Gender-Sensitivity and Gender-Blindness in Conflict Early Warning Systems – with a Case Study on the Niger Delta Region (Nigeria)

Since the World Conference on Women in 1995 the issue women and violent conflict isone major focal point of the international women's movement and also academicresearch. In the Beijing Platform of Action it is stated that women's „full involvement in allefforts for the prevention and resolution of conflicts … (is) essential for the maintenanceand promotion of peace and security” (Beijing Platform of Action 1995: E, 134). In 2000,after intense lobbying by women‘s networks and non-governmental organizations, theUnited Nations Security Council adopted the Resolution 1325 on women, peace andsecurity.2The member countries are called to integrate a gender perspective in allefforts for the prevention and resolution of conflicts (UN Security Council 2000). In twoadditional resolutions – 1820 and 1888 – the Security Council particularly condemnedrape and sexual violence against women (UN Security Council 2008, 2009). Theadoption of the Resolution 1325 is generally regarded as a "breakthrough".Subsequently, international organizations such as the Organization for Security andCooperation in Europe (OSCE) also adopted resolutions stressing that women and menmight be differently affected by conflict and crisis and also that women can makerelevant contributions to peace-building (OSCE 2005, 2009; also see EuropeanParliament 2000).