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Women's Participation in Conflict Management and Peace Processes, with a Focus on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325

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Women's Participation in Conflict Management and Peace Processes, with a Focus on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 Norwegian University of Life Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Noragric Master Thesis 2014 30 Credits Women's Participation in Conflict Management and Peace Processes in Afghanistan. A focus on UN SCR 1325. 1 2 The Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Noragric, is the international gateway for the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). Eight departments, associated research institutions and the Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine in Oslo. Established in 1986, Noragric’s contribution to international development lies in the interface between research, education (Bachelor, Master and PhD programmes) and assignments. The Noragric Master thesis are the final theses submitted by students in order to fulfil the requirements under the Noragric Master programme “International Environmental Studies”, “International Development Studies” and “International Relations”. The findings in this thesis do not necessarily reflect the views of Noragric. Extracts from this publication may only be reproduced after prior consultation with the author and on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation contact Noragric. 3 4 © Charlotte Bratsberg Enger, December 2014 [email protected] Noragric Department of International Environment and Development Studies P.O. Box 5003 N-1432 Ås Norway Tel.: +47 64 96 52 00 Fax: +47 64 96 52 01 Internet: http://www.nmbu.no/noragric 5 Declaration I, Charlotte Bratsberg Enger, declare that this thesis is a result of my research investigations and findings. Sources of information other than my own have been acknowledged and a reference list has been appended. This work has not been previously submitted to any other university for award of any type of academic degree. Signature Charlotte Bratsberg Enger Date 15.12.2014 6 To all the strong women in my life. Thank you. 7 8 Acknowledgement This has been my most challenging experience so far, and I could not have gone through this without the support and help from the people around me. Thank you Gry Synnevåg and Karim Merchant for your input, and contribution as supervisors. My dearest family, thank you for all your love and support, especially my mom - whom I have called on numerous occations for a little pep talk. My lovely friends, sorry for being the most anti-social I have ever been. I adore you all, and I appreciate your support and patience. Annelise - thank you for making sure I ate my dinner and did my work. 9 10 Abstract This study is a literature based study on women's participation in conflict management and peace processes, with a focus on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. It is a qualitative study, looking at the implementation of UN SCR 1325 in Afghanistan. A series of international events led to the adoption of the UN SCR 1325. Looking at national plans in Afghanistan, the UN SCR 1325 is integrated to the National Action Plan on Women of Afghanistan and the Gender Equality Project. Women's groups in Afghanistan, such as Afghan Women's Network, Women for Afghan Women and Shuhada Organisation all contributes to women, peace and security, through education, women's programmes and the protection of women's rights. There are several strong women in Afghanistan, working for women's empowerment and participation in society. Among these women we find dr. Sima Samar who works with women's rights in Afghanistan, Malalai Joya who was a member of the Parliament and spoke out against warlords, Manizha Naderi who is the executive director of Women for Afghan Women and Rula Ghani, the wife of the newly elected President Ashraf Ghani. Looking at these different levels of dealing with the SCR 1325, it seems difficult to see the connection between them, and the implementation seems to start separately at the different levels, rather than going down from the government to the women's groups and women, connection the processes together. 11 12 Table of Contents Chapter Page 1 Introduction 1 1.1 The topic 1 1.2 Goals and research questions 1 1.3 Scholarly point of view 2 1.4 Limits and emphasis on problem statement 2 1.5 Terms and concepts 2 1.6 Purpose of thesis 3 1.7 The disposition of the thesis 3 2 Literature Review 5 3 Study Area 7 4 Methodology 9 5 Findings 11 5.1 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 11 5.1.1 'Women' in international politics before Resolution 1325 11 5.1.2 UN history leading up to the adoption of Resolution 1325 13 5.1.3 Resolution 1325 14 5.1.4 Resolution 1325 in Afghanistan 15 5.2 National Plans 15 5.2.1 National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan 16 5.2.2 Gender Equality Project I 17 5.2.3 Gender Equality Project II 18 5.3 Women's Groups 19 5.3.1 Afghan Women's Network 19 5.3.2 Women for Afghan Women 20 5.3.3 Shuhada Organisation 21 5.4 Women 22 5.4.1 Sima Samar 22 5.4.2 Malalai Joya 23 5.4.3 Manizha Naderi 23 5.4.4 Rula Ghani 24 6 Discussion 27 6.1 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 27 6.2 National Plans 28 6.2.1 National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan 28 6.2.2 The Gender Equality Project 28 6.3 Women's Groups 29 6.3.1 Afghan Women's Network 29 6.3.2 Women for Afghan Women 30 6.3.3 Shuhada Organisation 30 6.3.4 General on Women's Organisations 30 6.4 Women 31 6.4.1 Sima Samar 31 6.4.2 Malalai Joya 32 6.4.3 Manizha Naderi 32 6.4.4 Rula Ghani 33 7 Conclusion 35 13 References 37 Acronyms 43 14 1. Introduction 1.1 The topic The choice to write a thesis on women's participation in conflict management and conflict resolution was a result of a class I took at NMBU on Afghanistan. This triggered my interest on women in Afghanistan, and the work done by women and women's organisations in the country. The topic of this thesis was chosen of the basis of my genuine interest of women's lives in Afghanistan, a country with a history filled with conflict. I had limited knowledge both on Afghanistan, and on SCR 1325, and through the research process I learned a great deal about the situation of women in Afghanistan. 1.2 Goals and research questions The main goal of this thesis is to analyse and understand women's role in conflict management and peace processes in Afghanistan, and look at measures to increase women's participation. Underlying goals are; a) to look at women's groups in Afghanistan, and how they have dealt with the SCR 1325 and; b) to understand how the SCR 1325 fit in with the already existing work on women's participation. My research questions are as follows: What are women's role in conflict management and peace processes in Afghanistan? What is already in place when it comes to women's role in conflict management and peace processes in Afghanistan? What is the SCR 1325 framework and how has it been implemented? How can the gap between the women's role in Afghanistan and the SCR 1325 be bridged? I see these questions as vital to understanding the role of women when it comes to conflict management and peace processes, and I believe a thorough understanding of the SCR 1325 is necessary to understand how it has been and can be implemented. In answering these 15 questions, I hope to gain an understanding of women's participation in peace processes and conflict resolution in Afghanistan, and understand where the gap between the SCR 1325 and the women of Afghanistan occurs. 1.3 Scholarly point of view I am a student of international development studies, and it is within this context that this research was conducted. Earlier I have studied topics such as gender, development and international relations. This research focuses on aspect on women when it comes to the SCR 1325. As a young woman, I find it interesting to understand the situation of women in other parts of the world, and I am curious on Afghanistan, as it has a history unlike any other country I have the knowledge of. Women are in most parts of the world still not equal to men, something that triggers my sense of justice. 1.4 Limits and emphasis on the problem statement There are many aspects of women's rights and women's participation in peace and security in Afghanistan. For the sake of this thesis, I have chosen to focus on the part of this that links with the SCR 1325. Among other things, there is not a focus on sexual violation in this thesis. This is not because I do not believe that this effect the situation of women in Afghanistan, but I believe that excluding sexual violations in this thesis is necessary, for the focus to be on women's participation, and women as actors, not as victims. 1.5 Terms and concepts 'Conflict management and resolution' in this thesis refers to all aspects of dealing and resolving with conflict. When looking at women's participation in this field in Afghanistan, I came to the conclusion that all attempts of dealing with and resolving conflict will be classified as conflict management. 'Women' refers to the sex of the person, i.e. different to men. 16 'Women's involvement' means the active participation of women, either in conflict management, peace processes, or in other societal fields.
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