TEIMUN 2011 11th July – 17th July
ECONOMIC & SOCIAL COUNCIL (ECOSOC) Topic I: The Role of Women in Post-Conflict Situations and the Role of Female Education
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Introduction Half of our planet’s population are women. Logically speaking, they should also play half the role in deciding on national policies, in implementing reconstruction programs after a conflict and in stabilizing the peace. They should be able to use their efforts and abilities for the greater well-being of their families, communities and society. Women suffer from a conflict just as much as men do, but in very different ways. Their individual experiences in conflict and post-conflict situations makes them act in different ways to men, when it comes to rebuilding a country’s political, economic and social sectors. It would be important to focus on both views when planning national policies, to ensure a harmonious and holistic outcome and a stable and durable peace. However, this is only very rarely the case. As will be developed below, these public, political, economic and social domains remain for the most part male or gender neutral. This means that important decisions are taken without enough input or consent from the female half. Women’s needs, views, efforts and abilities are rarely taken into account on a formal level. To ensure female participation on those levels in future generations, an important factor would be the education of future women. Girls should be able to go to school as long as is necessary to have a quality education. With such a strong foundation, they could increase their potential to more equal access in the public and economic life of a country, earn more for their families, and make a greater difference. Countries cannot afford to ignore half of their labor potential. Not only manual effort is a limited good, but also brain power. Educating women and boosting their analytical and decisional capacities can only benefit the future development and prosperity and should therefore not go to waste. 1.
The role of women in post-conflict situations
The term “conflict” can include anything from a fight between two opposed groups within a country, to that between two opposed countries. In each case, violence is involved, as well as the destruction of structures and institutions. The persons afflicted by conflicts often lose their original way of life, their patrimony and feeling of security, as well as many cultural norms and social networks. An important factor therefore is finding a way to transition from a situation of war into a stable post-conflict outcome, hopefully involving peaceful negotiations and a general reconstruction of society – be it political, economic or social. However, to attempt this complicated task successfully implicates taking into account the female population and its needs and abilities in the peace and reconstruction process. Only an equal implication of women and men can guarantee a stable and balanced outcome. 1.
Background development
Women in/during a conflict: Women in a conflict face certain issues limited to their gender. The consequences of these issues, which include sexual violence and therefore the destruction of their mental, physical and reproductive health, continue to be felt long after the conflict has abated. Other issues that concern both men and women are those of displacement, the destruction of patrimony and infrastructure, the loss of jobs, social status, connections and family members. Women suffer from institutional breakdown, as it increases their struggle to keep families together and care for the sick and wounded. They can be widowed and lose everything either to war-related looting and destruction, or to their husband’s family who can choose to support them or not.1 1
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CAHN, Naomi, 2006 : 335-337.
However, not all women are passive victims of a conflict: some women benefit from war by temporarily performing non-traditional roles, for example in substitution to absent men, acquiring new skills and statuses in the process. The rupture of patriarchal structures during a war can benefit the economic independence and productivity of many women.2 Others participate actively on the armed side of the conflict, fighting as soldiers alongside their male colleagues, or providing other services to the armed forces. 3 Women after a conflict: A woman’s post-war position will be strongly influenced by her former position during the conflict – though seldom in a positive way. The negative impact of a conflict on a woman’s life will of course severely limit her chances to lead a prosperous and satisfying life afterwards. However, even in the above-mentioned positive side effects some women experience due to a conflict will rarely endure the transition into a post-war society. Newlygained status can easily be lost upon the return to social and cultural norms, and status acquired in the armed forces becomes obsolete after the end of a war.4 Transition from conflict to peace: After each conflict, the emerging system needs to take into account all the changes a country or population has endured so as to reintroduce stability. A first step from war to peace is a peace building process: this can range from traditional peacekeeping operations to more broad-based strategies. As most of today’s conflicts are civil wars fought in poor regions of the world, civilians count for the majority of casualties, and there is a high risk of relapse given the tension that has built up before and during the conflict. A broader peace building strategy takes into account not only political arrangements to end the conflict, but also the protection of civilians and the strengthening of economic, social and legal institutions – it can therefore help to prevent and resolve future conflicts.5 Before political reconstruction can be tackled, a so-called “DDR-process” has to be implemented: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration. Disarming combatants includes collecting all small arms and light and heavy weaponry within a conflict zone, as well as de-mining the afflicted region. The parties to a conflict are demobilized, when they have disbanded their military structures and the combatants have begun a transformation into civilian life. These ex-combatants, during a reintegration process, can then, together with their families and communities, adapt economically and socially to a new, productive civilian life. The process is often implemented by the United Nations or another multilateral organization; national civilian organizations and governmental institutions take over as time goes by.6 Women in the peace process: Women are more often than not left out of the peace process, although they could greatly contribute to conflict resolution. They are often forced to do so in informal ways, not having access to formal peace negotiations and not being able to represent their needs and interests in the new system. Yes, civil society groups have recently been more largely included in peace processes; but in the formal post-conflict negotiations (for which such information is available), globally less than 8 percent of the participants, and fewer than 3 percent of the signatories are women. No woman has ever been appointed chief or lead-mediator in UN2
TURSHEN, Meredeth, TWAGIRAMARIYA, Clotilde, 2001 : p. 29-31, 173-175. CAHN, Naomi, Idem, 2006 : 335-336. 4 SØRENSEN, Brigitte, 1998 : p.3. 5 UN Women, http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_war_peace/peacebuilding.php, (10.01.11, 14:23). 6 CAHN, Naomi, op.cit., 2006 : 346-349. 3
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sponsored peace talks.7 Being forced into the informal peace process after the formal negotiations have finished, confronts women with many of the defining decisions already made. International responses: The discussions leading up to United Nations Millennium Development Goal no. 3, “Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women” 8, has caused the United Nations Security Council to adopt a number of resolutions connected to gender equality. SC Resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security, “(…) Reaffirming the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building, and stressing the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution (…) Urges Member States to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict (…)”.9 It is followed by resolutions 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), and 1889 (2009) stressing similar points. “Gender mainstreaming” has become a great concern for international organizations such as the United Nations: Gender Mainstreaming is “the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programs, in all areas and at all levels. The ultimate goal of this strategy is to achieve gender equality“.10 2.
Problems and challenges
The problems and challenges of post-conflict reconstruction can be divided into three categories: those concerning the political, the economic and the social reconstruction of a war-torn country or society.11 a) Political reconstruction: Women are usually underrepresented in formal peace negotiations. In some countries, women’s organizations are nevertheless invited to peace talks, and women are able to engage in informal peace-building activities, such as the implementation of the DDR-process. Despite having a reasonable impact, their limited means taken into account, the activities of such organizations are not recognized as being “political”. They are seen as charitable volunteering, sometimes even as an extension of a woman’s social domestic role as wife and mother.12 A more holistic approach to the DDR-process is possible and has been debated during more recent peace talks: including not only disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, but also democracy promotion, security, justice and gender equality. This last point is based on three reasons for including women at every level of the peace process: 1. 2. 7
Human rights demand women’s equal participation in public life. Women can emphasize female experiences during the conflict.
UN Women, http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_war_peace/facts_figures.php#1, (10.01.11, 12:40). United Nations Organization, http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/gender.shtml, (29.01.11, 19:10). 9 Security Council Resolution 1325, 2000, www.un.org/events/res_1325e.pdf, (29.01.11, 19:35). 10 UN Women Watch, 1997-2010, http://www.un.org/womenwatch/directory/gender_mainstreaming_10314.htm, (29.01.11, 19:20). 11 SØRENSEN, Brigitte, op.cit., 1998. 12 SØRENSEN, Brigitte, op.cit., 1998 : 3-17. 8
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Women involved in peace negotiations become active agents in rebuilding, rather than passive victims. 13
Being active in peace building does not necessarily mean trying to gain a voice at a high level. Women’s organizations and demonstrations can shape public opinion. Working for peace is in many cases a unique opportunity to become organized, and even start international networking between organizations. Bottom-up peace education is a possibility for women to influence values and norms within their families and communities. This alternate form of socialization can be used to convey equity, social justice and non-violent ways of dealing with tensions and conflicts. However, taking an intermediate position to pressure others into being more peaceful is also quite dangerous. Social networks can in turn pressure women into silence. After many conflicts, democratization is the next political process to be tackled. It, too, is mostly a male or gender-neutral domain, and many women who vote are expected to do so according to the opinions of their male relatives – if they are not denied the right to vote altogether. Women face problems in participating in political life: lack of time, limited means of transport and illiteracy, among others. There is a tendency to overlook women’s particular capacities and resources and they are often not even considered as political candidates to be voted for. This results in a lack of recognition and enforcement of women’s constitutional rights, and a lack of information targeted at women to let them know these rights.14 b) Economic reconstruction: To reconstruct a region’s economic development after a conflict, infrastructure and production facilities have to be rehabilitated and a qualified human resource base has to be developed. During a conflict, agricultural productivity suffers a blow: infrastructure is destroyed, the environment suffers degradation (e.g. landmines), and administration becomes obsolete with the displacement of population. Women have a constructive role in supporting dependants and in revitalizing a war-shattered economy. The direct link between an increase in female labor and economic growth testifies to this fact.15 However, women in post-conflict situations face a problem: many men having been killed in the conflict, the number of woman-headed households increases sharply. Women in agriculture: Agriculture is the primary form of livelihood and major source of income for a surviving population after a crisis.16 Arable land is therefore a rare and coveted resource after a war. It can happen that a widowed woman gets denied access to her late husband’s land and property title either by her in-laws or neighbors. Without this basic livelihood, her family will inevitably fall into a poverty trap and have no access to basic rights such as food security, sanitation, education and health care.17 Usually, these women either have no legal rights to the property due to inheritance and property laws, or they are not aware of legal possibilities to regain their rights. In the case of dispossession and the inability to cultivate land, women become either poorly paid agricultural laborers, or they drift into informal sector activities. 13
CAHN, Naomi, op.cit., 2006 : 343-344. SØRENSEN, Brigitte, op.cit., 1998 : 3-17. 15 UN Women, http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics/facts_figures.php, (10.01.11, 12:45). 16 SØRENSEN, Brigitte, op.cit., 1998 : 19. 17 UN Women, http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_poverty_economics/land_property_rights.php, (10.01.11, 13:00). 14
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Women in the informal sector: Lack of employment either in the agricultural or the formal sector leads women to take up petty trade and small-scale business activities: these are open to everyone at any time and do not require great investment. A large social network helps them to expand, and women can learn new skills. Thus diversifying their income source, they run less risk of not being able to feed their families, but they can quickly become overburdened. Despite a near female monopoly in the informal sector of some countries, pursuing traditionally male activities can socially stigmatize women. Moreover, what many of them lack is specialized training to improve their marketing and management techniques and gain confidence in the trading world. The difficulty to access such training is due to other obligations, social norms and lack of mobility. Women in the formal sector: The formal sector remains the most attractive environment to earn a fixed and stable living. After the budgetary cuts and institutional breakdown due to a conflict, formal sector jobs, like those of civil servants, are reduced. Women face a lack of access to training and qualifications. Especially male unemployment can exclude women from working in the formal sector: the traditional mindset sees a woman as dependent on a man and will not allow her to become the sole breadwinner. Women are forced to make a living to support their families elsewhere. After a conflict, there are new areas of employment that open up to women, such as international relief and development organizations and new NGOs. But the demand for the emergency sector decreases over time. 18 c) Social reconstruction: After a conflict, two kinds of social reconstruction are necessary: the social sector has to be reestablished after its partial or total collapse, and a long-term process of social integration has to be tackled. Reconstructing the social sector: The social sector includes basic services national institutions should be able to provide to a population, such as health care or education. During a conflict, government resources are reallocated to military purposes, most social professionals lose their jobs and social institutions are attacked to terrorize the population. Women are especially affected, since it is often they who are concerned with the social wellbeing of their families and communities. Women and women’s organizations are very active in restoring social services. They often try to continue primary and secondary education after a conflict, as well as basic health care, though they often lack basic materials and facilities. Joining relief and health organizations can ensure them a more secure base for the work necessary to keep their families and other conflict victims alive and healthy. Since the basic will is there to work hard and preserve a functioning social system, targeting women for emergency health care and education could have good results. Social integration: Social integration becomes necessary after displacement and exile, the return of combatants from the armed forces, and psycho-social trauma caused by violence of any kind. The social reintegration of ex-combatants and returnees is only one of the more visible challenges. Psychological distress and trauma can also emanate from erosion of human rights and 18
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SĂ˜RENSEN, Brigitte, op.cit., 1998 : 19-27.
social identities, which means that any member of the population can face a similar challenge. All sectors of society experience the need for reintegration – an obstacle so daunting that many people, especially women, are reluctant to return home after exile. Returnees are often faced with a lack of solidarity at home, as are victims of violence, especially widows and mothers of illegitimate children. Conflicts produce new social categories, stigmatized and with a lower status than they had before. It is hard for society to accommodate these categories, but in a number of countries, self-help groups and women’s organizations have risen to the task.19 2.
Preparing future generations: female education
A conflict will set back many efforts made up to that point in primary and secondary education. As mentioned above, the cut in social services largely limits the opportunities of boys and girls to go to school. The economic collapse forces them to help their parents to support the survival of their families. Girls especially are often expected to stay at home and fulfill domestic duties, as their mothers and grandmothers did before them, even in times of peace. Losing this female potential, which represents half the future adult population, is a great burden to the country’s future economy and institutional structure. A conflict, though having destroyed the previous educational system, can be a new starting point: it can help to implement female education as a crucial part of the reconstruction process. 1.
Background development
Basic facts: Of the estimated 796 million illiterate adults in the world, 64% of them are women.20 This is a vicious cycle that begins in childhood, where many children, especially girls, are prevented access to basic primary education. Conflict, in addition to gender, has a strong influence on educational inequalities: almost two thirds of all the children without access to primary education are to be found in conflict-affected countries.21 Globally, 101 million children in primary school age are not attending school today. The largest percentage is to be found in sub-Saharan Africa (46%) and South Asia (35.4%). In addition, many older children are still attending primary level, and even more have dropped out or quit school prematurely. Children from poor and rural areas, children with disabilities, and especially girls are often unable to complete even primary education.21 Gender disparities: “Gender disparities (…) often stem from difficulties girls face in obtaining access to school. Among these obstacles are poverty and the related issue of direct and indirect costs of education, distance to school, language and ethnicity, social exclusion and the school environment. In addition, girls face cultural barriers concerning their roles in the home and in society. The challenge is to implement policies tailored to overcoming multiple sources of exclusion and to giving girls the educational support and physical safety they need to gain access to (…) education and complete it.”22
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SØRENSEN, Brigitte, op.cit., 1998 : 31-40. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, http://www.uis.unesco.org/ev.php?URL_ID=6401&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201, (21.01.11, 15:10). 21 UNICEF, All children, everywhere, http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_50671.html, (21.01.11, 12:14). 22 UNESCO, EFA Global monitoring report 2007 in WIJAYAWARDENE, Dr. Mihirinie, 2008 : p. 9. 20
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Gender equality in education therefore has multiple implications: equality of access, as well equality of treatment once in school. Education is a fundamental human right, without which the exercise of all other human rights becomes much more difficult.23 Girl’s enrollments in primary school have had an upward tendency during the last few years, making the gender gap narrower in early education. However, there are large differences among regions and countries, and between rural and urban areas. Moreover, primary enrollment does not mean finishing the entire school cycle. For every 100 boys not finishing school, there are still globally 122 girls that do not reach graduation. 24 The higher the educational level, the more girls will drop out of school, and the larger the gender gap. As they grow older, they face stronger barriers than boys to remaining full-time students. Reasons for gender disparities: There are many reasons for this tendency. Gender difference is, in many cultures, a part of traditional socialization. In economically hard times, families will therefore prefer to finance their son’s education, while keeping their daughter at home to help in the domestic area. Many parents are ignorant of the possible benefits in educating their daughters. 25 Other reasons for girls failing to complete school are HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, orphanhood, conflicts and emergencies, gender-based violence and a gender gap in information technology. 24 As can be seen, simply building more schools would not solve the problem – the obstacles to female education are much more complex and require a wider range of measures to solve them. 2.
Problems and challenges
International goals: Two of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals set gender equality in education as important targets to be attained: MDG no. 2, “achieve universal primary education” names, as its third target, to “ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling”. The above mentioned MDG no. 3, “promote gender equality and empower women” talks about “eliminat(ing) gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015” as its fourth target.26 The first aim for 2005 was not met in most regions and it will be difficult to reach the 2015 target globally. To ensure equal education at all levels, improvement needs to be focused on access to and retention in secondary and tertiary education for girls and young women, and the quality of the education offered, including its relevance and learning outcome.27 Another obstacle that needs to be addressed is the projected teacher shortage of 18 million teachers worldwide by 2015. Without qualified teachers, neither girls nor boys will have fair chances at a quality education; school classes will grow larger and the individual student will get less support.28 Why is girl’s education so important? 23
WIJAYAWARDENE, Dr. Mihirinie, Idem, 2008 : p.5. World Bank, http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,contentMDK:20298916~menu PK:617572~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html, (21.01.11, 13:53). 25 AMOUZOU, Essè, 2008 : p. 12-16. 26 United Nations Organization, http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/gender.shtml, (29.01.11, 19:10). 27 World Bank, Idem. 28 UNICEF, All children, everywhere, http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_50671.html, (21.01.11, 12:14). 24
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Girl’s education is important for many reasons. Investment in female education can yield higher returns than any other development investment. 1.
2. 3. 4. 5.
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If girls spend more time at school and receive a better education, this can reduce fertility rates: formal education and career expectations will make family planning methods more likely to be used. It can also reduce infant mortality rates, since better-informed mothers are more likely to seek medical care and advice on nutrition and sanitation. Maternal mortality rates can also go down, if women do not get pregnant as early or as often and seek pre- and post-natal care. HIV/AIDS can be reduced by spreading more information and by giving young women greater economic independence. Women’s labor force participation rates will go up, and they will be able to earn more: girls that have been educated tend to become economically independent women and will have greater opportunities on the labor market. They will participate more in public life, and those who become teachers will share their education with new generations. These economic and inter-educational benefits will increase the well-being of a community and society.
Conclusion After a conflict, rebuilding a country’s political, economic and social structure is a great challenge. Up until now, mainly male-dominated or gender-neutral institutions have tackled the obstacles of a post-conflict situation. A very important factor is therefore often left out: women, constituting half the population, could greatly enhance the peace building process. Not only in informal ways, but also within formal peace negotiations, it is necessary that women participate, to reach a broader outcome. Taking into account women’s political, economic and social rights and needs can help to balance national policies. A necessary condition for women to be able to participate in public life is an equal education. Globally, girls have less education opportunities than boys, either in primary enrollment, or in being able to finish the school cycle. The less educated women a country can count into its labor force, the less political, economic and social strength does it have to deal with hard times. Implementing women in important decisions that can influence this strength can improve a country’s outlook on future reconstruction. It may even have a role in preventing future conflicts, or in lessening their consequences. Including women in such important parts of public life can improve the living conditions and therefore the wellbeing of a post-conflict population. And through equal education, this improvement can be transmitted to future generations of men and women. Bibliography and further reading 1. Books and articles AMOUZOU, Essè, Les handicaps à la scolarisation de la jeune fille en Afrique noire, Paris, L’Harmattan – Burkina Faso, 2008. CAHN, Naomi, “Women in Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Dilemmas and Directions”, William&Mary Journal of Women and the Law, Vol.12, no.335, 2006, p.335-376. WIJAYAWARDENE, Dr. Mihirinie, Girl’s Education: a Foundation for Development, London, Commonwealth Foundation, (Report), 2008. SØRENSEN, Brigitte, “Women and Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Issues and Sources”, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development Programme for Strategic and International Security Studies, WSP Occasional Paper No.3, June 1998. 1
TURSHEN, Meredeth, TWAGIRAMARIYA, Clotilde, Que font les femmes en temps de guerre: Genre et conflit en Afrique, (traduit de l’anglais par Liria Arcal), Paris, L’Harmattan, (Santé, sociétés et cultures), 2001. 2. Other sources Millennium Development Goals Report 2010, (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/reports.shtml). Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000): Link between women and peace and security agenda, (www.un.org/events/res_1325e.pdf). Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008): Sexual violence as a matter of international peace and security, (http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_resolutions08.htm). Security Council Resolution 1888 (2009): Leadership and effective support mechanisms to strengthen the implementation of SCR 1820, (http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_resolutions09.htm). Security Council Resolution 1889 (2009): Obstacles to women’s participation in peace processes and peace building, as prescribed in SCR 1325, (http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_resolutions09.htm). UNESCO, “Gender and education”, (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/genderand-education/). UNICEF, “All children everywhere: a strategy for basic education and gender equality”, (http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_50671.html). UNICEF, “Basic education and gender equality” (http://www.unicef.org/education/index.php). United Nations Organization, (www.un.org). UN Women, (http://www.unwomen.org/). UN Women Watch, “Gender mainstreaming”, (http://www.un.org/womenwatch/directory/gender_mainstreaming_10314.htm). UN Women Watch, “Global Women’s Conferences 1975-1995”, (http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/followup/session/presskit/hist.htm). World Bank and UNESCO, “Education for all (EFA)”, (http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,contentMD K:20374062~menuPK:540090~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html).
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