WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY
Gender, Women and Politics
The National Democratic Institute

INTRODUCTIONS/
GROUND RULES
• Introductions
• Ground Rules
• Ice Breaker Exercise
Photo: Sanja Gjenero for rgbstock.com

WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY
OBJECTIVES
• Increase awareness of international instruments related to women, peace and security
• Understand why women must be involved in peace processes
• Consider how women can engage

WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY
TOPICS
• Why women must be involved
• Statistics
• UNSCR 1325/associated resolutions
• Global indicators
• Programming and comparative examples

KEY TERMS
• Conflict
• DDR
• Gender-based violence
• Mediation
• Negotiation
• Peace
• Peace building
• Peace keeping
• Peace making
• Peace operations
• Security
• Sexual violence
• Truth and reconciliation commission
• Other terms?

EXERCISE: WHY WOMEN?
• Why should women be involved in peace processes and security operations?
Photo: Ab Aziz, NDI

WHY WOMEN?
• Committed to peace building
• Unique perspective
• Inclusive/consensus-based leadership
• Work across divides
• Access and influence

WHY WOMEN?
• Suffer disproportionately
• Peace agreements have a better chance of success
• Transforming power relations
• Seat at the table
Photo: Michael Angelo, Wonderland

WHY WOMEN?
“The systematic exclusion of women from the negotiation of peace agreements and implementing bodies is one of the key reasons why so many of these agreements ultimately fail and countries return to conflict.”
~ Don Steinberg, USAID
Photo: USAID

EXERCISE:
ANGOLA CASE STUDY
• Gender neutral?
• “Nothing about us without us”
Map: www.graphicmaps.com
Photo: J.F. Housel, CARE

FACTS: WOMEN IN PEACE
PROCESSES
• In 24 major peace processes, women were:
– 8% of negotiators
– 3% of mediators
– 2.5% of signatories
• No women have been appointed lead mediators in UN peace talks

FACTS: SEXUAL VIOLENCE
• Rwandan genocide: 250,000 –
500,000 raped
• Bosnian war: 20,000 – 50,000 raped
• Sierra Leone: 50,000 – 64,000 sexually attacked
• DRC: More than 200,000 raped
Photo: Amel Emric, AP

FACTS: SEXUAL VIOLENCE
• Out of 300 peace agreements over 20 years,18 addressed sexual violence
“In no other area is our collective failure to ensure effective protection for civilians more apparent…” Ban Ki-Moon

FACTS: CITIZEN SECURITY
• Civilians vast majority of victims
• Women and girls targeted as war tactic
“It is now more dangerous to be a woman than to be a soldier in modern conflict.” — Patrick Cammaert
Photo: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images AsiaPac

FACTS: WOMEN COMBATANTS
• “Uniformed” armies
• “Irregular” armies
• Child soldiers: 40% are girls
Photo: Saurabh Das, AP

FACTS: TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION
COMMISSIONS
• Women as witnesses – not victims
• Focus on violations in public sphere
• Women’s experiences ignored
• “Gender neutral” approach
Photo: Iris Films

CEDAW
• Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women
• International bill of rights for women
• Defines discrimination
• Establishes legal standards for gender equality
• Legally binding
• National reports

CEDAW
State parties required to:
• Incorporate gender equality and nondiscrimination in laws
• Establish institutional protections
• Advance gender equality
• Eliminate discrimination by private persons and organizations

UNSCR 1325
• First United Nations
Security Council resolution (UNSCR) to link women to peace and security agenda
• Adopted unanimously in 2000
Photo: www.peacewomen.org
• Recognizes that women are disproportionately affected

UNSCR 1325
The participation of women in:
• national, regional and international institutions
• conflict prevention, management and resolution mechanisms
• peace negotiations
• peace operations
• as Special Representatives

UNSCR 1325
The protection of women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence
• in emergency and humanitarian situations
• through training of peace operations personnel on the rights of women and girls and protection measures
Photo: Theresa Donnelly, U.S. Pacific Command Public Affairs

UNSCR 1325
The prevention of violence by:
• prosecuting violators
• respecting civilian and humanitarian nature of refugee camps
• excluding sexual violence crimes from amnesty
• strengthening women’s rights under national law
• supporting women’s peace initiatives

UNSCR 1325
The mainstreaming of gender
perspectives by:
• appointing Gender
Advisors
• considering the needs of women and girls in policy development
Photo: NDI
• incorporating women’s organizations

SUBSEQUENT RESOLUTIONS
• 1820 (2008) recognizes conflict-related sexual violence
• 1888 (2009) strengthens implementation of 1820
Photo: peacewomen.org

SUBSEQUENT RESOLUTIONS
• 1889 (2009) addresses obstacles to women’s participation in peace processes and peace building
• 1960 (2010) provides accountability for implementation of1820 and 1888
Photo: Eskinder Debebe, UN

UNSCR 1325 AND CEDAW:
DIFFERENCES
• CEDAW
– addresses women’s needs from human rights perspective
– provides entry points, specific steps
• 1325
– provides political framework
– does not provide detailed guidance

GLOBAL INDICATORS
• Indicators are signposts of change
• 26 indicators around 4 pillars:
 Prevention
 Participation
 Protection
 Relief and recovery

PILLAR 1: PREVENTION
• Incident of sexual violence
• Extent to which missions include info on violations in reports a) Number of violations that are reported, referred and investigated b) Number of women in national human rights bodies
• Percentage of cases of exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers and humanitarian workers that are referred, investigated and acted upon

PILLAR 2: PARTICIPATION
• Peace agreements with provisions to improve the security/status of women
• Number and percentage of women in senior
UN decision-making positions
• Level of gender expertise in UN decisionmaking
• Level of participation of women in peace negotiations
Photo: Andi Gitow, UN

PILLAR 3: PROTECTION
• Index of women’s and girls’ physical security
• Extent to which national laws protect women’s and girls’ human rights
• Level of women’s participation in justice and security sectors
• Existence of national mechanisms for control of arms and weapons
• Percentage of women in economic recovery programs

PILLAR 4: RELIEF AND RECOVERY
• Maternal mortality
• Primary and secondary education enrolment rates
• Extent to which strategic planning incorporates gender analysis, targets, indicators and budgets
• Proportion of funding to CSOs spent on gender issues
Photo: Paula Bronstein, Getty Images

OPPORTUNITIES FOR
ENGAGEMENT
• National action plans
• Shadow reports
• Awareness building
• Consultations
• Workshops
• Training negotiators
Photo: NDI

NATIONAL ACTION PLAN (NAP)
Why create a NAP?
• Articulate priorities
• Coordinate across government
• Raise awareness
• Promote accountability
• Basis for monitoring and evaluation

HOW TO DEVELOP A NAP
1) Build political will
2) Get organized
3) Conduct an assessment
4) Hold consultations
5) Draft NAP
6) Input on draft
7) Finalize and publicize

NAP CONTENTS
• Introduction and rationale
• Long- and short-term objectives
• Specific initiatives
• Timeframe
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Budget

EXERCISE: REVIEWING A NAP

SHADOW REPORTS
• 4-year reporting cycle
• NGOs submit “shadow reports”
• Attend committee meetings
• Participate in consultations
• Promote accountability

BUILD AWARENESS
• Use existing resources and networks to educate women about their rights
• Translate 1325 into local languages
• Increase awareness among illiterate women

BUILD AWARENESS
• Use media
– Radio broadcasts
– Social media: Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube
• Engage in internet advocacy
• Tap into existing internet resources such as www.peacewomen.org

CONSULTATIONS
• Identify issues and flag gaps between policy and practice
• Don’t forget men!
• Communicate recommendations

WORKSHOPS
• Bring together stakeholders
• Identify common goals
• Assign responsibility for tasks
• Determine next steps
Photo: NDI

TRAINING NEGOTIATORS
• Train women to increase pool of qualified negotiators
• Training on mainstreaming gender
Photo: Rocio Alvarez, NDI

INCREASING PARTICIPATION IN
PEACE PROCESSES
• Establish advisory group or appoint dedicated gender adviser
• Create opportunities for CSOs to dialogue with decision makers
• Guarantee equitable funding
• Offer negotiating teams extra seats for women

INCREASING PARTICIPATION IN
GOVERNMENT
• Demand women’s inclusion in transitional institutions
• Support constitutional provisions that guarantee women’s participation
• Establish election mechanisms that advance women’s representation
• Support electoral systems that require voters to select male and female candidates

EXAMPLES: WOMEN, PEACE
AND SECURITY
• Pre-negotiation: Afghanistan
• Negotiations: Liberia
• Post-negotiations: Fiji
Photo: NDI

WOMEN, PEACE AND
SECURITY REVIEW
• Need for women’s participation clear
• Women remain marginalized
• International instruments promote inclusion
• Issues with implementation
• Opportunities for engagement
• Success stories