QCEA work on gender and diversity
‘We know that conflict and transition processes are inherently gendered.’
Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) brought together more than fifty people to discuss the importance of gender equality for peace and security last month.
The event on 24 February was part of a series organised for the launch of QCEA’s report on gender and inclusivity in peace and security, created in partnership with Newcastle University. The report addresses ‘the importance of leadership; strategies for overcoming institutional resistance; and a lack of knowledge of the relevance of gender’.
Jeremey Lester, clerk of QCEA’s Executive Committee and General Assembly, said: ‘You can’t have a peace that is simply the absence of fighting if the result is that for half the people in the world there’s still a situation where they feel excluded.’
QCEA has also produced a ‘best practice guide’ with three YouTube clips. The videos highlight that peacebuilding processes can often fail because they don’t consult with women. Speakers cite figures that show only two per cent of meditators, eight per cent of peace negotiators and five per cent of peace deal signatories are women. Sarah Pelham, policy adviser on inclusive peace and security for Oxfam, says: ‘We know that conflict and transition processes are inherently gendered. This means that conflict has an impact on women and men in different ways.’
Helena Nolan, Irish ambassador to Belgium, says: ‘I think we make a fundamental mistake if we exclude women from the peacebuilding process because we know statistically that peace building processes are far sustainable if women are involved – I think thirty-five per cent more.’
Participants at the 24 February event included many early career staff in the EU and NATO, part of QCEA’s Young Professionals in Foreign Policy programe, and Quakers from several European countries. ‘A very lively discussion was forming… about diverse issues such as masculinities, workplace culture, intersectionality, gender stereotypes, and more’, said QCEA.
