UNIFEM support for women in six conflict-affected countries

Progress for Women Is Progress for All

UNIFEM support for women in six conflict-affected countries

October 2007

In April this year a $6.5 million grant from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) enabled UNIFEM to launch a two year community-based programme in six countries to support women in building peace and preventing sexual violence during and after conflicts. The six countries are Afghanistan, Haiti, Liberia, Rwanda, Timor-Leste and Uganda. UNIFEM UK members and their guests were able to hear more about this initiative at a meeting in London on 20 September which was addressed by Jeremy Stickings, Senior Social Development Advisor in the Conflict, Humanitarian and Security section of DFID.

Earlier this year DFID published its new policy paper Preventing Violent Conflict which highlights the importance of addressing the causes of conflict as well as providing assistance to support peace building. In recent years there has been increasing evidence that the involvement of women in peace processes makes a real difference, for example in strengthening the effectiveness of civil society. DFID is supporting movements that promote women's involvement in post-conflict rebuilding and work to ensure that peace negotiations do not reinforce situations where there has been gender inequity. The grant to fund a new programme of UNIFEM projects is one example of DFID's approach to managing the impact of conflict and Jeremy Stickings is monitoring its progress for DFID.

The UNIFEM focus on community-level activity aims to ensure that commitments to women's rights at a national level are reflected in changed attitudes and increased security on the ground. A major issue is the impact of gender based violence (GBV) which often continues at heightened levels after a conflict and must be addressed in drawing up policies for demobilisation, demilitarisation and reintegration. Jeremy stressed the importance of working to prevent GBV rather than just developing support services for survivors but admitted that surprisingly little is known yet about how to combat it successfully after conflict. He also spoke of the need to learn more about tackling the link between poverty and violence

The six countries in the new programme represent a wide range of conflict and post-conflict situations, each with their own very difficult problems and challenges –

In northern Uganda UNIFEM is offering training to members of village councils to encourage development of community prevention mechanisms for GBV and more effective support from the police. Action is also being taken in the area of restitution of property rights and economic empowerment of women in an attempt to reduce violence. Jeremy pointed out that income generation on its own is not enough – relationships have to be altered as well.
The focus in Rwanda is on training the local police and improving women's access to local justice institutions. Rape has taken place on a major scale and 80% of survivors are HIV-positive. UNIFEM also works with groups such as the Association of Genocide Widows but the process of reconciliation will take time.
Work to improve the response of local police forces and justice authorities is also the focus in Liberia. Sexual violence against girls is very prevalent and one key activity has been the use of women's peace huts as 'safe places'.
In Afghanistan UNIFEM is using the DFID funding to support local initiatives with provincial council members in the central and eastern regions to ensure that women's rights are respected and that appropriate legal provisions are established. Over 80% of incidents of violence against women involve family members.
In Haiti there are high levels of GBV, including kidnapping and drug-related crimes. UNIFEM has set up a trust fund to enable local groups to work with local security and justice authorities to reduce the levels of violence
A small UNIFEM team is working in Timor-Leste to raise awareness in villages of the need for changes to deal with GBV of all types, including rape and sexual slavery. The team has undertaken a survey on attitudes which has revealed the extent of insecurity felt by women.

Why did DFID choose UNIFEM as a partner for this initiative? The factors included UNIFEM's track record of working with women's groups in rural communities, its well-established structures for projects of this type and its status within the UN. Jeremy expects that the work will go some way to developing better understanding of how to combat resistance to change and how to ensure that legal institutions at the local level are responsive to women's rights. He spoke about his hopes and fears for the future. He warned that there are dangers of a trade-off between peace and justice if moves to secure peace actually involve an acceptance of continuing gender based violence. There is also the risk that if a country falls back into conflict improvements may be undermined if the progress made in changing attitudes is not strong enough to withstand a return to violence. On the positive side, he hopes that this programme will help in encouraging the international community to focus on prevention of GBV rather than support afterwards. He also believes that the UNIFEM strategy of working with men as well as women in local communities makes it more likely that attitudes will change and is an aspect that needs much more work. Jeremy concluded by saying that he has hopes that the DFID-UNIFEM partnership will prove to be a very productive one.

You can help UNIFEM to do more by making a donation today. UNIFEM asks its supporters in the UK to fund a number of specific projects and these include a further project in Uganda. This involves work with civil society organisations and the Ministry of Gender to develop new policies and legislation which will address gender based violence. Just follow the link in the column opposite to make an online donation. Your contribution will be very much appreciated!

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The projects undertaken by UNIFEM make a difference to the everyday lives of women around and their families around the world. UNIFEM UK needs your support to help fund this work and to raise awareness of the issues affecting women's rights and security.