The paper examines why the efforts to promote gender justice by development aid have not succeeded in dealing with deeply-rooted structural injustices which prevent the realization of social justice and gender equality. The study analyses the implementation of the UNSCR 1325 ‘Women, Peace, and Security’ in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The paper concludes that in current, transitional setting of international development co-operation, there is a need for deeper understanding of the complex social and political power structures and processes that integrate sub-national communal (religious, ethnic, or political) loyalties and pressures in a manner that efficiently prevents individual women/women as a group from enhancing women’s rights and gender equality as a priority.
Key findings:
- The foreign aid that is pledged to enhance democratic development and human rights sometimes ends up (re)justifying and even enforcing practice of pseudo-democracy that, for its part, maintains unequal power structures, including gender injustice. This is at least partly due to the poor understanding of the distinction between values and facts; democratic ideals and actual political practices in development co-operation planning. Particularly evident this becomes when we study more closely women’s position in societies that suffer from religious, nationalistic, and ethnic conflicts.
- In many conflict and transitional societies, the structure of social justice is based on collectivist traditions and communal divisions, which are drawn from supposed natural hierarchies (ethnicity, religion, gender, etc.). In these societies, the principle of individualistic contractarian impartiality is not an institutionalized practice. Thus, even during and after the formal reform processes and institutional reconstruction, structural social injustice and violence often persist.
- Women remain treated as representatives of their particular communities, rather than as autonomous and equal decision makers with equal rights and liberties. Women may be given formal positions in governance institutions (government, parliament, and other representative bodies, courts, etc.). Nevertheless, they are still expected to protect and advance the interests of their families, clans, ethnic or religious communities.
In relation to the SCR 1325, practical recommendations include the following:
- There is a need to take into account the post-colonial/third world feminist critique that emphasises the complex and multi-layered nature of the struggles of women in developing, conflict ridden, often traditionally patriarchal societies, and give the ownership in designing the programmes to the local, progressive agents and organizations outside the formal government structures. Empowerment of women has to be taken forward from within the communities where the oppression is the hardest.
- In planning any co-operation programme, there is a need to make a distinction between the ideals to be promoted and the social and political practices that actually take place in the co-operation environment. Acknowledging different interests and objectives at the planning state is essential in constructing realistic expectations and relevant indicators. Development co-operation should not be a donor’s wish list but it should be based on actual challenges of the circumstances.
- It is important to recognize that the state as an implementing body has its own interests which are not always in line with the interest of women—and in general with the less powerful groups of the society. Thus, when working on gender justice it is important not to build fragmented gender specific programmes but to use international agreements, such as the SCR 1325, as an umbrella that provides the guidelines for all reform programmes at the same time. Emphasizing the international nature of these resolutions and programmes is also essential to avoid branding them as Western imports.
- Local experience and local approach is needed, particularly from the grassroots. The top down designs will not bring the expected results as they tend to face the challenges related to the complex race, ethnicity, class, etc. hierarchies and ignorance of the women’s plight and opportunities to gain influence at the different levels of societies.
- Having multi-stakeholder process is essential but does not alone guarantee the success of the programme; it is important to get women in positions of influence—but it is equally important to have men in positions that help them to better understand the benefits of the programme for the whole society. Finding gender balance is no one’s loss, but a gain for any society.