Dr. Houda Abadi, Executive Director of Transformative Peace
I was delighted to participate in a distinguished gathering of women peacebuilders from the MENA region. My reflection below was part of my intervention in a public panel on Empowered Voices: Women Shaping Peace in the MENA region.
It is a great honor and privilege to be amongst you today. My intervention this morning will be speaking on navigating gender dynamics in MENA region, what Gaza has taught us in terms of addressing blind spots within WPS, and lastly how we can build a collaborative path forward.
From experience, I have witnessed first-hand the power of bottom up approaches to
conflict resolution. Inclusive, transformative, and sustainable peace is only
achievable when women are actively involved in peace processes. Research
consistently shows that women’s participation is crucial for reducing conflict and
building lasting peace. When women play a critical role in the negotiation
process, the probability of reaching a final agreement increases significantly.
Same applies in the implementation of the peace agreement. Yet, women are
often sidelined, underrepresented and relegated to supporting riles due to entrenched
patriarchal norms and sociopolitical constraints.
Advocates for women’s rights and gender equality in Muslim-majority countries face a
number of barriers. These include patriarchal cultural and tribal norms at the local
level, instrumentalization by national and foreign policy agendas, and the international
community’s essentialization of women in conflict-affected countries.
Over this past year, we have seen the Israeli occupation inflicting immeasurable
suffering on the Palestinian population, subjecting them to systemic apartheid,
violence, and death. The situation for women and girls in Gaza is particularly dire.
With alarming rates of physical and psychological harm, Gaza has become a
graveyard for women and children. Entire multigenerational families have been
obliterated, and hundreds of women have been arbitrarily detained, facing severe
violations, including of sexual assault, and dehumanizing searches by Israeli soldiers.
Amid forced displacement and famine, we are witnessing not just a humanitarian
crisis but a genocide unfolding before our eyes, televised minute by minute,
with women disproportionately bearing the brunt of this devastation.
These harrowing realities reveal critical gaps within the WPS agenda. This
framework has often failed to address the specific needs and experiences of
women from the Global South, failing not only the women of Gaza but also complicating the efforts of practitioners working on WPS in the region. Let’s not forget our sisters in Afghanistan who are still fighting for a simple right that we take for granted- Access to education.
Major actors within the international community often play an enabling or passive role
in the systems that impact women in Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan and beyond. The
failure to hold Israel accountable and the inconsistent application of
international law exacerbate this crisis. We must confront these double
standards hands on. It is imperative for the global community to recognize the
urgent need for a new approach, moving beyond the status quo and genuinely
prioritizing voices and experiences of women in conflict zones.
The gendered nature of conflict compels us to critically examine WPS agenda
and its blind spots. UNSCR 1325 was a landmark resolution, recognizing the unique
impact of armed conflict on women and girls. While it brought gender issues to the
forefront and provided a global framework that can be used and adapted across
diverse contexts, in many cases, it has not led to significant action on the ground.
An intersectional and post-colonial analysis of WPS highlights the selective
visibility of certain women while marginalizing and rendering others invisible. This disparity is evident in the current situation in Palestine, where a deafening silence
surrounds the plight of women, signaling to women from the global south that their
lives are valued less. Consequently, the shortcomings of the WPS agenda not only
undermine efforts to promote peace but also complicate the work of practitioners
striving to create meaningful change.
When WPS initiatives are applied tokenistically, they fail to acknowledge the various
intersecting forms of discrimination and oppression experienced by women in
conflict; such as race, ethnicity, rural status, or social class. Inclusion of women
from various different backgrounds is essential, yet those from rural,
conservative, and marginalized communities are often excluded. Achieving
gender equality requires a grounded understanding of how intersectionality and root
causes of conflict and violence manifest both locally and globally.
UNSCR 1325 underscores the need to enforce international humanitarian law to
protect women and girls during and after conflict. It is imperative that we improve our
efforts to hold all individuals accountable for perpetuating war crimes, crimes
against humanity, genocide, including gender-based violence, especially rape and other
forms of sexual abuse. WPS needs to be better leveraged to ensure compliance with
international humanitarian law and enhance women’s protection.
The unequal experiences of men and women during wartime demand comprehensive
reevaluation of existing legal frameworks. Protection for women must extends beyond
traditional roles as mothers or detainees. Encompassing diverse experiences of
women is not only a moral imperative but also a crucial step toward a more inclusive
and effective legal framework. As advocates for peace, justice, and human rights, we
share a collective responsibility to advocate for the advancement of gender-sensitive
policies.
In application of WPS, what can we improve and what lessons have we learnt
from other contexts?
Women's inclusion in peace processes heavily limits women’s participation to
women's rights' and women's issues', domain even though they represent half of the
population. Other critical issues, such as food security, education, economy, and
peacekeeping, are placed at the periphery. Merely granting access and
participation to women falls short of addressing the deep-seated institutional,
structural, and socio-cultural barriers that devalue women's voices.
The lack of accountability and enforcement measures often leads to
women being tokenized to fulfill donor requirements rather than being
genuinely engaged as partners and active contributors to peacebuilding efforts.
This hinders women from realizing their full potential as agents of peace. A genuine
inclusion of women is needed that amplifies diverse voices and perspectives.
We see this extensively in the international development world, gender
programs have sometimes been utilized to promote securitization and serve global
political interests, emphasizing the exploitation of women's rights for broader political
agendas. It is imperative that these practices change to ensure the meaningful
participation and empowerment of women.
To effectively achieve gender equality and uphold women’s rights, it is
imperative to adopt an intersectional approach that recognizes the
multilayered forms of oppression, understand how conflict manifests within
specific local contexts, as well as a keen awareness of how power dynamics are
reinforced by global structures. Similarly, women’s rights should not be viewed in
isolation but as part of the democratization and protection of human rights for all.
Social and economic rights are essential and facilitate women’s meaningful
participation in political processes. A whole of society approach will enable different
entry points where gender equality is not a zero-sum game.
Since Muslim-majority countries are in no way monolithic, it is important
that dialogues account for and reflect local norms and address local challenges.
Conversations about controversial subjects, therefore, may be most productive when
they are locally embedded. Highlighting the religious foundations for the
renegotiation of gender norms could be a good way to produce constructive pathways
for positive reinterpretations. Approaching gender equality only through a
secular lens may deprive gendered frameworks from sources of religious
legitimacy and values that could empower women’s rights and facilitate the re-
negotiation of gender norms and relationships.
The WPS agenda must adopt a comprehensive understanding of local and
global dynamics, addressing issues of occupation and genocide, and
emphasizing the importance of international humanitarian law. By doing so,
WPS agenda can more effectively fulfill its mandate of promoting gender
equality, peace, and security on a global scale. So the crucial question before
us is not just why women should be included at the peace table, but rather how
we can build a decolonized, rights-based feminist community grounded in
principles of justice and equality. This demands innovative approaches that
prioritize justice, equity, and the equal respect and valuing of lives from the
global South.
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