ARTICLE: Gendering the Palette

This paper shows how considering women's problems and reinforcing their potentialities can make difference in a war-torn society and represent a requirement for a long-lasting peace and for avoiding violence could burst again in the aftermath of a conflict. The paper points out why gender concerns are not a superfluous aspect of conflict resolution and peacebuilding: recognizing that wartime can be a source of victimization, but also of opportunities for women, the article stresses how and why gender considerations should be taken seriously in account in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Since peacebuilding activities are multifaceted, for the sake of clarity the analysis follows the comprehensive model of the peace building palette firstly elaborated in 2004 in the Utstein Report. This palette recognizes peacebuilding as a manifold policy that encompasses four different main fields: security, socio-economic foundations, political framework and reconciliation and justice. Recognizing that the first step to end a conflict is its resolution through a peace agreement, the article firstly analyzes how in that sensitive moment gender concerns are crucial, then the analysis starts from the political aspect of the peacebuilding palette and encompasses all the four subsets of the model.