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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DRC: Victimized twice: DRC women rebound after war, rape

Living in the lush mountainous region in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Wivine Mwbawa would spend hours each day walking through the forest to fetch water for her family.


It was on a routine daily run a year-and-a-half-ago when she was ambushed and raped by three soldiers. She returned home to find that rebels had slaughtered her mother, father and two brothers.

ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe Makes Progress On Gender, Misses Regional Target

Zimbabwe has made significant strides in gender equality but still lags behind on key indicators, according to the latest SADC Gender Protocol Barometer for the country.On a variety of indicators, Zimbabwe scored a 58 percent gender equity rate, below the regional average of 66 percent.

SYRIA: Syrian Women Demand Voice at Peace Talks

A proper democracy cannot be established without the participation of women. Such is the message of Syrian women's rights activists who concluded a two-day conference in Geneva on Monday to demand equal involvement in their country's peace-building process, which has so far mostly included men.

SYRIA: Isolated and Misinformed, Syrian Refugees Struggle

ZAHLEH, LEBANON — Fear, confusion and a lack of information are preventing many Syrian refugees in Lebanon from knowing where to turn for aid.

With a constant surge of refugees now fighting the bitter winter cold, humanitarian organizations are struggling to find ways to reach them with the information they need to survive — and are recruiting some refugees to help out.

LIBYA: Female PM candidate says country needs a 'woman's touch'

Libyan political activist Amal al-Taher el-Haj has submitted her name to the General National Congress as a candidate to succeed Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, if he receives a vote of no confidence from parliament this week.

El-Haj, 45, was born in Tripoli, where she is commonly known as “Mimi.” In an interview with Al Arabiya News Channel, she expressed her hopes of being Libya's new prime minister.

EGYPT: Women's Rights Top Agenda as Egyptians Vote on Draft Constitution

Egyptians were voting in a referendum on the country's draft constitution on Tuesday and Wednesday, a document that would enshrine unprecedented gender equality for women.
Since the so-called Arab Spring shook Egypt and the region to its foundations in 2010, the roles and rights of women in the Middle East's most populous country have been under the spotlight.

SYRIA: UN-Sponsored Conference Demands Full Voice for Women in Seeking to End Crisis

The voice of Syrian women must be heard in all efforts to resolve the civil war that is tearing their country apart, a United Nations-sponsored conference declared today, stressing that women's participation is vital in shaping a peaceful future for the strife-wracked Middle Eastern nation.

EGYPT: Egyptians Vote on New Constitution to Enshrine Post-Morsi Legitimacy

Military helicopters buzzed overhead and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and police were deployed as Egyptians voted Tuesday on a new constitution in a referendum that will pave the way for a likely presidential run by the nation's top general months after he ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

DRC: Addressing Violence Against Women in War-Torn Regions

For the past two decades women's bodies have become the battlefield as gangs of combatants have committed atrocities in the Democrat Republic of Congo (DRC), according to Dr. Denis Mukwege Mukengere, who recently spoke at a World Bank seminar on sexual and gender-based violence in Eastern DRC.”

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