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Post conflict and Transitional Participation

According to the Ploughshares, in 2005, armed conflicts raged in 27 countries. In five of them, casualties exceeded 100,000 people, and the indirect costs in human capital, infrastructure and effect on future development are beyond estimation. The transition period begins when wars end through negotiated settlements or other means. With international and regional assistance, parties seek ways to deter the cycle of conflict by establishing a stable government to protect and provide for its citizens.

Formally and informally, women around the world are contributing to post-conflict reconstruction in the areas of security, justice and reconciliation, governance and socio-economic development. In 2000, the United Nations (UN) Security Council passed resolution 1325, a landmark decision mandating the participation of women in peace processes. Since the adoption of the resolution, awareness of the importance of including women in peace and reconstruction processes has grown enormously. Yet, implementation of the resolution’s mandate remains sporadic and ad hoc, and the gaps in practice are vast. Nonetheless, women’s participation in post-conflict reconstruction processes continues to increase.

In Sri Lanka, pressure by women’s organizations led to the establishment — within the structure of the formal negotiations — of a ten-member Subcommittee on Gender Issues in 2002. In Northern Ireland, women representatives were trusted as mediators during conflict negotiations, with such trust stemming from the women’s platform of respect for human rights, inclusion and equality. In Haiti, the women’s ministry and women’s organizations participated in a consultative process, resulting in the UN mission incorporating women’s priorities into its mandate and establishing the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programme. In Rwanda, women formed the first cross-party parliamentary caucus composed of both Hutus and Tutsis, addressing issues of concern to women from all political parties. In Sierra Leone, a women’s task force was established to foster women’s participation in the design of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the special unit investigating war crimes. According to the World Bank, in Afghanistan, efforts by the international community and local women’s organizations have led to girls accounting for 40 percent of all children attending school in 2003, compared to only 9 percent before the war.

While significant and encouraging, such examples and best practices do not equate with the systematic inclusion of women in peace processes. It remains critical to amplify the role and contribution of women during political transitions to capitalize on this window of opportunity.

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From the Library

Women Members of the Constituent Assembly: A study on contribution of women in constitution making in Nepal

Cover art by Chirag Bandel

The election of 197 women to the Constituent Assembly of Nepal was a historic achievement and raised hopes with regard to ensuring gender equality in the constitution-building process. The elected women members comprise almost 33 per cent of the 601 members and include old-time politicians, women activists, professionals, former combatants and war widows.

This book presents the stories of the women Constituent Assembly members, which reflect their struggles, their hopes and their perseverance in struggling to bring equality to Nepali society. Their stories include journeys from battlefields to politics and from student politics to national politics, transformations from oppressed village girl to prominent politician, and life-long engagements in political movements, social work or professional life.

Women, Revolution, Politics and Power

During the Arab uprisings, an unprecedented number of women took to the streets, paving the way for a more important role in politics. However, in the transitional period that follows, they now have to fight against their exclusion from the political arena.

The extent of their participation in the new political process, the author argues, will depend on three main factors: their contribution to the democratic culture established, the nature and role of political Islam, as well as gender representation in the news media. As her research in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Syria suggests, the fight to carry the women‘s newly found political status through the transitional period will blur the conflict lines between the „traditional-religious“ and the „urban-modern-non-religious“ blocs. Arab women are finding new forms of political participation, distinct from the Western models.

The Security Sector and Gender in West Africa: A survey of police, defence, justice and penal services in ECOWAS states

This report, published in English and French, aims to systematically document the status of gender integration in the security sectors in 14 Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The report is designed to be a resource for people working in, or with, security sector institutions; for those interested in governance and development in West Africa; and for those involved in gender-related issues. It combines information gathered by in-country researchers, interviews, document analysis and desk research. Much of the data in this report has never before been published or compared across countries in the region.
The survey is guided by the following two questions: Are security sector institutions providing adequate response to the different security and justice needs of men, women, boys and girls? What steps have been taken to create internally equitable, representative and non-discriminatory institutions?
The report contains three main sections: an introduction, a summary and analysis of findings, and individual country profiles. The introduction provides background on the survey rationale, methodology and research challenges. The summary and analysis of findings offers a cross-country and cross-institution analysis of the survey findings, and includes a list of recommendations. The 14 extensive country profiles present easy-to-read yet detailed information structured by 101 indicators on national governance, police services, armed forces and gendarmerie, the justice system and penal services.

A Practical Guide to Constitution Building

A Practical Guide to Constitution Building provides an essential foundation for understanding constitutions and constitution building. Full of world examples of ground-breaking agreements and innovative provisions adopted during processes of constitutional change, the Guide offers a wide range of examples of how constitutions develop and how their development can establish and entrench democratic values. Beyond comparative examples, the Guide contains in-depth analysis of key components of constitutions and the forces of change that shape them.

Chapter 2 includes a section on "Principles related to gender" and Chapter 3 includes a section on "The rights of women".

Making It magazine issue on the economic empowerment of women

Charles Arthur's picture

Fourth quarter of 2011 issue of UNIDO's Making It magazine is devoted to the issue of women's economic empowerment. Articles by Michelle Bachelet, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Zoe Elena Horn, Jan O'Sullivan, and many more.

‘Women hold up half the sky’ is a Chinese proverb affirming women’s equal contribution to the human experience but it is an aspirational, rather than a factual, claim. In developed and developing countries alike, gender gaps persist in education, health, work, wages and political participation. For this issue of Making It, the theme is gender equality and the economic empowerment of women.

As Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, pointed out, “There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women”.

Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours but women earn only 10% of the world’s income, and women own less than 1% of the world’s property. Women lag far behind men in access to land, credit, and decent jobs, even though a growing body of research shows that enhancing women’s economic options boosts national economies.

The WCRO/WILP Gender Jurisprudence Collections

The Gender Jurisprudence Collections (GJC) includes judgments, decisions, orders, and other documents relating to the treatment of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) issued by eleven of the international/ized courts and tribunals included in the WCRO’s broader Jurisprudence Collections. It does not include submissions by the parties and others involved in the cases. Although you may conduct a general search of the WCRO Jurisprudence Collections, the GJC allows researchers to search the jurisprudence solely for documents containing gender-specific issues and keywords. This jurisprudence has been catalogued and coded based on a review of the documents for any SGBV issues, eliminating the need for researchers to sift through irrelevant documents when conducting a search for these issues within the international/ized courts and tribunals. You may search one tribunal, or you may search across several tribunals.

Women's Rights and Agenda To Be Incorporated In The New Constitution

This publication was prepared after studying the preliminary drafts and reports of the thematic committees of the Constituent Assembly and of the Constitutional Committee to assess whether or not all of the issues to do with women’s rights have been incorporated. Discussions were also held with honourable women parliamentarians and suggestions received from party leaders, women’s rights activists, organisations from across the country and various experts.  

Chapter 1 of this publication contains a short overview of the women’s movement in Nepal to illustrate the necessity of ensuring women’s rights. It then presents the main agenda of women in the Constituent Assembly focusing on the issues of women that have been overlooked by the 10 thematic committees of the Constituent Assembly and the Constitutional Committee. Chapter 2 sets out the rights and issues included in the reports of the thematic committees and the Constitutional Committee. Chapter 3 contains the reforms suggested by the Women’s Caucus to protect women’s rights and interests in the new constitution.

The Arab Quota Report: Selected Case Studies

Debates on women’s issues and gender relations in the Arab region have been going on for some time now. Such matters are often the most difficult to resolve and, in this age of economic and cultural globalization, they continue to create the same paradoxical situations as they did during the colonial era more than a century ago. To complicate things further, these debates frequently lead to accusations and counteraccusations about cultural authenticity and the degree to which attempts to improve the status of women are indigenous or foreign. Within this environment, Arab women, sometimes assisted by their governments and leaderships, have been trying to pave the way for their political participation.

This paper first summarizes the socio-political and economic situation in the region. It then moves on to a discussion of the political status of Arab women, highlighting their representation in legislatures. The third section looks at the key challenges that confront Arab women who wish to enter the political domain, and the final section focuses on some of the opportunities on offer and the mechanisms that have been employed successfully to enhance women’s political participation.

Pathways for Women in Democratic Transitions – International Experiences and Lessons Learned

This is the keynote address by Vidar Helgesen, Secretary-General, International IDEA, at the Roundtable in Cairo on June 2, 2011.

Participation in Constitution Making: Making Women Voices Heard

Th e Women and Constitution Building Initiative in Nepal was initiated (June 2008) in the spirit of a newlyformed Constitution Assembly (CA) which saw the election of a high percentage of women.  International IDEA, together with its partners, identifi ed a need for a greater understanding of how a constitution aff ects women's lives and how women can contribute to the process of making a new constitution. Strategies were needed to support the creation of an inclusive political environment in a crucial period of Nepal's history.

Th e discussion paper topics are identifi ed by a national group of experts. Th ese focus on the following topics: agenda setting, rules of procedure and public participation. Expert groups with the ability to draw on international expertise are established at the national level. Th e member represents CA members, political parties, lawyers, civil society and academicians. Th ese groups both draw on and inform International IDEA's gender work.