Women’s participation

Beyond ”Gender and Stir” : Reflections on gender and SSR in the aftermath of African conflicts

Medarbetare:	Eriksson Baaz, Maria | Utas, Mats
Utgivare:	Uppsala, Sweden
År:	2012
Ämnesord:	Africa, conflicts, Police, Armed forces, Defence policy, gender roles, Peacekeeping, Women’s participation, Security sector reform, Post-conflict reconstruction, case studies, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

As a policy field largely characterised by handbooks and manuals, gender and Security Sector Reform (SSR) has been insufficiently studied and analysed. Analytical discussion of what gendering SSRmeans is quite rare, as is the study of the already gendered nature of the security institutions that are the subject of intervention. This policy dialogue unpacks aspects of the discourses and practices regarding gender and SSR. It highlights limitations and problems both in the conceptualisation of gender and its incorporation into practical SSR work. The publication also demonstrates how researchers and policymakers often have divergent views of what gendering SSR means. Finally, it calls for closer and more constructive dialogue between researchers and practitioners, a dialogue which acknowledges the conditions and constraints in these two spheres of work.

Gender and Security in Africa : An Overview

Upphovsperson:	Hendricks, Cheryl
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Africa, conflicts, Women’s role, gender relations, Post-conflict reconstruction, Peacebuilding, Women’s participation, Security sector reform, feminism, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

This Discussion Paper explores the debates, theoretical perspectives and current trends in gender, conflict and post-conflict reconstruction, and security sector reform (SSR) in Africa. It provides a broad overview of and critical insights into the gender-conflict-security nexus, capturing the trends in the discourses, identifying the gaps in the literature and prioritising issues and areas for future research. This Discussion Paper is essential reading for all those with a deep interest in gender, peace, development and security in Africa, particularly gender scholars, students, activists and practitioners.

Transnational Activism Networks and Gendered Gatekeeping : Negotiating Gender in an African Association of Informal Workers

Upphovsperson:	Lindell, Ilda
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Urban Dynamics |
År:	2011
Ämnesord:	Informal sector, Social movements, International organizations, Grass roots groups, Networks, Associations, Women’s organizations, Women’s participation, leadership, gender relations, feminism, case studies, Mozambique, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

The last decade has witnessed the rise of a great number of transnational social movements and activist networks. While many of these movements have been initiated in the North, some are driven by people from the Global South with the aim of addressing various forms of destitution and asserting a variety of basic economic and cultural rights. Such transnational organizing is increasingly evident in Sub-Saharan Africa. Some of these initiatives relate particularly to the growing numbers ofpeople depending on forms of informal work for survival. This edition of Current African Issues looks into the transnationalization of a local association of informal workers as it becomes involved in an international network of grassroots organizations. While this transnational engagement opens up new political possibilities, it also poses new challenges. Participation in international activities is highly unequal and mediated rather than direct, as influential actors engage in practices of gate-keeping that tend to work to the disadvantage of women. Tensions also emerged as a result of the divergent gender ideologies espoused by different participants. The paper draws on various theoretical perspectives on spatial politics in the global age to interrogate the unequal and contested spatialities of this transnational activism. Feminist scholarship sheds further light on the gendering processes at work in the transnationalization of a grassroots association.

Young women in African wars

Upphovspersoner:	Coulter, Chris | Persson, Mariam | Utas, Mats
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	War, conflicts, youth, Women’s participation, Women’s role, Social conditions, Government programmes, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Young women are combatants in contemporary African wars. They also participate in a whole array of different roles. However, by and large, they remain invisible to us. In fact, our “northern” hackneyed views on women’s innate non-participation in war prevent us from seeing specific needs for young women during and in the aftermath of wars. For instance, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes often fail to address appropriate needs for young women and in a variety of ways “prevent” them from partaking. Issues of stigma, safe demobilisation, individual concerns for post-war marriage, health and education, need to be addresed in both a more gendered way, but also with an apposite understanding of young women’s agency in both peace and war. In this Policy note it is argued that to improve policy and programming efforts it is necessary to broaden the understanding of young women’s roles and participation in armed conflict in Africa historically and today.