Engaging Men in WPS

PeaceWomen participated in several events on Men, Peace and Security in the last month, which we covered on our social media. “Gender roles are dynamic and peace and security are gendered”, stated one of our many tweets from the Men, Peace and Security Symposium (Washington DC). The Symposium offered an important time to discuss an often silent aspect of SCR 1325: gender relations, masculinities and engaging men. The discussions and panels attempted to apply the lens of gender to the broader issues surrounding peace and security, and understand how the ascribed norms of men and masculine identities contribute to, and could help mitigate violent conflict and post-conflict.

The second event entitled “Taking UNSCR1325 to The Next Level: Mainstreaming, Masculinities And Movements” (held at Netherlands Mission to UN in New York), similarly emphasised the need to engage men and incorporate masculinities into the Women, Peace, Security agenda. Speakers emphasised the need to utilise the language of “masculinities and femininities” rather than “men” and “women” in order to highlight the social constructivist nature of gender behaviour embedded in global gender power relations. Moreover, all of the speakers reiterated how crucial women's empowerment and participation are for the effectiveness of DDR(Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration), security sector reform, and economic recovery.

Click here to read our coverage of PW's participation at MPS events.