GAPS Newsletter: December 2018

21 December 2018

Updates

Hannah Bond, GAPS Director is an Interruptor on Women, Peace and Security!

Last month, GAPS Director Hannah Bond was included on Foreign Policy Interrupted’s list of “Interruptors on Women, Peace and Security“! Foreign Policy Interrupted puts these lists together to highlight women’s expertise on foreign policy issues. It is great to see our Director and so many brilliant colleagues recognised here for their knowledge and experience in working for women and girls’ rights in conflict-affected contexts.

LAW lodges Landmark Case against the Government of South Sudan for sexual violence against South Sudanese women and girls

On 6 December 2018, Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) lodged the first case against the Government of South Sudan for sexual violence against 30 South Sudanese women and girls by members of the South Sudan army and the Presidential Guard. The complaint outlines brutal sexual violence, including sexual slavery, sexual torture, rape and gang rape against women and girls during attacks on their villages and whilst they fled the violence from June 2016 to September 2017. Tens of thousands of women and girls have suffered from rape in South Sudan – which has been used as a weapon of war against the civilian population.

The case has been lodged at the UN Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Geneva. Due to serious concerns for their safety, LAW has requested that the UN Committee protect their full identities during the consideration of their case. Learn more about the Communication and LAW’s work here.

Council of the European Union adopts Women, Peace and Security conclusions

On Monday 10 December, the International Day for Human Rights, the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on Women, Peace and Security and welcomed the new EU Strategic Approach on Women, Peace and Security. Read more here.

Events

LSE public lectures:

Giving Peace a Chance: from the League of Nations to Greenham Common, Monday 14 January 2019

War, Tuesday 15 January 2019

The Empire’s New Clothes: thinking about the Commonwealth in the era of Brexit, Thursday 17 January 2019

Nationalism, Development and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka, Tuesday 22 January 2019

Generations of Feminism?, Wednesday 23 January 2019

Europe’s Response to the Challenge of Migration and Security, Wednesday 23 January 2019

The Politics of Memorials, Tuesday 29 January 2019

In Memory of Naomi Hersi: the impalpable lives and history of queer and trans and intersex people of colour, Monday 4 February 2019

Research and resources

Gender and Inequalities

GAPS Director Hannah Bond, Abigail Hunt and Ruth Ojiambo Ochieng have co-authored a chapter in the recently published Gender and Inequalities, edited by Professor Naila Kabeer and Caroline Sweetman, and published by Practical Action Publishing.

The chapter – “Bridging inequalities in inclusion: Women’s rights organisations as the ‘missing link’ in donor government-led participatory policy and programme development” – focuses on the multiple inequalities faced by women’s rights groups in conflict-affected contexts as they are shut out of donor-driven agendas.

Towards a feminist UN Security Council

The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom has launched its Guidance Note: Towards a Feminist Security Council.

The goal is to accelerate the UN Security Council’s implementation of peace and security that works for and includes women, and that meets commitments under Women, Peace and Security.

The Guidance Note builds on the UN Charter and addresses the longstanding gender bias in the UN Security Council and its work. It builds on good practices and provides concrete recommendations on how to implement the UN Security Council’s mandate to support a shift from crisis response towards upstream conflict prevention and sustaining peace based on women’s participation, protection and rights.

Masculinities, gender, peace and security in Myanmar

International Alert has published the report Behind the masks: Masculinities, gender, peace and security in Myanmar.

This report aims to analyse conflict, armed actors and peacebuilding efforts from a comprehensive gender analysis perspective, considering the different impacts of conflict on women, men and those with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI) in Myanmar.

This is the first report in our series on masculinities in Myanmar. The second, ‘Pulling the strings, looks at the implications of masculinities for gender and social conflict in the country.

Ending online violence and abuse against women’s rights activists

The briefing Breaking the Silence: Ending online violence and abuse against women’s rights activists from Womankind Worldwide aims to highlight women’s rights activists’ and feminists’ experiences of online violence and abuse across a number of Womankind’s focus countries, particularly Zimbabwe,Nepal and Kenya. It looks at the impact this abuse is having on women, particularly the psychological harm and distress it causes survivors and how the abuse is resulting in women self-censoring what they say online. It also looks at the support women receive from other feminists, the barriers they face in accessing justice and the effectiveness of responses from governments, law enforcement, and internet and social media companies.

In the briefing Womankind set out a series of policy recommendations for state and non-state actors and call for a multi-stakeholder approach to eliminating online violence and abuse against women and countering the silencing of women online.

Girls’ rights are global

Plan International UK has launched a 10 Point Plan for Adolescent Girls, identifying key areas of action to advance girls’ rights. The report urges the UK government and Parliamentarians to continue to work together, in partnership with civil society, businesses and others, to drive forward efforts to make the commitment to girls’ rights a reality.

Young feminisms

The November 2018 edition of Gender & Development features the voices and views of young feminists involved in today’s new social movements, spanning both on- and off-line.

Monitoring of the gender perspective in the implementation of the Colombian Final Peace Accord

The Special Report of the Kroc Institute and the International Accompaniment Component, UN Women, Women’s International Democratic Federation and the Embassy of Sweden presents an analysis of the implementation process of the gender perspective in the Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace between December 2016 and June 2018. This report presents recommendations on specific issues such as the inclusion and definition of differential measures in bills that have yet to be presented, processed, and implemented, and institutional strengthening that allows information disaggregated by sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation to be obtained to inform the creation and implementation of public policies with a gender perspective.

UK government Annual Report to Parliament on Women, Peace and Security, 2018

The first report for the current UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2018 to 2022 (NAP) reviews UK government progress in delivering commitments over 2018. It forms part of wider efforts to ensure that the UK government’s foreign policy consciously and consistently protects and includes women and girls. It was laid in Parliament with a written ministerial statement by the Foreign Secretary.

The report provides an update on how the UK government is implementing the 2018-2022 NAP. It captures how the UK government will meet its commitments under UN Security Council Resolution 1325. The report focuses on how the UK government is implementing Women, Peace and Security in the 9 focus countries: Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Syria.

Humanitarian global risk analysis

ACAPS have produced a Global Risk Analysis for January-September 2019 outlining 18 contexts where a significant deterioration is expected to occur within the next six to nine months, leading to a spike in humanitarian needs.

Call for participation

Write for Rights 2018

Amnesty’s historic campaign Write for Rights is open until end of December. They run this campaign every year because they know it works. Show solidarity with 12 incredible women human rights defenders standing up against violence, for LGBTI rights, against corporate power and state repression. By taking part in Write for Rights you’ll join others demanding justice for Marielle Franco, a black lesbian councillor who worked tirelessly to support the most marginalised in Rio de Janeiro, she was killed on 14^th March 2018 and no one has been charged for her murder. You will stand side by side with Pavitri Manjhi who is standing up to big companies seeking to remover her Adivasi community from their ancestral land. Read about all the cases here and find all information here.

Jobs

Women for Women International UK:

Programme Funding & Partnerships Manager, apply by Wednesday 2 January

Womankind Worldwide:

Volunteer: Community Fundraising, apply by Wednesday 2 January

WILPF International:

MENA Associate, apply by Monday 7 January

International Alert:

Senior Digital Engagement Officer, apply by Sunday 6 January

Saferworld:

Gender and Gender-Based Violence Adviser (Bangladesh), apply by Monday 31 December

Conciliation Resources:

Programme Director: Smart Peace, apply by Wednesday 2 January

Senior Advisor, Gender & Peacebuilding, apply by Tuesday 22 January

Gender & Youth Advisor, apply by Friday 18 January

Oxfam:

Policy & Advocacy Officer, apply by Friday 4 January

Head of Humanitarian Campaigns & Advocacy, apply by Friday 25 January

Crisis Action:

Communications Director, apply by Tuesday 1 January

GAPS and the APPG-WPS

On Thursday 29 November, the APPG on Women, Peace and Security, jointly with GAPS and the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), hosted the event “Invest in Trust, Invest in Women: Supporting local knowledge and experiences through equal partnerships and innovation”. The meeting was chaired by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger, Co-Chair of the APPG on Women, Peace and Security. Ms Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, Founder and Executive Director of ICAN, opened the panel discussion on the importance of supporting independent, locally-rooted women’s organisations in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. Also on the panel were: Ms Shahrazad Magrabi, Co-Founder and Director of Libyan Women Forum; Ms Ghada Rifai, Co-Founder of Mobaderoon Network in Syria; and Ms Helen Thompson, Head of Humanitarian Programmes at CARE International UK. Read ICAN’s report of the event here.

GAPS provides the Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women, Peace and Security (APPG-WPS). The APPG-WPS holds events throughout the year that explore the situation for Women, Peace and Security around the world through thematic or country focuses. If you would like to be notified of upcoming events through the APPG-WPS, please inform us at appg-wps@gaps-uk.org.