How Inclusive Is Inclusive Peacebuilding?

HOW INCLUSIVE IS INCLUSIVE PEACEBUILDING? March 9, 2021 Summary by Lynn Jabra1 and Audrey Azzo2 The Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy Women, Peace and Security Initiative; aimed and International Affairs in partnership with to highlight the importance of diversifying the Swedish Dialogue Institute for the Middle peacebuilding processes through a multi- East and North Africa organized a webinar on layered inclusive approach across various March 9, 2021 to commemorate International sectors to advance the Women, Peace, and Women’s Day entitled “How Inclusive is Security agenda. Speakers from various Inclusive Peacebuilding?”. The event, co- sectors including the media, public sector, moderated by Ambassador Charlotta Sparre, academia, military/security sector, and Director of the Swedish Dialogue Institute private sector shared their experiences in for the Middle East and North Africa; and relation to peacebuilding efforts and the roles Karma Ekmekji, Senior Policy Fellow and they must play in promoting inclusion in Lead Advisor on the Issam Fares Institute’s decision-making processes. They also 1 Lynn Jabra is a Research Assistant at IFI. 2 Audrey Azzo is a Communications Intern at IFI. proposed practical recommendations and continuously struggle to make their voices responded to pertaining questions sent by the heard. But what about all the other actors? audience. The media, the private sector, academia, the security and military sector, the practitioners In his opening words Joseph Bahout, Director and policy experts? How holistic is our of the Issam Fares Institute, highlighted the approach to peacebuilding? How inclusive is importance of International Women’s Day it really? and explained that this occasion “is a very good opportunity to reflect on the state of Ambassador Ann Dismorr underlined the inclusivity and gender equality and to assess severity and complexity that govern today’s the progress made on this level.” Invited conflicts urging for a need to work on speakers included, Ambassador Ann peacebuilding approaches that encompass Dismorr, Ambassador of Sweden to multiple layers of society and reflect the Lebanon; Mohammad Naciri, UN Women’s multifaceted reality on the ground through Regional Office Director for Asia and the enhanced inclusivity. Pacific; Ola Saleh, Program Development Specialist and Peacebuilding Advisor at InclusiveInclusive peace Peace,, or noor peaceno Peace at all at? A ll? Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation; Robert Egnell, Vice Chancellor of the Swedish Panelists answered one key question to start: Defense University; Rima Maktabi, UK “what does inclusive peace mean to you?”. Bureau Chief of Al Arabiya News Channel; Drawing on her own experience covering the and Soraya Bahgat, Social Entrepreneur and Arab Spring uprisings and the war in Syria Gender Activist. and Iraq, Rima Maktabi, representing the media sector, disapproved of the typical • HighlightsH ighlights portrayal of women as “victims of war”. The question put forward to the panelists within the context of this year’s IWD theme, “Choose to Challenge”, was how inclusive is inclusive peacebuilding? Empirical evidence, research, and successful precedents Women are at the heart of have clearly indicated that including women events. It is odd that they are in peacebuilding create more just and equal absent from peace building. societies, and that the peace attained is more sustainable and positive. But in reality, are - Rima Maktabi we really inclusive in advancing the women, peace, and security agenda? Are we including all sectors in peacebuilding? Women in these contexts are the ones at the Are we tapping into all the available forefront of revolutions and at the heart of the resources around us to attain peace? uprisings and yet, they are completely absent Traditionally, peacebuilding actors have been from peacebuilding efforts. Inclusive peace governments, multilateral agencies and civil must involve a shift of focus towards these society organizations and networks that women on the ground fighting and struggling to sit at the negotiation tables. Ola Saleh, in her remarks identified three Media can play a role and portray these qualities that she believes are needed for women as such. From a security perspective, inclusive peacebuilding: (1) Intersectional Robert Egnell stressed human security and feminism, (2) equitable solutions, (3) locally “ownership of the problem” as owned and codefined processes that produce particularly important. In fact, inclusivity peace: Does the process investigate the not only means defining the problem from the underlying power dynamics? bottom up but also tackling the problem with that same approach, through the help of the people on the ground who are experiencing it One practical step to start with is first-hand. Inclusivity also happens when we move beyond the “idea” of engaging all uprooting patriarchal and colonial stakeholders to create peace, to essentially hangover from our multilateral ensuring they actually have a meaningful systems, accelerating and achieving participation and influence in the decision- gender parity in peacemaking making process. instruments, and promoting intersectional feminist leadership in In order for that to have effect, Soraya Bahgat emphasized the importance of building the multilateral system. capacities and fostering diversity. - Ola Saleh This is where the support and patronage of the international community can be key. In Emerging Actors Building Peace Mohammad Naciri’s words “either there is Together peace or no peace at all” as peace is not merely the absence of war but a way of life. According to Rima Makt abi, at the moment Unless all hands are on deck, it will not be nothing about peacebuilding is inclusive. achieved. Women perceive war and peacebuilding differently and are therefore, able to push for By stating that everyone needs to be agendas and raise issues that men often do not involved, he stressed the importance of not pursue. The media scene tend to see women only including women and youth but also journalists, reporters, and producers taking into consideration a broad sense of accomplish groundbreaking work, however, inclusivity, i.e. without neglecting any it is a rare sight to have women calling the person who identifies as belonging to the shots, running shows, and making decisions. large spectrum between the binaries of both In order for that to happen, Rima strongly genders. They are the ones paying the highest believes in the need for women to support price in conflict and should therefore not be and push each other in such industries. overlooked in the attempt to resolving them. Overall and following on the ideas proposed On the security sector level, Robert Egnell by the panelists, inclusive peace is a process raised an important issue to consider moving that should be locally owned and co- forward by touching on the application of defined. the notions of human security and gender perspectives in the fields of military and agencies, there is still a long way to go defense. While military organizations have especially in the fight against what we call exerted efforts with the aim to be more “toxic masculinity” or what Mohammad inclusive and better adapt to gender and Naciri referred to as instilled “patriarchy”. In human security, there is an overall major the discussion and as a representative of the concern that steps are actually moving into UN, he details the challenges faced by the the wrong direction. Moving from the sector organization when working in patriarchal of security and militarization which aim to societies as it being pressured to behave and maintain, prevent, and end conflict and war, act in ways that do not fall in line with it is noteworthy to look into the private sector equality. In spite of that, significant work is and its role when it comes to peacebuilding being done to modify the ways the institution and post-conflict reconstruction. acts in such environments not only through internal reconstruction with new sets of rules and regulations but also through normative, cultural and behavioral changes, and policy adjustments. Human security forces us to think about inclusivity. - Robert Egnell Patriarchy still governs our Soraya Bahgat, sitting at the crossroad between the private sector and activism, spaces as men and women. sheds light on the importance of -Mohammad Naciri encouraging the private sector to contribute and be active in peacebuilding In line with that and on a more practical note, processes as that would allow for the often times there tends to be a mismatch participation of a diversified, richer, and between the policy and grassroot levels of skilled segment of society leading to more peacemaking especially because the process sustainable and effective solutions. of building peace is believed to be designed in ways that are inaccessible to those emerging actors in society. This only means that all these different actors must unite and Inclusivity is about ensuring combine efforts to achieve sustainable peace that women have an impactful on all fronts. participation in peace building. Policy RecommendationsPolicy Recommendations -Soraya Bahgat The audience evoked the issue that peacebuilding is considered “elitist” and With this in mind and looking more broadly questioned how peacebuilding could become into other actors such as the international more mainstream and democratized. Egnell community comprised of multilateral insisted on the need to move away from traditional approaches of peace patriarchal

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