About the Report

This report examines women’s roles in peacebuilding, 

postconflict reconstruction, and economic development. 

It draws on discussions at the conference on The Role of 

Women in Global Security, held in Copenhagen on October 

29–30, 2010, and co-hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Denmark 

and the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership 

with the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP). Ambassador Laurie S. 

Fulton, U.S. ambassador to Denmark and former member of 

USIP’s board, brought together participants from the United 

States, Nordic-Baltic countries, Afghanistan, Liberia, and 

Uganda to focus on the roles that women can play as leaders 

in areas of active conflict and postconflict. Participants 

from the public and private sector, including the military, 

civilian, NGO, academic, and corporate worlds, joined to 

share experiences and best-practice recommendations on 

how to increase women’s participation in their communities 

to effect positive change: resolving active conflicts, assisting 

in postconflict reintegration, and furthering economic 

development. Ambassador Fulton noted that men and women 

with first-person practical experience were able to share 

their recommendations with those “who represent political 

leadership from host countries and international organizations 

who can encourage implementation of 

those recommendations.”

1200 17th Street NW • Washington, DC 20036 • 202.457.1700 • fax 202.429.6063

Special Report 264 January 2011

© 2011 by the United States Institute of Peace. 

All rights reserved.

Valerie Norville

The Role of Women in 

Global Security

Summary

•	 Building lasting peace and security requires women’s participation. Half of the world’s population cannot make a whole peace. 

•	 Ten years after the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325 on increasing 

women’s participation in matters of global security, the numbers of women participating in 

peace settlements remain marginal.

•	 While improvements have been made, women remain underrepresented in public office, at 

the negotiating table, and in peacekeeping missions.

•	 The needs and perspectives of women are often overlooked in postconflict disarmament, 

demobilization, and reintegration (DDR), as well as in security sector reform, rehabilitation 

of justice, and the rule of law.

•	 Many conflicts have been marked by widespread sexual and gender-based violence, which 

often continues in the aftermath of war and is typically accompanied by impunity for the 

perpetrators.

•	 A continuing lack of physical security and the existence of significant legal constraints in 

postconflict societies hamper women’s integration into economic life and leadership.

•	 Best practices for increasing women’s participation include deployment of gender-balanced 

peacekeeping units, a whole-of-government approach to security sector and judicial reform, 

and more intentional solicitation of the input of women at the community level on priorities for national budgets and international programs. 

Introduction

Women are often viewed as victims of conflict. But this view masks the important roles 

women play as leaders, especially in helping end conflict, developing postconflict reintegration efforts and economic life, and even in leading the organization of camps for internally 

displaced persons. Participants at the conference on The Role of Women in Global Security 

United States Institute of Peace www.usip.org

SPECIAL REPORT

Contents

Peacemaking and Peacekeeping 2

Reconciliation, Reintegration, and Rule of Law 4

Economic Development 5

Conclusions 6

Best Practices and Barriers 8

Continued on page 2
2 

identified recommendations for ways to provide assistance, tools, and motivation to encourage women to become such leaders in their communities.

In conflict zones, women are active participants in the conflicts that affect their countries. 

They may become combatants. They may become the sole providers for their families, more 

active in the informal or formal sectors of the economy, or more active in peacemaking groups 

as a result of conflict.1 They also suffer disproportionately from sexual violence and displacement. Yet during war and in its aftermath, women too often are excluded from activities aimed 

at resolving the violent conflicts that so deeply affect them.

Those conflicts cannot be brought to a lasting end without making women’s lives more 

secure, and it is women who are best positioned to determine how that security is achieved. 

This report focuses on three key areas in which women could foster security: peace decision making and peacekeeping; reconciliation, reintegration, and rule of law; and economic 

development.

Recognizing that sustainable security is not possible without the involvement of women, 

the United Nations in October 2000 passed Security Council Resolution 1325. The resolution 

calls for increased representation of women at peace negotiations and at all levels of decision making regarding security; inclusion of women in postconflict reconstruction efforts 

and in disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration efforts; increased protection from 

sexual violence; and an end to impunity for crimes affecting women.

The resolution undergirds the efforts of those advocating for gender equality and 

greater sensitivity to gender issues, or “gender mainstreaming.”2 Follow-on UN 

resolutions—particularly 1820, 1888, and 1889—created an office of a special 

representative for eliminating sexual violence against women, mandated measures of 

accountability, authorized UN sanctions in these cases, and defined widespread sexual 

violence itself as a threat to international peace and security.3 And in October 2010, 

the UN adopted a plan to monitor progress on implementing 1325.

“We are fortunate that the unique role of women as key contributors to peace and security is growing,” said Lene Espersen, Denmark’s minister of foreign affairs. “And we already 

possess substantial knowledge about the critical importance of women in the prevention 

and resolution of conflicts and in postconflict reconciliation and reintegration.”

Despite these advances, women in zones of conflict and in reconstruction efforts, and 

those working on their behalf, emphasize that they often have little or no voice in negotiating peace or planning reconstruction, lack economic opportunities, and continue to be the 

primary targets of ongoing sexual violence. It is therefore critical to pool the knowledge of 

those working on issues of gender equality and inclusion to determine what measures and 

practices have proved effective or ought to be tried in countries emerging from war.

To that end, three hundred military, diplomatic, academic, nongovernment organizations 

(NGO), the United Nations, and business sector experts at a 2010 conference in Copenhagen 

on The Role of Women in Global Security shared experiences in conflict zones, offered recommendations for ways to increase women’s participation in global security, and cited barriers to putting those recommendations in practice. Participants from Afghanistan, Liberia, 

and Uganda attended, as well as from Europe, the United States, NATO, the United Nations 

and the European Union. Their discussions were organized around three themes: peacemaking and peacekeeping, reconciliation and reconstruction, and economic development.

Peacemaking and Peacekeeping

Women are typically excluded from formal peace processes. They tend to be absent at the 

peace table, underrepresented in parliaments that are developing policy in countries emerging from conflict, and underrepresented in peacekeeping forces. Melanne Verveer, who heads 

the State Department’s Office for Global Women’s Issues, noted that thirty-one of the world’s 

The views expressed in this report do not necessarily 

reflect the views of the United States Institute of Peace, 

which does not advocate specific policy positions.

To request permission to photocopy or reprint materials, 

e-mail: permissions@usip.org

About the Institute

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, 

nonpartisan institution established and funded by Congress. 

Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent conflicts, 

promote postconflict peacebuilding, and increase conflict 

management tools, capacity, and intellectual capital worldwide. The Institute does this by empowering others with 

knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by its direct 

involvement in conflict zones around the globe.

Board of Directors

J. Robinson West (Chair), Chairman, PFC Energy, Washington, 

D.C. • George E. Moose (Vice Chairman), Adjunct Professor 

of Practice, The George Washington University, Washington, 

D.C. • Anne H. Cahn, Former Scholar in Residence, American 

University, Washington, D.C. • Chester A. Crocker, James R. 

Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies, School of Foreign 

Service, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. • Kerry 

Kennedy, President, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and 

Human Rights • Ikram U. Khan, President, Quality Care 

Consultants, LLC., Las Vegas, Nev. • Stephen D. Krasner, 

Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations at Stanford University • Jeremy A. Rabkin, Professor of Law, George 

Mason University, Fairfax, Va. • Judy Van Rest, Executive 

Vice President, International Republican Institute, Washington, D.C. • Nancy Zirkin, Executive Vice President, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Washington, D.C. 

Members Ex Officio

Michael H. Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for 

Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor • James N. Miller, 

Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy •

Ann E. Rondeau, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy; President, 

National Defense University • Richard H. Solomon, 

President, United States Institute of Peace (nonvoting) 

Valerie Norville, USIP director of publications, served 

as rapporteur. Wizer A/S, a technology firm based 

in Copenhagen, provided the interactive web-based 

platform that allowed conference attendees and virtual 

participants to brainstorm and rank recommendations 

based on their experiences in the field. 

The conference organizers would like to thank 

Lockheed-Martin, Motorola, and Boeing for their 

sponsorship of the conference and the U.S. State 

Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues for 

sponsoring this report.

Continued from page 1
 3

thirty-nine active conflicts represent recurrences of conflict after peace settlements were 

concluded. In all thirty-one cases, women were excluded from the peace process. 

The United Nations reckons that fewer than 3 percent of signatories to peace agreements 

have been women and that women’s participation in peace negotiations averages less than 

8 percent for the eleven peace processes for which such information is available. Such agreements typically do not address sexual violence.4

Rosalba Oywa, executive director of the People’s Voice for Peace in Gulu, a Ugandan NGO, 

makes clear that exclusion of women is not due to a lack of women’s desire or ability to be 

active in negotiations. She cites her experience in Uganda, where the Ugandan government 

and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) engaged in a brutal conflict characterized by abductions of thousands of girls and boys by the LRA, displacement, and widespread rape and 

other atrocities. “Women activists and women-led organizations mobilized to lead not only 

peacebuilding at the community level but to play a direct role in finding a negotiated settlement,” Oywa said. During peace talks to end the war in northern Uganda, women marched 

hundreds of miles, from Uganda to the site of the talks in Juba, Sudan, to press for observer 

status at the talks, but they played no direct role in the negotiations.5 

Likewise, women in Liberia were not invited to peace negotiations with the rebel groups 

in 2003. But, added Liberia’s minister of gender and development, Vabah Gayflor, “Women 

made their voices heard by sheer will,” marching, praying, and singing at the site of negotiations. Women were subsequently mobilized to give support to national elections that led 

to Ellen Sirleaf Johnson becoming president of Liberia. The momentum built during those 

efforts continues, she said, as rural women take leadership in farm cooperatives and managing microcredit groups to help reduce rural poverty.

Even in the difficult circumstances of refugee camps, women have demonstrated an 

ability to organize, lead, and communicate the needs of other women in the camps, said 

Maria Otero, undersecretary for democracy and global affairs at the U.S. State Department. 

With this input, international groups can provide responsive, practical tools for women’s 

protection, such as water purification tablets and cookstoves, which have proved critical 

in reducing the amount of time women spend gathering wood, the resultant environmental 

harm, and their exposure to violence, she said.

Representation in parliament is also critical to ensuring that women’s concerns are taken 

into account in countries rebuilding after war. Although there is debate about whether quotas are the best means to achieve increased representation, many experts believe quotas 

are essential, and they have been instituted in several countries, including Uganda (where 

women constitute 31.5 percent of the legislature), Rwanda (56 percent of the lower house), 

and Afghanistan (27.5 percent in the upper house).6

Betty Amongi, a member of Uganda’s Parliament, ran for office in 2001 as an independent determined to help bring peace to northern Uganda, an area where she grew up and 

one that had seen continuous war thoughout her life. She has worked to build a network 

of women parliamentarians to advocate for an agenda that takes gender into account in 

Uganda’s ongoing reconstruction and reconciliation efforts. For instance, women have 

pressed strongly for adding maternity wards to planned hospital construction, according 

to Amongi, and for higher priority for trauma counseling and startup capital for women to 

build businesses. 

“When you have a critical mass of women in power, legislation tends to get passed that 

favors women,” said Judy Cheng-Hopkins, assistant secretary-general for the UN Peacebuilding Support Office. She cited a rise in health care spending in Rwanda and changes elsewhere to women’s ability to own and inherit land and to criminalization of sexual abuse. 

Another area for women’s participation in peacebuilding lies in peacekeeping operations. 

Those advocating for increasing the number of women in peacekeeping missions argue that 

Representation in parliament 

is . . . critical to ensuring that 

women’s concerns are taken into 

account in countries rebuilding 

after war.
4 

the prospects of sustainable peace are improved by providing those living in conflict areas 

with positive female role models, facilitating good relations between traumatized civilians 

and security services, giving authority a female face, and offering an alternative perspective 

on conflict resolution.

Yet participation of women peacekeepers is negligible. In missions directed by the UN’s 

Department of Peacekeeping Operations, women represented 3 percent of total military 

contingents in 2010.7 Low numbers of women acting as military peacekeepers reflect the 

low overall rates of participation of women in the armed forces of countries that contribute 

peacekeeping forces. Even in Denmark, one of the first countries to adopt a national action 

plan to implement resolution 1325, women make up around 5 percent of Danish military forces 

and a similar percentage in peacekeeping missions. Limited numbers of women recruited 

overall mean limited numbers available to deploy. Consequently, removing barriers to overall 

recruitment efforts in troop-contributing countries is seen as key to improved recruitment in 

peacekeeping, along with more incentives for women to join peacekeeping missions.

Raymond E. Mabus, U.S. secretary of the Navy, cited U.S. experience: the military is more 

likely to retain younger women when they observe older women being promoted to top 

officer positions. He also pointed to the success of the Marines’ experiment with a female 

engagement team in Afghanistan, where a team of forty women soldiers were deployed for 

six months this year to meet with women and children, learn about their needs and concerns, 

and build trust as part of the overall counterinsurgency strategy in the region. The existence 

of such teams recognizes the importance of local women’s perspectives and their influence on 

local situations, to which the all-male forces in these cultures have limited or no access.

“As the first deployment of the U.S. Marine female engagement team came to an end, 

one of the commanders of the relieving unit brought all the patrol leaders from the Marine 

brigade with seven months of experience into a room and asked them what they needed to 

make the deployment more successful,” Mabus said. “He expected the answer to be more 

guns, more ammunition, or more logistical support, but the number one answer from these 

young infantry corporals and sergeants was instead more female engagements teams.”

Participants also stressed the need for all peacekeeping forces to receive training to 

make them more aware of the gender dynamics of the conflicts to which they are deployed. 

Many also pointed to the salutary effects of joint male-female forces in reducing the potential for sexual abuse of civilians by the peacekeeping troops themselves, as has occurred in 

several conflict zones.

Reconciliation, Reintegration, and Rule of Law

One consequence of the view of women’s roles in war as primarily passive victims is that 

little thought is given to the role women ought to play in the reintegration of combatants into the societies from which they came. In addition, women’s views are typically not 

incorporated when postconflict governments set up mechanisms for reconciliation between 

armed groups and civilians.

But women and girls have played many roles in conflict in different parts of the world, as 

fighters, supporters of rebel groups, spouses, or slave labor. Women’s participation is therefore 

critical in processes of DDR, and by excluding them, critical opportunities for rebuilding communities are lost.

DDR is inexorably linked to reform of rule of law, security sector, and justice systems, and in 

all these areas the needs of women, girls, men, and boys must be taken into account so that 

government adequately addresses every group’s need for protection from ongoing violence.

In missions directed by the UN’s 

Department of Peacekeeping 

Operations, women represented 

3 percent of total military 

contingents in 2010.
 5

Uganda’s Amongi puts it in stark terms when she asks how justice is to be defined for 

families in which rebel groups forced sons to rape mothers, and fathers their daughters, 

before those fathers and sons were abducted and forcibly conscripted. The purpose of this 

brutal tactic was to prevent conscripts from rejoining the community at a future date, where 

they knew they would not be welcome. Amongi argues that everyone in the community, 

including women, has the task of making the tough decisions about how to balance restoration of community life and retribution for crimes committed during the war. Such decisions 

may include amnesty, more judges at the local level, persuading leaders to set aside land for 

mothers raising children born of wartime sexual violence, or, as occurred in Uganda, a ritual 

cleansing of ex-combatant boys to help them shed their roles as perpetrators of atrocities 

and pave the way for their return to community life. Whatever the choices, participants 

agreed that successful DDR requires more gender-inclusive, local participation.

Where cases of sexual violence worldwide have been documented (and recognizing the likelihood that many cases are never reported), the numbers are staggering: More than 200,000 cases 

have been documented in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 1996 and a present 

daily average of 40 in the DRC province of South Kivu alone, as many as half a million during 

the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, at least 50,000 in Sierra Leone, and between 20,000 and 50,000 

in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the early 1990s.8 Prosecutions for these crimes have been rare.

In conflicts marked by high levels of sexual and gender-based violence, the end of the conflict may not bring an end to that violence. In the aftermath of some conflicts, sexual violence 

actually rises as a consequence of a culture of impunity and in the absence of institutions to 

protect communities and apprehend and try perpetrators. In such settings, women can be prevented from getting education, regaining physical and psychological health, gaining a stable 

financial footing, and participating in all aspects of governance and peacebuilding.

Some pointed to the role technology can play. “Women have been known to use mobile 

phones, for instance, to report crimes perpetrated against them and to testify in situations 

where they would be otherwise unable due to distance and difficulties in traveling,” said 

Juliet Asante, the chief executive officer of Eagle Productions, Ltd., in Ghana.

Economic Development

It is widely understood that economic recovery is important for stability in countries transitioning out of conflict. Determining who has access to economic opportunity has important 

implications for sustainable peace. Because wars create more female heads of households 

and force more women to become active in informal markets so their families can survive, 

reconstruction offers countries the opportunity to take a new look at the constraints 

women face in building businesses. By investing in the half of their human capital that is 

most underutilized, countries that institute gender-aware reforms can also realize important 

macroeconomic benefits.

A key area for new policy is removing legal constraints, including restrictions on women’s 

ownership of land. Land is one of the more important assets for households in developing 

countries, but women in these countries are less likely than men to own and control it. 

Worldwide, women own 1 to 2 percent of registered land.9 In Uganda, where women are the 

primary cultivators, women own 7 percent of the land they till. Because they access land 

through male relatives, women’s economic security is weak, and any decisions regarding 

investment or selling land typically require the signature of a husband or other male relative. 

Conflict magnifies the difficulties that such legal restrictions place on women, where men 

may be absent and more women become widows and thus heads of households but cannot 

inherit the land on which they work.

Because they access land 

through male relatives, women’s 

economic security is weak.

Everyone in the community . . . 

has the task of making the 

tough decisions about how 

to balance restoration of 

community life and retribution 

for crimes committed during 

the war.
6 

Another important constraint in postconflict settings is the difficulty women face in 

starting businesses. When the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in 1996 and barred 

women from public life and work, Afghan women turned to informal enterprises for their 

livelihoods, and the importance of the informal economy for women continues to the present. The World Bank reports that more than half of Afghan women in female-headed households are sewing, embroidering, or washing laundry for others.10 As one Afghan participant 

put it, “Economic activity is critical to the empowerment of women, especially in Afghanistan, where women are confined to the four walls of the house” and where weak, broken, 

corrupt institutions make it critical to allow women to build enterprises at home.

“Doing business anywhere in the world is difficult, but add conflict and that makes it 

even more difficult,” said Rangina Hamidi, president of Kandahar Treasure, which employs 

women artisans in Kandahar. The benefits of informal enterprise are manifold, she added. 

“Instead of depending on the aid world for short-term, ill-visioned projects that are decided 

outside your community and country, business allows us to own the work we do,” and therefore to benefit society and to pay for educating their children.

While expressing admiration for the resilience and creativity of women operating in 

informal sectors of the economy, many experts call for removing barriers to women’s entry 

into formal enterprises as well. In postconflict Liberia, half of all enterprises are informal. 

A Foreign Investment Advisory Service survey of barriers to converting informal businesses 

to formal ones in Liberia confirmed that women are more likely than men to own informal 

enterprises, fewer women had taken steps to formalize their enterprises, and those that 

tried to obtain licenses or permits reported more difficulty in dealing with government 

officials. Because informal businesses were less likely to experience increased employment, 

the analysis suggested that the preponderance of informal enterprise was an impediment 

to business growth.11

Limited access to finance and capital is another constraint facing female entrepreneurs, 

and this constraint becomes more acute during war. Microcredit has proved a key mechanism 

for helping women in small, informal enterprises, both in building businesses and dignity 

in difficult circumstances. Unlike traditional finance mechanisms, microfinance takes into 

account women’s inability to use land or other resources as collateral.

“It also means they can begin to plan longer term,” said Otero. The ability to save and 

plan their spending increases the economic security of women.

Conclusions

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen summed up the themes of the conference: 

Women are not just victims of conflict. They must also be part of the solution. If women 

are not active participants in peacebuilding and reconciliation, the views, needs, and 

interests of half of the population in a conflict area are not properly represented. That 

is simply wrong. It can also undermine the peace. . . . Resolution 1325 is a landmark 

resolution because it not only recognizes the impact of conflict on women, it also 

recognizes the important role that women can play—and indeed must play—in 

preventing and resolving conflict and in building peace.

Verveer added that Resolution 1325 “cannot and must not be seen as a favor to women. 

. . . Women’s exclusion from the peace processes undermines the long-term postconflict 

transformation that must take place.” 

According to the United Nations, twenty-three nations have adopted action plans to 

implement resolution 1325 in the ten years since it was adopted, and several only recently. 

The United States announced in October 2010 that it will develop a national action plan 

as well.12
 7

To mark resolution 1325’s anniversary, the United Nations Security Council in October 

2010 declared its support for a report by the secretary-general that includes twenty-six 

quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure progress on implementing 1325. While 

citing myriad actions taken over the last decade to increase women’s role in global security, 

the secretary-general’s report acknowledged that these efforts have lacked coordination and 

have been hampered by the lack of measurable results.13 Conference participants expressed 

the hope that better data collection efforts would lead to more effective gender equality and 

mainstreaming in peace and security efforts. The UN’s Cheng-Hopkins cited two salient elements of the secretary-general’s action plan for implementing 1325: a target of 15 percent of 

postconflict spending going to gender equality efforts and a recommendation that countries 

that have instituted a quota system for women in parliament share best practices. 

Another participant spoke of her own experience with quotas in Afghanistan: “It was 

mandated [in Helmand Province] that five out of the thirty members of the Gerishk Community Council must be women,” said Charlotte Brath, a Danish civilian military cooperation 

officer. “Everyone was skeptical of this idea, even the Danish female officer who was working 

with them. But it worked. The women were well educated, well respected, and able. Because 

of these five women role models, more women are now politically and publically active.” 

But, she added, “since I left Helmand Province in February 2010, it has not been possible to 

deploy another female officer to work with the women. When we are so eager to have the 

Afghan women become more actively involved, why are we so afraid to have more women 

actively participate ourselves?”

Although the conference workshops parsed the issues of gender and security into their economic, political, justice, and human rights components, many participants stressed the futility 

of countries, NGOs, and international organizations focusing on only one or two elements, as 

all components are integral to an effective, whole-of-government approach to increasing security for women. As such, the best practices discussed at the conference are not part of an a la 

carte menu, but part of one recipe for progress on women’s inclusion. For example, there is no 

way to increase women’s participation in the formal economy if it is not safe for them to leave 

the house, and reconciliation is not possible where a culture of impunity for crimes against 

women prevails. Yet if women are allowed to take leading roles in reconstruction, peacebuilding, and the economy, they can change the gender dynamics and attitudes of their societies.

“We are often told that women can’t be mediators, they can’t be negotiators, and they 

can’t play significant roles in the [peace] process because there are no qualified women,” 

Verveer said. “Experience tells us otherwise. Therefore, we need to make sure that when we 

are told that qualified women are not available, we have lists ready.” 

Many experts have emphasized that postconflict environments can offer women a 

window of opportunity to consolidate wartime gains in entrepreneurial or peacebuilding 

skills and to redefine traditional gender roles in war’s aftermath.14 Another common theme 

stressed by those who work on gender and security issues is that the goal of gender-based 

programs and national action plans is not only to improve women’s lives but to affect the 

relationship between men and women, particularly in fragile societies, where cultural barriers to women’s participation in security tend to be high. 

“Women and men are both partners and should work hand in hand,” said Jani Jallah, youth 

representative of the Angie Brooks International Centre in Liberia. “In programs that focus 

on women, at least one day should be dedicated to educating men on the importance of 

empowering their wives. We have to have a balanced society. If we focus only on women, in 

the future we will see that we have the problem that more women are educated than men.”

Although cultural norms may appear immutable, participants stressed that in many 

societies struggling for stability after war, power relationships in old regimes and prevailing 

cultural barriers become more malleable and subject to change. 

In many societies struggling 

for stability after war, power 

relationships in old regimes 

and prevailing cultural barriers 

become more malleable and 

subject to change.
8 

The key to women taking advantage of the fluid period new regimes may offer is thus to 

convince government officials and local leaders that involving women is critical to creating 

lasting peace. As Søren Pind, Danish minister of development cooperation, said, “You won’t 

find a fragile state that supports the rights of women. You won’t find a stable society that 

neglects the rights of women. I believe that the stability and development of a society are 

directly interlinked with the rights and activities of its women. We must take up the dual challenge of working in fragile states and of pursuing the women, peace, and security agenda.” 

Best Practices and Barriers

Experts at the conference were asked to rank best practices and to identify major barriers to 

their implementation in three main areas: conflict resolution and peacekeeping operations, 

postconflict reconciliation and reintegration, and economic development. The top-ranked 

recommendations and challenges are listed here (see also appendix B).

Women in Conflict/Peacekeeping Operations

Continue staffing, training, and deploying gender-balanced units at all levels within 

the military. Experts identified cultural resistance within military institutions and in society as a whole as a major barrier to instituting this practice.

Whether at the peace table or in parliaments, a critical mass of women is required 

to introduce gender-sensitive legislation and agreements for consideration. Experts 

identified deeply entrenched barriers to the inclusion of women, including culture, existing 

power balances and interests, and aversion to change.

Women in Postconflict Reconciliation and Reintegration

Gender mainstreaming should be integrated in a whole-of-government approach to 

justice and security sector reform. Experts identified lack of political will to implement 

the law and weak institutions that result in a lack of faith in the system as major impediments to gender mainstreaming.

Recognize sexual violence during and after war as an international criminal activity 

that needs to be prosecuted at either a national or international level. Experts identified political will as a major obstacle to such prosecutions.

Women in Economic Development

The interests of women and communities have to feed into the development of national 

policy programs and budget strategies. Inadequate and/or discriminatory legislation, 

infrastructure, and policy frameworks are the main barriers to developing such programs 

and strategies.
 9

Notes

1. Caroline O. N. Moser and F. Clark, eds., Victims, Perpetrators, or Actors? Gender, Armed Conflict, and Political Violence

(London: Zed Books, 2001).

2. Kathleen Kuehnast, Chantal de Jonge Oudraat, and Helga Hernes, “Introduction,” in Women and War: Power and 

Protection in the 21st Century, ed. Kathleen Kuehnast, Chantal de Jonge Oudraat, and Helga Hernes, (Washington, 

DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, forthcoming).

3. Donald Steinberg, “Women and War: An Agenda for Action,” in Women and War, ed. Kuehnast et al.

4. UNIFEM, “Facts and Figures on Peace and Security,” http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/women_war_peace/

facts_figures.php#1.

5. Stephanie Nieuwoudt, “Ugandan women march for peace talks,” http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/

Security-Watch/Detail/?ots591=4888caa0-b3db-1461-98b9-e20e7b9c13d4&lng=en&id=51789; and Rosalba Oywa, 

“Women’s Contributions to Peacebuilding in Northern Uganda,” http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/northernuganda/womens-contribution.php.

6. Compare these figures against a worldwide average of 19 percent representation of women for all legislative 

houses combined. See “Women in National Parliaments,” http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world.htm.

7. UN Security Council, “Women and Peace and Security,” Report of the Secretary-General, 2/2010/498, http://

daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N10/540/24/PDF/N1054024.pdf?OpenElement.

8. UNIFEM, “Facts and Figures.”

9. Annika Törnqvist and Catharina Schmitz, “Women’s Economic Empowerment: Scope for Sida’s Engagement,” Sida 

Working Paper, (Stockholm: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, December 2009).

10. Carmen Niethammer, Mark Blackden, Henriette von Kalten-Born-Stachau, “Creating Opportunities for Women 

Entrepreneurs in Conflict-Affected Countries,” IFC SmartLessons (Washington, DC: International Finance 

Corporation, June 2008).

11. Ibid.

12. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, “Remarks at the 10th Anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 

on Women, Peace, and Security,” October 26, 2010, http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/10/150010.htm. 

13. UN Security Council, “Women and Peace and Security.”

14. Krishna Kumar, ed., Women and Civil War: Impact, Organizations, and Action (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner 

Publishers, 2001).
10 

Appendix A: List of Plenary and Workshop Speakers

Plenary Speakers

Laurie S. Fulton, Ambassador to Denmark, USA

Lene Espersen, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Denmark

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary-General of NATO

Hillary R. Clinton, Secretary of State, USA [video]

Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, USA

Ellen Margrethe Løj, Special Representative to the Secretary General for the UN Mission 

to Liberia

Gabriel Opio, Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Affairs, Uganda

Gitte Lillelund Bech, Minister of Defense, Denmark

Raymond E. Mabus, Secretary of the Navy, USA

Judy Cheng-Hopkins, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding

Vabah Gayflor, Minister for Gender and Development, Liberia

Katherine Canavan, Civilian Deputy to the Commander and Foreign Policy Adviser, EUCOM

Rasa Juknevičienė, Minister of Defense, Lithuania

Espen Barth Eide, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway

Marina Kaljurand, Under Secretary for Economic and Development Affairs, Ministry of 

Foreign Affairs, Estonia

Nadera Hayat Burhani, Deputy Minister of Public Health, Afghanistan

Anne-Marie Esper Larsen, Ambassador for Gender Equality, Demark

Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva, European Commissioner for International 

Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response

Maria Otero, Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, USA

Davood Moradian, Director General, Strategic Study Centre, Ministry of 

Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan

Søren Pind, Minister for Development Cooperation, Denmark 

Workshop Moderators

Merle Maigre, Adviser, Policy Planning Unit of the Private Office of NATO International Staff

Suzanne B. Danneskiold Lassen, Owner & CEO, Strategic Facilitator & Integrator

Eva Zillén, Senior Adviser, Kvinna till Kvinna 

Robin May Schott, Senior Researcher, Danish Institute for International Studies

Helen Scanlon, Director, International Center for Transitional Justice 

Suzanne Monaghan, President, Pearson Peacekeeping Center

Shahamak Rezaei, Associate Professor, Department of Society & Globalization, 

Roskilde University

Tara Sonenshine, Executive Vice President, United States Institute of Peace

Tina Monberg, Mediator, psychotherapist, lawyer, Mediation Center A/S

Workshop Speakers

Major General Kristin Lund, Head of the Norwegian Home Guard

Anne-Cathrine Riebnitzsky, Author, Kvindernes krig 

Rikke Haugegaard, Anthropologist, Owner of Understanding Culture

Captain Emily Naslund, Female Engagement Team, US Marines

Commander Karl Gunnarsson, Swedish Ministry of Defense

Deputy Commander Malin Hjalmarsson, Swedish Ministry of Defense
 11

Helena Lindberg, Director General, Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency

Helga Hernes, Senior Adviser, Peace Research Institute Oslo

Nanna Skriver, Rule of Law Expert, European Union Integrated Rule of Law Mission in Iraq 

Yvette Chesson-Wureh, Establishment Coordinator, Angie Brooks International Centre

Colonel Sheila M.Q. Scanlon, Senior Adviser, Deputy Minister of Interior for 

Administration and Support NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan

Yasmin Jusu-Sheriff, Femmes Africa Solidarité 

Lieutenant Colonel Anne C. C. Bill, Head of Human Resources, Danish Army Operational Command

Dr. Davood Moradian, Head of Strategic Studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan 

Rear Admiral Louise Kathrine Dedichen, Commandant of the Norwegian Defense 

University College

Simone Kærn, Artist, filmmaker, pilot

Captain Latifa Nabizada, Pilot, Afghani Air Force 

Henrik Ø. Breitenbauch, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Military Studies 

Brigadier General Shafiqa Quraishi, Director, Gender, Human & Child Rights, 

Afghan Ministry of the Interior

Espen Barth Eide, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Norway

Karima Lanyero Obina, Programme Manager, Sexual and Gender Based Violence Project, 

Acholi Religious Leaders’ Peace Initiative 

Sanjar Sohail, Editor in Chief to Publisher, HASHT e SUBH Daily Newspaper

Juliet Asante, CEO, Eagle Productions. Director, Save Our Women International 

Lene Christensen, Knowledge Management Adviser, Danish Red Cross 

Erin Kenny, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Specialist, Humanitarian Response Unit of the UNFPA

Pernille Fenger, Specialist, UNFPA

Kenneth Oketta Akena, Prime Minister for Ker Kwaro Acholi, Acholi cultural institution 

Rosalba Oywa, Executive Director, People’s Voices for Peace 

Bodil Jacobsen, Programme Coordinator, Danish Demining Group of the Danish Refugee Council 

Åsa Massleberg, Programme Officer, Gender and Mind Action Programme (Geneva) 

Anton Baaré, Consultant, Nordic Consulting Group

Roma Bhattacharjea, Senior Gender Adviser, United Nations Development Programme

Katherine Canavan, Civilian Deputy to the Commander and Foreign Policy Adviser, EUCOM 

Betty Amongi, Member of Parliament, Uganda, Woman Representative of Apac District

Peter Wilson, Director, Libra Advisory Group

Daniel De Torres, Deputy Head of Special Programs, Geneva Centre for Democratic 

Control of Armed Forces

Janan Mosazai, Independent Civil Society Activist

Jolynn Shoemaker, Executive Director of Women in International Security

Marina Kaljurand, Under Secretary for Economic and Development Affairs for Estonia

Lars Christian Lassen, Senior Vice President, Corporate People & Organisation, Novo Nordisk A/S

Rangina Hamidi, Founder, Kandahar Treasure 

Shaheen Tejani, Project Manager, Aga Khan Development Network

Christian Sørensen, Program Coordinator, ADRA 

Annette Skovsted Hansen, Associate Professor, Asian Studies Section, Department of 

History and Area Studies, Århus University 

Peter Ingwersen, Founder of NOIR Illuminati, a fair trade and organic cotton brand 

Honorable Vabah Gayflor, Minister of Gender and Development of Liberia

Christine Bosse, CEO, Tryg

Elizabeth A. Hogan, Senior Development Counselor, USAID

Carmen Niethammer, Responsible for Strategy and Knowledge in IFC’s Women and 

Business Program
12 

Winnie Musah, Gender Officer for Federation of Liberian Youth 

Janet Mohammed, Programme Director, IBIS

Captain Amanda Freeman, Education Officer, Strategic Communications, 

Afghan Comms, Helmand PRT, Lashkar Gah, US Marine Corps 

Trine Lunde, Economist, World Bank, Gender and Development Group

Major Nina D’Amato, Operations and Plans Officer, RC (SW) Gender Equity Team, 

Education Portfolio Manager, Regional Command (Southwest), 

International Security Assistance Forces, US Marines.

Haoua Diatta, President and founder, MICA (Micro Credit in Africa)
 13

Appendix B: Best Practices and Key Barriers

Breakout Session Best Practice Key Barrier

Women as Role 

Models and 

Communicators 

in Conflict Zones

Use and staffing of mixed units/teams

Formal and informal local networking among women, 

e.g., women centers

Training and deployment of gender-balanced teams at all 

levels

Build relationships with local leaders in each village

Provide opportunities to improve livelihood, jobs, 

education, etc. 

Visible use of female soldiers/advisers

Use of gender training to create awareness 

Use of existing customs/organizations to enhance 

communications

Lack of family-friendly/gender-sensitive policies to recruit 

and retain women

Lack of knowledge of the benefits of female engagement

Too few female soldiers/officers/civil advisers

Lack of female interpreters

Lack of understanding of local cultures

Attitudes from contributing countries on women

Building Civilian 

Capacity through 

Increased Female 

Participation

Equal rights and opportunities for men and women

Creating media and public relations to build support for 

women joining the police

Supporting role models—men and women

Strong advocacy of men and women in leadership in all 

levels

Limited promotion of women already contributing and working across the security sectors

Lack of visibility of women’s contributions 

Reluctance to speak against current norms for fear of undermining existing achievements

Traditions/expectations/cultural stereotypes

Lack of education

High illiteracy rate 

Lack of trust in the police 

Increasing 

Female 

Participation 

in Military and 

Security Forces

Mentorship programs to retain/advance women currently in 

the military 

Use of media to increase visibility of women in security 

and military

Equal opportunities for advancement

Gender training for men and women

Use of women currently serving for recruitment

Lack of support of leadership

Lack of family-friendly policies

Stereotypes/traditions

Discrimination and abuse of women within the armed forces

Lack of good female mentors

Lack of facilities/equipment that take females into consideration

Cultural resistance within military institutions and whole 

of society

Sexual Violence 

and Women’s 

Health during 

Postconflict 

Reconstruction

Education and promotion of leaders speaking out against 

sexual violence and promotion of gender equality

Shelters that offer effective protection

Survivor-centered support

Women telling their stories through media

Dissemination of stories of perpetrators and addressing 

them

Addressing past wrongs without forcing forgiveness

Creation of networks for women

Bad interpretations of religion

Long-held cultural beliefs (e.g., a husband loves his wife if 

he beats her)

Lack of good governance, which enables implementation 

of law

Limited incentives for men to change (and many to continue 

abusing, especially in conflict contexts)

Projects driven by donor expectations, nonresponsive to 

local needs, and inflexible

Lack of social and gender accountability of local leaders

Lack of ownership from the people at grassroots level

Lack of coordination on the ground between multiple 

stakeholders

Corruption and collusion among local leaders

Illiteracy, especially of women

Justice systems ill-equipped to handle gender-based 

violence

Men’s lack of understanding and the need to include them 

in programs and training
14 

Breakout Session Best Practice Key Barrier

Women in the 

Disarmament, 

Demobilization 

and Reintegration 

(DDR) Process

Civilian, military, and other relevant agencies working together; holistic approach with overall integration

Support of linkages between women’s groups and 

organizations

Involvement of women at all stages of negotiation, planning, and implementation

DDR broadened to include women drawn into the conflict in 

roles such as porters, sex slaves, informants, etc. 

DDR addressed regionally as well as locally when it spills 

across borders

DDR meaning and application, which considers women 

who are also associated with armed conflicts not only 

combatants

Participatory approach: context specific, using local 

knowledge 

Affirmative action to include women to achieve better 

balance in the organization

Failure to realize that not all men or women have had the 

same roles in combat or conflict, e.g., forced participation in 

armed unit

Lack of sustainable development and other income opportunities lead to retention of weapons

Funding and focus not sustained, hence problems erupt 

after conflict ends

Absent/inadequate engagement with local partners

Lack of representation at the negotiating table by those 

most affected

Patronizing attitudes of women, which are enforced by politicians, judges, etc.

Blanket amnesty and predetermined benefits and incentives

Women in Justice 

and Rule of Law

Gender mainstreaming that takes a whole-of-government 

approach in broad-based 

participatory processes

Mandating that women are included in the political process

Structures that protect women when they participate in 

political processes

Gender analysis of the legislative process and of implementation in the field

Education and training on the rights of women and mainstreaming these rights throughout all judicial and legal 

training

Utilization of media as a platform for building awareness

Identifying a network of influential men and women to raise 

awareness of rights in a culturally sensitive manner

Culture/stereotypes/social traditions limiting women’s 

opportunities 

Misrepresentation of religious text and practices

Corruption

Lack of women’s representation in decision-making processes and negotiations

Lack of commitment to long-term reform by postconflict 

governments

Shortage of sufficient funding for real long-term outcomes

Few people with expertise in postconflict development

Short-term and rigid budgeting and planning processes

Stigma, silence, and lack of openness on past traumas

Lack of political will to implement the law, which results in 

lack of faith in the system

Political leaders lack accountability

Development 

of Female 

Entrepreneurs

International visitor cultural exchange/study groups and 

“exposure” tours

Combining microfinance with other business/commercial 

training 

Home-based business providing secure/safe environments

Focus on entire supply chain

Empowerment of women in production, financing, information sharing, and finding markets

Conducive land ownership regulations to support women entrepreneurs (land ownership as collateral and for production)

Engage private sector and facilitate links to local industries/

businesses

Accessible education, especially business and skills 

training

Financial services that come with training/education

Government support to create infrastructure

Basic numeracy and literacy

Cultural and societal norms (e.g., a tradition of working in 

the first instance with men)

Management of expectations: new ideas take time, and 

many are impatient for changes and results

Inadequate and/or discriminatory legislation, infrastructure, 

and policy frameworks

Lack of literacy and numeracy

Infrastructure/transportation that is unsafe for women to 

bring products to market

Lack of involvement of private sector as change agents and 

mentors

Lack of access to technology

“Unreasonable” regulations in conflict environment (complicated procedures, taxes, etc.)

Home-based entrepreneurship adds more chores for 

women

Appendix B: Best Practices and Key Barriers (continued)
 15

Breakout Session Best Practice Key Barrier

Facilitating 

Women’s Entry 

into Economic 

Policy

Education of rural women and access to capital as cornerstone to empowerment

Networking women to increase access to capital

Inclusion of men in the campaign for women’s economic 

empowerment to avoid a power struggle

Women’s land ownership and inheritance

Ensuring that laws favor gender equality

Educating women and combating illiteracy

Training facilities to help employ women

Mind-set

Absence of macro-gender strategy

Lack of ownership of land or other collateral to access 

capital

Absence of women in economic decision making (e.g., on 

company boards and in ministries)

Family-life balance and time poverty

Patriarchal power struggles

Corruption and burdensome bureaucracy

Breaking 

the Cycle of 

Marginalization: 

Early Female 

Economic 

Education

Education on business management skills, including financial literacy

Engage and create alliance with men—important for both 

access to capital and in preventing backlash

Motivational strategies: role models, mentoring, group training, feedback, awards

Access to new channels of information: Internet, mobile 

phones, etc.

Job search and interview training

Networking platform

Consultations with traditional community leaders to gain 

access and build trust

Increased access and awareness of education, through 

informational operations, outreach programs, etc. 

Cultural isolation, village support for education

Violence/security

Sufficient funding

Not enough female mentors (role models, teachers, female 

NGO workers, soldiers)

Lack of legal frameworks

Illiteracy

Lack of incentives for families to send girls to schools

Distance to secondary schools 

Corruption

Poor donor coordination

Disproportionate focus on urban areas

Access to markets
Of Related Interest

•	 Women and War: Power and Protection in the 21st Century ed. Kathleen Kuehnast, Chantal 

de Jonge Oudraat, and Helga Hernes (USIP Press, forthcoming)

•	 USIP Women and War Conference website, www.usip.org/events/women-and-war

•	 Rape in War: Motives of Militia in DRC by Jocelyn Kelly (Special Report, May 2010)

•	 Real Change for Afghan Women’s Rights: Opportunities and Challenges in the Upcoming 

Parliamentary Elections by Nina Sudhakar and Scott Worden (Peace Brief, August 2010)

•	 The Afghan Peace Jirga: Ensuring That Women Are at the Peace Table by Palwasha Hassan 

(Peace Brief, May 2010)

•	 The Health Sector and Gender-Based Violence in a Time of War by Anjalee Kohli, Kathleen 

Kuehnast, and Leonard Rubenstein (Peace Brief, April 2010)

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Washington, DC 20036

www.usip.org

An online edition of this and related 

reports can be found on our Web site 

(www.usip.org), together with additional 

information on the subject.