Data on gender and security sector institutions (SSIs) in West Africa are both hard to come by and dispersed. This survey represents an attempt to systematically document the status of gender integration within the security sectors in member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Much of the information in this survey report has never before been published or compared with data from other countries in the region.
The country profiles are the core of this report, providing snapshots illustrating how gender has or has not been integrated into the security sectors of 14 ECOWAS countries. The data included in the report are drawn from interviews, document analysis and desk research. Field research was conducted in 2010, and data verification was carried out in 2010 and 2011.
The research was guided by a set of indicators in the form of a questionnaire. Researchers based in each of the 14 West African countries surveyed collected information in response to the English or French versions of the questionnaire. With support from the research coordinator, the country researchers gathered data mainly through interviews with key informants in the security sector.
Key Findings:
- The survey indicates that gender mainstreaming in West African security sectors is on the rise, but remains subject to a piecemeal approach rather than a comprehensive strategy.
- Currently all 14 countries surveyed either have a national gender policy/strategy or were in the process of developing one at the time of research. In addition, 9 of them have specific national action plans to address GBV issues or to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (2000). However, significant gaps remain in their respective legal frameworks.
- A review of national defence and security policies reveals that the extent to which gender has been mainstreamed is still limited: GBV and access to justice are treated as separate from national security and defence issues. Only Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone mention the issue of the equal participation of women and men or gender mainstreaming in their respective national security and defence policies. None refer to GBV as a key national security threat.
- At the institutional level, gender mainstreaming is often only undertaken on an ad hoc basis and institutional gender policies or structures are rare.
- The SSIs surveyed prioritise different activities in pursuit of gender mainstreaming. On the whole, the police services are developing the most comprehensive approaches – 3 of those services surveyed have institutional gender policies, initiatives to increase female personnel and gender training, and all have some form of specialised services for responding to GBV crimes. The armed forces’ approach to gender mainstreaming centres on the integration of women – 7 have formal recruitment targets for female personnel whereas only 1 has an institutional gender policy in place. Justice systems generally lack gender-related policies or female recruitment targets, but all have specialised services for GBV victims and other marginalised groups. In the penal services, the predominant approach to gender mainstreaming is limited to a strict separation of prisoners from guards and prisoners of the other sex. Notably, this separation is not observed in Guinea, Guinea-Bissau or Togo.
- In general, it is rare that approaches to gender mainstreaming explicitly refer to men or sexual minorities. Among the countries surveyed, 11 have ministries with a mandate for the promotion of women, whereas only 3 have ministries with a broader, more inclusive mandate on gender issues.
