GAPS Newsletter: April 2021

29 April 2021

Updates

UK Government’s Annual Report to Parliament in 2020 & GAPS Shadow Report Launch

On Thursday 29th April, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women, Peace and Security (APPG-WPS) and GAPS hosted the UK Government’s Oral Report to Parliament in 2020 on the UK National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security. This annual event offers an opportunity for Parliamentarians and Civil Society to monitor and scrutinise the UK’s progress on Women, Peace and Security and its commitments going forward.

GAPS also launched its Shadow Report, Assessing UK Government Action in 2020. In this shadow report, GAPS assesses the progress by UK Government in the third year of the NAP and focuses on implementation for the remaining years. GAPS’ shadow report draws on the expertise of GAPS member organisations using case studies and analysis of key issues and includes recommendations.

Research & Resources

Tracing 20 Years of Feminist Peace

This report by the Women’s International Peace Centre reflects on 20 years of agitating for women’s participation in conflict prevention, resolution and peace building; at their efforts to prevent, end and respond to conflict-related sexual violence; and to ensure gender-response relief and recovery through various means. This report hears from 7 women peacebuilders from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, South Sudan and Uganda.

Integrating Masculinities in Peacebuilding: shifting harmful norms and transforming relationships

This paper by Conciliation Resources analyses masculinities and peacebuilding, with a focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kashmir, Nigeria and the Pacific Region. This paper reflects on the challenges experienced when Conciliation Resources integrated a focus on masculinities into their gender, peace and security programming, and offers some practical lessons for peacebuilders to address militarised and violent masculinities.

‘Power Over Rights: Understanding and countering the transnational anti-gender movement

This study by the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy (CFFP) analyses the transnational anti-gender campaigns, and offers concrete policy recommendations for governments on how to counter them. This report provides an analysis of the origins of the anti-gender movement, the actors who drive it forward, the issues they mobilise against, and the narratives and strategies they employ.

COVID-19 and fiscal policy: Applying gender-responsive budgeting in support and recovery

This policy brief by UN Women presents guidance for the application of gender-responsive budgeting to the COVID-19 pandemic support and recovery packages. Drawing on country examples, this brief provides recommendations on the use of gender budgeting tools to identify gaps in policy responses and direct spending towards gender responsive COVID-19 measures.

Let Girls Learn!

This policy brief by Save the Children provides governments with suggestions, recommendations and data that can assist in the design of education policy and programmes to enable all children to receive a good-quality education and to be empowered equally in and through education. This policy brief sets out Save the Children’s global policy position on girls’ education.

NGOWG-WPS Monthly Action Points (MAP) for the Security Council

The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security has released the April 2021 edition of their Monthly Action Points (MAP) on Women, Peace and Security for the UN Security Council. For April, in which the Vietnam has the presidency of the UN Security Council, the NGOWG-WPS’ MAP provides recommendations on Ethiopia, Syria and Yemen and on conflict-related sexual violence. Read in full here.