Gender and Peace Building

This think piece offers a brief scan of the humanitarian response environment since the Beijing conference of 1995, within which gender practitioners have been striving to integrate gender concerns. It succinctly reviews the background against which gender mainstreaming entered the humanitarian sector, bringing with it the promise to integrate and mainstream gender concerns into the response to emergencies created by armed conflict or natural disasters. However, looking back on the past 20 years, it shows how gender mainstreaming has emerged as a strategy which is sometimes practiced in a way that is counter-productive to its goal of transforming gender inequality. It takes a look at the way that gender transformative issues of voice, choice, safety and accountability seem to be stuck in the humanitarian-development divide and how resilience is being viewed as the ‘new kid on the block’ which will bridge that divide. The author asks whether gender praxis, as the embodiment of a commitment to human well-being, could be employed to interrogate the relationship between the vision of gender equality and the strategy for its achievement, and whether gender could be flagged as the unifying factor that already straddles the humanitarian-development divide?

This chapter of the TRC report takes an in-depth look at the gendered dimensions of the conflict, highlighting the experiences of women and girls. It starts by giving a brief overview of the gendered history of the country, the status of women pre-2003 and how that links to the specific experiences of women and girls during and after the conflict. It looks at the work of the TRC Gender Unit and the Gender Committee and their findings pertaining to the experiences of women and girls as presented during the three year period of the Commission’swork. It discusses the complex nature of gender
issues and how they intersect with conflict. It then goes on to give an overview of the post-conflict status of women in Liberia, and finally it makes recommendations on the way forward to address the needs of women and girls, and to advance gender equality.

Women and girls in north-east Nigeria continue to suffer appalling violence and abuse that add to the burdens of stifling patriarchy. Nigeria’s recovery of insurgent-controlled territory has not necessarily alleviated women’s suffering. In a deeply divided, traumatised society, the patriarchal system fuels new forms of violence, exclusion and coercion, particularly against those suspected of complicity with the insurgents.19 The reality of women and girls’ lives is that under a patriarchal system – be it within a conflict or in “peace” times – women and girls are consistently subjugated, oppressed and violated. Humanitarian assistance must do more than apolitical gender mainstreaming. It must take into consideration the historical context of gender discrimination rooted in law and cultural practice, and note how the insurgency has further affected women in various ways – from sexual abuse to lost economic opportunities. Development and reconstruction plans must be based on a gendered analysis of the conflict and pre-existing gender inequalities. Finally, women and girls need support not only to gain more control over their lives, but also to become actors and decision-makers in reconstructing the north-east. The tragedy of conflict and challenges of recovery and reconstruction are strong arguments for efforts to meet women’s immediate needs, but also to harness their power as agents of change.

tural violence (e.g. creating poverty or security policy) is largely the preserve of government systems yet is less visible than interpersonal or direct violence. Perhaps this why Buscher and Ling portray, in their account, "the IRA getaway car" as being solely responsible for the death of the McGuire children-despite the fact that an Army vehicle was engaged in a high speed chase. Other issues deserving further attention in the book include questions surrounding gender roles in the Peace People. Although women made up the vast majority of those attending the early rallies, their numbers were less proportionate when it came to their representation in the eventual structure. Also, what lessons can be learnt from the Peace People about the importance of internal democratic processes and grass-roots consultation in the effectiveness ofpeace groups? Glossing over the controversies of funding, procedures, and general "back-room" politics within the organisation does l...

This paper reflects on the intersection between gender, peace and peacekeeping. The author draws on evidence from two Southern African peacekeeping experiences (UNOMSA in South Africa and MONUC in the DRC) to contend that having a critical mass of women in peacekeeping missions can make the mission more effective, but also changes gender stereotypes and rigid patriarchal gender roles. The author views conflict as, amongst other things, a motor of transformation. Conflict, though certainly fraught with gender-based violence, presents an opportunity for women to seek to change existing gendered power relations.

Weaving all the ideals of peaceful resolution of conflict, human rights and good governance together is the vexing issue of security. For, it is not merely good logic but the reality of life that, in the end, society’s freedom from hunger, ignorance and disease is, more often than not, the dividing line between war and peace. The pursuit of the collective well being of humanity; to ensure that all persons live life to the full, is an ideal whose time has come.1