Rationale
The gender advisors of two former OD partners of PeaceNexus, Conciliation Resources (hyperlink) and CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Foundation (hyperlink), bonded over the many challenges they faced in their drive to mainstream gender within their organisation. After two years of bilateral discussion, they applied for support in 2020 to deepen their dialogue to a broader and more diverse group. Under their leadership, thirteen peacebuilding organisations, local and international ones working in different contexts, came together to explore the different dimensions of gender integration as experienced by those championing it internally.
The peer-learning initiative
The dialogue took place over a series of round-tables held over several months, it was informed by desk research and case-studies prepared by participants. A report captures the collective learnings that emerged and provides key insights into what successful gender integration requires: a commitment from the leadership embedded in the organisation’s strategy and an alignment of internal practices so that efforts to integrate a gender lens at the programmatic level are not undermined by gender-blind structures. The group also developed a gender integration spectrum tool to help organisations assess themselves, and open up an internal dialogue on their ambitions and practices related to gender and peacebuilding.
The report was launched in September 2021 and presented at the 2021 Geneva Peace Week. After a hiatus to allow for staff changes, participating organisations expressed an interest in continuing this dialogue in May 2022, taking turn to host a call every quarter. Topics have ranged from integrating gender into monitoring, evaluation and learning, to feminist foreign policy advocacy, to exploring the role and positioning of genderadvisors in peacebuilding organisations. All participants are also continuing to implement the report’s findings within their respective structures and supporting each other in these efforts.