{"id":63801,"date":"2021-04-14T14:30:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T04:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=63801"},"modified":"2021-04-14T14:30:53","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T04:30:53","slug":"australias-second-wps-action-plan-was-it-worth-the-wait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australias-second-wps-action-plan-was-it-worth-the-wait\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s second WPS action plan: was it worth the wait?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Australia has a new national action plan (NAP)<\/a> to guide its engagement on women, peace and security (WPS) over the next decade. After more than two years<\/a> without an updated or revised NAP, the government has finally released its strategic plan to advance the human rights of women and promote gender equality in conflict-affected contexts.<\/p>\n

This is a welcome move, but the timing and disconnect between this plan and the Morrison government\u2019s approach to addressing barriers to women\u2019s meaningful participation in political life here in Australia is likely to strike some as odd.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s second NAP draws on growing evidence that upholding human rights and advancing gender quality can break cycles of conflict and support peace. It sets out four key strategic outcomes to guide Australia\u2019s implementation of WPS: \u2018supporting women\u2019s meaningful participation and needs in peace processes\u2019; \u2018reducing sexual and gender-based violence\u2019; \u2018supporting resilience, crisis, security, law and justice efforts to meet the needs and rights of all women and girls\u2019; and \u2018demonstrating leadership and accountability for WPS\u2019. The plan makes clear that Australia\u2019s efforts will be grounded in a human-rights approach. Importantly, it recognises that gender is only \u2018one aspect of identity and experience\u2019 that contributes to discrimination and inequality.<\/p>\n

NAPs have become a tool used by governments to translate international commitments on WPS into national programs and policies. Since Denmark developed the first NAP in 2005, more than 85 countries<\/a> have adopted NAPs<\/a>, some of which are now on their second and third iterations. The most effective<\/a> NAPs incorporate inclusive-design processes, effectively engage civil society and focus on strategic approaches to change.<\/p>\n

The development of Australia\u2019s second NAP has leveraged many of these strengths, facilitating consultations across government, and with civil society and academia. It recognises the value of supporting ongoing research and the role of data in anchoring the framework for monitoring and evaluation.<\/p>\n

The NAP is only a starting point in demonstrating Australia\u2019s ongoing political commitment to WPS. Australia\u2019s efforts to progress the WPS agenda will be contingent on the support of implementing departments and agencies, namely the departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence and Home Affairs, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Civil\u2013Military Centre. They have been tasked with developing their own implementation plans every two years. The ACMC will have the lead in collaborating with civil society, although it\u2019s unclear whether that will entail financial support. There\u2019s no dedicated budgetary funding to implement the NAP, so it will be up to departments alone to prioritise it. This is a known<\/a> shortcoming of NAPs.<\/p>\n

The challenge for the decade ahead will be ensuring effective, funded and accountable implementation in a \u2018dynamic strategic environment<\/a>\u2019. Some government departments will be tempted to prioritise<\/a> \u2018hard security\u2019 issues and ignore gender-sensitive analysis and diversity, despite their value as potential force multipliers.<\/p>\n

While DFAT, Defence, the AFP and the ACMC have considerable experience in taking forward commitments under Australia\u2019s first NAP, Home Affairs is a new addition to the list. The department didn\u2019t exist when the first NAP was developed. Consequently, Home Affairs has escaped scrutiny on progressing WPS since its establishment. This is despite the department\u2019s responsibilities for a range of security issues that require attention as part of the WPS agenda, including border protection, immigration, counterterrorism, critical infrastructure protection and cybersecurity.<\/p>\n

The extent to which Home Affairs chooses to engage on the NAP\u2019s implementation will be important in assessing how effective the plan is in effecting change. The new NAP doesn\u2019t assign responsibility to any departments for taking forward particular measures. While that has the benefit of allowing for flexibility and innovation in responding to our rapidly changing security environment, it may diminish accountability. The independent reviews that have been scheduled as part of the process for reporting on and reviewing the NAP are likely to highlight some of these gaps, but they will only take place every five years, reducing the time for recalibration.<\/p>\n

Unlike Australia\u2019s first NAP, the foreign minister (and DFAT) will have the lead, rather than the minister for women (and the Office for Women in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet). While the Office for Women will remain engaged in the interdepartmental committee that oversees the plan, responsibility for coordinating whole-of-government implementation will now rest with DFAT. There\u2019s a certain logic behind this shift, given that DFAT leads Australia\u2019s international WPS engagement. However, it also reinforces the view that Australia\u2019s approach will be an externally focused one, overlooking calls<\/a> for an approach that recognises what peace and security mean for Australian women.<\/p>\n

While the NAP acknowledges the government\u2019s domestic commitment to \u2018supporting women\u2019s economic security, leadership aspirations and taking action to ensure women and children are safe from violence\u2019, it suggests these areas are addressed by other \u2018strategies, plans and commitments\u2019. Furthermore, although the NAP recognises women\u2019s \u2018equal right to participate in all areas of peace and security decision-making and to be active in governing their communities and societies\u2019, there\u2019s no acknowledgement of the domestic political climate around women\u2019s equality and human rights or that women are still seeking to overcome hurdles to exercising those rights within our own borders. Forthright assessments of these shortcomings and barriers to women\u2019s meaningful participation could provide a valuable platform for engaging with other countries in our region that are also struggling with these issues.<\/p>\n

The past 18 months have highlighted many of Australia\u2019s domestic security vulnerabilities in relation to natural disasters and pandemics. Countries with traditionally outward-facing NAPs like Canada<\/a> and Ireland<\/a> have started<\/a> to recognise the importance of addressing \u2018domestic priorities related to peace and security\u2019. The responses to Covid-19 have highlighted yet again that many women\u2014particularly migrant and indigenous women\u2014are not safe at home.<\/p>\n

For Australia, the lines between outward-facing security challenges and internal ones will continue to blur further in the decade ahead. Cyber incidents, foreign interference and disinformation will continue to have gendered impacts across Australian society. Government departments must consider how they might address these challenges in their implementation plans. This will be particularly important for Home Affairs, which has scope to shape engagement on a range of issues that are traditionally overlooked in NAPs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s relatively easy to criticise a document that has been painstakingly negotiated over more than two years. And while this plan doesn\u2019t go as far as some thought it should<\/a> on issues such as disarmament<\/a>, conflict prevention and domestic security, it nonetheless offers a solid framework to guide Australia\u2019s advocacy and support for WPS in the decade ahead. This is more important than ever as some countries continue to seek to roll back gains<\/a> that have been made on WPS over the last 20 years. Australia\u2019s commitment advancing WPS\u2014along with like-minded counterparts\u2014will be essential to addressing the peace and security challenges of a post-Covid world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia has a new national action plan (NAP) to guide its engagement on women, peace and security (WPS) over the next decade. 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