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‘Peace Women,’ Gender and Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland: From Reconciliation and Political Inclusion to Human Rights and Human Security

Authored by: Marie Hammond-Callaghan

Categories: Peace Support Operations
Sub-Categories: Peace Accords, Peacemaking, Political Transitions
Country: Northern Ireland
Region: Europe and Eurasia
Year: 2011
Citation: Hammond-Callaghan, Marie. “'Peace Women', Gender and Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland: From Reconciliation and Political Inclusion to Human Rights and Human Security.” In Building Peace in Northern Ireland, edited by Maria Power. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2011.

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Executive Summary

This chapter explores the role played by women in peacebuilding. It illustrates the significance of women’s involvement within communities and the need for their incorporation into macro-political processes. It is shown that ‘multi-dimensional’ peacebuilding approaches are frequently only made possible in the presence of a strong feminist movement. An evaluation of Northern Irish women’s peace groups raises several theoretical questions for further exploration. Favouring Northern Irish women’s peace groups, the British government offered them access and resources, and also tried to employ them to reduce feminist, socialist and republican challenges to the state. The strong effect over the early phase of the peace process made by the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (NIWC) was not confirmed, and accordingly, women’s equality was ‘not consolidated’ in later phases. The United Nations Security Resolution 1325(UNSC Resolution 1325) can only be successfully implemented if radically new approaches to peacebuilding are depicted.