“Peace and Security from a Global and Sudan/Uganda Perspectives”
SIGN POSTINGKalyango Ronald SebbaPhD Student School of Women and Gender Studies
Introduction
Assumptions of women peace and security
The pre-war subordination of women both by individual men and by masculinised state institutions has nothing to do with the sorts of militarised thinking and militarised relationships that lead to repeated outbreaks of armed conflict;Warsare merely conflicts between men with no investigation of masculinities nor how the politics of femininity and masculinity play out in women’s lives and on their bodies in war time; no concern for what women do amidst wars.State and international actors imagine that people to worry about in the post war era are demobilised male soldiers. Failed demobilisation of men is seen as risk factor for the return to conflict while women in the post war periodare widely assumed to return to their proper domestic spheres and grieve over their war time losses in private;
Results of this thinking
The above assumptions produce masculinised ceasefire and peace negotiations- there is limited women involvement nor articulation of their issues in peace negotiations and agreements.Political observers are left surprised at the subsequent outbreak of new conflicts;Lead to the creation of familial and political institutions in post-war societiesAssumptions have sustained a UN/ national machinery for women that is (has been) fragmented toothless and chronically under funded;
Security Council Resolution 1325
The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 explicitly stresses the role that women play in preventing and resolving conflict and in efforts to build peace by ensuring the increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict.The resolution reaffirms the UN commitment in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995 to increase the participation of women in conflict resolution at decision-making levels and protection of women living in situations of armed conflict.
Security Council Resolution 1325
SCR 1325 has moved international discourse and debate on women’s role ininternational security forward;Ithas redefined the positionof womenin the context of conflict.Ithas made visible women’s agency andpolitical activism and;Promotedan expanded acceptance of the various roles womenmay playin conflict.
SCR1325
The resolution comprises eighteen operational paragraphs that broadly callfor:Theincreasedparticipationof women in decision-making in the prevention,management andresolution of conflict;Theprotectionof women from humanrights abusessuch as gender based violence; andTheintegration of gendermainstreamingandgender perspectives in all responses to conflict, including the training ofall personnelwithin peace keeping missions as well as the staff members of UN missions.
SCR 1325
It promotes women as equal participants in all aspects of internationalpeace andsecurity andEmphasisesthe need to integrate gendered and inclusiveapproaches tosustainable peace and development, while highlighting the continuedtargeting ofwomen for egregious abuses in conflict situations.
Critique of SCR 1325
Although the resolution has the potential to reform the structures andsystems onwhich current peace-making and peace-building rests, doubts persist as towhether thereforms provided for in SCR 1325 are in practice being addressed, letalone implemented.The widely acknowledged weakness of this resolution is that there is nocomponent thatcompels states to act.Thelack of monitoring and reportingmechanismsand the absence of clearly identified targets that would need to be attainedwithin pre-determinedtime frames are also problematic.Slowand ad-hocmeasures are adoptedby the international community to implement SCR 1325– this has prompted thedevelopment of ‘action plans’ as a possible way forward.
Action Plans
‘Action plans’ represent a relatively new approach to the challenge of ensuringtheimplementation of resolutions and are regarded as a practical means throughwhich statescan demonstrate the steps they have taken to satisfy their obligationsundertheresolution.Action plans are divided into:National Action Plans-the UN Secretary General stressed that‘governments have the primary responsibility for implementingtheresolution.Institutional actionplans-UN, EU and AU have institutionalised
National Action Plans
To date, nineteen (19) AU Member States have developed and adopted 1325 National Action Plans (NAPs).These include Burkina Faso; Burundi; Central African Republic; Cote D’Ivoire; Democratic Republic of Congo; The Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea Bissau; Kenya; Liberia; Mali; Nigeria; Rwanda; Senegal; Sierra Leone; South Sudan; Togo; Uganda.In addition to NAPs arange of other measures have been put in place for implementation of the WPSagenda:Tomainstream into wider national policies, including for instance development plans (or poverty reduction strategies),National security and defense strategies,National strategies for the advancement of women and other similar frameworks.
Who participates in developing National Action Plans
Civil society organisations– ideally Civil Society Organisations Should play an integral part in thein theplanning process; nevertheless, there are potential risks with this approach since civilsociety alsoplays a critical monitoring role that is often better achieved with distance. A balance thus needs to be achieved.Consult with experts:Academic, policy makers andMembersof refugee and immigrant communitiescomingfromconflict-affected contexts.
UN entitieshave extended political and technical support in developingaction plansfor conflict-affectedcountries.UN, may drive the process based on its own agenda in an attempt to keep upwith itsown international obligations rather than reflect the national interests ofthe specificstate.Moreover, UN leadership may also inadvertently result in theusurping of ownershipover the process from both government and thelocal women’s constituency.
The Uganda National Action Plan
The Action Plan on the UNSCR 1325 &1820 and theGomaDeclaration is in line with the five yearNational Action Plan on Women (2007)developed by the MGLSD, covering the period 2006/ 2007 – 2009 / 2010, which highlights among other priority areas for the Government of Uganda (GoU) action, peace building, conflict resolution and freedom from violence.
Goals of the Action Plan
Rather than create a separate national action plan, for each of the three instruments, UNSCR 1325 &1820 and theGomaDeclaration, the MGLSD has opted to develop a joint plan that will:• Ensure the protection of women and girls from gender based violence and promote humandignity and equality.• Increase women’s participation in the prevention and resolution of conflict, the maintenance ofpeace and security, and post-conflict peace building.• Increase awareness of the public on UNSCR 1325 &1820 and theGomaDeclaration.• Improve linkages and long term engagement between local authorities and central governmentagencies, regional coordination and cooperation between governments and international donorsin ending the crime of rape and other sexual violence.• Develop the capacities of key actors responsible for implementing the Plan and improvecoordination in data collection, analysis and quality reporting.
Challenges in implementation of Action Plans
Availability offundingthe departments/institutions charged with the implementation ofthe Action Planshould take full financial responsibility for the commitments made in the action plan.Gender issuesare usually not seen as high priority and securing adequate funding is often tedious.Itistherefore imperativethat an elaborate fundraising and resourcemobilisationstrategy be put in place.Explore alternatives that do not need finances-
Appropriate Political will –there is need for awareness raising and advocacy about the ActionPlan soas to ensure responsibility, enthusiasm and action.Alack of understanding of the importanceof genderissues or resistance to change can result in the dismissal of the entire plan, resulting inthe lackof political hence frustrating the implementationprocess.Gender issues are political issues left to tokenism
Strengthened Coordination– with several different actors at different levels, the coordinationof activitiesneed to be well planned.Thewide gaps between the policy and field operations,combined witha reluctance to share information, often results in duplication and ad-hoc implementation.Such ascenario could be avoided by having proper coordination and the creation of task force/focalpoints forimplementation.Example challenges in the implementation of the MultiSectoralFramework for GBV management and prevention
Appropriate capacity for implementation –the people responsible for the implementation ofthe ActionPlan must have adequate tools, training and support in order to successfullyimplement it.Toolkits, guidelines and additional materials could be developed, along with holdingspecificcapacity-buildingsessions.Institutional Monitoring and Evaluation– there is need for the creation of a systematic and comprehensive system of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) that is neither bureaucratic and time consuming, nor under-funded and overlooked.
Way forward
The state:Women subordination in peace time must be taken seriously in the name of preventing war;War time violence against women should be taken as a matter of policy and thus accountability;Make the militarisation of both femininity and masculinity a topic of peacetime investigationExamination of post war eras focussing on women concerns such as property rights; rape survivors, children with no fathers; etc… is critical for thesuccefulpromotion of the women’s agenda.Effective M&E will provide the necessary information to determine which initiatives have been successful, which need to be changed and which should be discontinued. M&E will also serve as an incentive to the different players since it holds them responsible for their part in the implementation of the Action Plan.
Adopt a GAD approach to NAP-Socially constructed relations between women and men, with special focus on the subordination ofwomenReconceptualizethe development process, taking gender and global inequalities into accountIdentify and address practical needs, as determined by women and men, to improve their condition; at the same time, address women's strategic interestsAddress strategic interests of the poor through people-centreddevelopmentInvolve men in the Women Peace and Security Agenda
Reconceptualizethe development process, taking gender and global inequalities into accountIdentify and address practical needs, as determined by women and men, to improve their condition; at the same time, address women's strategic interestsAddress strategic interests of the poor through people-centreddevelopment
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