Women pay a high price in post-conflict societies. They face
a high level of mental and physical violence. War forces women to move from
valuable economic roles and segregates them from the social sphere. To
understand women's situation in conflict- and post-conflict societies, UN Security
Council Resolution or UNSCR 1325 was adopted in October 2000, pushing parties
to include women and consider gender perspective when conflicts occur. This
resolution aims to recognize the additional suffering of women and girls in
violent contexts, armed conflicts, and post-conflict situations with an
emphasis on the essential role of women in the prevention and resolution of
disputes, peace talks, peace negotiation, peace keeping, humanitarian response,
and in post-conflict reconstruction.This resolution interlinking with SDG 5
(equality and empowerment of all women and girls) and SDG 16 (peace, justice,
and strong institutions). Women are excluded not only from decisions and overt
structural discrimination in pre-conflict situations during conflicts, they are
also subjected to additional burdens of being economically vulnerable and
socially excluded. Due to these extra burdens, women often endure more harm
from conflicts than men. Women suffer from pre-conflict legacies of inadequate
investment in the gender-equal economic and social development of education,
health, food security, water, property, employment, and land rights. Therefore,
according to UN women, to protect women in and after the conflict, the
international agencies and other organizations must design
"gender-responsive financing planning and budgeting programs." Hence,
in 2010, the UNSC committee dedicated 15 percent of UN funds to support women's
empowerment in conflict zones and advance gender equality. Although it is
recognized that the investment in women's economic empowerment has not received
sufficient attention in post-conflict contexts and that when speaking of the
budget dedicated to this aim, less than 5 percent of proposed funding targets
gender equality or women's specific needs. Furthermore, It is important to note
that women are often marginalized from professional opportunities in favor of
men, which results in unfair redistribution of resources once conflicts
subside. Following the cessation of violent conflicts, men who returned from
war and demobilized soldiers often take upon these opportunities that women had
previously developed. (Perianes, 2018)
In 2012, in partnership with UN Women, the Finnish
government launched the "Women's Economic Recovery program" to teach
women skills so they can one day establish their businesses and participate in
the location decision-making.
Documentary link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJjKfX_c-3c&feature=emb_logo
Ana Perianes. ( November, 2018). The significance of women’s
economic empowerment post-conflict.
https://impakter.com/significance-womens-economic-empowerment-post-conf
ReplyDeleteThanks, Banabsha for this informative piece! I came from similar region. The West African region is also a post-conflict zone, even though there is an ongoing conflict in some states. Such conflict within the region is exacerbated by the rise of extremism and terrorism, specifically Northern Mali, Northern Nigeria, and Burkina Faso leading to empowerment programs for women and youths championed by NGOs. As a regional body, ECOWAS is taking a leading role in promoting a gender-inclusive economic growth for poverty eradication among the member nations. In 2008, Guinea Bissau and Senegal benefited from similar programs to enhance entrepreneurship, access to loans, and financial aid for trade. In our early readings, this goal of SDG is related to the anti-poverty approach. Unless such initiatives of the income-generating project provide employment that would lead to greater autonomy, practical gender need might not be met. I think it’s a good initiative when the target goals are achieved.