just process and activities versus real outcomes.” –Corry Van Gaal

Measuring Impact and Progress

According to Van Gaal, measuring the outcomes of her organization’s efforts in gender equality is a challenging task. “Often, we can get into a situation where we’re reporting on just process and activities versus real outcomes,” she said. A combination of several activities is required to achieve the desired outcomes, such as the intention, strategic focus, the quality of the management teams, and even the gender equality of the organization trying to achieve these goals, and that of the government that is trying to implement new policies, she explained.

As part of its efforts to sharpen the outcome indicators at a project level, Global Affairs Canada is working to develop a “development impact framework that is prescriptive and concrete about what it is we want to achieve when it comes to gender outcomes,” Van Gaal continued.

Shahnaz agreed with Van Gaal that it is difficult to measure women empowerment in particular, “because women have been systematically excluded from official systems and the formal economy, especially in developing countries.” Even in the developed countries, “the threshold is very low” in the various indices used to measure gender equality, she added.

For example, an organization may have “just a handful of women on the board,” and it may earn brownie points for doing something for women, Shahnaz explained. At the same time, there are organizations and enterprises that are trying to integrate social impact and gender equality in particular into their core business, she noted. That may take the form of “gender-transformative income opportunities or shifting the gender path dynamics or provision of even gender-sensitive or gender-specific goods,” she said.

On that front, the IIX has tapped the Impact Reporting Investment Standard, or IRIS, of the Global Impact Investing Network, a New York-based nonprofit that aims to increase the scale and effectiveness of impact investing worldwide. By adding financial indicators to IRIS, it is possible to track the value of the impact on, for example, a person who has switched to using a clean-cook stove, Shahnaz said. “Investors [find such measurements] very digestible; they understand that,” she said. They see a correlation between reduced risks for their investments if more women are involved, she explained.

“Women have been systematically excluded from official systems and the formal economy, especially in developing countries.” –Durreen Shahnaz

The central issue with measuring outcomes of impact investing is that private investors and the organizations that implement social programs are “measuring different things and in different ways,” said Van Gaal. “We are essentially partnering with for-profit entities, recognizing that through their work, they can achieve social impact. But we do ultimately speak different languages.” In the least, both sides need to “understand and respect our different interests and impact expectations,” she said. That appreciation could lay the foundation for creating better measurement systems, she added.

Challenges in Enlisting Partners

For Global Affairs Canada and its program on innovative finance, it is important to select the right partners, and have data that allows measurement of financial inclusion issues for women, Van Gaal said. She noted that only about 42% of women have access to land and collateral, compared to men. “This is a big impediment to women’s ability to access loans, as most loans around the world – particularly longer-term loans – require fixed collateral to secure the asset.” She underlined the two most important issues here: “Investing in a shared understanding of our results, and together starting to invest in the database and the baseline data to set our indicators against.”

To be sure, it is not easy to enlist partners on that development path. “Sometimes it’s difficult to find partners with sufficient risk appetite to invest, and this is completely normal,” said Van Gaal. It has been difficult to secure participation from even some of the NGOs working in conflict-affected regions, let alone private sector companies or financial institutions to provide banking services in those regions, she added.

Getting investors to appreciate how gender equality improves the creditworthiness of a project calls for some creative approaches in some cases. For instance, the returns on investment in a solar panel project may be more secure if women are its owners, but it may not be easy to convey that to investors, said Shahnaz.

“We are essentially partnering with for-profit entities, recognizing that through their work, they can achieve social impact. But we do ultimately speak different languages.” –Corry Van Gaal

Shahnaz has had to make decisions even on issues such as who attends the meetings with investors. “Is it more effective if I go and say it to a male investor, or should a man do it?” was one question she has had to consider. “We actually saw that it’s better when a man does it, because they feel comfortable. We have to do a lot of those things in terms of understanding what the market is comfortable with, and then slowly introducing things that are not that comfortable for them.”

On its part, the Wharton Social Impact Initiative has been conducting research on gender equality, notably reports prepared by Vice Dean Katherine Klein on the financial correlation with having women on the boards of companies , said Kuhlman. While meta-studies did not show much evidence of a strong impact by having women on boards, they did not find evidence of any weak impact, either, she added. Having one or two women on a board is unlikely to dramatically influence business outcomes because their roles in business changes are likely to be negligible, she explained.

Kuhlman pointed to one study her team put together on how publicly held companies treat women in terms of representation, compensation and related issues. Studies like that help in advancing the understanding of women empowerment, the obstacles on that path, and how best to address them, she added.

On the role of women in building peace, Van Gaal pointed to the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Jody Williams and her view “that sustainable peace is really achieved when the majority of people on this planet, and particularly women, have enough access to resources to live dignified lives.”

Shahnaz defined peace in one word: happiness. “Happiness comes from opportunity and resources,” she said. “If we can somehow figure out how to give opportunity and resources to pretty much everyone on this planet – women and men – I think we will have peace.”

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How Women Are Using Technology to Advance Gender Equality and Peace

Despite progress, women still need more training and access to technology to boost their digital power.

By: Danielle Robertson ; Mena Ayazi

Publication Type: Analysis

From Afghanistan to Sudan, women in conflict areas are increasingly turning to technology to build peace and reduce gender inequality. Just as smart phones and mobile internet facilitate key functions of daily life, they also bring the world women’s voices once confined to the home or marketplace. It is a development with tremendous promise that the international community needs to support by widening access to technology, reducing social barriers to it and providing training that boosts proficiency.

The global attention paid to Sudan’s protest movement, for example, stemmed in no small part from communication via WhatsApp, organizing over Facebook, and posts by Instagram influencers. Women unable to join the main protests—including rural women, who are particularly hemmed in by deeply rooted patriarchal structures—recorded and shared their activity in support of the movement on Facebook and Twitter. A private Facebook group originally formed to discuss relationships evolved to expose the abuses women faced during the protests and to raise funds for the revolutionary movement. While the Sudanese government tried to block social media in response, women used virtual private networks (VPN) to hide their locations and forge ahead with the work.

Technology also has proved an effective organizing tool in support of the peace process in Afghanistan. For a while, the main form of communication between the talks’ facilitators and Afghan civil society was Twitter. Twitter can often be a one-sided approach to communication, but Afghan women quickly organized and strategized to engage the facilitators in a productive way allowing for a conversation. Women used Twitter to engage with a U.S. Congressional hearing on women’s inclusion in peace and security and it offered a direct line to policymakers and peace-talk facilitators that otherwise would not have existed.

In addition, Afghan women and diaspora organizations are developing social media guides to create uniformity in women’s messaging to the Taliban. #AfghanWomenWillNotGoBack has been a trending hashtag by the Afghan Women’s Network, the largest umbrella organization of women in Afghanistan. #MyRedLine has been used by Afghan women to record short video clips and share their red lines for any peace agreement.

The evolution of these platforms is no small add-on to efforts to end the conflict. Research has shown that to achieve a more durable peace, women must have a stake in shaping the process, and that gender equality must be advanced as a part of it. Although the pendulum of social media continues to swing, creating both opportunities and risks for peace and democracy, its role in the struggle for women’s inclusion in civil society—and gender equality generally—has only grown. This is particularly so because technology provides an avenue for women’s engagement in cultures where their physical mobility is restricted and voices intentionally muted.

The Digital Gender Divide

While advancements have been promising, women, on a global average , have less understanding of technology, fewer digital skills, less presence on online platforms and are less likely to own mobile or technological devices. Hurdles to women’s and girls’ digital literacy include access and affordability challenges, lack of education, and socio-cultural norms. Women on average are 26 percent less likely than men to have a smart phone: In Africa, the proportion stands at 34 percent and in South Asia, it doubles to 70 percent.

Of course, access to technology and social media alone goes only so far.

Unless women can use these tools proficiently to shape strategy and narratives, they won’t be able to participate meaningfully in peace and security matters. Retweeting a photo, for example, is not enough.

From UNICEF’s Girls Education Initiative to the Obama administration’s Let Girls Learn Initiative, global efforts to address gender divides in literacy and education are a key pillar of development strategies. However, not much attention has been paid to the gap in digital literacy, despite its potential to reinforce or exacerbate other socio-economic, political and security disparities.

When attention is paid, the effects are notable. A 2017 study on women’s digital literacy in Indonesia, for instance, shows that teaching women how to create content and share information on digital media can open more opportunities for economic and professional growth—like access to online banking—while simultaneously reducing gender inequality. For instance, women in Indonesian digital literacy trainings learned how to market products on digital platforms, helping them compete in online trade markets. In Kenya, the introduction of M-PESA , a mobile banking system, revolutionized women’s access to financial institutions and “cash.” M-PESA not only created new opportunities for women to open bank accounts, which was previously limited, but allowed them to move about cities without the worry of carrying cash.

Technology’s Threats

To be sure, the effects of technology on women aren’t all positive. Besides well-documented efforts by extremists to lure women online, tech tools can actually support restrictive gender norms. In Saudi Arabia, for example, the Absher App has been used by men to track women’s whereabouts and activities. Access to digital technology can even become an excuse to curb women’s physical mobility if they can communicate or generate income without leaving home.

Involvement in the digital world can also create unprecedented risks: In Iran, a teenage girl was arrested for posting a clip of herself dancing on Instagram; private memories are frequently used for public indictment; women activists fighting for gender equality are more easily targeted given increasingly public online profiles; video clips of Afghan women activists have been edited to change their intended messaging to support the Taliban, confusing the world and hindering their work.

And while authoritarian regimes have long quashed social media advocacy, spread false information online and cracked down on technological platforms to disrupt movements or activities , their suppression disproportionately affects women.

A Way Forward

Still, on balance, women’s ability to employ technology and social media proficiently—and protect themselves from targeted online attacks and propaganda—is a critical building block for peace and gender equality.

But as noted, this requires adequate digital literacy. As organizations that implement peacebuilding programs work to close gender gaps in conventional literacy, they should also consider strategies to shrink the disparity regarding technology.

Steps to boost women’s digital power for activism and peacebuilding should include:

• Integrating digital literacy skills into women’s programming. This should go beyond simple introductions to technological devices and platforms to learning how to use them strategically to best support their efforts.
• Highlighting techniques that better protect women’s identities where necessary. In contexts where governments crack down on social media and technology use, women must be given better training to protect themselves as the “easier targets.”
• Supporting and funding programs that help women develop technology-based businesses or organizations . An example would be SafeCity, a woman-owned company that harnesses open source information to map zones of harassment in India.
• Advocating for women’s use of and access to technology and social media where it may be restricted. Attention should be paid to communities that hinder women’s use due to economic or social standards; these are the communities where women could benefit from its power the most.

Technology and social media can be powerful tools for women and girls to engage in democracy, civic action and peacebuilding, as well as to fight for their basic rights and gender equality. Adapting programming and investing in digital literacy for women and girls will be key to ensuring that they can meaningfully participate in these newly opened public spheres.

Danielle Robertson is a senior gender specialist the U.S. Institute of Peace. Mena Ayazi was previously a research assistant for gender policy and strategy at the Institute.

Related Publications

The Latest @ USIP: Reclaiming Human Rights in Afghanistan

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

By: Fatima Gailani

Since taking power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed their own interpretation of Islamic law onto the people of Afghanistan and consistently rolled back human rights protections — especially for women and girls — all while the country struggles to recover from decades of conflict and economic crisis. USIP spoke with Fatima Gailani, the former president of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, about the various ways Afghans can put pressure on the Taliban to reclaim their rights and demand a better future.

Gender ;  Human Rights

The Latest @ USIP: How Civil Society is Addressing Haiti’s Crisis

Monday, March 25, 2024

By: Dr. Marie-Marcelle Deschamps

In the past few years, life in Haiti has been dominated by gangs’ growing control over huge swathes of the capital, Port-au-Prince. For Haitian families, this crisis has meant extreme violence, pervasive unemployment, lack of education for children and reduced access to health care. 2023 Women Building Peace Award finalist Dr. Marie-Marcelle Deschamps serves as the deputy executive director, the head of the women's health program and the manager of the clinical research unit of GHESKIO Centers in Port-au-Prince. She spoke to USIP about how her work helps women and their families, and what the global community can do to help Haitian civil society address this devastating humanitarian crisis.

Conflict Analysis & Prevention ;  Gender

Addressing Gendered Violence in Papua New Guinea: Opportunities and Options

Thursday, March 7, 2024

By: Negar Ashtari Abay, Ph.D. ; Kathleen Kuehnast, Ph.D. ; Gordon Peake, Ph.D. ; Melissa Demian, Ph.D.

Each year, more than 1.5 million women and girls in Papua New Guinea experience gender-based violence tied to intercommunal conflict, political intimidation, domestic abuse, and other causes. It is, according to a 2023 Human Rights Watch report, “one of the most dangerous places to be a woman or girl.” Bleak as this may seem, it is not hopeless. USIP’s new report identifies several promising approaches for peacebuilding programming to reduce gender-based violence and effect meaningful and lasting change in Papua New Guinea.

Type: Special Report

The Challenges Facing Afghans with Disabilities

Thursday, February 29, 2024

By: Belquis Ahmadi

In Afghanistan, obtaining accurate data on the number of persons with disabilities — including gender-disaggregated information — has always been a challenging endeavor. But based on the data we do have, it’s clear that more than four decades of violent conflict have left a considerable portion of the Afghan population grappling with various forms of disabilities, both war-related and otherwise. And the pervasive lack of protective mechanisms, social awareness and empathy surrounding disability continue to pose formidable challenges for individuals with disabilities, with women being disproportionately affected.

Type: Analysis

Gender Equality Brings Peace Between States

• Conferences
• Panel Discussions
• Speaker Events

Mounting evidence shows that women’s involvement not only speeds peace negotiations, it also leads to peaceful relations between states, according to a group of gender experts and peacemakers speaking at IPI on March 12th.

Discussing “Gender Equality and Peaceful Societies: From Evidence to Action,” a policy forum co-hosted by IPI and the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the UN and taking place on the sidelines of the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at UN headquarters, the panelists explained the nature of the link between women’s empowerment and peacemaking.

“There can be no sustainable peace without the participation of women in global regional and national peace and political processes,” said Thailand’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Virachai Plasai, in opening remarks. “But what really is the evidence that underlies that connection, and how can we use that evidence to inform our action?”

Academics as well as practitioners are increasingly relying on research and data to answer that question. Valerie Hudson, a professor at Texas A&M University and a co-author of Sex and World Peace , said gender equality affects state security in a large number of ways.

Whether it’s food security, health, demographics, or economic prosperity, the answer lies in how women are treated, she argued. “[There is] plenty of evidence that the overall general health of a nation is dependent upon the status and treatment of women,” she said, underscoring the importance of evidence in making a convincing case for women’s empowerment.

Ms. Hudson, who is also the founder of the WomenStats database, a project that studies the relationship between the security of women and the security of states, said data gathering is essential, but at times difficult. “We want to get the data and present it in graphic forms so that we can see what the disconnect is between high-level statements and what happens on the ground,” she said.

The proliferation of conflicts around the world today points to the dangers of marginalizing women in peacebuilding, some of the panelists noted. The African Union’s Special Envoy for Women, Bineta Diop, said women have long been excluded from peace negotiations, while evidence from the ground suggests that when women are included in peace processes, conflicts are less likely to relapse—a finding also reached by an ongoing IPI research project on the topic.

Citing examples from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic, Ms. Diop said the role of women has been crucial in providing a momentum for peace. “[In South Sudan,] the only group who are reconciling right now are the women,” she said. “And in the Central African Republic, the Muslim and Christian women are the only ones talking, saying that they want to reconcile,” she continued. “They always give hope [and] what they need is… support.”

However, including women in peace negotiations is not always simple, the panelists noted. There are several barriers standing in the way of full inclusion for women, said Irene Santiago, a former negotiator with the Philippine government and now the leader of the Women Seriously movement. She said these barriers not only make inclusion challenging; they also make it difficult for women to be seen as credible negotiators.

“How do you get in, how do you stay in, but also how do they take you seriously?” she asked. Recalling her own difficulty being accepted as a peace negotiator, she said it takes a great deal of courage to confront existing conventions and barriers. “And where does that audacity come from? That audacity comes from knowing you have women beside you and behind you,” she said.

Once women are let in, the key is to maintain credibility by showing expertise, she said. “I learned that I was going to be marginalized if I was going to be seen as a gender expert, because gender is seen as a soft issue—they are going to tune you out,” she recalled. Instead, she decided to gain expertise in a specific area, which in her case were cease-fires. That made her valuable in the eyes of the other negotiators.

Another part of breaking down gender barriers involves working on men’s perception of the issue, the panelists said. IPI Senior Adviser Youssef Mahmoud, a native of Tunisia, said that in the Middle East, a region often seen as traditionally patriarchal, things may be moving in the right direction. He pointed to Algeria and Morocco, where the governments have created programs to train women imams , teaching and interpreting the Quran. And he noted how Algeria is now asking women to support its de-radicalization efforts.

“Men have realized that there is no change without women,” said Mr. Mahmoud, who is also a member of the UN-appointed High-Level Panel on Peace Operations. “They are realizing that a world where 51 percent [of the population] are ignored is a dangerous world, for everyone.”

IPI Research Fellow and Editor Marie O’Reilly moderated the conversation.

Download the meeting brief

Related News Coverage: “Four Ways Women Bring Lasting Peace to the Table,” Inter Press Service, March 25, 2015

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• Strategy and Partnerships
• Gender, Peace and Security

"Women are critically important peacebuilders and I am strongly committed to their inclusion in all peacebuilding processes." - UN Secretary-General António Guterres

Women, Natural Resources and Peacebuilding

The report  Women and Natural Resources: Unlocking the Peacebuilding Potential  urges governments and the international community to invest in the political and economic engagement of women in natural resource management and to end the entrenched discrimination that women face in accessing, owning and using critical natural resources in sustainable and productive ways. 

Published jointly by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equity and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), this report draws on field research from over 20 different countries and some 200 academic sources and institutions.

• Women and Natural Resources:  Unlocking the Peacebuilding Potential

Thematic Review on Gender and Peacebuilding

The UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) commissioned this Independent Thematic Review on Gender to contribute to knowledge building and operational learning about peacebuilding practices. It is in an independent review and as such the analysis does not necessarily reflect the views of PBSO or any of the UN entities. The author accepts full and final responsibility for the report.

The Terms of Reference for the Review set out two main areas of work (Annex I). The first is an external focus to scope out in the international domain the emerging good practices in implementing what is increasingly termed ‘gender- responsive peacebuilding’. The second area focuses on the PBSO itself and the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) and its efforts and potential to promote and enhance the implementation of gender-responsive peacebuilding programmes through targeted and mainstreaming approaches.

• Independent Thematic Review on Gender and Peacebuilding

Women and Peacebuilding

Strengthening women’s participation in peacebuilding is high on the agenda of the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO). As outlined in the Secretary-General’s report on  Women’s participation in peacebuilding  women are crucial partners in shoring up three pillars of lasting peace: economic recovery, social cohesion and political legitimacy. PBSO together with UN Women are supporting the implementation of a seven-point Action Plan, the commitment of the United Nations to improve women’s situations in post-conflict countries.

PBSO co-organized with UN Women a workshop on integrating a gender perspective into Post-Disaster and Post-Conflict Needs Assessments to ensure that women’s needs and a gender perspective are integrated into all post-disaster and post-conflict planning documents from early on.

• Report of the Secretary-General on Women’s Participation in Peacebuilding - 7 Point Action Plan
• Peacebuilding Commission’s Gender Strategy

The Peacebuilding Commission (PBC)  has adopted a two-step process for the development of its Gender Strategy. The first phase was aimed at capturing existing knowledge, practices and lessons learned and to scale up successful experiences in countries on the PBC’s agenda. A desk review of all substantive PBC documentation, , as well as the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) Peacebuilding Priority Plans (PPPs) was conducted by the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) and UN Women with the purpose of analyzing language on women and gender and to assess the extent to which gender was mainstreamed at the global and country level.

Moreover, informal expert-level interviews were conducted with the six country chairs and representatives of the countries on the agenda. The findings were documented in the “Light Review of PBC’s Engagement on Gender to Date.” The second phase includes the development of a full-fledged Strategy, informed by the country-based knowledge and analysis undertaken in phase 1 and based on the concept of sustaining peace.

The PBC Gender Strategy defines a series of priority areas of strategic action for PBC’s gender-responsive engagement at the country, regional and global levels, as well as key messages that the PBC should systematically promote. Consultations on the draft Strategy were held at the global level as well as in country, with Member States of the PBC, civil society partners, UN missions and country teams.

Peacebuilding Fund's Gender and Youth Promotion Initiative

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Is AI-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence the Next Pandemic?

Rangita de silva de alwis and elodie vialle.

The rise of deep fakes and other AI-generated misinformation presents a direct threat to women’s freedom.

The rise of gender-based online violence amounts to a direct attack on women’s freedom of expression around the world, especially the freedom of women journalists and human rights defenders. The consequences? They include de-platforming women’s voices, undermining equal access to the digital public space, and creating a chilling effect on democratic deliberations with disproportionate impact on women journalists and women human rights defenders.

This year, with over 64 elections globally, it has never been so easy to produce false videos, audio, and text through content that deep-learning AI has generated and synthesized. During the last Slovak parliamentary election campaign, for example, deepfakes were used for the first time, spreading a fake video featuring journalist Monika Tódová and party chairman Michal Šimečka . Despite being fabricated, the video still reached thousands of social media users just two days before the election. This use of artificial intelligence technology to discredit a journalist and undermine election integrity—the first such instance in the European Union—offered a worrying example of the future use of so-called deepfakes.

If deepfakes pose a direct threat to information integrity, they also undermine women’s voices. The virality of deepfake images of Taylor Swift, seen over 45 million times on social media last January, revealed the potentially huge impact of new technology on women’s online safety and integrity. One study has found that 98 percent of deepfake videos online are pornographic and that 99 percent of those targeted are women or girls.

In addition, 73 percent of women journalists have faced online harassment, according to a 2020 UNESCO report . Among those targeted, 20 percent experienced online attacks in direct connection with their online harassment. Gender-based disinformation is a key component of these attacks aimed at discrediting these journalists, and such content often goes viral. MIT researchers concluded that “falsehood diffuses significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth, in all categories of information, and in many cases by an order of magnitude.” They found specifically that falsehoods travels six times faster than truths.

Online gender-based violence is the flip side of digital authoritarianism. Indeed, one of the authors of this essay, an expert on the treaty body to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), has argued elsewhere that digitized violence is the “newest category of gender-based violence” and has called upon governments to address coded gender violence, especially in regard to the safety of women human rights defenders and women journalists, including online journalists.  This rise of online gender-based violence is deeply intertwined with the rise of digital authoritarianism. Authoritarian anti-democratic states can employ anti-feminist narratives and policy measures to justify the oppression of marginalized groups.

In the Philippines, for example, Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa has decried online harassment as “ death by a thousand cuts,” stating that nothing had prepared her for the dehumanizing storm of gendered online violence directed at her over a half a decade. At one point, Ressa received more than 90 hate messages per hour on Facebook. Over the last few years, Ressa has focused on the responsibility of social media platforms, which monetize hate speech and misogyny, as documented by She Persisted .

In the face of an explosion of online violence against women, especially in the context of litigation, justice departments, including the U.S. Department of Justice need to address the panoply of digital attacks, including doxing, deepfakes, and other forms of misogynistic abuse that create intimidating tactics in the process of a fair trial.

In the last 10 years, there has been a shift toward better protections for victims of non-consensual pornography. When this problem first arose, those targeted had no legal protections.

So far, legislation has been focused on AI or gender. But it should also explore interconnections between both. The EU AI Act , for example, is the first global AI regulation, while the EU has also separately developed new rules to combat gender-based violence, criminalizing physical violence, as well as psychological, economic and sexual violence against women across the EU, both offline and online. These rules are an important part of a global gender equality strategy approach . But they should also be combined with legislation aimed specifically at AI-created abuses as well.

Tech companies must comply with international human rights standards. In a recent virtual summit on deepfake abuse, civil society organizations strategized responses, starting with the need to agree on a definition of deepfakes. One solution, for instance, would be to consider deepfakes as a violation of consent and to require developers to remove deepfake content from their data training. Search engines and AI developers could also put resources into mitigating the ability for users to access and distribute such content.

The Global Network Initiative , a stakeholder group convening civil society organizations and private tech companies, including Meta and Microsoft, has called for companies to respect and promote freedom of expression and comply with internationally recognized human rights, including the rights set out in the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Furthermore, the Initiative has stated that the scope of article 19(3) of the ICCPR must be read within the context of further interpretations issued by international human rights bodies, including the Human Rights Committee and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression.

But the ICCPR alone is not enough to challenge a gendered form of violence online. There is a need to enforce the women’s rights convention—the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women —together with the ICCPR. Protecting tech whistleblowers is another needed step toward addressing these digital attacks and holding big tech accountable, as stated by the Signals Network .

Online platforms also need to build AI resilience. Mitigating gender-based violence from the outset and implementing safety by design are necessary tools to build digital resilience. PEN America has developed concrete recommendations for social media platforms to mitigate the impact of online abuse without undermining freedom of expression.

Civil society organizations also recommend labeling deepfakes and red-teaming before launching any product. Reporters Without Borders calls on social media platforms to hire more information professionals to supervise during the training phase of large language models. Content generated by large language models in the training phase must be verified by media and information professionals instead of simply being evaluated on the basis of its plausibility. Reinforcement learning through human reviewers who can rate a language model’s output for accuracy, toxicity, or other attributes is another important mitigation tool.

Another solution is to implement crisis mechanisms at scale for journalists and human rights defenders. Today, when journalists and human rights defenders face severe online abuse, they often try to escalate their cases on social media platforms or with their employers or civil society organizations. But these escalation channels rely on personal connections, and recent tech platform staff turnover and reorganization make them unpredictable. Civil society organizations that support women’s rights need more reliable, efficient, timely, and structured escalation channels. Indeed, many of those organizations petitioned the UN for such reforms.

For women journalists, building digital awareness is a priority. Online content from creators such as the Digital Dada Podcast , which raises awareness on digital literacy and gender based violence in Kenya and across East Africa, should be scaled up among the community of journalists worldwide. Journalists could implement training, including on open-source intelligence methods and other specific measures to detect deepfakes or make photos harder to process for deepfake creation. For example, learning how to add noise to images or use filters that make slight edits can also prevent the use of deepfakes.

At the end of the day, policymakers need to raise awareness about the linkages between anti-feminism, democratic backsliding, and digital-authoritarianism. New developments in domestic and international norms must take into consideration these intertwined threats.

Rangita de Silva de Alwis is a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and an elected expert on the treaty body to the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) .  

Elodie Vialle is a Senior Advisor to PEN America and a journalist working at the intersection of journalism, technology, and human rights.

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• International
• Foreign affairs

Syria: accountability, transitional justice and gender equality projects 2024 to 2025, call for proposals

• Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
• UK Integrated Security Fund

Published 9 May 2024

© Crown copyright 2024

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected] .

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syria-accountability-transitional-justice-and-gender-equality-projects-2024-to-2025-call-for-proposals/syria-accountability-transitional-justice-and-gender-equality-projects-2024-to-2025-call-for-proposals

The UK Government seeks to support greater peace and stability in Syria by helping to create the conditions in which any future peaceful solution can be better implemented within the framework of UNSCR 2254.

We believe the best way to achieve this is by laying the foundations for sustainable peace and addressing the deepening divisions within Syrian communities thereby reducing the reach of extremist groups.

We aim to do this by focusing on an inclusive political process that is Syrian-led and Syrian-focused, which recognises that there is no peace without accountability. The UK is committed to highlighting the appalling violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Syria, and to pursuing accountability for the most serious crimes.

Support to women’s empowerment remains central to our efforts in Syria, with Syria continuing to be a priority country for the UK’s National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security .

UK Integrated Security Fund (UKISF) Syria aims

The UK Integrated Security Fund is a cross-government fund that takes an integrated, agile, catalytic, and high-risk approach to find solutions to the most complex national security challenges outlined in the Integrated Review Refresh 2023 (IRR).

In Syria, the ISF focuses on civilian protection, documentation of and accountability for human rights violations, transitional justice, and gender equality and social inclusion.

Objectives of proposed projects

This call is for project proposals that support conflict sensitive, innovative, creative and localised approaches to the thematic priorities as set out below. These projects should not focus on humanitarian or development interventions (which are catered for through our humanitarian assistance programme).

The projects should align with the UK’s strategic objectives and policy in Syria [footnote 1] . The overall objective of the submitted project proposals should fall under one or more of our thematic priorities. Project proposals with gender equality and social inclusion as their main objectives are encouraged (GESI E/ GEM 2):

• local-facing, Syrian-led transitional Justice and accountability and alternative forms of justice focusing on survivors/ victims of human rights violations and their families
• accountability to upholding the rights-based international system, including holding the regime accountable to violations of human rights, including tackling the illegal trade of captagon and its wider impact in Syria
• gender equality, social inclusion, and human rights as standalone interventions, focusing on gender and ethnic minorities, and disability.  This is in line with the strategic objectives in the Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan, the UK’s Shared Approach to Gender in Syria, and the Disability, Inclusion, and Rights Strategy, and the Women and Girls Strategy

We are looking at new, creative, innovative and catalytic ideas to approach and mitigate the challenges faced by Syrians. Interventions must be informed and designed by Syrian experiences and Syrian voices. They can be standalone projects or those that supplement the work of already ongoing work by different actor , including international fora that are already working in the accountability space for Syria.

Projects can be delivered by a single implementer or a consortium of local and international NGOs or other civil society actors. Potential partners must have demonstrated experience and expertise in working in or on Syria. Projects can cover the Whole of Syria (WoS), or focus on part of parts of Syria, such as Northeast Syria (NES), Northwest Syria (NWS), Regime Controlled Areas (RCA) and the diaspora.

Project activities can be implemented inside and outside Syria depending on the proposed interventions.

In the case of a consortium, one organisation shall serve as the lead project implementer for all of the components, ensuring achievement of project outcomes and serving as a contact point for the ISF Syria team throughout the entire duration of the project.

Downstream partners must have clear division of tasks and lead on individual project components. The lead implementer must ensure downstream partners are able to deliver and have a strong understanding of value for money (VFM), fraud, safeguarding and conflict sensitivity.

Syrian-led organisations are encouraged to apply.

Project proposals must be clear and concise, supported by a clear theory of change (ToC), and achievable and measurable outcomes and outputs summarised in a logframe. In line with adaptive programming, the proposal should remain flexible and open to change, based on needs and developments on the ground.

All projects will have to align with UK financial year timeframe (1 April to 31 March), submitted projects should be designed for an end date of 31 March 2025. Sustainability plan should be clearly highlighted, particularly for interventions that are designed for multi-year implementation.

The indicative annual budget for this call for project proposals is £400,000 per grant as a minimum yearly budget, and £800,000 as a maximum. These figures include Official Development Assistance (ODA) and non-ODA funding [footnote 2] .

Budgets must be in the form of an activity based budget (ABB), with specified costs in GBP. A template is attached.

You should budget for an independent external project audit at the end of the financial year.

Administrative costs (project management and finance rates, utilities, internal communications, bank charges) must not exceed 10% of the total project budget. This budget shall not be used to cover research, the purchase of IT or other equipment, unless prior written approval by the ISF team.

By the end of December of each financial year, 80% of the annual budget must be spent. Accordingly, project design and delivery of activities should be aligned with these targets. The budget should be detailed and specified along different expense lines.

The proposals that are selected will receive an accountable grant. This is not a commercial contract. The implementer cannot make or claim a financial profit from this project.

Only selected projects will receive funding, and only after passing a comprehensive due diligence assessment.

As part of due diligence in the selection process, ISF Syria reserves the right to seek references from other partners on potential grantees.

The duration for the implementation of this project is financial year (FY) 2024 to 2025 which starts on 1 April 2024 and ends on 31 March 2025.

While multi-year funding cannot be guaranteed, proposals can provide an indicative plan for up to 3 consecutive years of programming. However, budgets will only be approved on yearly basis, subject to availability of funds and satisfaction of project delivery. ISF cannot guarantee continued funding beyond the initial FY in which a  grant is allocated.

Submitting applications

Applicants for the grant should fill in the project proposal form in English and include a breakdown of project costs in the Activity Based Budget template by 3 June 2024 at 12 noon Beirut time. Proposals submitted in other formats will not be considered.

The proposals should also include:

• logical framework (logframe)
• theory of Change (narrative and in a diagram form)
• 1 page summary (font 12) of the proposed intervention, activities and main results
• list of NGOs/downstream partners in the consortium, indicating the lead NGO

Proposals should be emailed to ISF Syria at: [email protected] indicating ‘ISF Syria Call for Proposals 2024 - name of the lead organisation’ in the subject field.

Evaluation criteria

Successful applications must demonstrate strong strategic relevance to the areas of project focus and have a clear focus on delivering change and sustainability.

Gender equality and social inclusion mainstreaming throughout the proposed interventions, gender and conflict sensitivity

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• methodology and approach; a clear, effective, and conflict and gender sensitive methodology to deliver interventions, including ability to produce analytical research on security and conflict dynamics, and horizon scanning for any context change and impact on interventions
• coherent and concise theory of change, supported by a robust monitoring, evaluation, and learning approach, ability to manage risks in a conflict zone
• integration of innovative activities and intervention into the proposal, demonstration of a flexible approach to implementation and ability to respond to a rapidly changing context
• activity based budget and value for money
• staff expertise and experience in the thematic area
• inclusion of a strong Syrian role in the design and implementation of the intervention based on consultations with relevant target audiences. In case of a consortium: demonstration of effective relationships with Syrian civil society organisations
• gender, social inclusion, and disability are mainstreamed clearly throughout the interventions, and align with the OECD and UK’s Gender Equality Marker [footnote 3]

The need for accountability in Syria: Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon’s speech ; Thirteenth anniversary of the Syrian Uprising: joint statement ; To achieve sustainable peace in Syria, the Assad regime must engage in the political process: UK statement at the UN Security Council ; UN Human Rights Council 55: UK Statement on Syria resolution ; A record 16.7 million Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance: UK statement at the UN Security Council   ↩

Official development assistance (ODA) - OECD   ↩

UNSDG, Gender Equality Marker - Guidance Note   ↩

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Advancing social justice, promoting decent work ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations

Migrated Content

• Equality of opportunity and treatment in employment
• Equal remuneration for work of equal value
• Equal access to safe and healthy working environments and to social security
• Equality in association and collective bargaining
• Equality in obtaining meaningful career development
• A balance between work and home life that is fair to both women and men
• Equal participation in decision-making at all levels

Key resources

Resource guide on gender equality in the world of work

Indigenous women entrepreneurs in Papua GET Ahead

Gender dimensions of agricultural and rural employment: Differentiated pathways out of poverty

Find out more fom:

• Bureau for Gender Equality (GENDER)

Norms and Standards

• Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100)
• Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981
• Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183)
• Further relevant instruments