Introduction
Conflicts negatively affect women and men and result in gender-specific disadvantages, particularly for women that are not always recognized or addressed by the mainstream, gender-blind understandings of conflict and reconstruction. Gender inequality reflects power imbalances in social structures that exist in pre-conflict periods and are exacerbated by armed conflict and its aftermath. The acceptance of gender stereotypes is one of the main reasons that such gender blindness persists
The impacts of armed conflict on gender relations are significant. Forced displacement and gender based violence (GBV) are two examples of impacts that are not inevitable outcomes of armed conflict, but rather are deliberate strategies of war that destabilize families and communities. Physical and sexual violence, particularly towards women and children, occur with greater regularity during and after armed conflict. Women experience rape and forced pregnancy, forced sex work and sexual slavery, often at the hands of ‘peacekeepers’, police or occupying force. It is important to note that men too are subject to victimization and violence, including sexualized violence.
Post-conflict peace-building is also a gendered process, in which power and resources are reassigned. Gender relations have an impact on the design of post-conflict peace-building and are restructured by this process at the same time. UN resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security for example focuses mainly on special needs of women. Issues to transform gender hierarchies such as structural discrimination, power relations, access to resources, gender identity or gender specific division of labor are rarely discussed.
Course Overall Objective
The purpose of this short course is to support and strengthen the capacity of policy makers /high level steering committee/civil body working on recovery and rehabilitation activities in crisis and post-conflict situations to mainstream gender equality objectives. While the traditional perception of women in crisis and post-conflict situations is that of victims of war, the active role women in fact play in such situations is being increasingly recognized. Crises can break down social barriers and traditional patriarchal patterns, thus providing windows of opportunity for the reconstruction of a more just and equitable society where women’s human rights will be protected and gender equality will become the norm in institutional and social frameworks.
Participants:
- Development and Public Administrators;
- Planners;
- Steering Committee Members;
- Extension Officials;
- NGO/INGO Workers;
- Local Change Agents.
Training Modules
Module 1: Understanding Conflict and Gender Dynamics of Conflict
- Types of Conflict
- Stages of Conflict
- Gender Relations and Conflict
- Women and Conflict
- Men and Conflict
Module 2: Gendered Impacts of Conflict
- Displacement/Forced Migration
- Gender Based Violence (GBV)
Module 3: Protecting Human Rights and Promoting Gender Equality
- Human Rights versus Human Security
- International Laws, Resolutions and Conventions
- Why are there Difficulties in Enforcements and Implementations
Module 4: Gender in Conflict Interventions
- Humanitarian Assistance
- Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR)
- Peace Keeping and Peace Building
Module 5: Mainstreaming Gender and Women’s Organizing
- Mainstreaming Gender and Women’s Organizing
- What is Gender Mainstreaming
- How to do a Gender Analysis of a Conflict/Post Conflict Situation
- How to Mainstream Gender in Conflict and Post Conflict Interventions
Module 6: Panel Discussion and Study Visit Program
- Panel Discussion/Symposium with Academicians, Experts, Researchers and Civil Body Members and Officials
- Study Visits to Relevant Organizations and Centers working/researching on Gender and Conflict, Gender and Human Rights/Human Securities, Gender and Conflict Related Migration, Gender and Peace
