This paper aims to advance discussions about integrating a masculinities perspective into peacebuilding policy and practice. It examines existing programmes that promote non-violent and gender equitable masculinities and poses key questions about how these can be further developed to challenge the gender norms which drive conflict and insecurity.
The paper consists of desk research on projects and programmes by 19 organisations or networks across five continents. Literature reviewed included evaluation reports, other project documents, training and campaign materials, and academic papers. Lessons learned from these three programming models are also summarised in the report: group education strategies, community outreach strategies, and integrated approaches which combine the two.
Key findings:
- Taking a ‘gender perspective’ is often assumed to mean highlighting the roles, needs and rights of women and girls – vital to addressing persistent gender inequalities in access to power, influence, resources and security. However, truly taking a ‘gender perspective’ also requires critical examination of the roles and experiences of men and boys in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
- Both group education and community outreach strategies have shown evidence of changes in attitudes and behaviour among men and boys, but strategies which combine the two approaches have been found to have the most impact.
- Men continue to dominate the field of peace and security. Nonetheless, the attitudes, values and behaviours of men within society are rarely considered from a gender perspective. Work on violent masculinities thus needs to be considered as an additional, complementary stream of work that when undertaken can deepen and strengthen peacebuilding processes.
- Past research has identified a range of ways in which patriarchal gender norms – and masculinities in particular – can drive conflict and insecurity. Despite this, the role masculinities play in conflict dynamics is rarely analysed by international donors, policymakers or peacebuilding practitioners.
- It is important to acknowledge that patriarchal masculinities cannot be described as the sole cause of any particular conflict. They combine with other factors to produce conflict and violence.
Recommendations:
- Look at men and boys from a gender perspective: Analyse the roles, attitudes and behaviours of men and boys from a gender perspective. This can deepen understandings of conflict and insecurity. It is important that ‘taking a gender perspective’ is not interpreted simply as ‘including women and girls’ where they may otherwise have been ignored.
- Deepen gender perspectives in conflict analysis: Develop effective conflict analysis tools and methodologies which incorporate a gender perspective. This must go beyond identifying the different impacts of conflict on women, men, boys and girls, by also seeking to understand the gendered drivers of conflict, including the role of masculinities and femininities in conflict dynamics.
- Build the evidence base: Using these new tools and methodologies, further research is needed to explain how masculinities and femininities interact with conflict dynamics in specific contexts around the world. Strategies for action should be built around evidence of how men develop and maintain positive, non-violent masculinities and use them to promote peace in practice.
- Develop theories of change and pilot programming approaches: Where conflict analysis indicates that masculinities do play a role in driving conflict, donors, multilateral organisations, national governments and civil society organisations should develop pilot projects that begin challenging those gender norms and lay the foundations for ongoing programmes.
- Mainstream a masculinities perspective in international interventions: To fulfil their commitments to mainstream a gender perspective in peace, security and development efforts, international actors should examine how their activities – including, inter alia, development programming, military interventions, peacekeeping missions, and humanitarian assistance – influence masculinities.
- Document long-term impacts: Assessing long-term impacts is notoriously difficult due to the challenges of maintaining contact with participants and attributing changes to the programme intervention, but is nonetheless vital for setting the direction of future programming in this area.
