ROLE OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE IN

FACILITATING PEACE BUILDING BY WOMEN AND GIRL

DR. NAWAL K. PASWAN Associate Professor, Peace and Conflict & Management Studies

DEAN, SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim

Email:nkpaswan@gmail.com

PLAN OF THE PRESENTATION

WHAT IS PEACE-BUILDING ?

PRINCIPLES AND CYCLE OF PEACE-BUILDING

EDUCATION & CULTURE FOR PEACE AND CONFLICT

CRIME AND VIOLENCE IN INDIA

FEMALE PEACEKEEPERS ACT AS A ROLE MODEL

INDIA’S POSITION IN GLOBAL PEACE INDEX (2013)

EVIDENCE OF WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION IN PEACE AND

SECURITY

WHY SHOULD WOMEN BE INVOLVED IN PEACEBUILDING ?

In simple terms, peacebuilding is all activity aimed at

improving the quality of life.

Peacebuilding prevents, reduces, transforms, and helps people

to recover from violence in all forms. Peacebuilding actively

creates the capacity within communities to meet all forms of

human needs and rights. Peacebuilding is the responsibility of

many different actors: governments, religious organizations,

civil society, traditional leaders and structures, the media, and

the business community.

It takes place at all levels of society, in the towers of academia

and government, in schools and businesses, and in community

centers in every village and town. Peacebuilding is a set of

values, relational skills, analytical frameworks, and social

processes.

WHAT IS PEACEBUILDING ?

CORE PEACEBUILDING CONCEPT AS DEVELOPED BY

JOHAN GALTUNG CONCEPT DEFINITION

Negative Peace The cessation and/or absence of violence.

Positive Peace

The absence of structural violence. The presence of social

justice. The conditions that eliminate the causes of

violence.

Structural

Violence

Indirect violence. “Violence that is built into structures and

shows up as unequal power and consequently as unequal

life chances” (Galtung 1990:171). Structural violence

accompanies and is an underlying cause of direct violence.

Root Causes of

Conflict

Manifestations of structural and cultural violence, leading

to direct violence.

Sustainable Peace Peace and processes towards it that address the root

causes of violent conflict.

Transforming Relationships

Trauma healing

Conflict transformation such as

dialogue, negotiation, mediation

Restorative justice

Transitional justice

Governance & policymaking

Reducing Direct

Violence Legal and justice systems

Humanitarian assistance

Peacekeeping/

Military intervention

Ceasefire agreements

Peace zones

Early warning programs

Waging Conflict

Non-violently Monitoring and advocacy

Direct action

Civilian-based defense

Building

Capacity Training & education

Development

Military Conversion

Research and evaluation

Cycle of

Peacebuilding

CYCLE OF PEACEBUILDING

EXPRESSION AND ROOT OF CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE

1. REFLECT ON VALUES: Peacebuilding requires ongoing personal and

organizational reflection on how peacebuilding programs connect with

their values.

2. ADDRESS BASIC NEEDS AND RIGHTS: Peacebuilding helps people to

meet their own basic needs and rights while acknowledging the needs and

rights of others.

3. ANALYZE CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE: Peacebuilding requires ongoing

analysis of the causes and dynamics of conflict and violence, and the

resources for peace.

4. PLAN LONG-TERM: Peacebuilding moves beyond a short-term, crisis

orientation toward designing social change over years and decades.

5. TRANSFORM WHOLE SYSTEMS: Peacebuilding changes the personal,

relational, cultural, and structural levels.

PRINCIPLES OF PEACEBUILDING

6. COORDINATED APPROACHES AND ACTORS: Peacebuilding requires

coordinated approaches that reflect responsibility, accountability, and

participation by many different actors.

7. IDENTIFY AND CREATE POWER: Power exists in all relationships.

Peacebuilding requires all people to be aware of their power and create non-

violent forms of power to meet their human needs in collaboration with others.

8. EMPOWER OTHERS: Peacebuilding strengthens and builds upon local

efforts and empowers others to act. Peacebuilding is based on participatory

democracy and self-determination.

9. SEE CULTURE AS A RESOURCE: Cultural values, traditions, and rituals can

be resources for peace building.

10. INNOVATE AND USE CREATIVITY: Peacebuilding uses multiple ways of

communicating and learning, rather than relying only on words or dialogue to

develop creative solutions to complex problems.

PRINCIPLES OF PEACEBUILDING

EIGHT PILLERS OF PEACE (IEP, Steve Killelea)

Good relations with neighbours

Free flow of information

High levels of education

Low levels of corruption

Well-functioning government

Sound business environment

Equitable distribution of resources

Acceptance of the rights of others

Source: Steve Killelea (2013), Executive Chairman of Institute for Economics

and Peace (IEP), New York, USA.

The research defines 8 key Pillars that underpin peace; these

Pillars are both interdependent and mutually reinforcing,

meaning that the relative strength of any one Pillar has the

potential to either positively or negatively influence peace. The

Pillars are :

EIGHT PILLERS OF PEACE (IEP, STEVE KILLELEA)

NON-VIOLENCE WHEEL

WHAT IS CULTURE ?

‘The Clash of Civilizations’ by Samuel

Huntington.

Post-9/11 debate: cultural differences

trigger conflict.

Cultural differences don’t cause conflict,

but with political & economic motives may

do so.

DOES CULTURE TRIGGER CONFLICT

Culture for conflict; Nazis used music to

induce war, Music is used in Africa and Asia to

prepare children for fighting.

Culture alone does not cause conflict.

Cultural differences combined with political &

economic motives can cause and escalate

conflict.

On the other hand, culture can be useful for

peace-building.

CULTURE FOR PEACE & CONFLICT

Cultural activities by international actors can be effective in peace-

building if integrated with other measures.

The activities enable:

People in conflict areas to build new identities that tolerate respect

other culture

People to experience multicultural coexistence, different cultural

groups to work together and to create a future together

FUNCTIONS OF CULTURE FOR PEACE:

Culture can be a catalyst and facilitator for social capital formation

(Rober Putnam, Making Democracy Work, 1993)

Culture can transform violence into peace.

Cultural factors are important for peacebuildng

People to experience multicultural coexistence, different cultural

groups to work together and to create a future together.

NEXUS BETWEEN PEACE AND CULTURE

LITERACY RATE OF NORTH-EAST INDIA

(CENSUS, 2011)

RANK State Literacy Rate Male Female

2. Mizoram 91.6 93.7 89.4

4. Tripura 87.8 92.2 83.1

11. Nagaland 80.1 83.3 76.7

13. Sikkim 82.2 87.3 76.4

16. Meghalaya 75.5 77.2 73.8

17. Manipur 79.8 86.5 73.2

23. Assam 73.2 78.8 67.3

31. Arunachal Pradesh 67.0 73.7 59.6

INDIA 74.04 82.14 65.46

The Literacy rate in India has improved a lot over the last one

decade. Especially after the implementation of free education

in the villages the literacy rate has gone up tremendously in

states like Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

In the 2001 census the country's literacy rate stood at 64.8

percent. As per the data published by the 2011 census India has

managed to achieve an effective literacy rate of 74.04 per cent

in 2011 that constitute the total population of India aged

between seven and above.

The most notable thing that came across in the 2011 census is

the sharp rise in the literacy of females over males.

LITERACY RATE IN INDIA

Conflict is a normal &

natural part of life

Conflict is

inevitable

Conflict has both destructive and

constructive sides & consequences

HIGH INTENSITY MILITANCY (LEFT-WING EXTERIMISM)

AREA & POPULATION OF INDIA

Report on Crime in India (2012) revealed that around

74% of all violent crimes are against the male gender.

Men are 2.7 times more likely to be murdered and 4.4

times more likely to be seriously harmed than women in

India.

Crime Men Women

Murder (#) 25665 9457

% 73% 27%

Harm Not amounting to

murder (IPC 304/308) (#) 3362 761

% 82% 18%

CRIME IN INDIA (2012) REPORT - SUMMARY

IPC has certain special provisions for crimes

against women. These being Rape (376), Dowry

Death (304B), Cruelty (498A), Outraging

Modesty (354) and Insult (509).

As a percentage of incidents that were reported

in 2012, roughly 48% of the complaints could be

said to be frivolous (as the accused was

acquitted by the Court or the complaints were

found to be false at the investigation stage).

CRIME IN INDIA (2012) REPORT -

CRIME AGAINST WOMEN

Crime Against

women Incidences

(#)

False Charges Acquitted Charged

(#) % (#) % (#) %

Rapes 24,923 1,833 7.4% 11,154 48.3% 3,563 15.4%

Dowry Deaths 8,233 545 6.6% 3,532 45.9% 1,684 21.9%

Sec. 498A 1,06,527 10,235 9.6% 39,138 40.6% 6,916 7.2%

Sec. 354

(Outraging

Modesty)

45,351 2,618 5.8% 19,237 45.0% 6,082 14.2%

Sec. 509 (insult) 9,173 339 3.7% 4,390 49.7% 2,566 29.0%

CRIME IN INDIA (2012) REPORT -

CRIME AGAINST WOMEN

Accidental Death and Suicide in India-2012

report (NCRB) shows the plight of men in our

country. Of the total 1,35,445 suicides around

88,453 were men and 46,992 were women.

Suicides by men were 1.9 times more than

suicides by women. Suicides by farmers are

11.4% of the total suicides and 1.4% of the total

suicides were due to poverty.

ACCIDENTAL DEATH AND SUICIDE IN INDIA

Source: National Crime Records Bureau suicide statistics, 2012.

GENDER WISE SUICIDES

AGE GROUP UPTO 14 15-29 30-44

Men Women Men Women Men Women

Total 1,353 1,385 25,942 20,693 31,704 14,456

Classification total (Select) 869 925 15,492 11,940 18,136 7,845

Suspected/Illicit Relation 0 13 221 279 207 181

Cancellation/Non-

Settlement of Marriage 0 0 238 267 144 98

Family Problems 141 213 5,462 5,122 7,541 3,703

Love Affairs 26 82 1,506 1,389 441 314

Causes Not Known 305 255 3,843 2,284 4,814 1,565

Other Causes 397 362 4,222 2,599 4,989 1,984

GENDER WISE SUICIDES

AGE GROUP 45-59 60+ TOTAL RATIO OF

MEN

TO WOMEN Men Women Men Women Men Women

Total 21,217 7,282 8,237 3,176 88,453 46,992 1.9x

Classification total (Select) 11,262 3,733 3,799 1,432 49,558 25,875 1.9x

Suspected/Illicit Relation 74 32 10 1 512 506 1.0x

Cancellation/Non-

Settlement of Marriage 28 23 7 5 417 393 1.1x

Family Problems 4,899 1,674 1,494 543 19,537 11,255 1.7x

Love Affairs 49 40 1 1 2,023 1,826 1.1x

Causes Not Known 2,801 917 1,006 386 12,769 5,407 2.4x

Other Causes 3,411 1,047 1,281 496 14,300 6,488 2.2x

we can see from these two tables that men in the age group of

30-44 and 45-59 are 2.2x and 2.9x times more than women

suicides in this age group. The reasons for majority of these

suicides are family problems and other causes which account

for nearly 60% of the suicides in the above age groups for men.

If we refer to the suicide victims by marital status, over 71% of

married men committed suicides, which fell to 3% for

widowers, 0.8% for divorcees and 2.3% for separated men. A

startling fact is that married men are 2 times more likely to

commit suicides as compared to married women. This ratio

falls drastically in case of divorcees, widowers and separated

men.

TRENDS OF SUICIDE IN INDIA

Women are deployed in all areas – police, military and

civilian – and have made a positive impact on

peacekeeping environments, both in supporting the role

of women in building peace and protecting women's

rights.

In all fields of peacekeeping, women peacekeepers

have proven that they can perform the same roles, to the

same standards and under the same difficult

conditions, as their male counterparts. It is an

operational imperative that we recruit and retain female

peacekeepers.

WOMEN PEACEKEEPERS IN UNITED NATION’S

In 1993, women made up 1% of deployed uniformed personnel. In

2012, out of approximately 125,000 peacekeepers, women

constitute 3% of military personnel and 10% of police personnel

in UN Peacekeeping missions.

While the UN encourages and advocates for the deployment of

women to uniformed functions, the responsibility for deployment

of women in the police and military lies with Member States.

UN Police Division launched 'the Global Effort' to recruit more

female police officers into national police services and into UN

police operations around the world. The goal is to have 20% of

female police by 2014.

WOMEN PEACEKEEPERS IN UNITED NATION’S

Striving towards gender parity amongst UN staff is a

priority for the UN Secretary-General. At the UN

Headquarters in 2012, 48 per cent of staff were

women and 52 per cent men, with the most disparity

showing at the mid and senior levels.

In peacekeeping operations and special political

missions, the figures are more challenging, with

women making up only 29 per cent of international

and 17 per cent of national staff.

WOMEN PEACEKEEPERS IN UNITED NATION’S

For its part, the Department of Peacekeeping

Operations (DPKO) continues to respond to the call in

all Women, Peace and Security mandates to increase

the numbers of women in peacekeeping by advocating

for the deployment of more women.

However the ultimate responsibility for getting more

women into the military peacekeeping lies with the

individual countries that contributing troops and police.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE

FEMALE PEACEKEEPERS?

WOMEN PEACEKEEPERS IN UNITED NATION’S

Female peacekeepers act as role models in the local

environment, inspiring women and girls in often male-

dominated societies to push for their own rights and for

participation in peace processes.

The increased recruitment of women is critical for:

Empowering women in the host community;

Addressing specific needs of female ex-combatants during

the process of demobilizing and reintegration into civilian life;

Helping make the peacekeeping force approachable to

women in the community;

Interviewing survivors of gender-based violence;

Interacting with women in societies where women are

prohibited from speaking to men

FEMALE PEACEKEEPERS ACT AS ROLE MODEL

Improve access and support for local women;

Help to reduce conflict and confrontation;

Improve access and support for local women;

Provide role models for women in the

community;

Provide a greater sense of security to local

populations, including women and children;

Broaden the skill set available within a

peacekeeping mission.

FEMALE PEACEKEEPERS ACT AS ROLE MODEL

It ranks 162 countries (up from 121 in 2007). The study is the

brainchild of Australian entrepreneur Steve Killelea and is endorsed

by individuals such as Kofi Annan, the Dalai Lama, archbishop

Desmond Tutu, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, Nobel

laureate Muhammad Yunus, economist Jeffery Sachs, former

president of Ireland May Robinson, Jan Eliasson and former US

president Jimmy Carter.

Factors examined by the authors include internal factors such as

levels of violence and crime within the country and factors in a

country's external relations such as military expenditure and wars.

The index is launched each year at events in London, Washington DC

and at the United Nations Secretariat in New York.

GLOBAL PEACE INDEX

GLOBAL PEACE INDEX (GPI):

Violence containment spending is economic activity related

to the consequences or prevention of violence where the

violence is directed against people or property.

Violence Cost Global Economy Over US$ 8.12 Trillion in

2010 .

Economic impact of containing violence cost US$ 9.46

trillion in 2012, equivalent to 11% of global GDP.

2011 Global Peace Index (GPI): World less peaceful

Source : Steve Killelea, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Institute for

Economics and Peace (IEP), the international research institute which

produces the Index.

BIGGEST CONTRIBUTORS TO GLOBAL VIOLENCE

CONTAINMENT SPENDING AND WORLD GDP

TOP TEN

BILLION

(US$-PPP)

% OF

WORLD GDP

USA 1709 18

China 354 15

Russia 207 4

India 186 6

Brazil 176 3

United Kingdom 137 3

Germany 130 4

Mexico 126 2

Japan 101 5

France 89 3

“ The notion that

war is good for

economy has been

disapproved and

the economic

benefits of peace

are being

recognised

globally”

GLOBAL PEACE INDEX : SCORE & RANKS

Country 2013

GPI Score

2013

Rank

2012

GPI Score

2012

GPI Rank

Iceland 1.16 1 1.11 1

Denmark 1.21 2 1.24 2

New Zealand 1.24 3 1.24 2

Canada 1.31 8 1.32 4

Japan 1.29 6 1.33 5

Austria 1.25 4 1.33 6

Ireland 1.37 12 1.33 6

Slovenia 1.37 13 1.33 8

Finland 1.30 7 1.35 9

Switzerland 1.27 5 1.35 10

India ranks low at 141 in this year’s Global Peace Index (GPI)

that measured peace in 162 countries, according to 22

qualitative and quantitative indicators of the absence and fear of

violence.

The major indicators that bring down India’s ranking are

militarisation, domestic and international conflicts, and

corruption.

However, despite an increase in military expenditure, India made

positive gains in its level of peace after reductions in deaths from

internal conflict and the level of perceived criminality in society.

INDIA’S POSITION IN GLOBAL PEACE INDEX, 2013 (The Hindu, 12 June 2013)

In the South Asian region, Sri Lanka is one notch above India at rank

four while Bhutan is the most peaceful country. It is followed by

Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, in

that order.

Globally, a dramatic rise in the number of homicides and 59 more

countries increasing their military expenditure as a percentage of

Gross Domestic Product were the key drivers in making the world a

less peaceful place, according to the 2013 GPI.

This year’s findings underline a six-year trend showing a deterioration

of five per cent in global peace. In this time, 110 countries have seen

their score deteriorate while only 48 became more peaceful. The

economic impact of this five per cent loss in peace came at a cost to

the global economy of US$ 473 billion last year.

INDIA’S POSITION IN GLOBAL PEACE INDEX, 2013

Country Overall

Rank

Overall

Score

Change in

Score

Regional

Rank

Bhutan 20 1.49 -0.028 1

Nepal 82 2.06 0.054 2

Bangladesh 105 2.16 0.009 3

Sri Lanka 110 2.23 0.030 4

India 141 2.57 -0.105 5

Pakistan 157 3.11 0.106 6

Afghanistan 162 3.44 0.075 7

Regional Average : 2.44

Source : Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), 2013.

GLOBAL PEACE INDEX 2013 : TROUBLE ZONE

The Global Peace Index by Institute for Economics and Peace that was

released recently has ranked India among the 25 least peaceful nations

to reside. India’s ranking stood at 141 among 162 nations, having lost

more than two lives in a day or a staggering 799 persons to internal

conflict in 2012.

The criteria for mapping was mainly based on four parameters, sound

business environment, low levels of corruption, well functioning

government and good relations with neighbours. India’s ranking in the

most violent societies list was quiet an expected thing considering the

situations within the country. What led to India’s inclusion in this list at

this ranking is no surprise. Though overtly we do not recognise our

imperfections, each one of us know what lies beneath in the Indian

context.

An external minor conflict with neighbouring States coupled with

internal insecurity has dragged India’s overall score low. Increasing

expenditure in defence, large military force and apathy towards the

agitated population of the country has added to the low scores on the

peace parameters.

Naxalism and internal conflicts seems to be a greater threat than

external aggression. This pattern was seen across the world where the

report concluded that conflict among states is far more less, while

conflict within states is a more prevalent phenomenon. Naxal terror in

the red corridor, Acts of terrorism, Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir

and the struggle for Identity from the North Eastern States have been a

matter neglected consistently now transforming itself into a divisive

factor.

MAPPING CRIETERIA OF GLOBAL PEACE INDEX, 2013

The frustration about inequalities has led to more tension and assertion of

identity in the past few years. Capital exploitation of the natives and denial of

basic rights have led to the many tense moments in the country. The neglected

plea for a decent lifestyle and development, falling on to deaf ears have

worsened situation even more. Neglect and non development along with

decreasing standard of living has made people in general in the country

infuriated of whom they perceive as “others”. These “others” are fellow citizens

who they envy only because they are heard more by the governance or have

benefitted more from the economic changes taking place in the country.

Limited resources and contestation over the same have left the deprived in a

more vulnerable state where even now they cannot afford to compete and have

been denied the most basic of necessities. Exploitation by the rich is the new

form of capitalism practised in the country. Non inclusive government policies

and exclusive market tendency has made most people in the country and enemy

of Sensex India, a term used for the capitalist exploitative market of India which

has its close nexus with the people in governance

MAPPING CRIETERIA OF GLOBAL PEACE INDEX, 2013

Equality and development seems to be the new parameters which determine

peace in a particular country. Contestations over resources will continue to get

even unhealthier. One has to put in place the mechanism where the bridge

between the haves and haves not do not widen.

People centred development, defining development in the language in which

people want has to be a task of priority.

Central government neglecting the growing agitation among the people of states

like Jammu and Kashmir and the North Eastern states has to end somewhere.

The centre has turned a blind eye to the problems these citizens of the country

face for a long time now, which has resulted in them feeling alienated and being

an unwanted part of the country.

If not treated in time this discontent warns of worse times in context of peace in

future.

We have to recognise problems and deal with them, being ignorant towards them

is not going to do any good for the country.

WHAT CAN THE GOVERNMENT DO TO MAKE INDIA A PEACEFUL NATION

We need to be a more peaceful nation and this reminds Kofi Annan’s speech

at the Global Centre for pluralism recently. He stated that if diversity is

seen as a source of strength, societies can become healthier, more stable

and prosperous.

This is something that should be implemented, our institutions and policies

have managed to make communities feel marginalise and oppressed,

creating conditions of conflict and violence within the State.

Being world largest democracy, adopting inclusive policies increasing

inclusion and reducing insecurity among its own citizen will be mandatory.

Our’s is the land where the struggle for independence was also bloodless.

Where we stand now is shameful. I only wish these ratings teach a lesson

and bring shame to the people in power.

Time to transform India from only a peace loving

nation to a peaceful Nation?

So, why does women’s participation and representation

in peace and security issues matter?

The first answer is a priori that of equality: women are

half the population, thus they should have a

proportionate role in deciding and implementing any

plans that affect them. Just as trenchant is the fact

that they are disproportionately victims in war and its

aftermath, and disproportionately under-represented in

public life – quite as much in developed and peaceful

countries as those emerging from decades of war.

WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION AND REPRESENTATION

50 per cent of peace agreements fail within their first decade and

that research shows that inclusive processes are more credible to

the public and have a higher success rate. Given the evident

absence of women, this provides a significant avenue for addressing

the inclusiveness issue.

Finally there is the empirical evidence of women’s contributions in

peace and security. There has been an enormous amount of work

done since UNSCR, 1325 was passed in 2000 to document the

value that women’s participation adds (although notably no

corresponding work on the specific added value of male

participation qua male for which arguments are not demanded by

the international community as the basis for their inclusion or

exclusion from peace processes).

WHY PEACE AGREEMENTS FAIL ?

1. The communication of different perspectives either as

combatants or non-combatants on peace process issues (for

example, the involvement of female El Salvadorian excombatants in

revising the Disarmament, Demobilisation, Reintegration (DDR)

programme from 1992-1993 to better meet their and their

community’s needs; Sri Lanka’s subcommittee on gender which was

created in 2002; and the current (as of 2011) involvement of

women in the Mindanao Think Tank Project process);

2. The potential to increase the inclusivity of a process (for

example, women’s participation in the 2003 Loya Jirga in

Afghanistan underpinned the inclusion of minority groups such as

Uzbeks and in this case if women had not of argued for them, then

they may not have been included);

EVIDENCE OF WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION IN PEACE AND SECURITY

3. The potential to increase the legitimacy of a process by making it

more representative, reflective of the broader affected and future

society, and more accountable (for example, in talks leading to the

2006 Darfur Peace Agreement; and the 1994-1996 part of the

Guatemala talks mediated by the UN and the Group of Friends

which incorporated a Civil Society Assembly with a specific

women’s platform);

4. The ability to organise effectively for peace across party and

ethnic lines (this, in fact, is a standard feature of women’s peace

organising of which perhaps the classic examples are the Northern

Ireland Women’s Coalition founded in 1996 and fielding two

delegates to the talks leading to the Good Friday Agreement in

1998; and Somalia’s Sixth Clan officially founded in 2002);

EVIDENCE OF WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION IN PEACE AND SECURITY

5. The ability to prioritize peacemaking over power-sharing which is

linked to women’s ability to organise across party lines (for example,

women’s activism in the Arab Spring countries in 2011 in Tunisia,

Egypt and Libya). This is of course a generalisation, but one that has

been proven to be true;

6. The ability to communicate and network with segments of the

community which may be off-limits to others especially in culturally

conservative settings (for example, in Afghanistan and Iraq

throughout the ongoing conflicts);

7. The ability to conduct internal or regional or other track (1.5, 2, 3

etc.) mediation to support and sustain processes going through

difficulties (for example, informal contacts between representatives

of the Mano River Women’s Peace Network and conflict parties in

Côte d’Ivoire in 2011);

EVIDENCE OF WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION IN PEACE AND SECURITY

8. The ability to mobilize and organise effectively at the community,

grassroots and national level through existing networks (for example, in

Kenya in 2008);

9. The ability to put effective pressure on negotiators/community/family

members to, for example, keep peace talks going to a conclusion (for

example, in Liberia in 2003 and the Inter-Congolese Dialogue in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2002) or maintain a ceasefire, lay

down arms and participate in peacebuilding activities (for example, in

northeast India/Nagaland in 2009);

10. The ability to use identity roles such as mother/daughter/wife to

influence events, both through personal relationships and identity-based

organising (for example, the Meira Paibis/Manipuri mothers group

monitoring ceasefire arrangements in northeast India/Manipur from

2004 and the Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo, calling for redress to

human rights abuses in Argentina from 1997 onwards);

EVIDENCE OF WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION IN PEACE AND SECURITY

11. The provision of language and ideas for gender-sensitive peace

agreement text or constitutional text (for example, in Cyprus in 2009; in

Darfur for the Abuja Agreement of 2006; and the effect of women’s

activism on the Juba peace talks in Uganda in 2006).

These abilities and capacities, and the important fact that groups of

women are rarely characterised as spoilers (while this is, of course,

possible), all suggest that women’s involvement would broaden the

peace builders range of tools and tactics to reach a positive outcome,

depending on the space and leverage that they truly have with the

conflict parties and other stakeholders. The SC Resolution has improved

international bureaucracies but it has not changed or altered the

situation on the ground as much.

EVIDENCE OF WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTION IN PEACE AND SECURITY

There are some widely accepted reasons why women are important to all

the peacebuilding processes listed above. These reasons respond to the

questions “Why should women be involved in peacebuilding?”

•Because women are half of every community and the tasks of

peacebuilding are so great, women and men must be partners in the

process of peacebuilding.

•Because women are the central caretakers of families in many cultures,

everyone suffers when women are oppressed, victimized, and excluded

from peacebuilding. Their centrality to communal life makes their

inclusion in peacebuilding essential.

•Because women have the capacity for both violence and peace, women

must be encouraged to use their gifts in building peace.

WHY SHOULD WOMEN BE INVOLVED IN

PEACEBUILDING ?

•Because women are excluded from public decision-making, leadership,

and educational opportunities in many communities around the world, it is

important to create special programs to empower women to use their gifts

in the tasks of building peace.

•Because women and men have different experiences of violence and

peace, women must be allowed and encouraged to bring their unique

insights and gifts to the process of peacebuilding.

•Because sexism, racism, classism, ethnic and religious discrimination

originate from the same set of beliefs that some people are inherently

“better” than others, women’s empowerment should be seen as inherent to

the process of building peace.

•Because violence against women is connected to other forms of violence,

women need to be involved in peacebuilding efforts that particularly focus

on this form of particular form of violence.

WHY SHOULD WOMEN BE INVOLVED IN

PEACEBUILDING ?

THANKS FOR YOUR

PATIENCE