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The Peace and Conflict Gender Analysis: UNIFEM's Research in the Solomon Islands

Author: A Moser
Date: 2007
Size: 10 pages (115 KB)

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Summary

How can the use of gender analysis help improve post-conflict peace processes? This paper published in Gender and Development discusses the research methodology and results of the 2005 Peace and Conflict Gender Analysis (PCGA) conducted by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in the Solomon Islands. The use of gender analysis to shape peace processes would help solidify women’s gains in status and contribute to economic and civil society development.

Until recently, practitioners and policy makers have tended to ignore the gender dimensions of armed conflict and peace building. Today, there is a greater recognition that women and men play multiple roles in these processes and experience their impact in different ways. UNIFEM conducted a PCGA in the Solomon Islands after the 1998-2003 conflict. While the conflict was low-intensity (150-200 deaths and around 450 gun-related injuries), it involved significant trauma and upheaval, with more than 35,000 people displaced as a result of the violence. The PCGA examined the experiences and roles of women and men during the conflict and in peacetime as well as the impact of the conflict and peace processes on gender relations. It was carried out in five communities where discussions were facilitated by researchers with separate groups of women and men.

As is not uncommon in contexts of armed conflict, changes in the roles of men and women appear to have contributed to ongoing community tension in the Solomons:

While women acted as traditional caretakers during the conflict, they also generated income and experienced increased status outside the home.
While men performed traditional combat and community leadership roles, they expressed a loss of status and disruption to their role as the head of household.
There were significant increases in women’s (self-perceived) empowerment in both the conflict and peace building processes.
In peacetime, men resumed their roles as breadwinners and community leaders, while women continued to experience gains in status and empowerment.
Women were much more likely than men to highlight their increased economic production roles.
Men tended to list their roles as positive and women’s roles as nearly all negative.

The PCGA methodology has implications for planning and implementation of post-conflict recovery and peace building programmes:

The PCGA provides community-level data often absent from post-conflict planning processes. It can be used as a dialogue tool by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), women’s organisations, government agencies and donors to shape peace building planning.
Both men and women emphasised that trauma and loss accompany the more positive developments of peace. Ways to address this phenomenon should be incorporated into post-conflict recovery processes.
Support for continued expansion of women’s roles during peace building processes would help solidify women’s gains before they revert back to their traditional roles.

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Source: Moser, A., 2007, 'The Peace and Conflict Gender Analysis: UNIFEM's Research in the Solomon Islands' Gender and Development, volume 15, issue 2