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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TAJIKISTAN: Postwar Tajik Fatwa Helped Women Start New Lives

It was the onset of winter, still in the early stages of a bloody civil war, and Aziza Saidova couldn't imagine things getting any worse.

AFGHANISTAN: What Role Will Women Play in Upcoming Afghanistan Summit

When rich countries like the U.S., Japan, and NATO nations get together periodically to discuss the future of development funding for Afghanistan, who represents the interests of women and children who actually live there? Mostly men.

ZIMBABWE: Woman who Took on Security Men and Won

SECURICO, the company that Zimbabwe's Divine Ndhlukula started in her cottage in the late 1990s with four employees and very little capital, has become one of her country's largest security firms. According to her, perhaps the biggest barrier she had to face when she set it up was her gender.

GUATEMALA: Guatemalan Femicide: The Legacy of Injustice

One generally overlooked feature of the Guatemalan government and military's 36-year (1960-96) genocidal counterinsurgency campaign against the country's Mayan population is the strategy of targeting women with violence.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Fears PNG will have no Female MPs

Papua New Guinea enters its second week of elections, but with the only female MP in PNG retiring, there are fears no woman will be elected in her place.

Of the more than 3000 candidate, only 135 are women, a PNG record.

But outgoing Opposition Leader Dame Carol Kidu, argues that while women have equal opportunity to run, a lack of access to funding means they don't have equal opportunity to win.

ZIMBABWE: Women's Active Participation in National Issues Laudable

The MDC Women's Assembly has celebrated the resilience shown by women to fight off socio-economic hardships caused by instability in the political landscape of Zimbabwe.

Addressing stakeholders at a Women's Constitutional Consultative Conference held in Harare, Mrs Sibusisiwe Bhuda-Masara, the MDC Women's Assembly Secretary General said the MDC is committed to a new Zimbabwean constitution which clearly spells out women's rights.

DRC: Survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Congo find Access to Justice

There are no court houses in Kalonge health district, a region home to more than 130,000 people, high in the hills above Lake Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Those seeking justice in Kalonge face a journey of at least 30 miles along poorly maintained roads that turn to muddy rivers during the rainy season.

LIBYA: Equal Participation of Women Vital for Building New Libya, Says UN Envoy

The top United Nations envoy in Libya today stressed the importance of the equal participation of women in rebuilding the country, as he commended the number of women who have registered to vote and to stand for election in the upcoming legislative polls.

Some 2.7 million people in the North African nation have registered to vote for members of a new National Congress, which will be tasked with drafting a new constitution for Libya.

EGYPT: Egypt's New President to Pick Woman, Christian VPs

Egypt's first ever democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, will make history in another way: by appointing a woman as vice president, his policy adviser told CNN.


He will also choose another vice president who is Christian, Ahmed Deif said.

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