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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EGYPT: Egypt Unrest: Women Protest Against Army Violence

Thousands of Egyptian women have held rallies in Cairo against their treatment by security forces.
Demonstrators brandished photos of a woman who was beaten and dragged along the ground, exposing her underwear - an incident that has outraged Egyptians.

The rally took place in Tahrir Square, which has seen five days of deadly clashes between protesters and troops.

WEST ASIA: A Call for Women's Rights in Kurdistan

On Friday, I was at a dinner event at which prominent businessman Marc Lasry said he used to dance with and have “a secret crush on” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “She was quite a dancer,” he added, while calling Mrs. Clinton on stage to speak on women's rights.

PAKISTAN: National Peace Prize Named after Malala Yousafzai

ISLAMABAD: Malala Yousafzai stood up against all odds. In defiance of the Taliban in Swat, she decided to acquire education and helped her peers to do the same. The thirteen-year-old's dauntless struggle is to now be officially recognised.

DRC: Rape Persists in Congo, Even When the War is Over

THE BABY'S name is Alame. His mother, Fazili, lovingly enunciates the word as she gazes at him suckling at her breast. Alame, she explains, means “may he live” in their native Tembo language.

SRI LANKA: Women, Girls Face Dire Security Threats in Tamil Areas

More than two years after the end of the 30-year war between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels, women in the north and east of the country still suffer from sexual violence, poverty and displacement, according to a new report.

EGYPT: HRW: Prosecute Sexual Assaults On Protesters

There is an escalating pattern of physical attacks by Egyptian military and police officers against women and male protesters, journalists, and activists in Cairo, some of which are sexual in nature, Human Rights Watch said today. News reports and images of protestors in Cairo being stripped, beaten, and dragged through the street in the past several days are just the latest incidents.

ARAB SPRING: 'Collaboration Among Arab Spring's Women Activists, Beneficial, Crucial'

A women's rights activist from Jordan, during an İstanbul conference on women's empowerment in the midst of the Arab revolutions, told Today's Zaman on Thursday that such collaboration among women activists is not only beneficial but also crucial for gender equality in the region.

INTERNATIONAL: The Courage of Human Rights Defenders: Women Protesting Violence Are Often Met With Violence

Leymah Gbowee of Liberia was one of three women to be honored with the 2011 Nobel Prize. As a human rights defender, Gbowee identifies herself as a social worker and her community organizer focused on protesting the use war rape and child soldiers in Liberia's civil war.

SWEDEN: Nobel Peace Prize Laureats: "You Have to Believe in Something"

Sharp statements about religion, powerful calls for international commmitments and resounding applause, marked the crowded seminar with the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureates in Stockholm 12 December.

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