1. Gender, Peace and Conflict
AHSS204 Gender Studies
Gender, Peace and Conflict
Friday, 26 May 2017

2. WHO AM I? Assistant Professor BERNA NUMAN (PhD)
Working on European Politics both in Cyprus and in the UK
Nuffield Foundation Researcher - Debates on Political Reform in the UK
Research interests: Democracy, Citizenship, Anti-Discrimination Law, Public Sphere, Laws and Norms, The European Union
Previous teaching experience: University of Reading, EMU and CIU

3. WHO ARE YOU? What are your expectations from this session?
How will you apply your knowledge outside of class?

4. Gender, Peace and Conflict
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module each student is expected to:
Demonstrate a basic understanding of how the international society deals with the issue of gender during times of conflict
Show knowledge of how the UN attempts to increase women’s participation in peace processes and peace-keeping
Display an understanding of how the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 1325 is expected to work in practice
Identify efforts of different political actors such as women’s organizations, Gender Advisory Team (GAT), Hand Across the Divide (HAD) and others in the development of a national action plan for the implementation of UNSC resolution 1325 in Cyprus

5. Unpacking Gender, Peace and Conflict
What is gender, peace and conflict?
International Relations and Gender
Current International System
International System of States
International Society
The United Nations and International Legal Instruments dealing with Gender and Conflict
Let’s throw all of the three concepts into the air and later define them and put them all back together again.
GENDER: Depending on your theoretical orientation you could define it as performance of socially constructed acts or Roles and identities of men and women in light of the norms of the society they live in.
Peace: Ceacefire, dejure vs. de facto agreement on end to use of arms and violence,
Conflict: Territorial, interest based, identity based, conflict of values
When we put all of these together we find ourselves in the world of International Relations: What is the current world order and how does it regulate issues surrounding gender?

6. UN and Gender International Legal Instruments
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948
ICCPR and ICESCR in 1976
CEDAW in 1979 (reporting, backlog)
U.N. Decade for Women: Equality, Development, and Peace
United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution on 31st of October 2000

7. The UN Established on 24th of October 1945
193 members (universal membership)
Organs and specialized agencies
General Assembly
Security Council (P5, T10)
Economic and Social Council
Secretariat and the Secretary General

8. Security Council

9. General Assembly

10. Why UNSCR 1325?
mandates that women should be participants in the making and keeping of peace in the local, national and international arenas
addresses the impact of war on women and girls and the section on protection includes women’s rights, protection of women from gender-based violence particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuses
stresses the pivotal role women and girls play in conflict management, and sustainable peace as well as addressing women as leaders, and active agents

11. UNSCR 1325
4 pillars of UNSCR 1325: Participation, Protection, Prevention, Relief and Recovery. ● Participation e.g. Institutions (religious, politics), LGBT ● Protection e.g. Violence against Women, Gender-Based Violence, Women in Peacekeeping/ Peacebuilding ● Prevention e.g. Education, Media/ Technology ● Relief and Recovery e.g. Economy, Urbanization, Literature & the Arts

12. How do WE make the peacebuilding better
How do WE make the peacebuilding better? By identifying and eliminating the root causes of conflict, and preventing the reoccurrence. Does it matter who identifies the root causes of the conflict? If not, than we do not need to ask the following question.

13. As the half of the population, women, as men, have an inherent, inalienable right to participate equally in decision-making about their own and their countries’ futures.
Men, women and other gender identities are involved in, and affected differently, by almost every issue due to different gender roles and inequality.
So they have the right to contribute/to decide who and what is valued (the causes of the conflict and the possible solutions).

14. Equal representation of women in peace negotiations, peacebuilding process with equal power is a must for a better peacebuilding.

15. What will be missing if not?
Heterogeneity in the peacebuilding
Increase the risk of having Ill defined causes and impact of conflict
Thus increase the risk of having Ill defined solutions to the conflict
Unable to reach and answer the needs of different ethnic identities and socioeconomic groups
Miss the chance to create a participatory and non-discriminatory democracy
Miss to chance to enhance the understanding of peace and security
Miss the chance to reach feedback of the grassroots movement.

16. Gender Equality Technical Committee
An innovative way of including women and other gender identities to the peace negotiations and peacebuilding process (August 2015)
Put a “gender lens” on social, political, economic, cultural and conflict-related issues
Make invisible the visible ie. gender based war crimes, mainstream (menstream) economic, social political policies.
Promote the establishment of post conflict institutions and control mechanisms for a more participatory and non-discriminatory democracy

17. How is GETC innovative and powerful
Have the power to change perceptions as;
Gender = women
Gender equality can be sort out later
Women are ‘others’ not the subjects (equals)
Stereotypes about women peaceful behavior (that marginalize and justify exclusion of women from peacebuilding process)
Have the power
to able the active participation of women at all phases and levels of formal (official) peacebuilding process?
to add the vertical dimension (heterogeneity) to the peacebuilding process by enabling the recognition of activist women and women organisations contribution to the informal peacebuilding process

18. The White Book Pathways towards Sustainable Peacebuilding Conference
build on all previous women’s efforts, initiatives and discussions and to bring women experts in the field of politics and civil society from multiple ethnicities and perspectives to gain a better understanding of UNSCR 1325
There were 4 workshops each responsible for one of the 4 pillars of UNSCR 1325

19. Participation Action Plans
Setting up an ad-hoc women’s group to work on possible recommendations to be communicated to the negotiating team/leaders.
Seeking funding to start an awareness raising campaign and consultations with broader society
Supporting women candidates in elections by facilitating training and coaching programs for them (including media training and building coalitions with media outlets) and following commitments were made Advocating for religious freedom in a secular state
Demanding an organic and flexible constitution that can adapt to changing realities
 Supporting a “happy, reunited, environmental and animal friendly, forward looking, open, modern, European, Feminist Cyprus.

20. Protection Action Plans
Overall, the Protection pillar group explored the vulnerability of girls and women in the midst of crisis or war as well as the long-term impact that follows any crisis.
It was important to the group to look forward to how to implement change in a practical and useful way drawing in particular on current women’s strengths not just at grass roots levels but also across the various strata of decision-making, both horizontally and vertically.

21. Prevention
Militarism reinforces the gendered conflict culture (masculine heroism)
Former experiences of violence during the conflict (truth commissions, apology)
Education: Education Systems (public and private) that explicitly and/or implicitly promote a culture of conflict and gender inequality and perpetuate the conflict (e.g. the ‘heroic’ masculine myth that must be dismantled; patriarchy-based education) need to be addressed.
Centre for Cyprus Women

22. Relief and Recovery Empower local authorities financially
Review the way history is taught in schools through a gender awareness lens
Establish new gender sensitive constitutional provisions which include
Make efficient use of existing both academic and artistic resources that address the concerns of the communities
Create processes to give voice to marginalized groups
Create a ‘Solution for Dummies’ kit to explain the advantages and consequences of a solution as soon as possible and distribute widely
Include the work of NGOs in the existing consultation mechanisms
Explore gender sensitive mechanisms for victim reparation looking at international best practices

23. Further Reading https://www.equalitynow.org/issues/international-law