U.N. Regional Gender Mainstreaming Conference in Geneva

By Kate McFarland [Center for International Stabilization and Recovery]

When the United Nations decided to coordinate a conference focusing on women in mine action, a myriad of underlying factors needed to be addressed. The organizers created a plan to instill a sense of empowerment in the female participants while remaining sensitive to the gender issues plaguing their engagement in mine action. Ultimately, the program was deemed a success and will be replicated in other regions of the world.

Gender mainstreaming is an important goal for those involved with mine action, but it is a complicated issue presenting numerous challenges. Among other issues, women face employment discrimination in mine-action programs and a negative social stigma is often attached to female mine victims. In an attempt to unravel gender issues in mine action, the United Nations Mine Action Service, United Nations Development Programme and UNICEF joined forces after several directors of Asian mine-action programs indicated a need to address gender in their work. Before a date could be set, however, U.N. officials needed to research and discuss the history, challenges and regional influences underlying gender issues in mine action. The Inter-agency Regional Workshop on Gender Mainstreaming in Mine Action conference, held on 27–28 March 2009, in Geneva, Switzerland, was designed to address these issues.

Background

The history of gender mainstreaming in mine action began in 1979 with the International Bill of Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women,1 in which females were first officially recognized as victims of landmines. In 2000, Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security2 recommended the inclusion of women in mine-action programs as persons uniquely affected by anti-personnel landmines.

Since the passing of Resolution 1325, the U.N. has held conferences to outline the specific role of women in mine action. In 2006 and 2007, the United Nations Mine Action Service held meetings in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and Nairobi, Kenya, to formulate a program for the involvement of females within mine action, now known as the Gender National Action Plan model.3 The plan has since been incorporated into mine-action programs worldwide and was first evaluated by member nations in 2008 at the National Directors and United Nations Advisers meeting in Croatia and Slovenia.3 While participants felt that implementation of the programs was important, challenges arose because each country’s program presented unique obstacles that did not fit the mold of the Gender National Action Plan model. The presence of the model’s general guidelines further hindered individual countries’ programs, as these strategies were not necessarily universally applicable to countries in different stages of development.

Another initiative regarding gender mainstreaming occurred at the 2008 Gender Stocktaking Workshop at the United Nations Logistics Base in Brindisi, Italy. The meeting revealed a need for increased exchanges and workshops targeted toward specific regions to enforce the Gender National Action Plan. Officials from UNMAS, UNDP and UNICEF decided the first conference to initiate the dialogue and reinforce earlier guidelines should highlight gender issues specific to Asia. Participants were invited from the mine-action programs in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Why Gender Mainstreaming?

Before discussing the conference itself, it is important to outline the unique challenges and needs of females in mine action. While the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women celebrated its 30th anniversary, gender issues continue to present obstacles in mine action. Frequently, there is a dissonance between a country’s legal framework and the enforcement of its laws. A country may have a law stating that discrimination based on sex is illegal, but enforcement of such a policy is rarely imposed.

Gender issues continue to present obstacles in mine action. A country may have a law stating that discrimination based on sex is illegal, but enforcement of such a policy is rarely imposed.

To address these issues, the Gender National Action Plan aims to assert CEDAW and other new policies. UNMAS has discovered that balancing the staff of mine-action programs along gender lines ultimately makes projects more successful. UNMAS found that all participants in a gender-balanced mine-action program observed positive effects as a benefit of their involvement. In addition, employing women in mine action frequently has far-reaching effects in the community, including increased support for women in the workforce and advancing the role of women in communities.

Although the benefits of gender mainstreaming are numerous, religious and/or traditional practices often prevent gender-mainstreaming programs from reaching success. The Gender National Action Plan identified illiteracy and hindrances to movement as the biggest challenges in overcoming gender discrimination in the mine-action sector. Without the ability to move freely, women cannot easily travel to their places of employment or participate fully in their jobs. Other gender-related obstacles include communities shunning women who seek employment and discrimination against females who have been injured by landmines. UNMAS continues to work to eliminate these disadvantages, especially through the Gender National Action Plan. The conference held in Geneva was one of many ways in which UNMAS is working to fight against discrimination in the field of mine action.

Regional Workshop on Gender Mainstreaming in Mine Action

Without the ability to move freely, women cannot easily travel to their places of employment or participate fully in their jobs.

The Geneva conference began on 27 March 2009, with a full schedule, including a presentation from the Cambodia National Action Plan team. The Cambodian team demonstrated how to successfully implement the policies of gender mainstreaming as advocated by the United Nations. The participants were offered an opportunity to ask questions about the challenges that arose when instituting the Gender National Action Plan. The purpose of the session was to address the concerns of participants whose own Action Plan was at an earlier stage of development.

The next step was to review the Gender National Action Plan. The aim was to encourage participants to incorporate gender mainstreaming into their own Action Plans according to the Gender National Action Plan and frame their mine-action concerns around their country’s unique issues. The Gender Learning Cycle—a process that encourages participants to share information with other mine-action programs in an effort to empower the individuals involved—was also addressed at the workshop.  

The participants held group discussions designed to provide suggestions on how to monitor and evaluate countries’ individual programs. Participants discovered that while the each individual agency has issues specifically related to the host country’s culture and politics, similarities among the programs could be shared and discussed, leading to benefits for all the mine-action programs.

Going Forward

During the second day of the workshop, participants decided future actions and the following priorities were identified:

Participants also expressed a need for a resource center devoted to gender mainstreaming in mine action that would offer reference materials for guidance and continuing support to help participants achieve the goals of the Gender National Action Plan.  

The last portion of the conference included feedback through an electronic evaluation. Results of the electronic evaluation showed that the conference was a success and recommended replication of the event in other regions. U.N. officials are planning to present a regional conference in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2010 to further the goals of gender mainstreaming in mine action. J

Biography

Kate McFarlandKate McFarland is an Editorial Assistant for The Journal of ERW and Mine Action and has been working at the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery since May 2009. She is a senior at James Madison University pursuing a degree in history and English, with a minor in Middle Eastern studies. She is the President of the JMU Honor Council and a member of Alpha Sigma Tau social sorority.

 

Endnotes

  1. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Division on the Advancement of Women: Department of Economic and Social Affairs. United Nations General Assembly. Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 1979, entered into force 3 September 1981. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/. Accessed 1 December 2009
  2. Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security. PeaceWomen: Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. United Nations Security Council. Passed on 31 October 2000. http://www.peacewomen.org/un/sc/1325.html. Accessed 1 December 2009.
  3. Ahn, Seongjin. Lessons Learned Study: UNMAS Selected Lessons from Mine Action Programmes. Unpublished. February 2009, 4.

Contact Information

Kate McFarland
Editorial Assistant
The Journal of ERW and Mine Action
Mine Action Information Center
Center for International Stabilization and Recovery
James Madison University
E-mail: maic@jmu.edu