Addressing Gender Inclusivity across Peace and Security Institutions

Since 2000, and the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), peace and security institutions have been obligated to integrate gender perspectives into their work at both an organisational and operational level. 20 years on, this project addresses the remaining practical challenges to achieving this goal. Specifically, the importance of leadership, strategies for overcoming institutional resistance and a lack of knowledge of the relevance of ‘gender’. The overarching aim of this project is to fill an existing gap by producing content of use for those involved in peace and security field operations and institutions.

Funded by the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account, this project builds on an existing collaboration between Katharine A. M. Wright, Senior Lecturer in International Politics at Newcastle University and the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) Peace Programme Director, Olivia Caeymaex. In November 2018 they co-organised a successful workshop ‘Towards an Inclusive Peace and Security: taking stock and sharing lessons on the gender dimension’ at Quaker House in Brussels bringing together practitioners, military personnel, civil society and academia to discuss the challenges to realising an inclusive peace through the UACES Gendering European Studies Network. One key outcome of the discussions was to reinforce the findings of Katharine’s research that individuals responsible for gender issues within both institutional and operational settings face significant resistance in their day-to-day work and that leadership on the Women, Peace and Security agenda is critical to its effective implementation.

The project has produced tangible guidance for individuals tasked with supporting gender in peace and security institutions and operations to navigate these obstacles. This includes a best practice guide with three accompanying YouTube clips. These focus on the following three themes:

  • – Why does gender matter?
  • – What does good leadership on gender look like in practice?
  • – What strategies can contribute to overcoming resistance to gender?

Watch our launch event and policy discussion


Project Partners

Quaker Council for European Affairs

The Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) is a non-governmental organisation which works to bring a vision based on the Quaker values of peace, justice and equality to Europe and its institutions. It has been based in Brussels since its foundation in 1979. QCEA’s Peace Programme seeks to create a new narrative around European security which emphasises sustainable peacebuilding and a human-centred, inclusive approach to conflict prevention and resolution.

Katharine A. M. Wright, Newcastle University

Katharine A. M. Wright is a Senior Lecturer in International Politics. Her research and teaching focus on gender and security. She is the author of NATO, Gender and the Military: Women Organising from within (with Matthew Hurley and Jesus Ignacio Gil-Ruiz), available at www.militarygender.com. The book was officially launched at NATO Headquarters in June 2019. Dr Wright is a member of the Northumbrian Universities Military Education Committee (2018-2021), lead convener of the UACES Research Network ‘Gendering EU Studies’ (2018-2021) and part of Newcastle’s organising team for the British International Studies Association 2020 conference.


Creative Commons License


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Watch the videos

Further Reading

Feminist scholarship on EU foreign and security policyUACES Gendering European Studies reading list

Full bibliography for the project guide

Contact Person

Saskia Basa
Migration & Peace Coordinator

saskia.basa@qcea.org

Funding

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account Transition 2019: Newcastle University (ES/T501827/1)