Workshop: Gender, Justice and EU Security Policy

University College Dublin hosted a workshop on gender and security in October 2018, examining the EU's gender frameworks' relation to the Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). 

Workshop participants (Photo: Ben Tonra)

About the workshop

Over 15 years have passed since the signing of the first UN Security Council Resolution (1325) on women peace and security, which kicked off the development of a dominant framework connecting gender dimensions of conflict, crisis management and peace-­‐building to the field of international security. With the ‘Comprehensive approach to the EU implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820 on women, peace and security’ (1 December 2008) the Council of the EU established the requirement that a “gender perspective, encompassing both women and men, should inform EU external actions in order to achieve a comprehensive response to the threats faced by the civilian population in times of conflict and in its aftermath”. Contemporary feminist scholarship highlights the connection between the EU’s limited engagement with WPS and the mixed and fragmented implementation of gender justice policies in the EU foreign and Security Policy (Deiana and McDonnagh 2017, Olsson 2014; Kronsell 2016). Scholars have further highlighted the lack of strategic feminist actors and networks across the EU that are able to lobbying more successfully for a gender perspective in the European Foreign and Security Policy (Roberta Guerrina and  Katharine A.M. Wright, 2016). This rises questions concerning Europe as a ‘force for  good’ (Stern 2011) in particular concerning the gendering of the European Security Strategy (ESS) and the understanding of justice it is based on.

Building on contemporary research and reports, the workshop set out to explore the transformative potential of EU gender frameworks (the EU Comprehensive Approach on women peace and security and the gender action plan) on its Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). We addressed tensions in feminist debates on gender, peace and security concerning, in particular, the different understanding of justice and of the translation of feminist approaches to justice into EU security and conflict management. In short, we provided a platform to discussing the meaning attributed to gender and justice and its practical implications in the EU Foreign and Defence Policy.

To discuss these topics, the GLOBUS Team of the University College Dublin (UCD) School of Politics and International Relations organized a workshop on October 18 and 19, 2018 at the National University of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.

As outcome of and follow on from the workshop we plan a joined publication, an edited book or a special issue in a peer reviewed academic journal.

Programme

18 October

14:00

Registration and lunch

14:15-14:30

Welcome remarks

 

Roundtables on gender and security in the EU: Different experiences and perspectives

Chair: Melanie Hoewer, University College Dublin

14:30-16:00

Policy maker/military roundtable

Irina D’Almeida, Co-ordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support, EUPOL COPPS

Commandant Gillian Collins, Irish Defence Forces

Nikolina Marceta, Civilian Gender Advisor to COM EUFOR

Charlotte Isaksson, Senior Gender Advisor, European External Action Service (EEAS)

 

 

 

 

16:00-17:30

Civil society roundtable

Cynthia Petrigh, Beyond Peace

Karol Balfe, Christian Aid (+ 1 participant from partner organisation)

Nela Porobic, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)

19 October

9:30-11:00

EU, gender and security

Chair: Nikola Tomic, Univeristy College Dublin

 

Katharine A. M. Wright, Newcastle University and Roberta Guerrina, University of Surrey, ‘Imagining the European Union: How EU actors (don’t) Talk About Gender in the Digital Sphere’

Laura Davis, European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), ‘Kissing the Frog: Gender Equality in EU Conflict Prevention and Other Fairy Tales’

Maria Adriana Deiana, Queen’s University Belfast, ‘From Hope to Straightjacket? Reflections on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and EU Security Policy’

Sahla Aroussi, Coventry University, ‘European Security Policy Sexual violence and WPS, Addressing sexual violence in EU Foreign and Security Policy’

 

 

 

 

11:00-11:15

Coffee break

 

11:15-13:00

Mediation and transformation?

Chair: Thomas Diez, University of Tübingen

 

Dawn Walsh, University College Dublin, ‘EU Mediation Efforts and Gender Justice Outcomes’

Heidi Riley, University College Dublin, ‘EU Security & Mediation Networks’

Elise Ketelaars, University of Ulster Transitional Justice Institute, 'The Patriarchy of International Transitional Justice and the Perks and Perils of Transformative Justice Solutions: A Critical Examination of EU Engagement with (Transformative) Gender Justice in a Neighbourhood In Transition’

Ankica Tomic, Head of the Euro Atlantic Integrations Unit, Ministry of Security in Bosnia and Herzegovina and PhD candidate, ‘EU Security Policy and Gender in Bosnia and Herzegovina’

 

13:00-14:00

Lunch

 

14:00-15:30

Crossing border challenges for EU foreign and security policy

Chair: Ben Tonra, University College Dublin

 

Sinead McGrath, University College Dublin, ‘EU WPS Policy in Migration and Refugee Situations’

Fiona Buckley, University College Cork, ‘Brexit, The Good Friday Agreement and Women, Peace and Security’

Bahar Yesim Deniz, Sapienza University of Rome, ‘The Migration Crisis from Syria to Turkey and Gender, Security and Justice in the EU Security Policy’

 

15:30-17:00

What’s next? Wrap up

Expenses

Participants from GLOBUS partner institutions are expected to cover their own travel expenses while the organizers will cover their local living expenses (meals and hotel). The other participants will have their expenses fully covered.

Proposals

The deadline for proposals was Friday, 1 June 2018. Any questions should be directed to melanie.hoewer@ucd.ie

Tags: Gender, Cooperation and conflict
Published Oct. 23, 2017 6:08 PM - Last modified Oct. 22, 2018 9:33 AM