Reconstruction and Peacebuilding

The Reconstruction and Peacebuilding theme focuses on the application of a gender perspective to peacebuilding. The response of local, national, and international systems to women’s priorities in post-conflict situations can significantly impact stability and development.

The realisation of women’s right to full participation in preventing, resolving and recovering from conflict, is critical to building sustainable peace and the fulfilment of human security. Furthermore, the response of local, national and international systems to women’s priorities in post-conflict situations, can significantly impacts the stability and development of communities.

The engagement of women in early stages of peacemaking can increase gender analysis in post-conflict planning, lead to improved outcomes for women, and enhance their capacity to participate in longer-term peacebuilding. However, women’s rights and concerns should not be dependent on the presence of women in peace processes. Systems must be in place to ensure their inclusion is standard operating procedure.

In SCR 1325, the Security Council recognises that addressing the unique needs of women and girls during post-conflict reconstruction requires integrating a gender perspective at all stages (1325,OP8). The Security Council acknowledges the need to counter negative societal attitudes regarding women’s equal capacity for involvement, and calls for the promotion of women’s leadership and support for women’s organizations (1889,OP1). In addition, the Security Council requests training on the protection, rights and needs of women in all peacebuilding measures (1325,OP6).

To achieve this, the Security Council tasks the Secretary-General to report on challenges and make recommendations relevant to the participation of women and gender mainstreaming in peacebuilding and recovery efforts (1888,OP19). In response, the Secretary-General issued a report on women’s participation in peacebuilding in 2010. The report details the challenges obstacles women must confront in participating in recovery and peacebuilding efforts, and advocates for a Seven-Point Action Plan to respond to these challenges.


First, the plan calls to increase women’s engagement in peace processes and to address gender issues in the context of peace agreements. Secondly, the plan urges for the inclusion of gender expertise at senior levels in the UN’s mediation support activities. Thirdly, the plan notes that, while the international community cannot control the gender composition of the negotiating parties, it must investigate strategies for the inclusion of more women. Fourthly, the plan calls for the establishment of mechanisms to ensure that negotiating parties engage with women’s civil society organisations. The Action Plan’s fifth commitment involves increasing the proportion of women decision makers in post-conflict governance institutions. The sixth point addresses rule of law, emphasising the importance of issues such as women’s access to justice and a gender perspective to legal reform. The Action Plan’s seventh commitment is concerned with women’s economic empowerment. The Action Plan’s implementation remains the challenge.

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STATEMENT: Iraq - Speech of the Foreign Minister on the Occasion of Women's Day

Your Excellencies, the Ministers
Special Representative of UN Secretary-General
Your Excellencies the Ambassadors
Generous Members of the House of Representatives

ANALYSIS: The Politics of Afghan Women's Rights

On Jan. 10, Afghanistan's Council of Ministers, at its regular weekly meeting, decided that women's shelters needed to be brought under government control, reflecting a long-simmering discontent with women's shelters in Afghanistan. It's a discontent fanned by a media campaign spearheaded by right-wing broadcaster and ideologue, Nasto Naderi, who has pushed the idea that shelters are simply fronts for prostitution.

INTERVIEW: Interview with Donald Steinberg, Deputy Administrator for USAID

Donald Steinberg is the deputy administrator for USAID. He previously served as deputy president of the International Crisis Group. He is also a former member of the U.N. Civil Society Advisory Group on Women, Peace and Security, a former board member of the Women's Refugee Commission, and also previously served on the advisory panel to the executive director of the U.N. Development Fund for Women.

ANALYSIS: The Iraq War and Women: A Case for Reparations

In August 2010, the United States marked the formal end of combat operations in Iraq with divergent assessments of the nearly eight-year war. At the closing military ceremony in Iraq, Gen.

STATEMENT: Security of Women Human Rights Defenders in Nepal

The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) is submitting this statement as a joint statement with leading Nepalese organisation, the Women's Rehabilitation Center (WOREC) Nepal. The findings in this submission are based on WOREC's extensive work in favour of women's rights in Nepal and with the aim of supporting women human rights defenders in their valuable work.

ANALYSIS: Promoting a Rule of Law Culture in the Middle East and North Africa Region

Morocco's recent reforms have made significant headway in the area of judicial reforms which go beyond the judiciary and encompass the entire justice system, following an inclusive interdisciplinary approach.

MEETING: Astana Will Host First Congress of Kazakh Women

Astana will host the first Congress of Women of Kazakhstan on March 5, Labor and Social Security Minister Gulshara Abdikalikova said on Monday.

"This congress is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence and we carry out a preparatory work on the eve of the Congress,” Abdikalikova said at a news conference.

CONFERENCE: Conference on Peace, Security, Governance Held

The first international conference on peace, security and governance was organised by the Centre for Peace, Security and Development (Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education) in collaboration with Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) at a local hotel.

ANALYSIS: Sri Lanka: The Link Between Women's Political Representation and the Peace Process

Sri Lanka has very commendable human development indicators for women, which include high literacy rates and exceptional educational achievements. However, despite almost 70 years of female franchise and the election of the world's first woman Prime Minister, the country lags far behind most of the developing world with regard to women's representation in political institutions at local, provincial and national level.

BLOG: Justice for Women in the New Sudans

The secession of Southern Sudan following the referendum on self-determination is imminent. Despite the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) prescribing an interim period with a programme of legal reform to address long-standing grievances, no real, conscientious efforts were made to make unity realistic for southerners.

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