| 15 September-30 November 2010 | On-line application | Application deadline: 1 June 2010
Instructor: Indai Sajor
It is assumed that peacebuilding is a long-term process that occurs after violent conflict has slowed down or come to cessation of hostilities and understood as the phase of the peace process that takes place after peacemaking and peacekeeping. A number of inter-agency organisations and civil society recognise peacebuilding as a comprehensive concept that encompasses not only long-term transformative efforts, but also peacemaking and peacekeeping. In this view, peacebuilding includes not only the nation building (governance and rule of law) but a cross cutting early warning and response efforts, violence prevention, advocacy work, civilian and military peacekeeping, military intervention, humanitarian assistance, ceasefire agreements, and the establishment of peace territories. This course is meant to critically look at the gender dimension of peacebuilding which is measured by known critics as likely gender blind and does not consider the importance of integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment into the peacebuilding progression.
It is now recognised that peacebuilding cannot succeed if half the population is excluded from the process and that peace agreements, post-conflict reconstruction, and governance do better when women are involved. Women can make a difference, in part because they adopt a more inclusive approach toward security and address key social and economic issues that would otherwise be ignored. But women remain marginalised in formal processes and under-represented in peacebuilding reconstruction as a whole.
This distance learning course will examine why the international community speaks a great deal about including women in formal peace-making processes and recognising their peacebuilding contributions but sadly fails to do so in a systematic, meaningful way. Advances have been made in understanding the links between gender, development, human rights, peace, security and justice. UN Security Council Resolution 1325 reaffirmed the role of women in preventing and resolving conflicts and mandates UN member states to take steps to increase women’s participation in decision-making. Then again, prevalent discrimination and sexual violence are significant barriers to achieving Resolution 1325's goals.
This course will explore on the mainstream theories on gender and the feminist perspectives on security, as well as feminist theorising about international politics. In addition, the course analyses the impact of sexual and gender based violence and its implications in terms of security, gender justice and reconciliation. It will further examine specific these issues in the context of militarisation, national identities, race and ethnicity. This course will also appreciate the interconnectedness of gender and other aspects of identity such as race, ethnicity class, religion, culture, refugee and IDPs. For example rape of women has shown that the gender racial/ethnic components of sexual violence in conflict cannot be separated out. The course will also look at the UN response to sexual and gender based violence in terms of prevention, protection and response in peacekeeping operations and in humanitarian settings. It will examine how peacebuilding affects women and men and results in gender specific disadvantages that are not always recognised or addressed by the mainstream, gender blind understandings of rehabilitation and reconstruction. It will look at the context of gender inequality struggle that exists in peacebuilding periods and are exacerbated by armed conflict and its aftermath.
This distance learning course is an introduction to the recognition of women's value and the importance of gender framework in peacebuilding and humanitarian work. The course will look at case studies of women’s role and participation in peace processes, as well as peace negotiations without the presence of women. This imbalances silenced women’s right to be heard on the hard issues of war and peace, and meant that issues such as internal displacement, sexual violence, human trafficking, abuses by government and rebel security forces, and the rebuilding of maternal health care and girls’ education are generally ignored.
The course involves approximately 50 hours of reading, on-line working groups, assignments, webinars and interaction among students and the instructor, and is offered over an 11-week period. The course will integrate active and participatory learning approaches within activities and assignments, with an emphasis on reflective and collaborative learning. Participants will do the required reading, prepare interim and final project assignments, including case studies, and participate in group discussions. The maximum number of course participants is 25. Students who successfully complete the course will receive a Certificate of Participation. It is also possible to audit the course.
Course outline [tentative]
Week 1. Introduction to Peacebuilding, Peacemaking and Peacekeeping
Week 2. Gender and Peacekeeping Operations
Week 3. Gender and Humanitarian Aid Assistance
Week 4. Gender and Recovery, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation
Week 5. Gender and Justice and Security Sector Reform
Week 6. "Open week"
Week 7. Gender and Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration
Week 8. Sexual and Gender Based Violence Against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons
Week 9. Women's Role in Conflict Resolution and the Peace Process
Week 10. Gender Justice and International Humanitarian Law
Week 11. Gender and Conflict Prevention and Response
About the instructor
Indai Sajor is an internationally known activist and educator in the field of women's human rights and conflict prevention and response. She has over twenty years of experience working in countries in situations of war and armed conflicts in Asia and Africa. She was the Programme Manager of Gender Equality project of UNDP Afghanistan and before that as Senior Advisor for UNDP Sudan managing a sexual and gender based violence project (SGBV) in Darfur. Likewise she was senior human rights officer with the UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 2003-4 she was awarded the Rockefeller Fellow on Human Security and Gender at the City University of New York. She served as co-convener of the well recognised Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery, an international law landmark initiative that recognised sexual slavery as a crime against humanity. The Tribunal outcome influenced the statutory construction of the International Criminal Court in integrating sexual violence and sexual slavery as war crimes. She is a visiting Professor at the UN University of Peace in the IPS Masters Programme teaching Gender and Peacebuilding. She has made formative contributions to numerous international feminist networks, in their work connecting women around United Nations world conferences on Human Rights (Vienna 1993), Population (Cairo 1994), Social Development (Copenhagen 1995), Women (Beijing 1995) and the ICC (Rome 1998). Her numerous publications include Documenting Women's Human Rights Violations in Armed Conflict (2005), Common Grounds: Violence Against Women in War and Armed Conflicts (1998). Ms. Sajor has been a trainer and course instructor for HREA since 2005.
Who should apply
The course is intended for human rights/women's human rights/humanitarian staff of INGOs, NGOs, UN officers intergovernmental and government agencies, women's advocates and feminists, university students of international law, international relations, politics and other areas practitioners who want to learn about peacebuilding and it gender dimensions. The course is also intended for staff members of UN specialised agencies who want to learn more about gender equality and women's empowerment in post conflict settings. Participants should have at least basic knowledge on human rights. Participants should have a good written command of English and have high competence and comfort with computer and Internet use. The number of participants is limited to 25 per course. HREA aims to ensure equal gender and geographical distribution across the selected participants. It is also possible to audit the course.
Costs
The course tuition fee is US$ 725; permanent residents of non-OECD countries are eligible for a discounted tuition rate of US$ 450. Tuition for auditors is US$ 275; permanent residents of non-OECD countries are eligible for a discounted tuition rate of US$ 175. Unfortunately, there are no scholarships available for this course.
* Current member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.
Applications
The deadline for applications is 1 June 2010. Applications received after that day unfortunately cannot be accepted. Successful applicants will be notified by 7 June 2010 at the latest. Full tuition payment for accepted participants is due on 15 July 2010.
On-line application
Frequently asked questions about HREA's distance learning courses.
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