Women and Post Conflict reconstruction : Issues for Public Administration Reform

MDG MDG Goal % Fragile States Achieved and

on Track

% Non-Fragile States Achieved

and on Track

Diff

MDG 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

10 % 42% 32 %

MDG2 Achieve universal primary education

45 % 66% 21 %

MDG3 Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

28 % 52% 24 %

MDG4 Reduce Child Mortality 31% 56% 25 %

MDG5 Improve Maternal Health 14% 48% 34 %

MDG6 Combat HIV AIDS, Malaria and other diseases

17% 38% 21 %

MDG 7 Ensure environmental sustainability

3% 27% 24 %

The MDG Deficit in Conflict & Fragile Settings

Source : World Bank (2010)

Source: ODI (2010)

Performing the Balancing Act: Challenge for Post-Conflict Settings

Need to balance efforts to ensure safety and security, emergency humanitarian needs with programs that drive economic development and improve health and education, which rebuild communities hand demonstrate local progress.

• Women tend to suffer disproportionately in time of crisis or conflict

• Women frequently have fewer and less effective economic and social safety netsand start recovery from a lower human and physical capital base than men (less educated, fewer assets etc).

• All forms of gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence tend to exacerbate women’s recovery challenges– Rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence are horrific forms

of strategic weaponry in many contemporary conflicts

• Access to health, education and livelihood services is also usually severely affected

• Have different needs for treatment, rehabilitation, support for the families they head, access to livelihoods and property, justice and redress

Gender-differential: Experience of conflict

• Challenges posed by gender differentials in experience of conflict [demand]– Leads to larger service requirements

• Limited capacity for provision [supply]– Weakened rule of law, inadequate systems and

reduced human infrastructure capacity• Rebuilding: window of opportunity– Opportunity to correct gender bias

Greater challenges for service delivery in Post Conflict States

3 P’s Framework for Action

• Participation & representation of women in all aspects of peace-building & security.

• Protection of women as a group with specific needs and concerns.

• Prevention of sexual and other violence and prevention of conflict.

Four resolutions:1325 (2000); 1820 (2008); 1888 (2009); 1889 (2009)

UN Mandate & Key Principles: SCR 1325, 1820, 1888,1889

Protection & Prevention

• The need to prevent the perpetuation of gender injustice– Girls and women are usually rendered invisible

or are marginalized within judicial processes, including war tribunals, when they seek justice in response to gender-specific violence. The general lack of access to justice for survivors of sexual assault is a major problem

• The prevention of women and girls’ re-victimization– Women and girls run also the risk of being "re-

victimized" by the lack of adequate healthcare and support structures for assisting victims of sexual violence and other forms of violence

• The necessity to protect girls and women against violence, especially gender based violence• Gender analysis of security sector, Female Police Units ( Timor Leste,

Liberia)

Participation

• The need to actively support women's inclusion and leadership• Women’s inclusion and presence in public decision making is sis

critical(starting with peace process, post-conflict needs assessments, public management and in service delivery)

• Exclusion from leadership and priority-setting leads to neglect or postponing of prosecutions for SV and other abuses, reparations, restitution of property rights, livelihood and employment

• Slow progress -- since 2000…

–Fewer than 10% of peace negotiators have been women–Fewer than 2% of signatories have been women–The UN has appointed no women mediators at all

• The need to address women and girls' specific needs in economic reintegration programs– Limited inclusion of women in economic reintegration programs,

including land reform initiatives, and public works programs – Women often face difficulties in claiming property, especially when

there are informal titles to land and property.

• The mainstreaming of women’s needs into macro and microeconomic programs.– Conflicts tend to shift economic and social burdens disproportionately

onto the shoulders of women as they often become the main support for their family. However, recovery efforts may not prioritize the needs and realities of women and girls, including health needs, domestic responsibilities and needs for skills training and credit. need for credit.

– Additionally, women may face discriminatory policies, structural barriers and cultural prejudices in the labor market.

Participation

Women’s Participation in DDR

–DDR programs often focus on the so-called 'young men with guns.' DDR programs have given very little attention to the specific situation of girls and women, in both forced and voluntary capacities–As agents women need to be part of DDR processes, participate in governance of their communities and country, participate in establishing the rule of law participate in holding public authorities to account.

• The need to better address the specific situation of former girls and women combatants;

Increased Participation of Women in Public Administration

– Reduces access barriers to service delivery– More likely to identify and advocate for specific

needs of women and girls– Significant ‘role modeling effect’ that inspires

other women to seek public sector employment, contributing to the ‘feminization of public space’ and to the overall goals of more gender and poverty-responsive public sector performance

• Double Benefit in Post Conflict Contexts– Accelerating MDG Achievement– improving intra-household distribution of

income of public sector employees.

Women’s participation in the design and delivery of services results in more gender-responsive and pro-poor service delivery outcomes

• Inadequate accountability mechanisms• Monitoring system to ensure women’s needs

and issues are not incorporated in planning• Tracking mechanism to ensure adequate

funding for women’s specific needs• Commitments to gender equality do not

match planning and funding requirements

Lack of Planning and Adequate Financing – closing the implementation gap

Inclusion of Gender Issues in Post –Conflict Financing

• Public Sector Reforms: Influence and voice from the planning to the implementation levels need to be increased, including how services are delivered ( supply and demand)

– Build gender-sensitivity into revised incentive systems, performance measures, and monitoring systems

– Review remit, incentives, standards of evidence of formal accountability institutions to enable them to answer more effectively to women

– Compensate for gender-specific asymmetries in access to opportunities, security, etc (provide transportation, child care etc)

– Support institutionalization of women’s engagement in design and delivery of public services – including measures to support and reward public service providers that address women’s needs

– Recognize that women’s inclusion isn’t only about guaranteeing women’s representation. Rather, it is about recognizing the unique leadership women offer and training them to participate effectively in governance at all levels.

– Capacity Building for civil servants should also include best practices for effectively delivering public services to the people, and especially to women and the poor

Implications for Public Administration

Implications for Public Administration – Planning and Financing

• Public Expenditure Management: measures to enable set spending priorities and monitor allocations for gender equality– Matching commitments, planning, targets and funding

– Financing capacity-building of women’s civil society organizations including building capacity for effective engagement with state providers – gender budget analysis and audit, establishment of monitoring systems and public sector ‘watch’ systems

• Improving accountability requires better monitoring and tracking of planning, targeting and funding for women’s specific needs:• Better systems are needed – i.e. gender markers are becoming more popular

• More data is needed, estimations, even with limitations, may be critical triggers for highlighting issues and producing better data

– Mediate links to other types of citizen efforts to improve governance and service delivery including anti-corruption movements, transparency efforts