Date of Defense

4-12-2021

Date of Graduation

5-2021

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Lauren Foley

Second Advisor

Elisabeth Ward

Third Advisor

Kathy Purnell

Abstract

On October 31, 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, which stresses the importance of women’s involvement during times of conflict as decision-makers in peace-building processes. This resolution and the broader Women, Peace, and Security agenda are dedicated to including women in important post-conflict reconstruction processes, providing the potential for transformative change in advancing women’s rights and gender equality and bringing to the forefront a recognition of women’s lived experiences throughout post-conflict decision-making processes at a time when gender can be reconstructed. However, one place where the WPS agenda falls short is the specified incorporation of displaced women as agents of change in peacebuilding processes. Within current discourse regarding the experience of displaced women during conflict, displaced women have been widely depicted as victims, contributing to their inability to exert their agency within decision-making processes. This has led to their perceived inaccessibility and subsequent exclusion from decision making processes. This research analyzes the National Action Plans of Afghanistan and Lebanon, two countries affected by conflict with high numbers of women displaced within their borders, to contribute to an understanding of the extent to which the needs and experiences of displaced women are incorporated into the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 and the wider Women, Peace, and Security agenda. Further, this research seeks to address the extent to which cooperation among the international community, with a strong emphasis on the role of civil society, works to promote the inclusion of displaced women’s voices in conflict management and post conflict reconstruction processes. This research finds that displaced women are subjects of unspecified concern within the Women, Peace, and Security agenda, resulting in the need for responses from the international community which bring women from these communities into decision-making spaces before, during, and after periods of conflict.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Restricted

Restricted to Campus until

6-10-2023

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