Post-Conflict Reconstruction

Citation:

Kreft, Anne-Kathrin. 2017. “The Gender Mainstreaming Gap: Security Council Resolution 1325 and UN Peacekeeping Mandates.” International Peacekeeping (24) 1: 132–58.

Author: Anne-Kathrin Kreft

Abstract:

In response to women’s frequent marginalization in conflict settings, the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in 2000. It called for including a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations and for enhancing women’s participation in all aspects of postconflict reconstruction. This article contributes to the empirical literature on the implementation of UNSCR 1325, examining the extent of gender mainstreaming in UN peacekeeping mandates. Situated in a theoretical framework of gradual norm cascades, it hypothesizes that UNSCR 1325 has increased gender content in mandates, but selectively so. Statistical analyses of an original dataset covering all 71 UN peacekeeping operations from 1948 until 2014 reveal that gender-mainstreamed mandates are more likely in conflicts with high levels of sexual violence. In designing gendered peacekeeping mandates, actors thus appear to be responsive to cues about the salience of a very visible, albeit narrow, gender issue emanating from the respective conflict rather than being guided by the universalist norms of women’s participation entrenched in UNSCR 1325.

Topics: Gender Mainstreaming, Conflict, International Organizations, Peacekeeping, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, Sexual Violence

Year: 2017

Citation:

Goetz, Anne Marie, and Rob Jenkins. 2016. "Agency and Accountability: Promoting Women's Participation in Peacebuilding." Feminist Economics 22 (1): 211-36.

Authors: Anne Marie Goetz, Rob Jenkins

Abstract:

This contribution reviews international policy and practices to engage women in formal peace talks, post-conflict elections, and economic recovery, and finds a combination of factors contributing to poor performance in promoting women's agency. The fact that the privileged category for post-conflict decisions are those groups capable of acting as “spoilers” has tended to exclude women's groups from the categories considered most important to involve in decision making. Exacerbating this exclusion is the reluctance of international decision makers to encourage affirmative action measures in these contexts. This carries through to the minimal-state approach to economic recovery efforts. Provisions are needed to foster and invite women's voice in decision making, and build more active-state approaches to women's livelihood recovery. 

Keywords: affirmative action, agency, community, development, discrimination, interdisciplinary

Topics: Economies, Governance, Elections, Post-Conflict Governance, Livelihoods, Peacebuilding, Peace Processes, Political Participation, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction

Year: 2016

Citation:

Giraldo, Saridalia. 2012. “Demobilized Women Combatants: Lessons from Colombia.” Paper presented at the Thinking Gender Conference, UCLA Center for the Study of Women, Los Angeles, February 3.

Author: Saridalia Giraldo

Abstract:

In Colombia, a country with one of the longest civil wars in the world, women combatants return to civil society in the midst of ongoing tension. In this transition, women suffer triple difficulties: the reaction of their home communities; hostility from armed illegal groups still engaged in conflict, and disregarding from the government itself. What accounts for these obstacles? First, in a patriarchal society such as Colombia, demobilized women face the denigration of their community which views women’s participation in armed conflict as an infringement on traditional female roles. Second, in the midst of continued conflict, demobilized women are also in danger of being rerecruited, tortured, killed or displaced from their home towns by their former peers in combat who perceive them as traitors, or by active criminal groups who consider them as enemies. Third, public policy designed to demobilize and reintegrate combatants gives little attention to women´s special needs as victims of gender violence. Recognizing that women and their needs remain invisible, this paper proposes that formal and informal post-conflict measures in Colombia must be gendersensitized in order to effectively reintegrate women and men into civilian life.
 

Keywords: women combatants, demobilization, reintegration, DDR, peace-building, Colombia, civil war, guerrillas, FARC, sexual violence

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Female Combatants, DDR, Gender, Gender Roles, Gender-Based Violence, Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Sexual Violence, Violence, Weapons /Arms Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2012

Citation:

Authors: Helen Basini, Caitlin Ryan

Abstract:

National Action Plans (NAPs) have been hailed as the preferential mode of implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 at a national level. In recent years, member states, especially post-conflict member states, have been heeding the calls of the United Nations to develop their own National Action Plans. However, there has been limited assessment of whether or not National Action Plans are beneficial to women in post-conflict states. Using evidence from field research in Liberia and Sierra Leone, this article argues that, despite the intent to increase national ownership of 1325 in post-conflict states, National Action Plans are ineffective at creating meaningful local ownership because they are driven by a bureaucratic approach to peacebuilding. Furthermore, implementation of National Action Plans in post-conflict states is hampered by a variety of factors, such as lack of capacity and lack of political will. Finally, we conclude that National Action Plans also do a disservice to the hard work and dedication of local women’s organisations.

Keywords: Gender, Liberia, National Action Plans, peace, post-conflict, security, Sierra Leone, UNSCR 1325, women

Topics: Gender, Women, Conflict, Governance, Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325 Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia, Sierra Leone

Year: 2016

Citation:

Shepherd, Laura J. 2011. “Sex, Security and Superhero(in)Es: From 1325 to 1820 and Beyond.” International Feminist Journal of Politics 13 (4): 504–21.

Author: Laura Shepherd

Abstract:

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 was adopted in October 2000 with a view to ensuring that all aspects of conflict management, post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding be undertaken with a sensitivity towards gender as an axis of exclusion. In this paper, I do not dwell on the successes and shortcomings of UNSCR 1325 for long, instead using a discussion of the Resolution as a platform for analysis of sub- sequent Resolutions, including UNSCRs 1820 (2008), 1882 (2009), 1888 (2009) and 1889 (2009). This last relates specifically to the participation of women in peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction and is the most recent pronouncement of the Security Council on the issue of ‘women and peace and security’. Through this analysis, I draw attention to the expectations of and pressures on (some) women in the arena of peace and security, which can only be alleviated through discursive and material change in attitudes towards equality and empowerment. I argue that the Council is beginning to recognize – and simultaneously to constitute – (some/most) women as agential subjects and suggest that the fragmented and mutable representations of women in Council resolutions offer a unique opportunity for critical engagement with what ‘women’ might be, do or want in the field of gender and security.

Keywords: Resolution 1325, peacebuilding, participation, Gender, security

Topics: Armed Conflict, Conflict Prevention, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gender Mainstreaming, International Organizations, Peacebuilding, Political Participation, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Security, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325, UNSCR 1820, UNSCR 1888, UNSCR 1889, Security Sector Reform

Year: 2011

Citation:

Macintyre, Stuart. 2013. “Women’s Leadership in War and Reconstruction.” Labour History, no. 104, 65-80. 

Author: Stuart Macintyre

Abstract:

Topics: Economies, Economic Inequality, Gender, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Gender Equity, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Oceania Countries: Australia

Year: 2013

Citation:

True, Jacqui. 2012. “Rebuilding With or Without Women?: Gendered Violence in Postconflict Peace and Reconstruction” In The Political Economy of Violence Against Women. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Author: Jacqui True

Abstract:

Chapter 8 examines the spike of sexual and gender-based violence in postconflict and peace-building environments. Despite recent UN Security Council resolutions, the invisibility of this violence against women during and after conflict marginalizes women in postconflict state-building and economic reconstruction processes. This economic and political marginalization of women exacerbates violence after conflict and hinders these peace-building efforts. The first part of the chapter applies the political economy approach of the book to reveal how gendered peacekeeping economies exacerbate violence against women. It critiques the prioritization of law and order over social and economic opportunities. The second part examines the role of women in peace-building decision making and economic reconstruction in places as diverse as East Timor; Aceh, Indonesia; Mindanao province in the Philippines; Iraq; Afghanistan; Colombia; Guatemala; the Congo; and Darfur. The chapter concludes by critically assessing two approaches to postconflict prevention of violence against women: the “good practice” of placing women peacekeepers in postconflict zones and the role of reparations in ensuring women's equal access to postconflict development.

Keywords: post conflict, peacekeeping economies, reparations, peacebuilding, economic reconstruction

Topics: Armed Conflict, Development, Economies, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Peacebuilding, Peacekeeping, Peace Processes, Political Economies, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, Violence Regions: Africa, MENA, Central Africa, East Africa, Americas, Central America, South America, Asia, Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania Countries: Afghanistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Indonesia, Iraq, Philippines, Sudan, Timor-Leste

Year: 2012

Citation:

Chandrasekhar, S., Tesfayi Gebreselassie, and Anuja Jayaraman. 2011. “Maternal Health Care Seeking Behavior in a Post-Conflict HIPC: The Case of Rwanda” Population Research and Policy Review 30 (1):25-41

Authors: S. Chandrasekhar, Tesfayi Gebreselassie, Anuja Jayaraman

Abstract:

Rwanda is one of nine post-conflict heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) of the world. There was a worsening of health indicators since the early nineties on account of conflict. In light of this, we examine factors affecting maternal health care seeking behavior in Rwanda using three rounds of Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS) data (1992, 2000, and 2005). We find that progress towards increasing the share of assisted deliveries has been slow. There has been no significant increase in the proportion of women seeking antenatal care. This could partially explain why a large proportion of women continue to deliver at home without professional assistance. Further, women who gave birth in the 5 years preceding the 2000 RDHS are less likely to deliver in a health facility than those who gave birth in the 5 years preceding the 1992 RDHS. We do not find such a result for the year 2005. We also find that women are more likely to deliver at home with professional assistance in 2000 and 2005 compared to 1992.

Keywords: Rwanda, maternal health, place of delivery, conflict

Topics: Development, Poverty, Women, Health, Reproductive Health, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Rwanda

Year: 2011

Citation:

Author: Melanie Hoewer

Abstract:

Violence against women occurs in peacetime, intensifies during wartime, and continues in the aftermath of armed conflict. Women sometimes make gains during conflict and their efforts to break the pattern of violence have led to a greater awareness of gender-based violence. However, a lack of acknowledgement of transformations in gender identity at the macro-level during peace processes may create conflict in intimate partnerships. This study brings to light the complexity of changes occurring during peace processes in a multi-level analysis of women’s perceptions and positioning towards the state, their community, and their intimate partnership. This comparative analysis of fifty-seven female activists’ narratives from Chiapas and Northern Ireland demonstrates how a one-dimensional peace process (Northern Ireland) can limit the space for addressing women’s concerns, while peace processes that transcend the ethno- national dimension of conflict (Chiapas) can open a dialogue on issues of contention in male-female relationships.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, National Liberation Wars, Combatants, Domestic Violence, Ethnicity, Gender, Women, Men, Gender Roles, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Hierarchies, Gender Equality/Inequality, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Paramilitaries, Non-State Armed Groups, Peacebuilding, Peace Processes, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Violence Regions: Americas, North America, Europe, Northern Europe Countries: Mexico, United Kingdom

Year: 2013

Citation:

Gervaid, Myriam, Eliane Ubalijoro, and Euthalie Nyirbega. 2009. “Girlhood in a Post-Conflict Situation: The Case of Rwanda” Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity 79:13-23

Authors: Myriam Gervaid, Eliane Ubalijoro, Euthalie Nyirbega

Abstract:

Girls in Rwanda have been confronted with unique challenges since the 1994 genocide. This study aims to analyse their everyday experiences, given the repercussions the genocide has had on their lives and the sociocultural pressures they face. Using a comprehensive cross-sectoral approach we examine their positions and roles through four 'lenses': security and protection, economic security, access to basic services, and participation and empowerment. This gender analysis of girlhood in a post-conflict environment reveals that girls must contend with a wide-ranging and interconnected set of gender biases and highlights the fact that they are relatively 'invisible' in programmes for women or youth, even though they play a major role in the rebuilding of peaceful communities. We conclude that post-conflict programmes would benefit from consulting with girls and young women to detect disparities in access to welfare services and resources and help shape policies and programmes that address their interests.

Keywords: girls, Gender, youth, post-conflict situation, empowerment

Topics: Age, Youth, Girls, Genocide, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Peacebuilding, Political Participation, Human Security Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Rwanda

Year: 2009