Section 1:

Understanding the

eight-point agenda for women’s empowerment and gender equality in crisis prevention and recovery

Key issues, entry points,examples and resources

Point 1.Strengthen women'ssecurity in crisis: stop violence against women

The rights of women and girls include afundamental right to security.It has a direct impact on their ability to participate in social, economic and political activities (e.g. girls need security to go to school and women need security to pursue livelihood opportunities),so that they can collectively contribute toa country’s human development.

Even though this is widely recognized, women’s and girls’ security continues to be threatened in many situations. For example, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)[1] increases during armed conflict and persists in post-conflict settings. Natural disasters and their aftermaths also increase women’s and girls’exposure to violence and other forms of exploitation.Their vulnerability is also heightenedin the home, within their communities and beyond,due to the breakdown of law and order, displacement and loss of community protection.

Since 2008, the UN Security Council has passed Resolutions 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1960 (2010) and 2016 (2013) that collectively seek to recognize and define a specific risk-- conflict-related sexual violence-(this is a phenomena, when sexual violence is used asa widespread tactic of war to terrorize communities) and to address solutions..Women and men, girls and boys all experience conflict-related sexual violence, but it is mostly women and girls who are targeted. Thusthis specific form of sexual violence is viewed as botha gender issue and a ‘security’ issue andas an impediment to international peace and security.Therefore, security responsesneed to include the protection of women and girls from sexual violence during, and after,armed conflict.

In times of both peace and crisis, women and girls are alsomore likely to experience the broader notion of gender-based violence (violence rooted in the structural inequalities between women and men, girls and boys, in the social, economic and political spheres) that is less visible and often committed in private by spouses, parents, siblings and in-laws. Stigma, taboo and the perception of intimate forms of violence as a private matter often result in under-reporting of these forms of violenceand this also perpetuates it.Understanding and responding in a multi-sectoral way to gender-based violence during and after armed conflicts and disasters is essential.GBV is also oftenworsenedby economic hardships associated with the post-conflict transition (e.g. war widows may be targeted by relatives eager to intimidate rival claimants trying to inherit deceased men’s property; girls can be coerced into early marriages).

SGBV(Sexual and gender-based violence)is also a risk in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, and women become more vulnerable to trafficking, increased forced and early marriage, or resort to commercial/survival sex in the absence of livelihood opportunities.In addition,socioeconomic roles of men and women often change during and after armed conflicts and disasters.In response, men’s feelings of frustration and powerlessness can also lead to increased violence against women.

The context of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) also needs to be considered due tothe changingidentities and roles of male and female ex-combatants and armed groups. Male combatants who have lost their identity as fighters may resort to violence and aggression within their families and communities, and female counterparts may be expected to reassume their traditional roles in a male-dominated society. These factors contribute to women’s vulnerability and men’s propensity to violence in post-conflict settingsand need to be addressed in programming.

In order to establish a secure environment,UNDP needs to work with security, legal and judicial sectors,as well as policy-makersand civil society including women’s groups, to strengthen their capacities to provide security solutions that fully take into account sexual and gender-based violence and ensure that women’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled.Another key strategy is to engage with men and boys on a variety of levels; their role is critical in combating GBV. In post-conflict settings, interventions need to ensure survivors’ safety, confidentiality, facilitate reintegration and avoidpeople having to face stigma and being re-traumatized.

“Sexual violence poses a grave threat to women’s security in fragile post-conflict countries, and undermines efforts to cement peace. The breakdown of law and order makes women all the more vulnerable to attacks, and leaves them virtually no recourse to justice. Outcast by their societies, they rarely seek redress. Even when they do have the courage to come forward despite the humiliations this can bring, the justice system too often fails and the perpetrators run free. This feeds a culture of impunity which does nothing to discourage more attacks. And so the vicious circle rolls forward.”- United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon - remarks to the UN SecurityCouncil, June 19, 2008.

Insert Picture

Point 1. Strengthen women's security in crisis: stop violence against women
Key issues / Indicative programming entry points
State level
Governments do not recognize SGBV as a serious violation of women’s rights and a threat to their security.
Specific threats to women and girls’ security are rarely recognized, assessed and incorporated in programming.
National security participants (police and army) do not have the skills and expertise to deal with women’s safety and security and needs. /
  • Raise awareness on SGBV and develop capacity among policy-makers to bring women’s perspectives and gender analysis intoall national agendas including policy discussions on protecting civilians and children, DDR, SSR, transitional justice and economic recovery.
  • Develop national capacities to establish databases to collect, consolidate and analyse data on SGBV prevalence and patterns for evidence-based policies and programmes.
  • Strengthen national legal frameworks on SGBV (also see Point 2).
  • Support the development of national action plans and strategies to combat SGBV and advocate for adequate fundsto prevent and respond to SGBV.
  • Build government capacity and institutional responses to ensure a multisectoral response to preventing SGBV, including providing psychosocial support to survivors.
  • Train police, military and other security-sector personnel on gender equality issues, women’s and girls’ needs, SGBV and the needs for multisectoral referral and coordination with other sectors (health and rehabilitation, women’s safe houses etc.).
  • Promote gender-sensitive police reform (including the establishment of gender desks in police stations), and encourage recruitment and deployment of female personnel and protection officersin crisis situations (also see Point 2).

Civil society organizations /
  • Strengthen women’s organizations to advocate with national and international participantsfor an end to SGBV.
  • Support resource mobilization for civil society organizations involved in SGBV advocacy and service delivery.

Community and grassroots level
The culture of silence, stigma and taboo inhibits discussion of SGBV and leads to systematic under-reporting. /
  • Support women’s active participation in community initiatives to ensure that security concerns, including SGBV, are integrated into community initiatives and security plans.
  • Form community safety groups and promote the concept and practices of ‘safe cities’
  • Conduct media campaigns and community meetings to raise awareness on SGBV and inform people of the availability of services.

Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DRR)
Gender dimensions are neglected in DDR, small-arms reduction and control and other security initiatives;they do not address women’s and men’s particular security concerns and needs. /
  • Engage women and girls, family members of ex-combatants, and women associated with armed groups (combatants, abductees, porters, cooks, military intelligence and supporters)and women’s organizations in the participatory design and implementation ofDDR and small arms reduction and control programmes.
  • Involve women’s groups in monitoring weapons collection and destruction.
  • Conduct a survey in the community to assess ex-combatants and civilians needs and those of their community of settlement as they are reintegrated.
  • Provide skills training, education, income generation, psychosocial counselling and reconciliation sessions based on specific needs of women and girls associated with armed forces and groups.
  • Hold awareness raising sessions with women and girls associated with armed forces and groups on how to participate in a peace process and encourage them to join women’s organizations.
  • Work with men and boys, beneficiaries and stakeholders to change attitudes towards the social roles and relationships of men and women, and to transform violent identities and behavior, including psychosocial support.
  • Provide skills training, education, income generation and psychosocial counselling for SGBV survivors.

See Annex 2for possible indicators

Point 1: Strengthen women's security in crisis: stop violence against women
Example:The Peace and Development Programme in theNorthern Border Zone of Ecuador
Gender issues:The women in Ecuador’s northern border zone (NBZ) live in an environment where SGBV and under-age prostitution is widespread. The region’s industries employ a predominantly male workforce and women have no access to social services and economic support.
Activities: The Peace and Development Programme in the NBZ of Ecuador,is an inter-agency initiative of the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator.It prioritizes women’s concerns in preventing conflict and its activities include:
  • forming partnerships with the Sucumbíos Women’s Movement to implement theSafe Cities and Gender-Based Violence Project involving training, raising awareness, advocating with the media and creating a group to promote elimination of violence against women and girls;
  • providing technical input and training to the Women's Police Stationto ensure women’s access to justice;
  • mainstreaming a gender perspective in public policy, strategic alliances and coordination mechanisms in the programme and with UN partners.
Results:
  • Women participate in resolving threats to their security.
  • Women’s organizations and government are better placed to seize opportunities to create positive change.
  • Government has prioritized women’s rights and SGBV.
  • Plan Ecuador’s workincludes SGBV.
  • UNIFEM (now UN Women), CONAMU (the National Women’s Council) and Plan Ecuadorhave implemented a joint strategy for gender mainstreaming in the NBZ.
Lessons: Inter-agency programming can play a catalytic role in drawing attention to women’s security needs and bringing together key participants to provide technical support.

“[Sexual Violence] is not awomen'sissue, but ahumanrightsissue. I have come to realize that the security of a nation is best measured by the security of its women. Where women are denied equal rights, you frequently find instability; and where there is instability, women are often mistreated and violated.”- Special Representative of UN Secretary General Margot Wallstrom; remarks at Conference on Women, Peace and Security, 27 January, 2010

Point 1: Key tools and resources
Prevention and response to sexual violence in emergencies post-conflict and post-disaster contexts:
Guidelines for Gender Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings
IASC, 2005,

Implementing the Women, Peace and Security Resolution in Security Sector Reform
INSTRAW/DCAF, 2010 Gender and SSR Toolkit

Stop Rape Now- UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict

Increasing the gender responsiveness of security institutions, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, and small arms reduction and control initiatives:
UN: IDDRS, 2006 and Operational Guide to the IDDRS, 2006, Module 5.10

Working Against Violence:Promising practices in Armed Violence Reduction and Prevention
Geneva Declaration Secretariat 2011

Blame it on the War: Gender Dimensions of Violence in Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) – Exploring Links between gender and violence among ex-combatants and associated groups, UNDP 2011
Idle Minds, Empty Pockets: Men’s Vulnerability and Resilience to Violence – Exploring the gender dimensions of violence in crisis contexts
UNDP, How to Guide on DDR and Gender, UNDP 2011 (Link to be added)
Gender-sensitive data collection
WHO Ethical and Safety Recommendations for Researching, Documenting and Monitoring Sexual Violence in Emergencies
World Health Organization, 2007

Developing Gender Statistics: Practical Tool
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, 2010

Sex and Age Matter: Improving Humanitarian Response in Emergencies
Feinstein International Center, 2011

Policy documents
United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2016
UN Women Website

Point 2.Advance gender justice: provide justice and security for women

In post-crisis situations, legal and justice systems tend to be fragile. Ongoing insecurity and political amnesties granted toperpetrators of crimes during the crisis erode accountability and undermine women’s access to justice. In the absence of a functioning legal and justice system and an environment in which there is a lack of security, perpetrators go unpunished and a culture of impunity prevails.

Peacebuilding, recovery and reconstruction processes offer opportunities to redress the violation of women’s and girls’rights byrebuilding the justice system.A gender-responsive approach is needed to promote the rule of law. In many cases, statutory and/or customary law discriminate against women and girls and do not safeguard their security. For instance, violence against women, including marital rape is often not considered a crime. In addition, land, inheritance and citizenship laws often discriminate against women.

A transparent, competent and accessible justice system will contribute to supporting equality between women and men.

Laws to protect women’s rights must be included and enforced within legal frameworks.Women and girls need to know their rights and be able to gain access to all legal systems including at sub-national levelsand in systems that are decentralized. For instance, free legal services can be made availablein communities by paralegals, and a referral service can be provided.

In many contexts, traditional justice mechanismsare most commonly used and maybe better suited to local situations.Cultural sensitivity is key to effective programming in a given context. However, differential treatment of men and women according to cultural contexts or religious beliefs and customs can be an excuse to justify violence against women and thus compromise the human rights that are enshrined in international human rights instruments..In some cases, the text and expert interpretations of the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW) have been used to articulate cultural and religious practices that are harmful to women and to transform these practices into justifiable issues.[2]

Supporting the efforts of women and communities to ensure that traditional justice mechanisms support gender equality is an important area of work that has gained momentum in recent years. When traditional justice mechanisms apply equal approaches to men and women, , they provide an unparalleled route for women to obtain justice, especially at local and community levels. For example, in Timor-Lestemany cases of domestic violence are resolved through traditional justice mechanisms,and UNDP andthe United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT)supported drafting a law on traditional justice mechanisms. This law granted women equal access, treatment and representation in legal mechanismsand, in doing so, challenged community behaviour towards women and GBV.

Authorities and others need to pay attention to ensuring that women and girls can gain access to, participate in, and receive, gender justice through these systems.When there are multiple legal systems, support can be provided to help clarify which system/process is the most appropriate for dealing with SGBV and other gender justice issues, and to help women gain access to those systems.

Necessary steps in implementing the second point of the 8PA include the training of judges, chiefs or elders who make decisions,in international standards, of principles of natural justice, gender equality and non-discrimination.Furthermore, assistance can be provided to support communities in transforming these mechanisms so they include women as decision-makers and ensuring that the processes facilitate gender equality and justice.

“Although at their most brutal in war, sexual abuses against women often stem from longstanding prejudices, a lack of equality and discrimination that had condoned such violence all along. When perpetrators go unpunished, they are emboldened to strike again, perpetrating and encouraging vicious cycles of attack and reprisal even when a country emerges from conflict. Rendering justice to the victims is, therefore, not only a moral imperative, but also a precondition for reconciliation and peace to take hold.”- Louise Arbour, Statement on International Women’s Day, 2007
Point 2:
Issues / Indicative programming entry points
State level
Statutory and customary law for property, inheritance, family matters, SGBV, citizenship and employment often discriminate against women.
The legal system is not accessible to women and services are not available or equipped to deal with SGBV and other gender equality issues.
The security sector is male dominated and in many cases gender-blind. /
  • Review and strengthen existing laws and regulations for SGBV survivors and ex-combatants, e.g. witness protection laws, inheritance and property rights etc.
  • Support constitutional and legislative reforms to protect women’s civil, political, economic, social, cultural rights.
  • Build state capacity to ensure all aspects of the justice and sectors at national and sub-national levels are gender-sensitive (police, legislative drafters, magistrates, judges, prosecutors, legal aid personnel etc.).
  • Develop the capacity of judges, lawyers and prosecutors to deliver justice to women and girls.
  • Ensure availability of legal aid and support to women through civil society organizations and paralegal committees to increase access to justice.
  • Advocate for affirmative action and anti-discrimination policies to ensure full and equal participation of women in military and police forces.
  • Provide gender awareness, human rights and women-sensitiveinvestigationtraining to security and judicial personnel, with attention on SGBV issues.
  • Support the development of a code of conduct and standard operating procedures that are specific tocrime investigation in relation to women
  • Encourage better coordination between the justice and security sectors.

Community and grassroots level
Men and women may have low levels of awareness about women’s rights and laws that protect them from SGBV.
Not all women may know about or be able to seek redress for SGBV and other gender equality issues. /
  • Support the recruitment and training of paralegalswho have advocacy capacities.
  • Support mobile legal/justice units to assist in the justice system.
  • Inform men and women in communities of the available legal services andrelevant laws.

Transitional justice
Crimes - especially SGBV -committed during conflicts often go unpunished.
Reparations or compensation schemes established in the post-conflict period are not gender-sensitive, and survivors of SGBV do not seek or receive redress.
Women are not equally represented as decision-makers in reparation and compensation schemes.
  • Engage women in designing transitional justice mechanisms, including reparation and truth and reconciliation commissions.
  • Develop witness protection, survivor support and empowerment measures that are sensitive to women’s needs and priorities including security.

See Annex 2 for possible indicators