Women, Peace and Security

It has become commonplace when reading about Gaza to come across descriptions of it as an "Islamist enclave" or "Hamas-controlled territory" and so on.

Women across the Middle East participated actively in what came to be called the Arab Spring that began in late 2010. Often seen as second-class and voiceless citizens in these male-dominant societies, they were a key force in the popular protests, which managed to topple autocratic regimes. They fought for their countries, their rights and their children’s rights. However, the Islamist forces now in power in several countries want to turn back the clock and restrict women’s rights to keep them out of politics.

International IDEA has received numerous requests from Libyan civil society organizations, the National Transitional Council (NTC), the interim government and other official bodies to support the transition to democracy.

(News Item
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https://www.idea.int/wana/supporting-women-in-the-democratic-transition-process-in-libya.cfm)

The Forum on Women, Peace and Security in Afghanistan, 4-6 December 2012, jointly supported by the N-Peace Network and the Research Institute for Women, Peace and Security (RIWPS), was attended by women Members of Parliament and more than 80 women representatives of the Provincial Peace Councils and the High Peace Council from some of the most conflict-ridden parts of the country.

Rachel Dolev, former director of the censorship office of the Israeli military, wrote about the failure to implement Resolution 1325 in August in an article for the Israeli news source Yedioth Ahronoth (also known as Ynet). Part of the reason, she wrote, may be the "groundless assumption that only those who served in senior roles in the defense establishment – all of them men – have any understanding in security matters."

Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini is the co-founder of the International Civil society Action Network (ICAN) (www.icanpeacework.org), a US-based NGO dedicated to supporting civil society activism in peace and security in conflict-affected countries. For over a decade she has been a leading international advocate, researcher, trainer and writer on conflict prevention and peacebuilding.