Gender, Peace and Security
Incorporating gender perspective is essential for developing effective and inclusive peace and security policies. People experience and perceive conflict and security differently based on their gender, and these differences must be understood and addressed.
Conflicts can both challenge and reinforce traditional gender roles in distinct ways, making it crucial to consider these dynamics during policy development. There remains a significant gender imbalance in formal peacebuilding processes and the distribution of decision-making roles, and women’s contributions are often underrepresented. Moreover, the connection between social norms – including traditional views of masculinity and femininity – and sexual- and gender-based violence in conflict, requires exploration to inform more comprehensive and effective strategies to address such violence. Equitable peacebuilding requires recognising and addressing the specific needs and contributions of all groups in conflict prevention and resolution, particularly those marginalised due to their gender.
EPLO is actively working to ensure that gender perspectives are integrated into all aspects of EU policies on international peacebuilding.
To this end, EPLO:
- Acts as a conduit for gender expertise, gender-sensitive analysis, and advice on gender, peace and security (GPS) into all EU institutions.
- Works to strengthen the EU’s capacity to promote gender equality in peacebuilding and address the gendered dimensions of conflict from analysis through to promoting women’s participation in all aspects of peacebuilding.
- Channels and supports the contributions of women from conflict-affected countries into EU peace and security policies.
- Works to strengthen the implementation of a gender-transformative approach in the EU’s foreign policy and practice to enable the EU to be more inclusive and effective in promoting peace
- Promotes gender-responsive conflict analysis, aiming to ensure that EU policies and interventions are designed with a nuanced understanding of how conflict impacts different genders
- Works to broaden the understanding of how gender intersects with other issues like climate change and security, and how these intersections can be addressed within the EU’s policy frameworks
- Provides a platform for civil society, academics, and policymakers to discuss feminist perspectives on peace and security.
EPLO regularly engages in advocacy and dialogue with EU policymakers and member states to strengthen the implementation of EU commitments under the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda and EU commitments under the EU’s Gender Action Plan III.
In addition, EPLO works to incorporate a gender perspective consistently into all its work.
Please consult EPLO’s activities, publications, and blog posts on gender, peace and security to find out more.
For more information about EPLO’s work on GPS and/or the GPS Working Group, please contact Marie Lena Groenewald.