Women and nation-building / Cheryl Benard ... [et al.].

Contributor(s):

Publisher: Santa Monica, CA : RAND, c2008Description: xx, 191 pages : illustrations ; 23 cmContent type:

text

Media type:

computer
unmediated

Carrier type:

online resource
volume

ISBN:

0833043110 (pbk. : alk. paper)
0833044494 (electronic bk.)
9780833043115 (pbk. : alk. paper)
9780833044495 (electronic bk.)

Subject(s):

LOC classification:

HQ1240.5.A34 W66 2008

Online resources:

Online Access

Available additional physical forms:

Also available on the internet via WWW in PDF format.

Contents:

Introduction -- The Central Role of Women -- The Security Dimension and Women -- Planning and Implementing Programs for Women's Health and Education: Building Indicators of Success -- Governance and Women -- Economic Participation and Women -- A Case Study: The National Solidarity Program -- Recommendations -- Appendix A: Education and Health Indicators for Women and Girls -- Appendix B: Vital Governance Milestones for Afghan Women -- Appendix C: National Solidarity Program Case-Study Survey.

Summary: This study examines gender-specific impacts of conflict and post-conflict and the ways in which events in these contexts may affect women differently than they affect men. It analyzes the roles of women in the nation-building process and considers outcomes that might occur if current practices were modified. The recent nation-building activities in Afghanistan are used as a case study. Despite the difficulty of collecting data in conflict zones, the information available from Afghanistan provides several pragmatic points for consideration. Gender issues have been overtly on the table from the beginning of U.S. post-conflict involvement in Afghanistan, in part because of the Taliban's equally overt prior emphasis on gender issues as a defining quality of its regime. Also, the issue of women's inclusion is an official part of Afghanistan's development agenda, so all the active agents in the nation-building enterprise have made conscious choices and decisions that can be reviewed and their underlying logic evaluated. The monograph concludes with a broad set of analytic and policy recommendations. First, specific suggestions are made for improving the data-collection process. Then, three shifts in emphasis are recommended that could strengthen the prospects of stability and enhance the outcomes of nation-building programs: a more genuine emphasis on the broader concept of human security from the earliest phases of the nation-building effort; a focus on establishing governance based on principles of equity and consistent rule of law; and economic inclusion of women in the earliest stages of reconstruction activities.

Item type:

Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)

Holdings ( 0 )
Title notes ( 5 )

No physical items for this record

"RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-191).

This study examines gender-specific impacts of conflict and post-conflict and the ways in which events in these contexts may affect women differently than they affect men. It analyzes the roles of women in the nation-building process and considers outcomes that might occur if current practices were modified. The recent nation-building activities in Afghanistan are used as a case study. Despite the difficulty of collecting data in conflict zones, the information available from Afghanistan provides several pragmatic points for consideration. Gender issues have been overtly on the table from the beginning of U.S. post-conflict involvement in Afghanistan, in part because of the Taliban's equally overt prior emphasis on gender issues as a defining quality of its regime. Also, the issue of women's inclusion is an official part of Afghanistan's development agenda, so all the active agents in the nation-building enterprise have made conscious choices and decisions that can be reviewed and their underlying logic evaluated. The monograph concludes with a broad set of analytic and policy recommendations. First, specific suggestions are made for improving the data-collection process. Then, three shifts in emphasis are recommended that could strengthen the prospects of stability and enhance the outcomes of nation-building programs: a more genuine emphasis on the broader concept of human security from the earliest phases of the nation-building effort; a focus on establishing governance based on principles of equity and consistent rule of law; and economic inclusion of women in the earliest stages of reconstruction activities.

Also available on the internet via WWW in PDF format.