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211. Women political leaders and peacebuilding

Author:
Clare Castillejo
Publication Date:
05-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
Over the past 15 years there has been growing recognition of the gender-differentiated impact of conflict, the opportunities to promote women’s rights that post-conflict peacebuilding processes provide and – crucially – the value that women bring to peacebuilding. Yet in many conflict-affected settings women’s participation and leadership in shaping the peacebuilding agenda remain strongly resisted by male elites and are not prioritised by international actors. This report explores the opportunities for achieving women’s meaningful participation and influence in peacebuilding, and the challenges faced by such an agenda. Given the crucially important role that political parties can play in shaping the direction of peacebuilding and post-conflict politics, the report focuses particularly on the ability of women to exercise political voice and leadership through parties and the party system. Finally, it examines why international actors have failed to live up to their commitments on women’s inclusion in peacebuilding, and identifies opportunities and strategies to strengthen international support for women’s participation and influence in the politics of peace.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Peacekeeping, Women, Feminism, and Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

212. Core Support for the New Economy

Author:
Neva Goodwin
Publication Date:
06-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
Abstract:
This paper proposes an income guarantee that would be defined as compensation for household activities such as childcare, food preparation, care of elderly or ill persons in the home, maintenance of the home and of household vehicles and appliances, and household-based transportation. I will call it Core Support, or CS. The Core Support proposal is put forth as a way to achieve a number of important goals, including reduction of poverty and inequality, increased fairness and better old-age security, and improved possibilities for good child care and education. It could replace much of the burdensome and expensive apparatus of welfare and some other government programs. Rather than providing a handout, it would expressly reward and enable some of the unpaid work on which every society depends, validating these activities as legitimate labor. As described in this proposal, it could have a significant impact in healthy redefinition of gender norms. In addition, the proposed program would reduce the requirement for all members of society to take paid work, thus rebalancing power between employers and employees. By reducing the pressure to create jobs, regardless of their quality or their impact, it would make it easier to cease production of socially or environmentally harmful goods and services. However, it would create a not inconsiderable amount of new work in managing the program. Depending on whether there is too much, or too little, demand for labor in the macroeconomy, this could be desirable, or not. This idea builds on literature on Basic Income Guarantees (BIG), as well as on some work in feminist economics. The latter tends to be skeptical of BIG proposals. It is hoped that the CS proposal, by addressing intra-household allocations – a topic normally absent from BIG proposals – can respond to this skepticism by showing how a basic income system can be designed so as to promote deep cultural changes in gender norms and widen respect for those who do the essential core work of a society. If it is assumed that the CS funds depend on taxable income, then it would be necessary for the economy in which it is implemented to have a preexisting flow of money from the sale of privately produced goods and services; thus it would appear that this approach would not be feasible in poor countries. Hence, given a focus on the U.S. context, some attention will be paid to the question of how “wealthy” this country will be in coming decades. It is possible to imagine macroeconomic conditions in which people are “poor” because they lack money to buy needed goods and services that are in fact being produced in the economy. In this case the central bank could create money to be distributed in amounts that would enable local trade, benefiting both producers and households, and possibly leading to higher levels of output.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Poverty, Women, Inequality, and Economic Inequality
Political Geography:
Global Focus

213. Women, Gender and Terrorism: The Missing Links

Author:
Chantal de Jonge Oudraat and Michael E. Brown
Publication Date:
08-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Women In International Security (WIIS)
Abstract:
In March 2016, WIIS launched the Women, Terrorism, and Violent Extremism program. With the generous support of the Embassy of Liechtenstein in Washington, D.C., WIIS will facilitate a series of expert roundtables to explore the role of women in terrorist and violent extremist organizations, including the gendered dimensions of radicalization. These round tables will provide a forum for bringing together an international group of experts and policymakers from the counter-terrorism and Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) communities. Key takeaways and recommendations of expert roundtables will be captured and disseminated in the form of policy briefs. The first Policy Brief draws on the first roundtable discussion, held on March 20, 2016. This roundtable featured four noted experts: Ms. Sanam Anderlini, Co-founder and Executive Director of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN); Dr. Kathleen Kuehnast, Senior Gender Advisor at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP); Dr. Paul Pillar, former official of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and now a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; and Dr. Lorenzo Vidino, Director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security.
Topic:
Security, Gender Issues, Terrorism, Women, Radicalization, Violence, and Peace
Political Geography:
Middle East and Global Focus

214. Women’s Economic Empowerment: A Review of Evidence on Enablers and Barriers

Author:
H. Elizabeth Peters, Nan Marie Astone, Ammar A. Malik, Fenohasina Rakotondrazaka Maret, and Caroline Heller
Publication Date:
10-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Besides human rights protection and social welfare improvement, fostering female participation in the economy can stimulate growth with human capital accumulation and enhance the competitiveness of businesses. But women face many barriers to participating in the labor market, particularly in high productivity sectors, due to limited investments in education, time burdens from care responsibilities, legal prohibitions to land ownership, and sexual harassment and violence. We find evidence that improving access to infrastructure and public services, reforms in inheritance laws, family friendly workplace policies, and reduction in levels of violence can significantly improve women’s economic empowerment.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Women, International Development, Economic Growth, and Cities
Political Geography:
Global Focus

215. 2016-2017 Guide to Women Leaders in International Affairs

Author:
Women's Foreign Policy Group (WFPG)
Publication Date:
08-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Women's Foreign Policy Group (WFPG)
Abstract:
WFPG's Guide to Women Leaders in International Affairs highlights women shaping foreign policy around the world and the role that they play as leaders, diplomats, and policymakers. The Guide provides an index of prominent women from across the international community, including heads of state and government, government ministers and diplomats, and leaders of international organizations and corporations.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Government, United Nations, Women, Leadership, and NGOs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

216. Global Peace Operations Review 2015: Annual Compilation

Author:
Jim Della-Giacoma, Richard Gowan, Alischa Kugel, Jean Arnault, W.P.S. Sidhu (ed), and Alexandra Novosseloff
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Peace Operations Review
Abstract:
The Review covers more than one hundred multilateral peace operations active in the previous year including missions fielded by the UN, AU, EU, ECOWAS, OSCE, OAS and coalitions. It uses a broad definition of peace operations that includes multilateral and ad hoc military and police missions, as well as civilian led political missions. Neither type of mission has a simple definition. Alongside more straightforward peacekeeping missions, the Review, mindful of the need for peace operations to adjust to the changing nature of conflict, also includes peace enforcement operations that employ the use of force and engage in active combat. Under political missions, we include multilateral civilian-led missions that have political engagement in the form of launching and supporting political processes at their core. This includes, for example, the EU’s Special Representatives and the African Union Liaison Offices that support the implementation of peace agreements and accompany political processes. We have excluded missions, such as EU delegations and other liaison offices that may engage in political activities, but as their core function serve more as regular diplomatic or developmental presences. Along the same reasoning, we have also excluded election observer and human rights monitoring missions.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, Politics, United Nations, Peacekeeping, Women, Multilateralism, Peacebuilding, and Gender
Political Geography:
Global Focus

217. Gender, Agency and Vulnerability: The Case of Western Muslim Women Joining the ISIS

Author:
Aamer Raza
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Review of Human Rights
Institution:
Society of Social Science Academics (SSSA)
Abstract:
In this article I look at the case of Western Muslim women who joined the Islamic terrorist group of ISIS. I deconstruct the generally held assumptions in the main stream Western media about the desirability of an unrestricted life. One of the major questions that I raise through this article is whether or not feminist scholarship should aim at developing a certain standard of emancipation of women. To be more specific, through this study, I want to understand what freedom means for different actors—Western Muslim women, mainstream media, and social media—involved in the debate on young western men and women joining the ISIS.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Islam, Women, and Islamic State
Political Geography:
Global Focus

218. Global Report: Civil Society Organization (CSO) Survey for the Global Study on Women, Peace and Security CSO Perspectives on UNSCR 1325 Implementation 15 Years after Adoption

Author:
Danielle B. Goldberg
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP)
Abstract:
When the idea of the Global Study on UNSCR 1325 was proposed, some members of civil society did not welcome the concept. There were already countless studies and recommendations on the implementation of UNSCR 1325, so what would be the value of another study? Moreover, we knew where most of the gaps existed—both internationally and in national contexts. The Global Study was, called by UN Security Council Resolution 2122 “to highlight examples of good practice, implementation gaps and challenges, and priorities for action.” Yet, we also understood that the Global Study could be an important platform for highlighting persistent problems, such as underrepresentation of women in official peace negotiations, lack of local level action and the perennial lack of funding, particularly for women’s peacebuilding work at the community level. To participate in the Global Study process, we set two conditions: that it be totally independent and that it accurately reflect the voices of civil society, given that activists—working at grassroots, national and international levels—have been the driving forces in making sure the resolution and its agenda remain active and relevant. It was in this spirit that the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), Cordaid, the International Civil society Action Network (ICAN) and the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG) embarked on a civil society survey to inform the Global Study. We also believed it was extremely important that there be a mechanism built into the Global Study to formally capture the experiences, challenges and recommendations of civil society around the world working on WPS.
Topic:
Security, Gender Issues, United Nations, Women, Peace, WPS, and Civil Society Organizations
Political Geography:
Global Focus

219. Focus Group Discussion Report for the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Survey: Civil Society Input

Author:
Agnieszka Fal
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP)
Abstract:
The Focus Group Discussion (FGD) Report is based on findings from 17 FGDs and one international 1325 expert conference, held in 16 countries with over 200 participants.1 The report informs the Global Study on Women, Peace and Security, called by UNSCR 2122 to "highlight examples of good practice, implementation gaps and challenges, and priorities for action," to ensure that civil society voices are adequately reflected in the study. The promise of UNSCR 1325 cannot be realized without the full participation of civil society activists—a view shared at the global and local level alike. Just as the Global Study team coordinated by UN Women has explicitly sought input from women’s groups around the world through this initiative and others, so have participants of the FGDs echoed their fervent desire to have their views, concerns and recommendations feed into the Global Study. Civil society lobbied for the adoption of UNSCR 1325, contributed to its drafting and has stood at the forefront of its implementation, so its voice is a powerful contribution to the Global Study. This report consolidates and presents the results of the FGDs. The FGDs also raised awareness among CSOs around the world of the High-Level Review on the Implementation of UNSCR 1325, the Global Study and the CSO Survey. Furthermore, they provided a safe and collaborative experience for CSOs to exchange views on issues related to their work on Women, Peace and Security. Finally, the focus group discussions served as a tool to recognize and galvanize women’s groups doing important work on women, peace and security on the ground, despite the many challenges they face.
Topic:
Security, Gender Issues, United Nations, Women, Peace, WPS, and Civil Society Organizations
Political Geography:
Global Focus

220. What Role for the Security Sector? An SSR Approach to Implementing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda

Author:
Aiko Holvikivi
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Connections
Institution:
Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
Abstract:
The United Nations Security Council resolutions on “Women, Peace and Security” identify security sector reform (SSR) as a tool for their implementation.[1] Nonetheless, the resolutions are often seen as the purview of women’s organizations and the responsibility of ministries of foreign affairs, leaving the role of security sector institutions and their obligations for reform murky.[2] On the other hand, a body of literature oriented toward practitioners and policymakers charts out the rationale and practical tools for ensuring SSR interventions are gender responsive. This literature tends to view the women, peace and security resolutions as a tool for integrating gender perspectives in SSR interventions.[3] However, this literature’s ultimate goal remains the good governance of the security sector. In this article, I seek to bridge this gap through an examination of the roles and responsibilities of the security sector in implementing the women, peace and security agenda.[4] More precisely, I examine the processes and principles associated with security sector reform, and argue that its technical components and ultimate objectives are key to the implementation of the women, peace and security agenda. In other words, I ask what SSR can bring to the women, peace and security agenda, rather than how the integration of gender furthers SSR. As other contributions in this volume have already introduced the women, peace and security agenda, the following section focuses on the concept and key tenets of SSR and engages in a brief discussion on mainstreaming gender into SSR interventions. The analysis that follows is structured around the four pillars of the women, peace and security agenda, and examines what reform and good governance of the security sector can contribute to the realization of these goals. In other words, it identifies roles and responsibilities for the security sector in implementing this agenda. The final section summarizes how SSR is key to the implementation of the women, peace and security agenda, and how SSR approaches can complement its further development.
Topic:
Security, Gender Issues, Reform, Women, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus