Gender & Peace & Security

Bringing a gendered lens to the field of security studies. #FemSecSt. Edited by: @jamiejhagen // jamiejhagen.com

[genderandpeace]

Sexual harassment and assault rife at United Nations, staff claim

Exclusive: Guardian investigation points to culture of impunity as UN employees allege offences including rape

“The United Nations has allowed sexual harassment and assault to flourish in its offices around the world, with accusers ignored and perpetrators free to act with impunity, the Guardian has been told. Dozens of current and former UN employees described a culture of silence across the organisation and a flawed grievance system that is stacked against victims. Of the employees interviewed, 15 said they had experienced or reported sexual harassment or assault within the past five years. The alleged offences ranged from verbal harassment to rape.“

[genderandpeace]

For the First Time in History, There is Full Gender Parity in the Top Leadership of the United Nations | UN Dispatch

There are forty-four most senior positions in the United Nations system, excluding the Secretary General himself. As of this week, twenty three are held by women. On Tuesday, Nahla Valji, the UN senior advisor for gender equality, announced on Twitter that half of the 44 members of the Secretary General’s Senior Management Group are women. …

[genderandpeace]

Why Tamasha Mpyisi-White opted for a career with UN peacekeeping

In this short interview, Tamasha tells us how her love for reading during formative teen years and an awareness of conflict across the world led to her opt for a career with UN peacekeeping and why she feels strongly about building capacities of local populations, especially women, through her work.

[genderandpeace]

However, peacekeeping forces have committed acts of sexual violence in virtually every country they have operated in. Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, former Senator, commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, has “said there is a “culture of silence” and near-impunity for UN peacekeepers in their missions abroad, contributing to the growing scandal over sexual abuse and exploitation by the blue-beret troops.” In 2000, the Security Council issued its first resolution on women, peace and security: resolution 1325. It centered three principles: women participation in decision-making processes, gender mainstreaming, and protection of women from conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence. Thus, within the UNSC and R2P framework, prevention and protection of women from sexual violence is intrinsic to its law. As the R2P agenda emphasizes protection from sexual violence, the lack of investment in preventing it by the UNSC is troubling, particularly where U.N. peacekeeping forces are concerned.

https://www.mironline.ca/un-peacekeepers-perpetuating-sexual-violence-disgrace-r2p/

[genderandpeace]

‘To What Extent Have Peacekeeping Missions Achieved Gender Equality?’ Asks Cornell Prof.

At Cornell’s first “Chats in the Stacks” book talk of the year, Prof. Sabrina Karim, government, gave insights into the context, problems and solutions of the unequal power dimensions and peacekeep…

“Although Karim’s book acknowledges the increasing trends of gender equality and inclusion in peacekeeping missions, Karim told the audience that there is still work left to be done.“The question we ask in the book is, ‘to what extent have peacekeeping missions achieved gender equality in operations and vehicles for promoting gender equality in close conflict states, given that they’ve had 20 years of time to enact [these policies],’” she said.The three main problems Karim highlighted are discrimination, gendered protection norms and a continued issue of sexual violence.“

[genderandpeace]

Women, peace and security in 2017 | The Strategist

In lieu of our regular round-ups on women, peace and security for December and January, we bring you some of the analysis and research conducted in 2017. Our February update will be published in early ...

[genderandpeace]

[genderandpeace]

The Haitian mothers are struggling to bring up their children they say were fathered by soldiers from the U.N.'s peacekeeping force stationed in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, who came from Uruguay, Argentina, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, said their lawyer, Mario Joseph at BAI, who filed the lawsuits. "These mothers and their children face severe economic difficulties and discrimination," he said, adding that six of the mothers were left homeless after Hurricane Matthew devastated the Caribbean island last year.

https://www.voanews.com/a/haitian-women-seek-support-children-fathered-united-nations-troops/4161001.html

[genderandpeace]

Equal Opportunity Peacekeeping

Recent developments such as Sweden's' Feminist Foreign Policy, the Hillary Doctrine, and the integration of women into combat roles in the U.S. have propelled gender equality to the forefront of international politics. The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, however, has been integrating gender equality into peacekeeping missions for nearly two decades as part of the women, peace and security agenda that has been most clearly articulated in UNSC Resolution 1325.

[genderandpeace]

Gender and peacekeeping

Instead of relying on recruiting women to improve peacekeeping practices, the UN should focus on ensuring a common professional culture and training.

[genderandpeace]

In advance of the UNSC debate, the Permanent Missions of Namibia, Colombia and Norway, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) and the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) convened a high-level panel discussion to launch the Women, Peace and Security index (WPSI). The launch event took place on 26 October 2017 at UN Headquarters. The WPSI is structured around three dimensions of women’s well-being: inclusion (economic, social and political); justice (formal laws and informal discrimination); and security at the family, community and social levels. The Index captures and quantifies these three dimensions through 11 indicators, and ranks 153 countries, covering more than 98 percent of the world’s population, along the three dimensions. A report titled, ‘Tracking Sustainable Peace Through Inclusion, Justice and Security for Women: Women Peace and Security Index 2017/2018’, which introduces the Index, shows that few countries perform uniformly well across key indicators of inclusion, justice and security. Iceland ranks the highest on the WPS Index while Afghanistan and Syria are the bottom ranked countries. According to the report, 30 countries score in the top third for all three dimensions, with achievements in each dimension reinforcing progress more broadly. The report also notes that while there are clear regional patterns in performance, there are also major differences within regions, and the lowest scoring regions all have some countries whose score exceeds the global average. Such countries include Nepal in South Asia and Namibia, South Africa, Mauritius, Ghana, Tanzania and Zimbabwe in Sub-Saharan Africa.

http://sdg.iisd.org/news/unsc-global-index-address-women-peace-and-security/

[genderandpeace]

The Trudeau government announced $17 million in funding for women’s rights abroad as part of a peacekeeping plan. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says the money will help tackle issues like abuse by peacekeepers. (The Canadian Press)

[genderandpeace]

[genderandpeace]

As mind-boggling world events dominated headlines last summer, an impressive number of women reported first-hand from various hot spots. Sabrina Tavernise arrived on the scene of downed Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine even as the plane still burned. Alissa Rubin escaped death in a helicopter crash in Iraq. Anne Barnard delivered harrowing dispatches from Gaza. And yet, when it came time for round table analysis, grey suits continued to deluge the discussion.

The male talk fest isn’t just anecdotal. The Washington Post recently noted that in more than 150 events hosted by six Washington think tanks there wasn’t a single female speaker.

More: https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/binders-full-of-women-foreign-policy-experts/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body&_r=0

[teodorbusa]

Nobel peace prize winner rebukes Trump over nuclear standoff

As award is announced for anti-nuclear group Ican, its head says US president ‘puts a spotlight’ on the weapons’ dangers

[npr]

The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, a global organization seeking to “outlaw and eliminate all nuclear weapons” under international law.

The prize was announced in Oslo, Norway, on Friday morning. The committee praised ICAN for drawing attention to “the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons” and for “ground-breaking efforts” to ratify a treating banning nuclear weapons.

Specifically, ICAN promotes the U.N.’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a legally binding prohibition on nuclear weapons that is supported by over 100 countries.

The world’s nuclear powers have not committed to the treaty.

International Campaign To Abolish Nuclear Weapons Wins 2017 Nobel Peace Prize

Photo: Stephane De Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images

[genderandpeace]

In 2000, the United Nations adopted a resolution which urged all member states to increase the participation of women in peace and security efforts. Resolution 1325 calls for special protection of women and girls from gender-based violence in situations of armed conflict, and the prosecution of those that carry out these attacks. Additionally the resolution calls for more women in peacekeeping operations and local police forces. However, 17 years later, the levels of female participation in peacekeeping are still low while the abuse of women and girls in conflict continues. According to the UN’s own data, at least 55 UN peacekeepers were accused of sexual exploitation and abuse between January and July this year. According to Séverine Autesserre, professor of political science at Barnard College, Columbia University, and an expert on peacekeepers, the most recent statistics show only 5% of UN peacekeepers were women, and most of those were deployed in non-combat positions. Female peacekeepers generally aren’t put into combat operations and are generally given jobs which are considered safer and less dangerous.

http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/heres-why-the-un-is-calling-for-more-women-peacekeepers-fatima-moosa/