{"id":29680,"date":"2016-11-25T12:30:17","date_gmt":"2016-11-25T01:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=29680"},"modified":"2017-03-10T15:33:51","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T04:33:51","slug":"eight-reflections-mainstreaming-gender-women-peace-security-military","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/eight-reflections-mainstreaming-gender-women-peace-security-military\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight reflections on \u2018mainstreaming\u2019 gender and women, peace and security into the military"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Staff<\/figure>\n

In her address to the United Nations Security Council Debate on Women, Peace and Security<\/a> (WPS) held in New York in October, Ambassador Marri\u00ebt Schuurman, NATO Secretary General\u2019s Special Representative on WPS said:<\/p>\n

\u2018Gender equality is not optional. It is essential. Why? Because it allows us to respond better\u2014and<\/u> smarter\u2014to the many complex security challenges that we face today. She went on to add that Gender equality is about credibility and capability\u2026the readiness of our forces and the effectiveness of our operations.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ambassador Schuurman succinctly captured what NATO had learned after 15 years of implementing UNSCR 1325 on WPS. There\u2019s no argument that NATO, and its allies and partners, have made tangible progress to advance the WPS agenda in its operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo over the past few years. Certainly, NATO recognises that its core tasks of collective defence, crisis management and cooperative security can\u2019t be realised if women don\u2019t participate feely in all aspects of conflict prevention, management and resolution, or if their rights aren\u2019t respected.<\/p>\n

The Australian Defence Force has been a key contributor to the development and implementation of NATO\u2019s action plan on UNSCR 1325<\/a>, aligning its implementation of the Australian National Action Plan (NAP) on WPS with NATO\u2019s key WPS principles, and making significant progress on mainstreaming gender perspective into its core business.<\/p>\n

As a result, we\u2019ve strengthened the nexus between Defence\u2019s efforts to increase women\u2019s participation and opportunities for leadership, and the importance of a gender perspective and women\u2019s enhanced role in peacebuilding as a major component of achieving sustainable peace and security.<\/p>\n

However, challenges to implementing UNSCR 1325 remain. Here are eight reflections that I believe will enhance Australia\u2019s WPS efforts and lead to change in the long term:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>1. While women\u2019s equality and empowerment in conflict are WPS principles,<\/strong> they\u2019re also national concerns<\/strong>. We should strive to address and develop public policies on inequalities and barriers for women, and set standards and role-model workplace behaviour that supports those ideals. That will put us in a position to support and enact global commitments on equality and empowerment for women.<\/p>\n

2. The principles of UNSCR 1325\u2014protection, prevention, participation and gender perspective<\/strong>\u2014can be applied in non-conflict environments<\/strong>. To do so allows us to tackle inequality, promote women\u2019s participation and leadership, and prevent sexual and gender-based violence. Gender perspective is about identifying the different needs and concerns of men and women and developing appropriate responses. Equality doesn\u2019t mean being the same.<\/p>\n

3. Senior leadership commitment to mainstreaming gender perspective is essential for buy-in and implementation<\/strong>. That means senior leaders and commanders must demonstrate their commitment through public policy, corporate plans, cultural reform and resourcing. The ADF has been exemplary in its leadership on, and international engagement with, NATO and other armed forces on strategies to increase women\u2019s participation, and to embed gender considerations in operations, missions, training and military exercises.<\/p>\n

4. A network of Gender Advisors is necessary to embed gender perspective into the core business. <\/strong>They should be a senior appointment, with appropriate experience, skills and training, with direct access to senior leaders. They should attend all key committee meetings to ensure that gender perspective is seen as a cross-functional theme across divisions and lines of operations and to raise the profile of the mandate. And one person can\u2019t do it all: a network of Gender Advisors and gender focal points is essential to the effective mainstreaming of gender perspective. (Defence\u2019s network has grown from just me in 2013 to nine formal positions in 2016, and many more less-formal gender focal points.)<\/p>\n

5. A program or plan with specific goals and strategies, developed in consultation with relevant stakeholders, and agreed by senior leadership, is essential to drive the agenda<\/strong>. This ensures that issues, gaps, and challenges are identified, that specific and targeted initiatives are developed and implemented, and that the program is resourced.<\/p>\n

6. Cross-pollination of ideas and initiatives with other relevant agencies helps to promote national approaches to mainstreaming gender perspective. <\/strong>One of the successful elements of Defence\u2019s NAP strategy has been the formation of a working group of ADF and Defence representatives to progress NAP implementation. Enhancing that group with representatives from civil society and academia provides new perspectives and encourages collaboration.<\/p>\n

7. Education, training and communication are essential to deliver gender perspective outcomes<\/strong>. Regardless of their gender, the Gender Advisor requires in depth knowledge of WPS, an understanding of operational and planning processes, and experience in gender issues. And they must also be able to communicate effectively across ranks and divisions. This may be in relation to explaining their purpose, the UN mandates and how they apply in the broader global context, or indeed, the operational benefit derived from analysis of gender issues.<\/p>\n

8. It\u2019s essential to build strong and resilient relationships with key people and stakeholders<\/strong>. This results in information sharing, opportunities to include gender considerations in the planning and execution of operations and ensuring that the implementation of UNSCR 1325 isn\u2019t overlooked. Defence\u2019s strong and trusted partnership with NATO has increased its standing in the international community and enabled a streamlined approach to implementation of WPS into military business.<\/p>\n

The key theme arising from both NATO and the ADF\u2019s work in this area is how women\u2019s participation and gender perspective impacts the operational strategy to effect security, stability, governance and reconstruction in conflict areas. Women\u2019s equality and empowerment remains an imperative to their inclusion and participation in those processes. I firmly agree with Ambassador Schuurman\u2019s assessment<\/a> that \u2018\u2026equal participation is not a favor to women. It is a hard core security requirement. It is essential\u2026.to the effectiveness of our forces\u2026..But, above all, it is fundamental to achieving lasting peace\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In her address to the United Nations Security Council Debate on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) held in New York in October, Ambassador Marri\u00ebt Schuurman, NATO Secretary General\u2019s Special Representative on WPS said: \u2018Gender equality …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":576,"featured_media":29682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,439,261,1868],"class_list":["post-29680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australian-defence-force","tag-gender","tag-nato","tag-wps"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEight reflections on \u2018mainstreaming\u2019 gender and women, peace and security into the military | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/eight-reflections-mainstreaming-gender-women-peace-security-military\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eight reflections on \u2018mainstreaming\u2019 gender and women, peace and security into the military | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In her address to the United Nations Security Council Debate on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) held in New York in October, Ambassador Marri\u00ebt Schuurman, NATO Secretary General\u2019s Special Representative on WPS said: \u2018Gender equality ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/eight-reflections-mainstreaming-gender-women-peace-security-military\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-25T01:30:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-10T04:33:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/20130304adf8178707_002.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Wittwer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Wittwer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/eight-reflections-mainstreaming-gender-women-peace-security-military\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/20130304adf8178707_002.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/20130304adf8178707_002.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":666,\"caption\":\"Staff Officer Gender Advisor, Commander Jennifer Wittwer. *** Local Caption *** Mid Caption: Australian Defence Force personnel deployed as part of Operation Slipper celebrated International Women\u0092s Day on the 8th of March. 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