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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INTERNATIONAL:The Face of Food Security Is Female

In a major endorsement for investment in women – the bulk of food growers in the developing world – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said food security could not be achieved without women, and that the world's hungry also needed leaders to prioritise actions.

INTERNATIONAL: On International Day of Rural Women, Calls for Empowerment and End to Discrimination

Highlighting the role in women in producing much of the world's food and caring for the environment, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his message marking the International Day of Rural Women, today said that eliminating discrimination that prevents rural women from realizing their full potential is crucial to ending global hunger and poverty.

SOMALIA: AMISOM police starts training 160 Somali police forces

The African Union Mission in Somalia Police component has officially began training security officers from the Somali police force. The two-week training course is being carried out at the General Kahiye Police Academy in Mogadishu where 30 male and 10 female officers will undergo intensive training on Criminal Investigation.

GUATEMALA: Sexual Slavery Wounds Persist in Guatemala

Fifteen brave Guatemalan women from the indigenous q'eqchí people testified before the High Risk Court in Guatemala City on Sept. 24-28, as part of the first criminal trial for sexual slavery and rape during the armed conflict.

FIJI: FWCC and FWRM Make Constitution Presentations

“While both the organisations sent in our full documents to the Commission on the 10th, as per the deadline for written documents, due to time constraints, we chose to highlight a few of the main points in our oral presentation today,” said FWCC Coordinator Shamima Ali.

SOUTH AFRICA: Don't Cry for Thuli Madonsela. She's Untouchable, and She Knows It.

Week after week, the Sunday papers lead with stomach-turning stories of misspending of taxpayers' money, corruption and political intrigues. But if there is one thing that can terrify the middle-class, it's a headline story that the highly respected Public Protector is under attack. But Thuli Madonsela is no shrinking violet, and she knows exactly how to defend her title as South Africa's anti-corruption super-heroine.

KENYA: Girls Ask Court to Force Police to Prosecute Rape Cases

Hundreds of Kenyan girls, including some as young as three years old, filed a petition in the High Court on Thursday to try to force the police to investigate and prosecute rape cases they say have been ignored.

The group of more than 240 girls accuse police of demanding bribes to investigate rape, refusing to record rapes unless the victims produced witnesses, and claiming victims had consented.

AFRICA: Women Entrepreneurs Drive Growth in Africa

Far too often, in the view of Africa's budding female entrepreneurs, their continent is characterized as the recipient of aid that enables residents just to struggle by, and as a place that mistreats and marginalizes its women.

INTERNATIONAL: Task Force to Kick Start Cairo Population Goals

Gathered at the Ford Foundation in New York Monday, international luminaries, family planning experts and women's rights activists repeatedly expressed a common sentiment: “I cannot believe that we are still having this discussion today.”

They were there to mark the launch of a new 26-member high-level task force to galvanise support behind the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).

UNITED STATES: Are Homeless Women Without Children in the U.S. Last to Get Sssistance?

With a current population of 812,826 people, the west coast U.S. City of San Francisco, California is a beautiful seaside region, but the city is plagued with a grinding problem that also reaches across the country into every urban area – the problem of homelessness.

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