UNIFEM Global Programme on SGBV & Peacebuilding

Women’s participation in peace negotiations and post-conflict peace consolidation is increasingly recognized as a vital contribution to long-term recovery and stability. Women can face profound social resistance when they take on new public roles, and often need support for their efforts to prevent conflict and build peace.

Systems to protect women from sexual and gender-based violence are weak to non-existent, transitional justice mechanisms address crimes against women unevenly leading to gross patterns of impunity. In consequence, women are prevented from making the contribution they would like to make to post-conflict governance and peace consolidation, their livelihood recovery needs may be put second to the immediate employment and reintegration needs of ex-combatants, and their needs for justice and physical safety are neglected.

One of the most important on-going constraints to women’s capacity to engage effectively in conflict mediation and peace-building is the experience of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) during conflict and its legacy afterwards in terms of elevated levels of gender-based violence, high levels of morbidity, and fear. The incidence or even the mere threat of sexual and gender-based violence has a profoundly inhibiting effect on women’s ability to engage in conflict resolution, peace-building, and recovery efforts.

This programme aims to create enabling environments for women’s effective participation in peace-building and post-conflict recovery by engaging community decision-makers, local police and informal institutions in responding to the needs of women during and after conflict. A major constraint on women’s capacity to engage in peace-building is the experience of gender-based violence, especially sexual violence, during war, and its legacy afterwards. Very little is known about effective SGBV prevention strategies and support services for survivors are still inadequate. This programme will support women’s community-level efforts to build peace and prevent sexual violence in six countries: Afghanistan, Haiti, Liberia, Rwanda, Timor-Leste and Uganda. A desk review on simlar initiatives can be found here: Women Building Peace and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict-Affected Contexts: A Review of Community-Based Approaches (October 2007)

The programme will identify and support the practical and effective forms of protection that women in war and armed conflict situations want and believe will enhance their safety. Programming will include: Building a protective social environment; Building women’s economic and legal resources for protecting themselves and their families; and Supporting women’s engagement in conflict resolution and peace-building.

At the regional and global level, this programme will build a constituency to exert continuous pressure on decision-makers to promote women’s engagement in peace consolidation, and to reduce women’s and girls’ vulnerability to sexual violence during conflict and crises and afterwards. The programme will result in an enhanced engagement by women in local and national peace-building processes, and greater empowerment of women to prevent sexual violence and other abuses of their rights.

This programme will support women’s community-level efforts to build peace and prevent sexual violence in six countries: Afghanistan, Haiti, Liberia, Rwanda, Timor-Leste, Uganda.

Funding has been made available through the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) to support this work for a period of 2 years. Ongoing information will be made available as the programme progresses. 

For more information about other programming in the six countries above, please visit the UNIFEM website at http://unifem.org/worldwide/.