/ Consultants for Gender and Peace Building

Violent conflicts effect women and men differently, as individuals and in their gender relations. Unfortunately, not even the approaches and practices of peace builders are gender-neutral. Generally, women have less access to structural power and social resources than men, and they exercise less control. However, peace-building processes are still dominated by men. Programs and projects for the development of peace must take these differences into account, making sure that women are as involved as men in the processes of peace building and reconstructing society. To develop approaches and strategies of peace building that are gender sensitive, a differentiated analysis of the roles, interests and needs of both women and men is needed.

Consultation

cfd offers consultations to institutions and specialists in peace building, international cooperation and humanitarian aid, advising them on the conception and implementation of gender sensitive programs and projects. Consultations can include any of the following:

/ Support for integrating gender and conflict sensitivity into the planning, evaluation, monitoring and implementation of projects

/ Mainstreaming gender-specific prevention of violence through project work in conflict areas

/ Developing instruments to facilitate gender and conflict sensitive program management

/ Practice-oriented work on key aspects of gender equality and peace building

/ Planning and carrying out workshops on 'Do No Harm' and 'Gender and Empowerment in Violent Conflicts'

cfd has been acting as a consultant to the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for conflict prevention and transformation since 2003. For this mandate cfd worked with the Agency to develop a concept of conflict sensitive program management that defines gender as a structural element on all levels of international cooperation and peace building.