Substantive Blog #1 (Research for final paper)
One of the main challenges that societies face in the reconstruction stage after long years of armed conflict is to integrate the gender perspective in the design of public policy. This is important because in most conflicts inequality and violence against women intensify and therefore, in order to achieve a lasting peace, it is essential to reestablish women’s rights and make them participate in the development of their communities.
Zuckerman and Greeman (2004), propose three dimensions on which they consider that public policy should be focused on post-conflict societies in order to achieve gender equality and the effective integration to society of women who have participated or have been victims of the conflict. The proposed dimensions are framed in two complementary approaches: Women in development (WID) and Gender and development (GAD). The first approach that was developed in the late sixties, emphasizes the integration of women in the global economy to improve their status and help in the total development. This approach works with only women to help them reach the same starting point for men and is especially applied in circumstances in which women lack skills, resources or knowledge of their rights. While the second approach proposes a greater emphasis on gender relations rather than seeing the problems of women in isolation. This approach focuses on gender roles and responsibilities of men and women and the ways in which they relate to each other.
Taking these two approaches into account, the authors propose the following dimensions:
Dimension 1: Women-focused activities
Taking advantage of the opportunities that the post-conflict brings to establish new norms and rules, involve new leaders and build new institutions, this dimension seeks to compensate for gender disparities in rights, education, resources and power. Among the aspects proposed for this dimension are the political participation of women, the restoration of property rights, employment without discrimination and the right of women to be free of violence.
Regarding political participation, the authors consider that beyond establishing quota laws (as it has happened in many post-conflict countries), it is necessary to strengthen the leadership capacity of women and for this it requires resources to be spent in the development of the skills of women to participate, win seats and effectively serve which means being able to effectively collaborate with men as coalition partners and political party leaders.
In relation to property rights, they argue that the reconstruction stage generally involves processes to resolve disputes over property and draft property laws that defend the rights of people to property. In the case of women, such processes must guarantee full and equal rights to own property, de jure, and their ability to enjoy those rights, de facto, for which programs are needed that develop legal literacy in women and access to justice.
In addition to the above, the authors also raise in this dimension the need to strengthen legislation to guarantee equal access to men and women to sources of employment and to generate an environment free of violence for women, which requires the protection of the rights of women and girls and thus prevent war practices such as rape, forced marriages and sexual slavery from continuing in the reconstruction phase.
Dimension 2: Gender-Aware Programming
The second dimension takes a more economic approach, recognising that gender-related impediments diminish the effectiveness of economic and governance programmes. Within this dimension, the authors analyze macroeconomic issues, access to credit, agricultural development, demography and health, human capacity and skills for life, employment and physical infrastructure.
Regarding macroeconomic issues, this is a very important aspect, since generally during the recovery phase, macroeconomic reforms are carried out that are mainly aimed at budget reallocations and government decentralization. These reforms can logically have an important impact on women’s well-being, which requires the effective participation of women in the planning of reconstruction to guarantee gender equality, responsibility and transparency.
The participation of women in development planning must be accompanied by infrastructure improvement programs, especially in rural areas, access to credit, information and skills related to business and agricultural development, and programs by providing equal opportunities to men and women to access jobs in the formal economy.
In terms of education, The post-conflict must not only seek the access of men and women to traditional education but also to information-technology training and to teach men and women social and civic skills and values that are essential for building a non-violent society. This includes training women and men to work collaboratively and respectfully together. In relation to health, programs to address the participating population and victims of conflict must focus especially on sexually transmitted infections that are particularly prevalent in post-conflict populations, as well as the long-term effects of untreated injuries, including those associated with forced sexual relations, unattended childbirth and landmines.
Dimension 3: Transforming Gender Roles
This dimension calls for transforming the violent and dominating power relations which are widely associated with masculinity, war, and militarised societies with alternative values of co-operation, peaceful dispute resolution, and equality.
In this dimension, the authors suggest actions aimed at addressing the trauma and breaking cycles of violence which implies that male combatants must learn to function in a non-violent culture, resolve differences without force and female victims of gender-based violence and witnesses of violence must heal and move on; building social capital after conflict which means that new roles and responsibilities need to be defined and respect and collaboration must be built between household heads and members; and finally offering opportunities to all that means gender equality.
As can be seen, there are many aspects that need to be addressed in a post-conflict stage. Many times societies believe that the signing of a peace agreement and the demobilization of combatants is sufficient but they forget that this is only the beginning and that a lasting and sustainable peace requires the commitment of all levels of society and over all have in mind the gender perspective and the active role of women in the reconstruction stage.
Reference:
Zuckerman Elaine and Greenberg Marcia 2004. “The gender dimensions of post-conflict reconstruction: an analytical framework for policymakers” Gender and Development Vol. 12, No. 3, November 2004