Gender Policies in Liberia

Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho are the authors of the Policy Brief Seeing like a Resolution? The Resolutions 1325 and 1820 represented a breakthrough in order to recognizing women’s roles in conflict, post-conflict and peacekeeping processes. The UN DPKO (The United Nations Department for Peacekeeping Operations) has been working systematically to incorporate women, and the knowledge and experience they can bring to peace processes. However these resolutions have had effects that may undermine their very intention.

Benjamin de Carvalho and Niels Nagelhus Schia address the implementation of gender perspectives in post-conflict reconstruction efforts through two cases, namely the broader conceptual implementation of UNSC resolution 1325 and the construction of physical units for the protection of women and children (WACPS) adjacent to Liberian National Police (LNP) stations throughout Liberia. Read the Policy Brief The Protection of Women and Children in Liberia.

In the newly published Working Paper Nobody Gets Justice Here! Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and the Rule of Law in Liberia Benjamin de Carvalho and Niels Nagelhus Schia make the case for the international community and donors to address GBV within a wider and more comprehensive framework including all Rule of Law institutions, rather than focusing on short-term issues and rapid impact projects which fit within the relatively narrow priorities of Western governments. The authors argue that addressing GBV effectively cannot be undertaken without understanding how “modern” and traditional systems of justice function and interplay.