Women, Peace and Security Resources: Reconstruction

WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY RESOURCES: RECONSTRUCTION

Civil Society and NGO Reports, Papers and Statements | UN Documents | Government Statements and Reports | Books, Journals and Articles

UNIFEM WOMEN, WAR AND PEACE WEB PORTAL: RECONSTRUCTION

Civil Society and NGO Reports, Papers and Statements

Gender Training & Fragile States: What Works?
Cindy Hanson and Kate Mcinturff, Ph.D
PEACEBUILD- Gender & Peacebuilding Working Group, Oxfam Canada, 2008
The Gender and Peacebuilding Working Group of Peacebuild and Oxfam Canada held a two-day workshop in Ottawa in January 2008, to examine the state of gender training in the context of security and fragile states. The participants represented staff from national and international machineries and non-governmental organizations, as well as consultants. The interactive workshop sessions identified a number of key priorities for taking the field forward. In light of the United Nations Security Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, these priorities provide direction for policy, guidelines, methodology and materials in this area.

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An Approach to the Kosovo Post-War Rehabilitation Process from a Gender Perspective
School for a Culture of Peace , Autonoma University of Barcelona, 2008
The following report looks at the post-war rehabilitation process in Kosovo paying particular attention to its gender dimension. More specifically the report reflects on the international intervention and analyses the role of women in promoting gender equality in post war Kosovo and their objective of engendering the status negotiations.

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Peace, Security and Development Update: Women in Security
Conciliation Resources, March 2008
This report looks at the role of women in peace, security and development in Sierra Leone. This includes a detailed look at the country’s security sector, including the participation of women in security policy formation at the national level and security policy implementation at the community level.

To view the report, please click HERE

Stronger Women, Stronger Nations: 2008 Iraq Report
Women for Women International. March 2008
This report combines grassroots access and experience with international political expertise amplify women’s voices in the ongoing discussions about Iraq’s future. It is the result partnership between Women for Women International and the Brookings Institution.

To view the full report, please click HERE

ENHANCING SECURITY AND THE RULE OF LAW: How can Gender be better integrated into the PRIORITIES of the UN Peacebuilding Commission?
International Alert, NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security
A summary highlighting key themes and recommendations made during the roundtable on “Enhancing the Rule of Law: How Gender Can be Better Integrated into the Priorities of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission” initiated by International Alert and the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security in June 2007. Highlights the recommendations made by representatives from Burundian and Sierra Leonean civil society.

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The Gender Dimensions of Post-Conflict Reconstruction: The World Bank Track Record
Elaine Zuckerman and Suzanna Dennis with Marcia E. Greenberg, Gender Action, June 2007
This new report evaluates World Bank investments in Post-Conflict Reconstruction (PCR) situations including a sample of large Bank PCR development loans and small Post-Conflict Fund grants. Our findings demonstrate the limited extent to which the world’s largest public development institution meets its own promised objective to integrate gender into all its investments.

For the full report, please click HERE

The Role of Women in Stabilisation and Reconstruction
C. Pampell Conaway, United States Institute of Peace, August 2006
It is widely recognised that women and young people are primary victims of conflict, but as the survivors of violent conflict, women also bear the burden of reconstruction. A growing body of research has shown that capitalising on the activities of women peace-builders not only advances women's rights, but leads to more effective programs and, ultimately, to a more sustainable peace. This report argues that it is essential for the U.S. government to institutionalise an ongoing, at-the-ready capability to ensure women's involvement in post-conflict peace-building and reconstruction operations.

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Beyond Victimhood: Women’s Peacebuilding in Sudan, Congo and Uganda
International Crisis Group - Africa Report, 28 June 2006
Peacebuilding cannot succeed if half the population is excluded from the process. Crisis Group’s research in Sudan, Congo (DRC) and Uganda suggests that peace agreements, post-conflict reconstruction, and governance do better when women are involved. Women make a difference, in part because they adopt a more inclusive approach toward security and address key social and economic issues that would otherwise be ignored. But in all three countries, as different as each is, they remain marginalised in formal processes and under-represented in the security sector as a whole. Governments and the international community must do much more to support women peace activists.

For the full report, please click HERE

Women Building Peace: Sharing Know-How. Assessing Impact: Planning for Miracles
Judy El Bushra with Ancil Adrian-Paul and Maria Olson, International Alert, June 2005
The issue of impact measurement in conflict transformation and peacebuilding work has gained a higher profile in the last few years as a result of several research and development initiatives. These initiatives have not addressed the issue of gendered impacts in any depth, nor have they reflected the specific circumstances of women's organisations engaged in peacebuilding. This report, based on a workshop on assessing impact, seeks to broaden the scope of peace and conflict impact monitoring by highlighting issues of concern to women, and by showing how these issues may enrich the field. It distils some of the experience and thinking of women's organisations engaged in peacebuilding on how - and why - they carry out impact assessment.

Cutting Edge Pack on Gender and Armed Conflict
Amani El Jack, Emma Bell and Lata Narayanaswamy, BRIDGE (development - gender), Institute of Development Studies, August 2003

Gender Equity and Peacebuilding - From Rhetoric to Reality: Finding the Way
Richard Strickland and Nata Duvvury, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), March 2003
This paper looks at how gender concerns are being integrated into policies and programs that shape post-conflict societies. Findings indicate a slow but positive shift in international opinion and understanding about the consequences of conflict on women and the importance of their participation in peace building processes and post-conflict social transformation. However, gender discrimination continues to manifest itself in such forms as political exclusion, economic marginalization, and sexual violence during and after conflict that deny women their human rights and constrain the potential for development. Efforts to introduce gender-sensitive approaches to peace building have met with limited results since they fail to address underlying norms that define gender relations and power dynamics. Peace building, despite being arguably more gender- sensitive, gives inadequate attention to the construction of gender norms and the processes by which they can be transformed to ensure more equitable gender relations.

Rights, Reconstruction and Enduring Peace: Afghan Women and Children After the Taliban
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, 14 December 2001
As the conflict in Afghanistan enters a new phase, there are obstacles as well as opportunities for Afghan women and children. The international community must, therefore, act now to ensure that the rights of women and children are enshrined in law and respected by all actors in Afghanistan.

Women and Conflict Resolution in International Law
Mary Wood and Hilary Charlesworth, Centre for International and Public Law, Australian National University and Christine Chinkin, London School of Economics and Political Science. Development Bulletin 53, November 2000

Women in the Aftermath of War and Armed Conflict
Meredith Turshen, The Aftermath: Women in Post-War Reconstruction Conference, 20-22 July 1999
This report summarizes and discusses a July 1999 conference in Johannesburg, South Africa on women in postwar reconstruction, which addressed the gender role shifts that occur during war, often times to women's benefit. Among questions that arose were why such gender shifts often prove to be unsustainable in postwar reconstruction, and what can be done to reverse this trend. Other topics discussed include violence against women during war, the relationship between state and society, and the need to establish a just and lasting peace.

Rebuilding Rwanda: A Struggle Men Can Not Do Alone
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, January 2000
This report of Women's Commission delegation visit to Rwanda assesses the conditions facing women and adolescents five years after the genocide. It presents a historical background, the perspectives of Rwandan women on aspects of their own situation, ideas on moving from relief to development, and information for key partners in reconciliation and rebuilding.

Policy briefing paper:
Gender Sensitive Police Reform in Post Conflict Societies
UNIFEM/UNDP, 2007
This briefing paper reviews UNIFEM and UNDP experiences in building the capacity of police services to respond to women’s security needs. It is based on a 2006 study commissioned by UNDP, DPKO and UNIFEM on how gender equality issues have been addressed in police reform processes in Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

UNDP's Eight Point Agenda for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality in Crisis Prevention and Recovery
UNDP, 2006
In September 2006, the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery convened a Gender Experts Meeting and Strategy Session at the London School of Economics. The event brought together a diverse mix of academicians, development practitioners, representatives from NGOs and other UNDP partners. During the meeting, UNDP staff worked with experts to agree on the most appropriate approach for the Bureau to make a significant contribution to gender equality. The meeting resulted in a UNDP's Eight Point Agenda for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality in Crisis Prevention and Recovery.

From Recovery to Transition: Women, the Untapped Resource
UNDP, 2003
This special edition of the UNDP ESSENTIALS series is the result of a joint UNDP/UNIFEM workshop held on 28 October 2002 in New York, that brought UN field officers from conflict areas worldwide together with civil society representatives to discuss experiences and strategies for ensuring that gender perspectives are integrated into recovery and reconstruction efforts.

Gender Equality and Peacebuilding: An Operational Framework
Canadian International Development Agency
This document provides guidance to organisations working in the field of conflict management, prevention, containment, resolution, reconciliation and reconstruction. It attempts to draw operational lessons from the understanding of the inter-relationship of gender equality issues, conflict and peacebuilding. This document is based on a review of reports and published sources and sets out questions to be asked and issues to explore.

Égalité entre les sexes et consolidation de la paix: Leçons tirées de l'expérience
Agence canadienne de développement intérnationale
La Politique de l'ACDI en matière d'égalité entre les sexes a pour objectif d'appuyer la réalisation de l'égalité entre les femmes et les hommes afin d'assurer un développement durable. Au regard des activités de consolidation de la paix toutefois, il n'est pas toujours facile de saisir la portée concrète de cet objectif. La communauté internationale reconnaît qu'il faut accroître la participation des femmes au règlement des conflits et tenir compte de la problématique homme-femme dans l'ensemble des analyses, politiques et programmes conçus pour venir à bout des conflits et instaurer la paix. Mais, sur le plan individuel, les organismes ne savent pas toujours comment traduire ce consensus international en mesures concrètes. Dans le cadre de son Programme de consolidation de la paix, l'ACDI veut contribuer à l'efficacité des activités dans ce domaine. Pour cela, elle a examiné ses dossiers et tiré des enseignements concrets des projets en cours. Ces fiches techniques consignent les leçons précises que les organismes financés par le Programme de consolidation de la paix ont tirées. Il y est question tant des difficultés à surmonter que des possibilités à explorer.

Financing Gender Equality: Commonwealth Perspectives
Promoting Peace and Democracy, Financing for Gender Equality: Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Peacebuilding, WAMM, 2007
By Sherrill A. Whittington
This paper deals with gender mainstreaming and reconstruction programs: what is the involvement of women in peace negotiations and donor conferences? To what degree are they, their priorities, concerns and values integrated into in-country donor needs assessments? Are they consulted in developing frameworks for national reconstruction and given serious consideration in defining priorities and resources?

Declaration of the 4th Regular Meeting of IGAD Ministers in charge of Gender/Women Affairs
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), February 21-22, 2006

Proceedings of the 3rd Regular Meeting of Ministers in Charge of Gender Affairs
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), July 15, 2004
The specific objectives of the meeting were: to develop an IGAD Gender Policy framework with the view to facilitate the mainstreaming of Gender perspectives into all activities of IGAD in order to make them gender responsive and contribute to the achievement of economic integration, food security and environment protection, peace and Security and Humanitarian affairs in the region; to review a draft modalities of creating and IGAD women for Peace and Development Forum and to discuss the process and needs for improved Gender Budgeting in the region.

Report of the 2nd Regular Meeting of Ministers in Charge of Women’s Affairs
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), July 4-5, 2002
The objectives of the meeting included reporting on the progress made since the First Regular Meeting of Ministers in charge of Gender and presenting a training program on Advanced Negotiation & Mediation Training for Women in Peace Making, Leadership & Development.

Books, Journals and Articles

Peacebuilding: Women in International Perspective
Elisabeth Porter. 2008. 256 pages. Routledge, 978-0-415-47973-8. $39.99.
This book clarifies some key ideas and practices underlying peacebuilding; understood broadly as formal and informal peace processes that occur during pre-conflict, conflict and post-conflict transformation.

Applicable to all peacebuilders, Elisabeth Porter highlights positive examples of women's peacebuilding in comparative international contexts. She critically interrogates accepted and entrenched dualisms that prevent meaningful reconciliation, while also examining the harm of othering and the importance of recognition, inclusion and tolerance. Drawing on feminist ethics, the book develops a politics of compassion that defends justice, equality and rights and the need to restore victims' dignity. Complex issues of memory, truth, silence and redress are explored while new ideas on reconciliation and embracing difference emerge. Many ideas challenge orthodox understandings of peace. The arguments developed here demonstrate how peacebuilding can be understood more broadly than current United Nations and orthodox usages so that women's activities in conflict and transitional societies can be valued as participating in building sustainable peace with justice. Theoretically integrating peace and conflict studies, international relations, political theory and feminist ethics, this book focuses on the lessons to be learned from best practices of peacebuilding situated around the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

Peacebuilding will be of particular interest to peace practitioners and to students and researchers of peace and conflict studies, international relations and gender politics.

Table of Contents
1. Peacebuilding as Process
2. Overcoming the Harm of Polarization
3. Recognition and Inclusion
4. Justice and Compassion
5. Memory and Truth
6. Reconciliation and Difference.
Conclusion: Peace with Justice and Security

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Aftermath: Women in Post-Conflict Transformation
Shelia Meintjes, Anu Pillay and Meredith Turshen (Eds.), 2001
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