CPR Newsletter: Securing development, peace and justice for all

Ensuring the inclusion of women in conflict prevention
New guidelines on conflict analysis and gender
By Celine Moyroud, Programme Specialist—Conflict Prevention, BCPR

UNDP helps address the structural causes of violent conflict through development programmes that take into account possible drivers of conflict and the diversity of societies, and ensure the participation of women and youth. As part of these efforts, the Conflict-related Development Analysis framework has been used to strengthen the capacity of local actors to jointly analyze problems and identify common solutions. In countries such as Colombia, Fiji, Indonesia, Niger, Nigeria and the Solomon Islands, emphasis has been placed on supporting nationally owned, participatory conflict analysis processes—where dialogue among key stakeholders develops a common vision of peace.

However, as conflict analysis is increasingly used as a strategic entry point to address the causes of violence and build sustainable peace, no systematic attention has been paid to ensure that gender concerns are effectively translated into policy and programming response. To address this critical gap and to help make UNDP’s Eight-Point Agenda for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality in Crisis Prevention and Recovery operational, the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery has developed a set of Guidelines on Conflict-related Development Analysis and Gender.

These guidelines are based on a review of UNDP's in-country conflict analysis exercises, as well as on good practice and lessons learnt to date. The following challenges were identified:

  • Integration of gender perspectives into conflict analysis processes remains ad-hoc, and gender-related issues have not been prioritized.
  • The emphasis of conflict analysis tools on identifying causes of conflict is not beneficial to integrating gender concerns.
  • The lack of capacity of local actors in gender and conflict analysis.
  • The limited documentation on gender-related issues for the various country processes.
The guidelines aim to assist UNDP country offices and national counterparts with: integrating gender concerns in the design and implementation of multi-stakeholder processes; and ensuring women’s participation in defining a common vision of peace and strengthening the role that they play in managing disputes and building consensus on key development challenges. The guidelines will be finalized through a roll-out and learning strategy in pilot countries, where multi-stakeholder conflict analysis processes are planned at the national and/or local levels, including Kyrgyzstan, Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People, Northern Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia. For more information, contact celine.moyroud@undp.org.

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