Her peace

By: Meenakshi Gopinath

March 24, 2015

The conjuncture of the Beijing Plus 20 consultations, the 15-year anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1,325 and the deliberations around the post-2015 development goals presents a historic opportunity. It is an invitation to re-envision a global compact that foregrounds the link between sustainable development, security, peace, environment, democracy and gender justice.

Women all over the world, and in South Asia in particular, have, from the turn of the century, entered the arena of peacebuilding. They have interrogated militarist and state-centric notions of security and questioned the practices of war-making as well as the mindsets that legitimise the stockpiling of weapons. They have questioned their exclusion from the negotiating tables where formal peace is often “brokered”.

Many women have highlighted the imperative to “craft” peace that is both just and inclusive, addressing the structural causes of conflicts and their compounded impact on women. They have spoken out about how systemic violence impacts their access to livelihood as well as economic and political rights. They have mobilised around these issues, transcending borders and boundaries, to establish regional and global networks.

The fillip for this was provided by the watershed UNSC Resolution 1,325, which mandated moving away from a discourse of victimhood towards action to foreground the agency of women in peacekeeping operations and peacebuilding initiatives.

In countries like India, the entry of women into the professional and political worlds has empowered civil society initiatives to engage more productively in the arena of peacebuilding. From the all-women Indian UN peacekeeping force in Liberia to the band of women scientists that facilitated the recently successful Mars Mission, there are crucial areas where women have shattered glass ceilings and redefined notions of success at the workplace. With their legally mandated presence on boards of directors under the Companies Act, 2013, they are now also poised to alter the dynamics of corporate boardrooms and priorities.

Yet a lot more needs to be done in the areas of peace and security as well as political representation, where women’s continuing marginalisation depletes the survival chances of accords and lasting peace. It is here that many more silences need to be broken and a new discourse scripted.

All aspects contributing to the vulnerability of women in society, such as illiteracy, violence, lack of access to social security, health, need to be part of the security discourse. National security must be demystified, freed from deterrence vocabularies, and placed squarely in the ambit of a democratic dialogue that takes on board the quotidian insecurities of “ordinary” citizens. Governments must be urged to mainstream gender considerations into conflict-transformation processes within and between states. This includes increasing the numeric and substantive representation of women at all stages of negotiation, including multi-track diplomacy initiatives.

Training for leadership and capacity-building programmes in peace negotiations and mediation is crucial. The pool of trained women and gender experts needs to be enhanced, since peacebuilding requires special skills that must be deployed at several levels of the conflict-transformation process.

Environmental issues and the contribution and concerns of women on ecological sustainability need to be given due importance. This is becoming a major contributor to ongoing and potential conflict within and between societies. Civil society efforts that build solidarities and women’s networks across borders and boundaries can at times be a stronger force in engendering peace and security processes than purely formal government interventions. These need support.

The exchange of ideas on how organisations can advance women’s rights and gender justice in conflict resolution and transformation processes is essential. This will go a long way in evolving shared goals that are both context-sensitive and global in their impact. This is part of linking the global and local imperatives to evolve an inclusive set of parameters for action. Civil society initiatives can offer a rich repertoire of experience and expertise.

Finally, enhancing the effectiveness of women in peace processes is linked to enhancing the qualitative representation of women in all institutions of democracy, including legislatures and public bodies. Gender justice is a cross-cutting issue and can help address the challenges of de-weaponisation, elimination of small arms in the hands of local militia and terrorist groups, and zero impunity for the excesses of security forces.

In violence and conflict affected areas, women’s groups have banded together to prevent bloodshed and broker truces. Mothers’ associations in India’s Northeast and other countries have raised their voice against the unexplained “disappearance” of innocent civilians in conflict areas. The Meira Paibis of Manipur have been in the public consciousness following their dramatic protests against the sexual assault of women in the name of law and order. Women have come together, often transcending identity faultlines, to demand a “just” peace.

In the ultimate analysis, peacebuilding is about transforming relationships by creating trust among and between peoples. Educating women for public leadership is about making despair unconvincing and hope practical.

The writer is director, Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace, Delhi.

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