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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TRAINING: GELD Ends Leadership Training for Rural Women in Kenema District

The Gender Equitable Local Development (GELD) Programme in partnership with the Gender Research and Documentation Centre ( GRADOC) University of Sierra Leone with funding from GELD/ UNCDF (United Nations Capital Development Fund has embarked on female leadership skills training in Kenema District.

ANALYSIS: Women Are the New Global Growth Engine

Corporate executives take note: In coming decades, the majority of global population growth will occur in countries where gender disparities are greatest and where conservative traditions and customs work against women's rights. Entrenched gender discrimination remains a defining fact of life for most of the world's bottom 2 billion, and that is not only a critical human rights issue but also a pressing economic issue.

CAMPAIGN: Female Engagment Teams Winning Hearts and Minds in Afghanistan

The many cultures in Afghanistan have one thing in common: They shelter their women from the outside world. In order to reach the "hidden" 50 percent of the Afghan population, NATO and U.S. forces in that country have adopted a strategy used successfully in Iraq, the female engagement team (FET). The Marine version of the program was called "Lioness" training.

ANALYSIS: Afghan Women, War and Peace-building

A year after President Obama's troop surge to Afghanistan, new poll results published yesterday in The Washington Post show that Afghans are less confident in the United States and its allies to provide security and are more willing to negotiate with the Taliban. More than half of Afghans surveyed nationwide said that U.S. and NATO should begin to withdraw troops from their country by mid-2011 or earlier.

MEETING: Angola: Female Journalists Discuss Gender, Governance

A seminar on Gender and Governance is taking place since Tuesday in Ndalatando city, northern Kuanza Norte province.

Promoted by the Forum of Journalist Women for Gender Equality and local government, the seminar gathers journalists from different state-owned mass media organs.

CONFERENCE: Beirut Conference Highlights Need for Legal Reforms to Combat Violence Against Women

Legal reforms are necessary to fight against gender-based violence but they must be accompanied by wider social and political transformations, activists said Tuesday.

FILM REVIEW: New Film Gives Voice to African Women

South African musician Yvonne Chaka Chaka has launched a documentary on the struggles of African women and girls.

The film, The Motherland Tour: The journey of African Women, was launched in Nairobi and has premiered in 12 countries all over the world.

BLOG: Unheralded Heroines of Peace

For reasons that have already been extensively studied and debated, throughout the ages women and children have constituted the vast majority of innocent victims of violence and armed conflicts.

BLOG: Women in Indonesia Face Corruption, Inequality in Government Budget Process

When Indonesian citizens began scrutinizing their local government budgets as part of an Asia Foundation-led program on gender-responsive budgeting, they found some surprises: a new suit for the governor, an aquarium for the mayor, and thousands of boxes of tissues for a regional leader.

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