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UN-INSTRAW launched the results of “Filling the Gaps: A Virtual Discussion
of Gender, Peace and Security Research” which took place in October 2008. The
discussion was an opportunity for over 90 academics and researchers from
universities, NGOs, research institutes and international organizations
around the world to fortify existing networks and build a platform for more
participatory and dynamic research.
The
purpose of the three week dialogue was to exchange information and stimulate
the debate on Gender, Peace and Security (GPS) research with the goal of
identifying gaps in current research and tools to fill them.
In particular, it aimed to assess the results of the work being done in
research on GPS issues and identify concrete strategies and mechanisms to
strengthen the impact of research on policy-making and operational efforts.
Participants’ suggestions included increasing collaboration and networks
between academia, policy makers and activists to make peace and security
research more inclusive and its impact more visible. “There is a real
limit to how far such change can be advanced via programmatic work in the
absence of broad-based civil society engagement”, pointed out Niamh Reilly,
Senior Lecturer, National University of Ireland.
Moreover, the specialists called for making research more participatory, by
using bottom-up approaches to address more comprehensively the specific needs
of communities in peace building processes.
Njoki Wamai, Peace and Security Fellow at Kings College London, commented,
“Investment in training more women, more Africans, more younger people, among
others, to engage in peace and security is important in ensuring that peace
and security research is defined by their terms and as such solutions are
homegrown and sustainable.”
Participants stressed the importance of fully incorporating and utilizing a
gender perspective in traditional academic disciplines.
Furthermore, they emphasized the need to incorporate marginalized groups in
existing and future research through the consideration of social divisions
(ethnicity, race and class) that can generate further, intersecting forms of
discrimination.
“Research is the core tool in order to create, foster and build capacity to
understand the different spheres of conflict and security and what it means
to different communities - and especially the most vulnerable among us. Only
by fully understanding these issues can a positive difference be made and
sustainable policies implemented”, said Nicola Popovic, GPS Program Officer
at UN-INSTRAW.
“There is an urgent need for sophisticated gender-sensitive indicators that
can measure and demonstrate the process, quality, direction and impact of
change. In addition, indicators and monitoring mechanisms should, apart from
being gender-responsive, also be context-specific and account for
intersectionality and a plurality of security needs”, wrote Steven Schoofs,
Research Fellow at the Clingendael Institute.
Experts showed that there is a big obstacle to collecting sex-disaggregated
data especially in developing and post-conflict contexts. In this light, it
is crucial to develop standardized gender indicators and data collection
processes to assess the impact of gender empowerment.
The participants recommended creating more academic programs in the area of
GPS with a focus on connecting academia and civil society.
Finally, they suggested developing a Community of Practice that would
strengthen the collaboration and information sharing among academia,
policy-makers and activists.
Participants came from many countries including Australia, Czech Republic,
Ireland, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Uganda, United Kingdom and the
United States.
Press Contact: Valeria Vilardo, Communications Associate,
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