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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COLOMBIA: There will be No Peace in Colombia without Women

The documentation centre No habrá paz sin las mujeres [There will be no peace without women] enables female leaders, professionals and survivors of the armed conflict in Colombia to express themselves and share their experiences so that, according to the website, “the lifework they have dedicated to peace is not forgotten.” Their testimony is offered through an online photography exhibition and video interviews.

SOMALIA: Somaliland: Skills Training Offers new Opportunities to Women

At an early age, Faduma began to learn an art that has been passed down her family from generation to generation. Her hands are slightly worn and slow-moving as she demonstrates how to weave the edge of a straw mat to the woman beside her.

SYRIA: Syria Peace Talks: Bitter Exchanges Mark First Day Of Negotiations

GENEVA (AP) — The leader of Syria's Western-backed opposition said Thursday he will give his negotiating team the authority it needs in any talks with President Bashar Assad's government.

SYRIA: 'Assad made Beggars out of his People:' Syrian refugees Flood into Jordan

Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan (CNN) -- They carried teapots and tiny gas canisters, shopping bags filled with clothes and overstuffed bundles of blankets balanced on their heads. Many held jerry cans, once full with water, now dangling empty.

SYRIA: Women in Syria Need More Than Guided Missiles

I've been watching the news about the war in Syria with a mixture of anger and worry. Yes, I'm angry and deeply disturbed when I read about the thousands of people who have been killed and the millions displaced by their own government. And yes, I'm worried about the prospect of United States military intervention after a decade of war.

JAPAN: NHK Chief's Sexual Slavery Comments an "Insult"

The new head of Japan's national broadcaster NHK defence of the country's wartime military sexual slavery is deplorable, said Amnesty International.

At his first press conference since his appointment, Katsuto Momii is reported to have said the practice was common in any country at war and he was puzzled at the international outcry of its use.

Roseann Rife, East Asia Research Director at Amnesty International commented:

SYRIA: At Geneva II Talks in January, It Is Not Enough to 'Add Women and Stir'

The campaign to ensure women's equal participation at the peace talks on Syria in January has become more urgent, as certain parties recognize that women are vital in rebuilding and reconciling Syrian society. Yet only a few weeks before the talks are scheduled to start, no commitment has been made as to whether women will actually sit at the negotiating table between the Syrian government and the opposition.

LIBERIA: Liberian women prosper with newfound skills


“My whole life I never spoke English. Now, at my age, I can write my name and I know my ABCs and 123s,” said an elderly woman at a gathering with UN Women delegates from New York held in Bopolu, a town tucked away in Liberia's northern Gharpolu County.

SOMALIA: Amisom Commends Enduring Role of Women in Somalia

The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif has applauded the relentless efforts of Somali women in shaping the country's destiny during a meeting with female representatives of the Somali civil society.

CAR: Woman Chosen to Lead Central African Republic Out of Mayhem

Cheers broke out in the National Assembly building here on Monday as representatives chose the mayor of this beleaguered capital to serve as the interim president of the Central African Republic, a country in the grip of a sectarian civil war.

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