Journal of International Peace Operations
Volume 7, Number 4 – January-February 2012

A Female Engagement Team member meets with women to address their needs.

The crucial role for women in conflict and post-conflict environments

“…involving women in operations is crucial if we want to establish relationships and trust with the civil         society…in the theatres where we are involved, there are different traditions and cultures. But everywhere, our interactions – whether military-to-military, military-to-government or military-to-population, have largely been seen as ‘man-to-man.’ This is no    longer true, this is changing, and therefore it is essential to go on      injecting gender perspectives in all our actions.”

Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, at the

10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, 9 September 2010

Gender refers to the socially constructed roles and relationships between men and women. Men and women often have different perspectives, priorities, and concerns, including about their personal security and the security of their communities. These perspectives need to be considered in all areas of peace and stability operations. Acknowledging this reality, in October 2000 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. Since then, it has become widely acknowledged that involving both men and women in peace-building efforts, including in security sector reform (SSR) processes, is essential. Still, women’s views are often side-lined in security institutions and SSR processes. Although many clients of private military and security companies (PMSCs), such as the United Nations, NGOs and donors, have mainstreamed gender concerns into their peace support operations and post-conflict reconstruction projects, PMSCs are only beginning to do so. This article considers the importance of integrating gender perspectives into PMSCs and identifies practical ways to do so.

Journal of International Peace Operations
volume 7, Number 4 – January-February 2012

Murals being painted to raise awareness of the issue of violence against women.

Filling a critical void for the future of Iraq

As U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq and the U.S. role transitions from military-led to civilian-led engagement, a number of questions linger about Iraq’s governance, stability and security. But of critical importance is how the transition will affect the status of women and vulnerable groups, and how civil society will support the transition.

Over the last nine years, the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) has been one of the prime supporters of Iraqi civil society, especially in terms of capacity building and technical assistance provided to women leaders and organizations that work on gender-equity and peacebuilding in Iraq. The Institute’s Iraq Priority Grant Program has worked since 2004 to create indigenous institutions that contribute to preventing conflict as well as other programs that offer training in problem-solving and conflict resolution.

Journal of International Peace Operations
Volume 7, Number 4 – January-February 2012

From Remedial Action to Women’s Empowerment: Implications of the US National Action Plan for PMSCs

Implications of the US National Action Plan for Private Military and Security Companies

On December 19th 2011 the National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security (NAP) was announced as the blueprint for integrating women across all post conflict nation building activities. In 32 other countries, the NAP has come to be the central vehicle for empowering women across the stability and defense communities.  The United States Government’s  final product reflects a relatively forward leaning approach to contractors, including commitments to improving the collection of sex-disaggregated data, efforts to inform program design with context-relevant gender analysis, and ensuring  women‘s equal participation in training, education and program activities.

Within the plan’s development, one core challenge was outlining the role that Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) would play, and what mandates should govern their relationships with the USG when it comes to gender. The problematic aspect, for the civil society organizations informing the effort in particular, was a lack of good information. Discussions about gender equality within the realm of PMSCs has so far been tokenistic, anecdotal, and dominated by a handful of negative stereotypes. Whereas we have a range of new information and tools for gender mainstreaming United Nations Peacekeeping Forces or the US Military, we know very little about gender mainstreaming throughout PMSCs. This outlook has severely limited research and movement forward on policy options for improvement, and therefore demands change. Quality research and analysis, identification of gaps and best practices and practical policy options and novel partnerships for implementation are now necessary.

Journal of International Peace Operations
Volume 7, Number 4 – January-February 2012

A critical stakeholder in building the foundations of civil society in Afghanistan

The role of Afghan women supporting the build-up of civil society capacity

As international security forces prepare to draw down and civilian contractors brace for reduced contract solicitations and option year renewals, the international community should seriously examine its support for the role that civil society is playing in the growth and long-term viability of the Afghan state.  Specifically, the international community should reinforce positive investments into efforts that explicitly incorporate women’s voices and participation across Afghanistan.

Despite hard-won combat successes by international troops, the future of the country will be won or lost by the Afghans.  In a war where front lines go beyond geography and the battle for hearts and minds reaches past the male population who can walk down the street freely, it is Afghan women who must be included in building the community  organizations and social infrastructure necessary to enable the country’s future success.  The opportunity to combat violence and extremism democratically already exists in Afghanistan through participation in civil society initiatives that empower all citizens to play a greater role in building a common future for the Afghan state.

Journal of International Peace Operations
Volume 7, Number 3 – November-December, 2011

Sailor boards a pirate ship

SHIPS at a distance have every man’s wish onboard”

“I had the story bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story .”

You might wonder what strange matter of happenstance could possibly bring together the opening sentences of Zora Neal Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God and Edith Wharton’s equally famous Ethan Frome. Oddly enough, the answer is Somali-based piracy.

This is a tale of parallel stories with diverging risk mitigation strategies. Where these stories collide you find danger; where you find danger you find liability; and where you find liability you find lawyers. I guess that makes this a horror story.

Journal of International Peace Operations
Volume 7, Number 3 – November-December, 2011

Could pirates or terrorists cause this much damage?

THIS article provides an update on threats to the maritime energy supply – such as tankers and offshore platforms – and discusses related developments regarding efforts to increase the use of privately contracted, armed, security personnel (hereafter “private security”). The increased use of private security is especially pronounced off the coasts of Somalia and Nigeria. These developments may be of particular interest to those working in peace and stability operations that are involved with private maritime security companies.

Importance of the Maritime Energy Supply

Industrialized nations’ economies and security are heavily dependent on oil, natural gas, and other energy commodities, and the maritime environment plays a key role in both transportation and production of these natural resources. Ocean tankers transport about half of the U.S. crude oil supply, the source of gasoline, jet fuel, heating oil, and many other petroleum products. Because of their importance to industrialized nations’ economies and national security, energy tankers, along with offshore infrastructure, have become the targets of terrorists and pirates.

Journal of International Peace Operations
Volume 7, Number 3 – November-December, 2011

Private security guard stands alert and ready

OF the 166 companies that, at the time of writing, have signed the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (“ICoC” or “the Code”), at least two-thirds engage in maritime security services.  Indeed, roughly one-third provide exclusively maritime security services.  This significant uptake among such companies has raised questions and concerns as to whether the ICoC is actually applicable and adequate for maritime operations.

At the moment, the ICoC does not cover private security operations on the high seas.   Paragraph 13 establishes that the Code is “applicable to the actions of Signatory Companies while performing Security Services in Complex Environments.”   According to the definition provided in the Code, “Complex Environments” are “any areas experiencing or recovering from unrest or instability, whether due to natural disasters or armed conflicts, where the rule of law has been substantially undermined, and in which the capacity of the state authority to handle the situation is diminished, limited, or non-existent.”.  The word “and” in this definition excludes maritime security operations.  The high seas are not under the authority of any state, yet the definition of a complex environment assumes the locus of activity to be within the territory of a sovereign country.  The high seas, therefore, fall outside the coverage of the ICoC, meaning that maritime security operations, at best, have an unclear and confusing place under the Code given that some of their operations are in territorial waters and thus might fall within a “complex environment.”

Journal of International Peace Operations
Volume 7, Number 3 – November-December, 2011

Patrol boat motors into the sunset

MARITIME security is vital to maintaining peace in all coastal countries. It is in fact essential to the global economy. The world’s oceans are what tie nations together. For example, 70 percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water. Currently, 80 percent of the world’s population live within a few hundred miles of an ocean’s coast (that number will continue to grow), and 90 percent of international trade travels by sea. With those facts in mind, protection of the world’s water is essential, not only for individual countries, but for all in our globalized world.

As the United States continues to foster strong alliances with countries through maritime endeavors, we are helping to maintain peace, preserve American jobs, and protect our economy. A strong maritime security posture also protects U.S. soil considering the United States is bounded by water on both sides. U.S. maritime forces expend great effort and money protecting waterways and oceans, and on keeping up with the times, using forward presence to enforce maritime peace operations on the high seas. For developing countries, however, maintaining that strong maritime presence is easier said than done. Countries like Kenya, in a region that is plagued with threats of piracy, illegal narcotics and small arms trafficking, and even terrorism, security along the coast is especially essential.

Journal of International Peace Operations
Volume 7, Number 2 – September-October, 2011

US Army transport drops supplies

THE United Nations officially declared the food crisis in the Horn of Africa a famine on July 20, 2011. With more than twelve million people in the region suffering from the combined effects of drought, famine, disease, displacement, and political instability, the demand for aid in Somalia and neighboring countries is monumental, drawing in more than a billion dollars in aid and dozens of humanitarian NGOs and IGOs.

Subsequently, the challenge became logistics: how do you get the necessary aid and supplies from donor countries into the Horn of Africa, despite rampant piracy along Somalia’s coast, a lack of airports large enough to support large cargo planes, and threats of further violence and terrorism in-country? Who coordinates distribution on the ground when tons of food and other goods overwhelm local infrastructure and aid theft is already becoming a problem?

Journal of International Peace Operations
Volume 7, Number 2 – September-October, 2011

When disaster strikes, the efficient delivery of food and other emergency supplies can save lives.

IN any corporate or political campaign, logistics can be central to success. This is certainly true for humanitarian response and emergency relief operations as well. The growing capacity of international organizations to quickly provide relief and other stabilization goods and services is truly impressive. We take it for granted that tons of food, clothing, temporary shelter and other humanitarian support commodities can be quickly provided after a natural or man-made disaster virtually anywhere in the world. For instance, my organization has an ability to send an assessment team within hours after a disaster strikes. Once a relief assessment is made, we immediately contact our partners to obtain the necessary water, sanitation, food, and medical or shelter goods to assist disaster victims. At the same time, we contact our donors to obtain the funds necessary to ship and distribute the goods. Commodities are usually in peoples’ hands within days.

The inability to act this rapidly – such as after Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast – is regarded as a major failure of both the public and private sectors. Of course the scale of the Katrina disaster was unprecedented and out of that disaster came many changes to how the U.S. approaches disaster response domestically.

Unfortunately, for most of history and in many parts of the developing world, suffering through disaster and violence was a given, part of the human condition. State and non-state actors had neither the capacity nor, most often, the will to help vulnerable people suffering from “an act of God.” It is a notable advance in organizational development that it is now understood that vulnerable people should receive assistance to help them and their communities to recover.