How lofty aspirations of gender mainstreaming lead to inconsistent policy – A dialogue between evidence and theory in the context of DDR in the Democratic Republic of Congo
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2020-12-13
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en
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Irrespective of the progressive intentions of the international community to improve gender equality at all levels of peacebuilding and post-conflict resolution, gender mainstreaming fails to be operationalized properly. The denial of women’s agency in violent conflict has resulted in both the continuing neglect of opportunities for women to have access to DDR, and in their unrecognized value in and deprived opportunities to decision-making processes of DDR programming. How to improve gender sensitivity in DDR is apparently not as straightforward as declaring it a priority. Multiple feminist schools of thought have forwarded different normative frameworks of what gender mainstreaming ideally should look like. This diversity is also noticeable in DDR. For this reason, this thesis answers the central research question: ‘How do different visions of gender mainstreaming shape the Democratic Republic of Congo’s third Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration policy? A critical frame analysis is conducted to study and uncover the different visions of desirable gender mainstreaming in the context of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s third Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration policy (DRC’s DDR III). This thesis reveals how multiple feminist perspectives underlying different visions of gender mainstreaming can result in highly inconsistent policies that undermine the effectiveness and success of the policy with serious consequences for women.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen