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Recovery and Reconstruction Department, Geneva, March 2001 Preface One goal of the current ILO InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction is to develop the ILO's coherent and rapid response to armed conflicts and other major crises in the world today, focusing on areas of ILO's comparative advantage. Knowledge development constitutes one of the Programme's key pillars of work. The others are: timely needs' assessment and programme formulation and implementation in the crisis-affected countries; tools development; crisis response capacity building; and advocacy at the different levels on the importance of decent work and other socio-economic challenges of crisis and the need to tackle them as an integral part of crisis prevention, resolution and post-crisis reintegration, reconstruction and development processes. The Programme's present paper, on Gender and Armed Conflicts: Challenges for decent work, gender equity and peace building agendas and programmes, provides a synthesis of country case studies and other research undertaken by the ILO in collaboration with external researchers, primarily between 1996 and 1997, although a recent one in 2000 is also covered. It provides the status of the Organization's knowledge base on the alarming gender concerns in crisis contexts. The InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction will (a) further develop and (b) mainstream these concerns in its diverse activities. I am grateful to Rosa Frio, Alfred Dube, Brandi Tilton and Janine Rodgers for their valuable assistance which facilitated the timely processing of the document. Eugenia Date-Bah Director InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction, International Labour Office 4, Route des Morillons CH-1211 Geneva 22 Table of contents Preface 2. The framework for launching the country studies (Eugenia Date-Bah) 4. Gender concerns in the immediate post-conflict period in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Martha Walsh) 6. Women and other war-affected groups in post-war Lebanon (Naila Nauphal)
1. Gender and Conflict: Some key issues and findingsfrom recent ILO research by Eugenia Date-Bah and Martha Walsh 1. Purpose of document This document attempts to provide an analytical synthesis of research and insights based upon country studies, undertaken by the ILO between 1996 and 2000. It has been prepared to guide policy formulation, effective pursuit of gender-sensitive programming, decent work and other activities, to stimulate and advance current debate on women and gender issues in the wake of conflict. An unprecedented number of armed conflicts characterize the world today. No region has been spared1 (1) Indeed, the conflict and post-conflict situation has been described as the most critical issue facing the United Nations system today which requires the system's priority consideration (The United Nations Administrative Committee on Coordination, 1995). These conflicts pose immense threats to development, decent work, the general pursuit of livelihoods, the promotion of gender equality, poverty alleviation and observance of international labour standards. They hamper societal and human security and progress. The extent of the problem and the gravity of its repercussions demand serious focus in current development discourse and technical assistance activities. While some of the grave impacts of conflict have attracted much media and research coverage, others seem to have been relatively neglected. An example of the latter is the employment, poverty and other human security challenges whose tackling is critical for building long term peace. The consideration of gender concerns in this area as well as in the general reintegration, reconstruction and peace building processes also remain relatively underemphasized in research, policies, programmes and debates on current conflicts. The analysis conveys a number of messages. There are a number of complex gender considerations during and in the aftermath of conflict which should be emphasized in reintegration of conflict-affected groups, peace agreements, reconstruction and the general recovery and peace building processes as well as in tackling the mammoth employment challenges that should be a critical facet of these processes. Among the overall goals of post-conflict interventions should be the promotion of a more equitable and just society with women and other previously vulnerable and socially excluded groups becoming full players. People's experiences during conflict are not gender neutral. Armed conflict's impact on people and also the coping strategies adopted by them in the exigencies of the context tend to differ between men and women. Increased burdens are placed on women in the absence of men at war. Gender, as an important element determining vulnerability, becomes even more acute in the conflict-affected situation. Armed conflicts create many constraints for women and also generate other gender concerns. However, progressive gender role changes and fluidity also occur in such contexts. Conflict accentuates resourcefulness in adoption of coping and survival strategies which should be strengthened and sustained. It is now also recognized that women should not be regarded only as passive victims but also as active agents and survivors in conflict. Furthermore, widespread demographic changes occur under armed conflicts which have extensive gender consequences. What happens during conflict is a clear demonstration of the dynamic and changeable nature of gender roles. The challenge, however, remains how to seize the opportunities, sustain and build on these positive gender role changes which are necessary not only for promoting gender equality and women's empowerment but also for tackling the colossal reintegration and reconstruction tasks in the aftermath of conflict. The pre-conflict gender stereotyping of the labour market, for example, resurfaces immediately after conflict and thus inhibits women's efforts to enter into the construction and other sectors which tend to experience employment boom during this period. While both sexes experience considerable psychological traumas during conflicts, some initiatives to address such traumas of women can be identified but very few for men. People's pre-war situation informs to some extent the manner in which they respond to war's impact. This is highly significant when one considers the heterogeneity within each of the sex groups. Despite shouldering onerous decision-making during conflict to maintain families and communities, women are hardly in decision making after conflict. The new institutions, structures, policies and laws that are put in place re-introduce the pre-war gender biased positions and emphasize women's reproductive roles, thus limiting women's opportunities and advancement in the productive realm and in the emerging society. Women's associations and groups, thus, have important advocacy and advisory roles to play in the conflict-affected context to ensure serious consideration of gender concerns. While some exist, many tend not to engage in the public arena nor to have the relevant institutional support and capacity. Their impact has, therefore, been limited. The few institutions involved in job promotion and other programmes in conflict situations tend to lack the special gender capacity required in this context. Thus the programmes have tended to revert to the traditional pre-conflict sexual division of labour thus eroding the strategic gains that accrue to women during war. Effective programming and action in the conflict-affected context demands departure from habitual ways of working. Thus learning and capacity building are critical for operating in this context. The summaries assembled in this volume are therefore aimed at contributing to this learning and capacity building process to enhance gender sensitivity. 1.2 Importance of employment promotion in the wake of conflict Building sustainable peace requires more than the conclusion of peace accords (ILO, 1997). It requires economic, social, institutional, human rights, developmental, political, military, and humanitarian facets which should be closely interlinked. Adverse employment conditions including high levels of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion are often among the root causes as well as the consequences of armed conflict. Thus improving the material conditions of the conflict-affected people through employment promotion is a sine qua non for long-term peace building (ILO, 1944; Date-Bah, 1996; ILO, 1997). Furthermore, a focus on employment is necessary for reintegrating the millions of internally displaced people, refugees and returnees, disabled people, demobilized soldiers and the other conflict-affected population groups - women and men. It also contributes to social healing and the social, physical and economic reconstruction of the conflict-affected countries. So far, however, there has been little focus on the employment dimension as an essential facet of a peace dividend. Thus employment issues remain underemphasized in peace negotiations, peace agreements, reintegration and reconstruction processes during and after armed conflict. Not even the current concerns about the high levels of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion in the world have incorporated consideration of the current spate of armed conflicts and their adverse employment and other repercussions. Recognition of the role of employment promotion in building sustainable peace has a long history. For example, it underlies the origin of the International Labour Organization (ILO) under the Treaties of Versailles in 1919 at the end of the First World War and is also reflected in the ILO's Constitution and Declaration of Philadelphia, 1944, at the end of the Second World War. The international labour standards adopted in 1944, especially Recommendation No 71 concerning Employment Organization, Transition from War to Peace (1944), fully underscored the importance of employment in consolidating peace and the reintegration of the war-affected groups. The preamble of Recommendation No. 71 recognizes that "the character and magnitude of the employment adjustments required during the transition from war to peace will necessitate special action, more particularly for the purpose of facilitating the re-employment of demobilized members of the armed forces, discharged war workers, and all persons whose usual employment has been interrupted as a result of the war, enemy action, or resistance to the enemy or enemy-dominated authorities, by assisting the persons concerned to find without delay the most suitable employment". The Recommendation's other provisions cover some of the vulnerable groups in the conflict and post-conflict context, especially youth, women and disabled persons. With specific reference to women and gender equality, the Recommendation states that "The redistribution of the women workers in the economy should be organized on the principle of complete equality of opportunity for men and women on the basis of their individual merit, skill and experience, without prejudice to the provisions of the international labour conventions and recommendations concerning the employment of women." The discussions that took place at the International Labour Conference and a resolution adopted on the conflict issue also covered a number of issues including employment of women, in recognition of the fact that special action is necessary to ensure that women do in fact benefit from the training, retraining and other measures proposed for the organization of employment in the conflict-affected context and that the principle of gender equality was observed. 1.3 Inadequate consideration of women and gender concerns in conflict response work Although armed conflicts' consequences affect all population groups, women appear to bear a disproportionate burden owing to the specific nature of the conflicts today. Yet women's special situation and other gender perspectives peculiar to the conflict-affected context remain underemphasized in employment and other interventions. This trend can be used as one indicator of the general lack of gender perspective that has also been observed by others (e.g., Byrne, Dec.1995, p.1). An ILO Expert Meeting on the Design of Guidelines for Training and Employment of Ex-Combatants (July 1995), for example, observed that "there has been inadequate planning for women" in the post-conflict societies and, therefore, called for action in this area. The pursuit of peace, reintegration and reconstruction needs to go along with equality to avoid compounding old problems, such as discrimination against women, social exclusion and the feminization of poverty. The Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women (September 1995) acknowledges this and, therefore, has as one of its critical areas of concern, "the effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign occupation." It recognizes that a peaceful environment is vital for women's advancement. It notes the serious violations of human rights violations against women in such contexts (such as systematic rape, enforced prostitution, sexual slavery and other indecent assaults) as well as the large numbers of women and children among refugees, internally displaced people and civilian casualties who tend to outnumber the casualties among combatants. Additionally, it draws attention to the heavy increase in women's burden stemming from the rapid escalation of female headship of households and from caring for the large numbers of injured people. It acknowledges the important role of women and their resourcefulness in such situations. It calls, inter alia, for: women's greater participation in decision-making, conflict resolution and peace building; the protection of women in situations of armed conflict; reduction in human rights abuses; promotion of the vocational and other skills training and self-reliance of conflict-affected women; and promotion of the human rights of women in such contexts. The ensuing volume can thus be perceived as a contribution to the implementation of the Platform for Action. On the whole, conflict-affected women continue to receive inadequate attention. Furthermore, the sex differential impact and the major gender challenges of armed conflicts, remain under emphasized. These gender dimensions are given very limited consideration in the various programmes geared to reintegration, reconstruction and peace building. Gender analysis and planning require serious integration in conflict and post conflict programming, such as in the fields of skills training and employment promotion to ensure that such programming promotes gender equality rather than reintroducing gender stereotypes. It was in this context, that the ILO, as part of its crisis-related work, undertook a number of country studies in different parts of the world mainly to highlight the employment and skills training challenges of the conflict-affected context, to generate insights for developing appropriate tools for responding effectively to the needs of these countries and their conflict-affected people and to enhance capacity of national actors in reintegration, reconstruction and peace building processes. This volume attempts to provide a summary of the data generated to assist effective tackling of gender challenges as an integral component of the current efforts towards peace building, reintegration and societal reconstruction of the many conflict-affected countries today. Additionally, it constitutes a contribution to the implementation of the relevant parts of not only the Beijing Platform for action but also the further actions and initiatives agreed at the Special Session of the UN General Assembly, convened to review progress five years after the Beijing Conference. It also has been prepared to assist policy makers, programme designers and implementers at national, regional and international levels in mainstreaming women and gender concerns systematically in employment and skills training programmes in conflict-affected contexts. Finally, it is geared to advancing debate and research on the complex context of conflict-affected countries and the framework for building sustainable peace. For a comprehensive discussion of the existing literature on the issue of women and gender in conflict, the reader can refer, for example, to Byrne (1995), Byrne and Baden ( 1995), El Bushra and Piza Lopez (1993), Date-Bah (1996), Turshen (2000), Moser and Clark (2001). The above and other valuable literature have helped to shape the conceptual framework and the terms of reference prepared for undertaking the ILO studies summarized in this volume. The studies provided an opportunity to test some of the issues raised in some of the above earlier works and also to ascertain their relevance for addressing the complex post-conflict job problem in a gender- sensitive way. 1.4 Source of data This document has been put together as one of the outputs of the current ILO InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction. The Programme's objectives include: developing a comprehensive ILO response to the different types of crises; promoting socio-economic integration of conflict-affected groups; advocating, at various levels, the importance of tackling employment and other ILO concerns as an integral component of effective reconstruction; and crisis capacity building (ILO, 1999). The current volume builds on country studies undertaken by the recent ILO Action programme on skills and entrepreneurship training for countries emerging from armed conflict during 1996/97. It also includes a study on gender and agriculture in conflict-affected contexts, undertaken in 2000 The four country case studies, commissioned by the ILO, on women's special situation and gender perspectives in skills training and employment promotion, cover Bosnia and Herzegovina, Guatemala, Lebanon and Mozambique. These studies used a number of data gathering techniques, including surveys, group interviews, analysis of available local and other materials. The framework prepared (see Date-Bah, 1996) to launch the studies identified a number of variables as being critical in this field. They include: the nature and duration of current armed conflicts; the impact on the economy; demographic changes; the characteristics of the specific conflict phase reached; the degree of gender sensitivity of the peace accords and the demobilization and reintegration programmes; the survival and coping strategies adopted by women and men themselves in the context; the level of institutional capacity and gender-sensitivity of the legal and macro-economic environment. In the course of the country studies and the preparation of the ensuing analytical synthesis, a number of other important variables have also been identified, for example, the break-up of community ties and other social safety and support networks; the limited extent to which external assistance emphasizes gender sensitivity and the changed women's roles. This framework perceives these variables as creating not only constraints but also opportunities for women and gender equality concerns in the conflict-context. The above framework informs the brief synthesis of the case studies' findings attempted in this introduction. 1.5 Nature of armed conflicts today and their gender differentiated impact: Evidence from the 4 countries studied 1.5.1 Nature of armed conflicts today A thorough understanding of the origins, nature and impact of conflict is vital for understanding the complex conflict-affected context, how to effectively plan policy and action towards reintegrating the different conflict-affected groups, reconstructing their countries and building long-term peace, and avoiding interventions that could refuel the conflict. Among the key features of current armed conflicts is not only their large number and the fact that most are intra-state but also the fact that they are of widely divergent political, social and economic origins, including inequalities, depletion of natural resources, economic stagnation, competition for scarce economic and environmental resources, population pressure, ethnicity and social exclusion (see ILO, 1998). The technology and conduct of today's armed conflicts Unlike earlier conflicts, current conflicts are not conducted in formal battlefields and, therefore, tend to engulf the whole country or community, combatants and civilians alike including women, children and youth. "There is thus active involvement of civilians, including young people who carry and make use of arms" (Date-Bah, 1996:3). Codes of conduct to protect civilians tend not to be observed and serious human rights abuses occur. Thus in Bosnia, women of other ethnic groups were reported to have been systematically raped as an integral part of the ethnic cleansing process. Between 20, 000 and 50, 000 women were reported to have been raped (Walsh, 1997: p.1). Over 1 million people in Mozambique and about a third of the population in Lebanon were respectively massacred. The current conflicts also tend to engulf both civilians and the military alike, to ignore military codes of conduct and thus to inflict extensive injuries and human rights abuses even on children and women. There have also been changes in the technology of warfare with wide uses of anti-personnel land mines, mustard gas, scatter bombs and other diverse chemical defoliants and light ammunition which have had an impact on the deregulation of armed conflicts (Date-Bah, 1996: 5). Additionally, the current conflicts tend to be of relatively long duration with enormous consequences on every facet of society and thus to cause large numbers of internal displacements, refugees, migration and devastation. Such characteristics of modern war-fare also contribute to the effects on the different sexes and groups and, therefore, have implications on the key issues concerning the population groups and their environment that have to be taken into account in approaches adopted for planning and implementing skills training and employment promotion programmes and other activities in the conflict- affected contexts and the nature of the gender issues to be covered. Origins and duration of the conflict The armed conflicts in the 4 countries studied had diverse origins. In Mozambique, the 22 year conflict (from the 1970s to 1992) was attributed to a number of structural and proximate factors ranging from "externally sponsored "(i.e. by the old apartheid regime of South Africa) destabilization of the Mozambican Frelimo government then in power, internal causes such as the inadequate results of the government's socialist experiment which alienated the rural peasants, traditional leaders and the "cuandeiros" and regional, ethnic and class biases (Baden, 1997: 7 & 8). In Bosnia, among the root causes was the disintegration of the harmony and unity between the different ethnic groups. The economic downturn in the 1970s and the 1980s, such as the large debt of the 1970s and the hyper-inflation of the 1980s, is also identified as a contributory factor which, together with the rise of Serb nationalism, made the relatively affluent parts of the former Yugoslav Federation - such as Croatia and Slovenia - seek independence. Guatemala's 35 year war, which started in the 1960s, emerged from inequalities disadvantaging various indigenous groups, the creation of guerilla forces seeking economic, political and land reforms and the increasing economic and political power, intolerance and aggressive behaviour of the military (Loughna and Vicente, 1997: 1-4). The cause of the conflict in Lebanon has been attributed to a multiplicity of factors: break down of the peaceful co-existence between the different groups - maronite (and also other) christians, the Sunni, the Shia and Druze muslims; and lack of acceptance of the legitimacy of a government dominated by one group and disenchantment of the other groups because of their unequal access to the country's economic and educational resources; uncompromising religious loyalties; and external factors stemming from the Palestinian presence and the conduct of struggles against Israel from this territory, and the Israel conduct and Syrian policies. This war which erupted in 1975 lasted 15 years. The relatively long duration of the conflicts in the 4 countries, ranging from 4 to 35 years, has considerable implications on the extent of disruption caused to lives, families and communities and the destruction of the society. Summary characteristics of the 4 conflicts Social and economic infrastructure is widely destroyed, such as schools and training institutions, health centres, work places and physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges and water points. In Mozambique, for example, about 58 per cent of primary schools were destroyed. In one region, Zambezia, only 12 per cent of schools remained at the end of the conflict. Almost half of the country's health centres were also destroyed. In Guatemala, as many as 440 villages were reported to have been destroyed just between 1981 and 1983.
Productive assets, farmlands, other work places and sources of livelihoods are also adversely affected. Unemployment drastically increases. Furthermore, working conditions, social protection and the general observance of workers' rights and other standards are seriously affected. 1.5.2 Demographic and other Changes in Community and Household Structures Significant shifts in demographics occurred in all four country studies which in turn were found to have impacted heavily on community and household structures. Decline in Male Population and increase in Female Headed Households In Lebanon, Mozambique, and Bosnia, women*s share of the population exceeds that of men as a result of conflict-related death, flight, and labour migration. In Bosnia, where female representation is highest, men are known to have been executed en masse. From the town of Srebrenica alone, 5-8000 men are missing and presumed to have been killed. The fact that in Guatemala, the sex ratio stayed fairly constant throughout the war, is attributed to the balance between the high death rate of men as a consequence of war and the great exodus of women to neighbouring countries. The decline in the male population was found to have a number of inter-related effects. First is the increased number of female-headed households. Mozambique recorded the highest incidence of female headship, (22.5 per cent), though interestingly statistics indicate a decrease in female-headed households from 1980 (23.5 per cent). In Guatemala and Lebanon where female-headship was seen to increase, the rates are reported to be underestimated as statistics do not account for women whose husbands were disabled or had migrated, separated or were in hiding. The country studies also indicated that female-headed households can be concentrated in geographical areas or among particular sectors of the population. For example, in Guatemala female headship was concentrated among the indigenous people in rural areas. Also in Mozambique rural areas had the highest concentration particularly in the provinces of Inhambane and Niassa. Not surprisingly, female-headed households were found to constitute a large proportion of those living in extreme poverty given the loss of financial support and labour. In Mozambique, access to land, is negotiated through men, either husbands or in matrilineal societies, through maternal uncles. As land provides the means for livelihood and food security for many women there, the loss of it renders female-headed households extremely vulnerable. In Guatemala and Bosnia, women can inherit property from spouses, although their rights to the land may be challenged by other family members. Moreover, the decrease in adult males reduced the number of available marriage partners. Generally, for women in all four countries, marriage is a means to economic as well as physical security. As such, the scarcity of potential spouses constituted a threat to long-term livelihood security for single, widowed and divorced or separated women. For women with children, finding a suitor was particularly difficult. As stated by a woman displaced from Beira in Mozambique, "Who wants to look after all my children?" In addition, social stigma is attached to unmarried adult women in Guatemala, Mozambique, and Lebanon. In Guatemala, it was noted that this restricted the women's access to usual community support. For women in Bosnia, the process of rebuilding their houses is difficult without their husbands. This is due not only to the lack of labour, but also to the practice of house construction as a social ritual undertaken through reciprocal arrangements with men in a village. Household size and age structure An additional change was the increase in household size as households expanded to absorb additional family members who had been displaced, abandoned or orphaned children or other vulnerable family members. In Lebanon, displaced households were larger than those of non-displaced. The war in Mozambique produced, an estimated 200,000 orphans, many of them were taken in by "substitute families." However it was noted that these arrangements were not necessarily stable as emotional and economic pressures on the households, and particularly women who were the principal carers, increased. Importantly, the overall increase in household size in Mozambique is not related to an increase in fertility. In fact, the fertility rates decreased during the war as also in Bosnia, given the extended absence of spouses or partners. Nonetheless, fertility rates in Bosnia have reached their pre-war levels and rates in Mozambique were also expected to rise. The age structure of all four countries indicates that they already have very young populations with the under 15 age group constituting an average of 39.5 per cent of the population. Hence there is a high number of minor dependants at the same time as there is also a high incidence of female headship. Combined with increased household size, dependency ratios are seen to have increased overall, which further constrains the time, resources and mobility of women who are the primary carers and household managers, if not breadwinners, for the family. Forced migration Massive population displacement characterized all four case study countries, including both internal displacement and refugee exodus. There is, however, little data which indicates the gender breakdown of internally displaced and refugee groups. It is commonly assumed that women and children constitute the majority of refugee and internally displaced populations. However, as noted in Mozambique, this may reflect the greater mobility of men as women tended to stay in camps or settlements. In Guatemala, however, more women did seek refugee in neighbouring countries, principally Mexico, while men were more likely to be displaced or on the run internally. With violent incursions varying in time and place, population movements ebbed and flowed between nominal zones of safety. In Beirut, for example, a previous exodus from the area offset the influx of refugees from rural areas. The ability to adapt to new surroundings and particularly to secure a livelihood varied between and within the countries. For certain groups of women in Mozambique, refuge sought in camps in neighbouring Malawi yielded opportunities in education as it did for indigenous women from Guatemala who fled to Mexico. Others in Mozambique found the ability to integrate into local communities. However, in Lebanon and Bosnia, integration of women proved more difficult than for men. A survey of displaced women in Lebanon found that men were better integrated than women, who found their displacement a shameful and catastrophic event. Rural women in Bosnia displaced to urban areas found themselves scorned by urbanites and competed with widowed urban women for scarce accommodation. In Bosnia, Guatemala and Lebanon, forced exodus, internal displacement and settlement were part of political/military projects. Bosnia and Lebanon experienced dispersion and re-location of communities along ethnic and confessional lines respectively in order to create homogenous zones. Whereas in Guatemala, camps were organized to maintain the "subversive population" under control. Similarly, Renamo in Mozambique maintained tight control over the populations in the areas they held. Despite the varied circumstances, the principal effect was the same: the inculcation of fear and distrust between and among communities. This element compounded the dislocation of community and household structures as communities were torn asunder by war. While in Lebanon a response to this was seeking safety in the familiar, the process of confessionalization was accompanied by the reinforcement of patriarchal values which in some cases led to women being asked to revert to traditional roles and leave spaces for unemployed men and those returning from abroad. Conversely in Guatemala, mixing of monolinguistic groups in refugee camps has resulted in the formation of new communities no longer based around shared language but around newly constituted social structures and organizations. In each country, the return and reintegration of refugees is complicated by a number of variables. The scarcity of arable land, employment, schools and other basic services, however were common to all countries. Refugee women in Mozambique are less likely to return to the area from which they were displaced as many had moved there for marriage and have no specific connection to the place except through their absent husbands. In Bosnia, the political intransigence rendered it impossible for those internally displaced or in refuge to return to their areas of origin where they would constitute an ethnic minority. Bosnian women in mixed marriages no longer feel they have a "home" as they are forced to choose between returning to the area of their husbands' ethnicity or their own. Moreover, there is an openly expressed resentment, as there was in each other country, toward refugees who had fled the fighting and gained from peace, stability, and in some cases prosperity in their place of refuge. Given these difficulties, it is likely that many may prolong their displacement or re-establish life in the area of displacement. For those who have found employment, return would mean loss of income and the need to start all over again. 1.5.3 Education and training It is difficult to generalize regarding the impact of conflict on education and training systems. In Mozambique and Bosnia, 58 and 55 per cent respectively of the schools were destroyed. In all of the countries, displacement, death, and restrictions on mobility impeded the ability of both students and teachers to continue regular education. Moreover, increased levels of poverty restricted the ability of parents to pay for schooling and school supplies and compelled children to find work. Of those who were able to continue or resume their education, conditions had not returned to pre-war standards. In both Bosnia and Mozambique, children had to attend schools in shifts owing to the lack of teachers, desks, textbooks, etc. For girl children, the exigencies of conflict compounded already unequal access to education. In three of the four countries where data was available, illiteracy rates among women were at least twice that of men. Lebanon, Mozambique, and Guatemala do indicate possible positive impacts of conflict on women's education however. In the absence of appropriate suitors, girls in rural Lebanon who would have dropped out of secondary school to marry, chose to continue their education, increasing the enrolment rate of girls where it normally falls off. Additionally, women in the Lebanese armed forces were encouraged by their female troop leaders to continue in their education. For refugee women from Mozambique and Guatemala, their flight to neighbouring countries and settlement in camps provided them with access to literacy and higher education that they normally might not have had. Of Guatemalan women from Chiapas, 65 per cent of those who now speak Spanish learned it in Mexico and of women who attended school, 59 per cent had first done so while in exile. Upon return home, however, refugee women were unable to continue their education because of the inadequate facilities in their areas of origin. As is common in most places, curriculum development and subject specialization were found to reinforce gender stereotypes. The transitional process from conflict offers the opportunity either to correct past stereotypes or reinforce them. It appears, however, that the fluctuation of gender roles during conflict as well as new demands for skills and education had little impact on the re-development of educational materials. An analysis of textbooks undertaken by UNIFEM and UNICEF in Guatemala found that images of men performing a variety of activities dominated the texts. Where there were depictions of women, it was only in their domestic roles. However, in Bosnia where women did experience greater educational opportunities, there were still gender segregated subjects, such as foreign languages, which in the current context of large-scale international presence provide a strategic advantage. While in Guatemala, Mozambique and Lebanon, training courses and facilities were disrupted and destroyed as a result of conflict, the training curricula has not responded to the new socio-economic changes and variation in labour market demand and supply, i.e. training in these countries too has maintained pre-war gender stereotypes. 1.5.4 Health The situation and conditions of health were found to have deteriorated in the countries studied for the populations in general and women specifically. In Guatemala and Mozambique, where uneven distribution of health services and facilities between rural and urban areas already limited access, the exigencies of war presented further restrictions. In Mozambique, for example, 1,100 rural clinics were destroyed. In Bosnia and Lebanon where the level and extent of health care was greater, there was significant loss of human and material resources. Approximately 35 per cent of hospital bed space was lost in Bosnia as well as nearly 40 per cent of professional medical staff. Moreover, in Lebanon and Bosnia the resources that were available were concentrated in conflict zones and in addressing conflict-related emergencies to the neglect of regular health care provision. Decreased income and increasing costs for services were an additional factor limiting health care access, particularly for the most vulnerable. In Mozambique the transport costs as well as user fees proved prohibitive for many women in rural areas. The unaffordable cost of services was also found to have the related effect of undermining the livelihoods of women who were traditional health providers. The lack of access to services was particularly acute in reproductive health care. As a result of increasing costs and restrictions on mobility the presence of professional attendants at births decreased. In both Lebanon and Guatemala, only 30 per cent and 45 per cent of births respectively were attended by professionals, and in Guatemala there was a vast distinction between rural and urban areas. The disruption and increasing costs of health services aggravated the situation of poor health made worse by conflict. Commonly found were malnutrition resulting from poor diets in impoverished households, poor sanitation, and the spread of communicable diseases. Combined, these factors contribute to long-term and permanent disabilities which in addition to physical suffering, perpetuate social isolation and restrict women's ability to secure a livelihood. In addition, across the countries, there was a dramatic increase in the level of violence against women. Systematic rape, one of the hallmarks of the war in Bosnia, was used as a weapon of war both to terrorize communities and assault their ethnic identity. Approximately 20-50,000 women are said to have been raped in Bosnia. Sexual slavery and rape were also common in Mozambique, particularly in Renamo held areas. Women were also subject to beatings and torture. In Lebanon, exposure to violence increased as women moved about in search of the means to provide for their families. At the same time the shame associated with having been assaulted restricted mobility for others as well as access to resources from communities which rejected women who had been violated. Reported incidents of domestic violence were also seen to increase during or in the aftermath of conflict. A study from Guatemala showed that in 1991 an estimated 75 per cent of women admitted to hospital with injuries were victims of domestic violence, while another report in 1992 found that 40 per cent of all murders of women in Guatemala were committed by their husbands. Explanations for the rise include male unemployment and related frustration, pressures of poverty, and untreated psychological distress from prolonged exposure to and participation in generalized violence. Again, the impact of violence on women is long-term with economic and mental as well as physical implications. Moreover, the transmission of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, especially HIV AIDS was also seen to increase among women. The prevalence of rape and sexual assault, as well as male infidelity, increase during periods of separation and migration and have contributed to the spread of STDs among women. In Guatemala, one in four cases of AIDS reported in 1994 was a women. The number of AIDS cases was also seen to rise dramatically among women in Lebanon, where in 1992 one female case was reported for every male jumping to one in two in 1994. The social isolation and stigma attached to the disease render infected women among the socially excluded and more vulnerable members of society. The various forms of violence perpetrated against women are a contributing factor to mental distress and disorders. In addition, it is important to recognize other contributing elements to mental stress experienced by women, including the loss of their support network, death of loved ones, an increase in their obligations, and limited resources with which to care for their family. For example in Bosnia, a cantonal minister of health cited unemployment among women as a mental health issue given its impact on their psychological state. Psychological problems, when untreated not only impede women's own activities, but also have negative consequences for children as found in Bosnia and documented in a study in Lebanon. Efforts to address the issue of women's mental health were varied. Traditional rituals of reunification and purification were found in Mozambique to be effective in reducing mental health problems among women who participated in them, while women who did not experienced increased stress. Importantly, specific ceremonies also targeted boys who had been involved in killings. By contrast in Bosnia, many therapy and counseling programmes were initiated by foreigners for women victims of violence, the effectiveness and appropriateness of which were mixed. Moreover, the mental health status of men has not be systematically addressed as notions of masculinity and the stigmatization of psychological care render the issue taboo. Yet in the Bosnian Federation health plan, it was noted that the absence of psychological services for men is one of the factors contributing to the increase in domestic violence. There is little information on war-related disability available, though some evidence indicates that it affects men more than women. As Mozambican men were responsible for herding cattle, their risk and exposure to landmines was greater than for women. At the same time however, women's economic ability is impeded by land-mine accidents given their major role in agricultural production. The gender differences in the impact of disability were also highlighted in Mozambique where a man married a second wife who could provide additional domestic and agricultural labour while a woman interviewed had been left by her husband who married another. Additionally, the uneven distribution of resources for the disabled was highlighted in Guatemala where 80 per cent of the disabled live in rural areas without basic services or assistance. 1.5.5 Survival strategies The mechanisms employed by households to cope with economic and social crises wrought by conflict varied in relation to the opportunities and constraints posed in each context. For women, some strategies proved to enhance their position as well as condition in society. Others, however, were socially unacceptable and in some cases, dangerous. One of the first responses to the onset of crisis is to modify normal behaviour. This was found in Lebanon where savings were used and consumption patterns were reduced. In Renamo controlled parts of Mozambique, where people hid in camouflaged pits and farmed by moonlight, living off of fruits, hunting and fishing, they were able to maintain aspects of their normal life. The absence of male income support and labour necessitated women's entry into waged work and assumption of male tasks that constituted more fundamental changes in gender relations and societal norms. Some changes were not very dramatic, as in Lebanon where women transformed their domestic skills into profitable ones such as catering. Engaging in petty trade was found to be common among women in Bosnia, Lebanon, and Mozambique. Production and sale of handicrafts and other goods was also undertaken as noted in Guatemala. Agricultural tasks performed by men such as clearing and marketing were assumed by rural women in Mozambique which gave them greater access to and control over income and surpluses. Women in Lebanon also began working as domestic helpers and child labour also increased. These strategies had the positive impact of increasing women's economic independence and ability to provide for their families. In Lebanon, some women expressed pride that they were able to provide for their children's schooling. Women in Zambezia, Mozambique were reported to have become more vocal and active in community decision-making in an effort to take advantage of the new opportunities. In some cases, however, these changes had longer-term negative consequences. Domestic work in Lebanon, for example, is seen as demeaning and socially unacceptable. The assumption of male activities in agriculture in Mozambique sometimes resulted in divorce upon return of husbands. In Guatemala, women workers who were heads of their households were perceived as loose and prey to sexual advances. Another dramatic strategy was migration. Labour migration was more common among men and a principle economic strategy used before the war in both Mozambique and Guatemala which continued during the conflicts. External refugee flight, however, served to provide greater physical and in some cases economic security for households. In Bosnia, there was some evidence of men staying on in host countries to continue employment while wives and children returned to Bosnia. Extended separation of spouses resulting from these strategies, however, took their toll on relationships and in many cases rendered women more vulnerable. For women who saw their only resource as their bodies, sex work became the only way in which to provide for their families. This was noted particularly in Mozambique where the influx of international troops increased the demand for prostitution. In addition, women whose husbands had died or migrated entered into often exploitative relationships with men as a means of economic and physical protection. While women may have been able to eke out an existence for their families, their long-term vulnerabilities increased as result of their socially stigmatized practices and physical endangerment, given exposure to sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS. 1.6 Gender sensitivity of Peace Accords, policies and programmes 1.6.1 Peace Accords In Guatemala, the peace process was a participatory one, many groups involved included women's sector which raised the visibility of gender issues. The process involved a series of individual accords pertaining to different aspects of the conflict. Gender issues are mentioned, for example, in the following: - Agreement for the Resettlement of Populations uprooted by the Armed Conflict: recognized female headed households as having special needs, and that women and orphans were most affected by the conflict. The Agreement committed the government to eliminating discrimination but lacked the creation of any mechanisms to do so. - Accord on the Identity and rights of indigenous people: made Sexual harassment of indigenous women illegal and an organization was created to defend the rights of indigenous women and to educate the population about CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women). - Accord on strengthening civilian power and redefining the role of the armed forces: requested the government to initiate a campaign on women's rights and to take measures to promote and facilitate women's participation in social and political organizations as well as to promote and to institutionalize women's organizations. In Mozambique, participation of women in the peace process/negotiations was not direct but indirect. Women constituted the majority of members of Church groups which brokered the accords. There was, however, no specific mention of women/gender, nor measures on women's participation in the elections. In Bosnia, in the high level discussions brokered by the Americans, only heads of warring factions - mainly men - were involved. There was no specific mention of women nor gender issues, notably the gender-based human rights violations. In Lebanon, the high level negotiations and established legal framework for reform appeared to be gender-blind. 1.6.2 Legal and regulatory frameworks Although all of the countries enshrine gender equality in their Constitutions and in international conventions to which they accede, other domestic legislation has been found in several cases to contradict this. The Guatemala Constitution guarantees equality. The State has ratified numerous international conventions pertaining to equality including the ILO, Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100). In domestic legislation, however, there was contradiction in family rights governed by Civil Code of 1877 (husband can prevent wife from working, gender differentiated definitions of adultery). Also the labour code and land rights negatively affect women. The Mozambique Constitution enshrines equality. The Government has ratified CEDAW but this is contradicted by formal laws inherited from the Portuguese and customary norms e.g. definition of head of household is men in the Civil Code. Women are discriminated against in family law. The new family law is to address these problems. Traditional authorities who oversee customary laws have increased their authority. Women can gain access to legal questions through community courts but inheritance is still problematic for women. There is a Parliamentary Commission on Social and Gender issues which reviews existing and proposed legislation and government programmes in the light of gender concerns. In Bosnia, the Constitution adopted for the Republic as part of the peace accords included non-discrimination clauses. There was, however, no other mention of women. Simultaneously CEDAW and the Convention on the Nationality of Married Women have been ratified. Labour law, however, emphasizes women's reproductive role and exhibits pro-natalist tendencies. In Lebanon, the Constitution recognizes Family Laws of 15 communities that maintain women in an inferior position. These are regulated by male religious authorities. These personal status laws contradict other articles of the constitution which enshrine equality and social justice. 1.6.3 Gender policies In Mozambique, Gender issues gained consideration in post-conflict government policy out of the preparations for Beijing Conference on Women. Women had previously been included under the heading of vulnerable groups. A new ministry, Ministry for Coordination of Social Affairs (MICAS) with responsibility for women's affairs has been established. After Beijing, the grupo cooperativo was set up to take forward commitments by the government for equality, with the ministries and NGOs. Social fund for Action was established (managed through MICAS) to distribute funds to NGOs and community-based organizations working with women and children. Women began to be prioritized in poverty alleviation programmes, and girls in education. An increase has occurred in the use and collection of gender disaggregated data. In Guatemala, the Government's Social Development Action Plan prepared for the Beijing Conference was criticized by the country's NGOs as not being consistent with actual practices. No specific action was adopted for increasing female education enrolment rates which remain very low. There is a National Office for Women which is under-resourced and is, in effect, little more than a presence. In Bosnia, there are no specific policies relating to women or the advancement of their status. In Lebanon, no clear strategy nor policy is apparent. Primary recognition of women is for their child-bearing function. However, following the Beijing Conference, CEDAW was ratified and a National Women's Commission was established to implement recommendations and the action plan developed. There are a few gender units within existing ministries including The Ministry of Social Affairs (women-family unit) and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. 1.6.4 Demobilization In Mozambique, there were 93,000 soldiers in total of which women constituted 1.48 per cent (p. 62). Male combatants were prioritized as they were thought to be a major security threat but female ex-combatants were not. In 1994, the veteran's organization, AMODEG, formed a women's branch in response to the fact that only men's issues were being addressed and to lobby for the equal rights of female ex-combatants. Only men were involved in distribution of resettlement allowances and, therefore, only men received payments. Furthermore, clothes distributed only fitted men. Women were given small wraps. Reintegration proved more difficult for women. Psychological support was particularly identified as a need. Former soldiers were considered on homogenous group whereas they were heterogeneous including men, women, children, and disabled combatants. In Lebanon, 3000 women received military training during the war (mostly support roles), but only 300 were active in combat. Women ex-combatants found it easier to reintegrate than men because they were encouraged to continue their education, which helped them during the transition phase. In Bosnia, like in Mozambique, demobilization policy was gender blind although the actual process was less systematic. In Guatemala, there were only 3000 ex-combatants, the vast majority of whom were men, to be demobilized and disarmed, a process supervised by the United Nations. 1.6.5 Land redistribution In Guatemala, Government promised land to all returning refugees. However, armed forces re-populated abandoned land, new occupants were given title. Those provided with land could not sell or mortgage it for 20 years. The Special Commission for Attention to Refugees and Repatriates (CEAR) was established to address these issues. Women's groups were involved to a certain extent in discussions over land distribution. In Bosnia, a similar situation prevailed whereby displaced persons were granted temporary occupancy rights to vacant properties. A draft law would have stripped ownership from the absent owner and transferred it to the occupant. This has prevented people of all ethnic origins returning to their homes and violates the right guaranteed by the Dayton Peace Accords to return to one's own home. In Mozambique, according to government policy, land is national property. However in 1987, opportunity for land titling for peasant farmers was offered but few took advantage of it. Traditional chiefs were responsible for land reallocation in local communities after the war, and there were problems with land occupied by the displaced persons. Land reform and land law were under review during the study. Many women's organizations and NGOs are involved in studying gender implications of land reform. In Lebanon, the peace accord includes the right of refugees and displaced persons to return to their own homes, and measures, supervised by the Ministry for the Displaced, were set up to guarantee that right. However, policy on the modalities of return has been muddled and shortage of housing has prevented people from returning. There also exists the problem, seen in Bosnia and Guatemala, of displaced occupying vacant homes of persons wishing to return. Other aspects of the gender and agricultural livelihoods in the aftermath of conflict in several parts of the world are covered in Monica Trujillo's summary (Chapter 7). 1.6.6. Structural adjustment and stabilization policies Many post-conflict countries adopt such policies as part of the recovery plan. Mozambique implemented such policies in 1987 before the end of the war. Privatization of large companies began in 1994. Social services were protected from massive cuts, but user fees were introduced. The female-dominated sectors of textiles and cashew farming have shed considerable labour. In the 1990s, neo-liberal policies were implemented in Guatemala which resulted in a decrease in government expenditures in health care provision, extension of sanitation services, no wage increases, and no improvement in cost of living adjustment. The domestic market contracted and social spending was neglected in favour of debt servicing. In 1989, Bosnia introduced economic reform which resulted in high unemployment. After the war the process of restructuring continued during reconstruction including the introduction of user fees for social services. Economic reform policies implemented in post-war Lebanon, are seen in the lack of investment in social services, increasing prices, declining incomes and the decrease in real wages. 1.5.7 Gender sensitivity of reintegration, reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes In Mozambique, programmes for reintegration of returning refugees were noted for their lack of gender sensitivity as there was no follow-up support for women who had gained skills in refugee camps. The type of assistance provided ended up increasing the workload of women. Programme priorities were in the areas of small scale credit and training programmes, support to general and technical education for girls, capacity building at different levels of government and assistance in market development. In demobilization programmes, there was no social support available to address issues around marital relations and reintegration into household. There were no courses specifically for women until intervention by AMODEG. In Lebanon, targeting women through constructed categories of war-affected women was seen as problematic. After the war, international funds for reconstruction and development were channeled through government agencies, marginalizing the role of local non governmental organizations in reconstruction and rehabilitation (e.g. National Reconstruction Programme and the Council for Development and Reconstruction) and hence the ability of local communities and grassroots organizations, including women's organizations to play a part. There was also found to be a concentration of NGOs in urban areas thus restricting access to NGO services for rural populations where women were more likely to constitute the majority of the population. Overall donor priorities are physical reconstruction and institution building including staff training-with a view toward rebuilding social sector infrastructure. The World Bank also advocated an increase in social sector spending. In Guatemala, emphasis appears to be placed on the reintegration of refugees and displaced persons for which there is a three phase plan and numerous bodies to assist in the implementation. Of these, one is the programme of assistance to widows and orphans as victims of violence, initiated in 1987, and provides assistance in health, education, and food production with the aim of increasing economic self-sufficiency and food security. In general, however, education initiatives were found to lack a gender approach. The absence of sustained support for refugee women in reintegration programmes was also noted, as was the tension resulting from an emphasis of returnees over "remained" populations. Despite efforts by UNHCR to encourage the participation of women refugees in reintegration projects, traditional patterns of gender discrimination were found to restrict the ability of women to profit from them. There was also found to be a lack of information made available to women to encourage their participation. The main focus of multi-lateral assistance has been on ce, economic growth and poverty alleviation. In Bosnia, large credit and loans targeted male ex-combatants, as did training and employment opportunities. Limited therapy was available to ex-combatants. There had been a significant shift in donor priorities in programmes targeting women which moved away from the provision of psycho-social therapy towards economic self-sufficiency through income-generating, credit, and training programmes. 1.6 Implications and challenges for promoting gender sensitive decent work - Since the nature of conflict and its impacts are likely to differ between and within communities of a conflict-affected country, it is best to undertake a community-based needs assessment utilizing participatory methodologies in order to understand and thus address localized issues. Particular attention needs to be paid to those who might be excluded from regular community structures as social exclusion is likely to increase for some groups during conflict (e.g. female ex-combatants, women who have adopted socially unacceptable practices, those who are known to have contracted STDs including the HIV/AIDS, etc). This approach is more likely to increase the visibility of women and hence the gender differentiated needs and interests arising out of conflict. - With respect to demographic changes, the evidence presented illustrates that the number of women who become the sole providers for their families increases as a consequence of conflict. Therefore, this increases their need for independent income. At the same time, the burden of women within the home also often intensifies. In order for women to participate in employment and training programmes which will assist them in achieving economic self-sufficiency, consideration must be given to the timing and location of training programmes in relation to the extent and nature of women's obligations. - Reintegration programmes for refugee and displaced populations were common to all four country studies. However, it was also found that where programmes were perceived to benefit only those target groups and to neglect "remainee" populations, conflict and tension ensued. This situation thus argues again for a more holistic approach to programming, with opportunities open to all community members rather than to specific beneficiary groups. In this context, it should be remembered that in Mozambique and Guatemala, refugee women lost out because the skills they gained during their period of refuge were not sustained nor followed-up. Efforts should be made to utilize skills which have been acquired, training of trainers, etc. It should also be recognized that some refugees and displaced persons will not relocate to their places of origin and will construct a new life or continue in a new community. The line blurs between displacement and resettlement. - Disruption of educational facilities and training courses was noted. Furthermore, new economic situations may make old training courses obsolete and require new flexible skills and retraining programmes . There are often possible increases in girls' enrollment and the base for higher level training. Opportunity emerges to correct gender stereo-types in educational materials and to increase the number of women trainers. In addition, there is opportunity to draw women into non-traditional areas of education and training, given the shift in gender roles during conflict. The challenge is to identify areas into which women have moved and support them (e.g. appropriate extension services in agriculture). Training in life-skills is needed to assist people to adapt to new environments in which they may be located (e.g. rural-urban migration). - Deterioration of health both of women themselves and their family members may be a prohibiting factor to their participation in employment and training programmes and may restrict the kinds of activities they are able to undertake. However, additional income is necessary to pay for medical care. Creative measures are needed to enable the participation of such women. - It is necessary to identify survival or coping strategies which have had a positive transformative role in gender relations at the household and community level and to work toward supporting that through extension of appropriate employment and training opportunities. Additionally, it is essential to mitigate the consequences of negative (indecent) strategies by providing alternatives and reaching out to those who may have become socially excluded and increasingly more vulnerable due to the coping mechanisms they adopted (e.g. sex work). - The non-involvement of women in government and policy-making arenas and the failure to mention gender issues in peace accords and other framework documents may indicate a lack of commitment to and possible hostility toward adopting gender sensitive policies . This may imply that the participation of women in employment and training programmes is constrained by the conflict between national policy frameworks and customary law and practices. Yet the fluid post-conflict situation can create a window of opportunity to promote decent work through national policy and commitment to international labour market standards and the implementation of appropriate labour market interventions. Failing to seize this opportunity may create the potential for women to be further marginalized. Hence there is a need to build institutional partnerships in an effort to more systematically ensure that gender is taken into account at all levels and across all programme areas. 10.1 Assessment of post-conflict employment promotion and skills training programmes: Constraints encountered and lessons learned concerning gender Mozambique Employment promotion initiatives were largely focused on development and expansion of women micro-entrepreneurs. Most programmes incorporate credit, technical assistance and management training such as the Women in the Informal Sector Programme funded by the World Bank. Constraints encountered included low repayment rates as a result of pressures on household income, intra-household conflict around control over income. In addition, low levels of education and inexperience with banking facilities, investment and production, as well as competition in marketing goods produced hindered the benefits of the project. Lessons learned pointed to the need for economic viability studies, improved management and training, and the promotion of associations among women to encourage group problem solving. Another micro-enterprise project sponsored by a local NGO which aimed to increase income of the women heads of households suffered from a weakness in project identification and marketing possibilities. A related credit programme was also discontinued because of low repayment rates. Some participants left the project because of insufficient benefits and lack of time for other activities. In addition the project was managed from a distance, thus there was a lack of proper management and supervision. Other problems encountered included high levels of education required for participation eligibility. Women have also participated in employment intensive works projects such as the feeder road programme. Constraints to women's participation were identified as: recruitment mechanisms, lack of guidelines on recruiting women; inadequate channels for the information to reach women. Other constraints were: lack of provision of health care; access to food supplies; lack of child-care facilities; cultural, regional and ethnic variations in attitudes to working women; lack of women with driving licenses; failure of district administrators to recruit women; and traditional norms against women's handling of machinery. Recommendations included:
Guatemala Training was limited and gender-typed. For example, UNICEF sponsored courses included training in dressmaking, textiles, crafts, embroidery, hairdressing, cake decoration, etc. leading to work in the informal sector. The range of projects to encourage entrepreneurship among women was too narrow, resulting in crowding and duplication of products, rendering business uncompetitive. Micro-enterprises are also failing because women lacked training in most of the skills required for management success, including accounts, pricing, marketing strategies, production techniques, and standards. Literacy (and Spanish) may be a prerequisite to success in some small businesses. Lebanon Again, training and employment activities sponsored by both government and NGOs appeared to be limited and gender typed. The main critique was that the focus of the programmes was on meeting immediate/practical needs without consideration of strategic interests or long-term empowerment of women. Other criticisms were noted: the overload of work that some projects created for women and the focus on less profitable sectors in the informal market. The types of credit provided included cows, knitting machines and other in-kind resources as well as cash. Some programmes appeared to have an emphasis on rural women who were denied access to formal credit mechanisms. Bosnia Two major employment and training efforts were reviewed. One was the Bosnian Women's Initiative, funded by the U.S. government, and administered by the UNHCR. Its projects varied but focused on gender-typed trades in sewing, knitting, typing and hairdressing. Over-saturation of the market in these fields made them less competitive and less profitable. The second was the Local Development Initiative which provided micro-credit loans to displaced women and war widows. Other training courses were available from numerous NGOs in sewing and knitting which had a limited market value. Foreign language courses were also being offered but were too short for competency to be acquired. There were also courses in typing but that was the profession from which most women had been made redundant before the war. 1.9 Roles and gender sensitivity of women's organizations, other groups and institutions Mozambique The main women's organization is Organizacao da Mulher Mocambicana (OMM) which was founded as the women's branch of Frelimo. It expanded widely throughout the country challenging patriarchal structures, traditional practices, fighting for women's equal rights. It was subsequently disempowered and the focus has been on women's reproductive activities and domestic roles though it still advocates equality and advancement of women's status. It broke away from Frelimo to become an NGO. Many other women's organizations were created during or after the war but most focus on legal advice and psychological counseling. A few support income generating and rural development activities, health, family planning, HIV/AIDs education, civic and political education. There are also associations of women professionals. Forum Mulher is a consortium of women's NGOs, international and government agencies with an interest in women's issues. It has an information and documentation centre and launched the first campaign on violence against women. The Mozambican Workers' organization also has a women's section. Local NGOs on the whole have a varying understanding and acceptance of gender issues, some are even openly hostile. Among international NGOs, gender issues have been dealt with in an informal and ad hoc manner. International agencies also have varying levels of commitment and interest in promoting gender equality and adopting gender aware practice. A small group of donor organizations have gender training and gender awareness planning. Two agencies (SIDA and Dutch) have gender officers on the ground. The World Food Programme appointed a gender and training officer to implement WFP's Gender Action Plan at country level. Guatemala The number of NGOs, providing different types of assistance, is estimated to reach 1500. In addition, there are networks of displaced and refugee associations which perform lobbying and advocacy functions. Women have become a strong presence in grassroots movements, neighbourhood or peasant associations in the struggle for land, housing, health, sanitation, etc. The Assembly of Civil Society which participated in the peace process brought together different women's organizations from which emerged an incipient and heterogeneous women's movement. The country's trade unions had low participation rates for women: in 815 registered trade unions, only nine per cent of members were women in 1997. In cooperatives, 20 per cent of members were women. After the conflict, the number of women's organizations rose. Some used their roles of wives and mothers to take issues on human rights to the public arena, for example the Mutual Support Group initiated by indigenous mothers of disappeared men or the National Coordination of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA) which supports those whose relatives were killed or disappeared. It aims to empower women through literacy and teaching of Spanish, and by equipping women to use the instruments of the State to their own advantage. Groups of women refugees include Mama Maquin which had 7,000 members in Mexico in 1997 and sees itself as part of the wider Guatemalan economic social and political struggle. Groups are opening possibilities for refugee women to participate in public life. Some UN and donor organizations have also taken the lead in creating an opening for the active involvement and participation of women in programmes designed to assist in the reintegration of returning refugees. Lebanon Women's associations were started by upper-middle class women a century ago. They were largely conservative and traditionalist. The National Council for Women was founded in 1952. Women's organizations multiplied during the war, responding to immediate needs - voluntary and humanitarian services. They advocate women's rights occasionally and put pressure on the government to reform other laws. Women's organizations were seen as replacing social networks rather than as an avenue for radical change. The association for Working Women is an alternative to trade unions which have not directly addressed gender concerns nor have they been instrumental to promoting women's participation in employment. In addition, teachers are represented by the Lebanese Council for Women though it does not have any specific unionist platform. Some unions do have women in the executive structure, such as the lawyers' union and the Hotel Dieu Union. Constraints to women's participation in trade unions include lack of time, cultural norms, fear of employers opposition, insufficient interest and knowledge of the advantages. Few local NGOs were found to have the ability or the interest to incorporate gender (out of 1,587 NGOs, 93 specialized in the women's welfare) and thus women remained invisible in most needs' assessments. Few local NGO personnel were trained in gender. International organizations did, however, exhibit some degree of gender sensitivity and raised gender issues in national development planning strategies. Bosnia In the 1997 study, most women's organizations were run by upper middle-class women. There was an overall absence of gender awareness, though programmes targeted women and focused on displaced women, and inadequate activities of relevance to women such as mental health and income generating projects. There were some organizations for women intellectuals and for promoting women in politics. Women are represented in leadership of trade unions and predominate membership in textile unions. However, many are now unemployed as some factories are unlikely to reopen. Trade unions however viewed women's employment from a traditional gender-typed perspective. During the study in 1997, none of the international agencies had gender officers on the ground. Nor was there evidence of any organizations having conducted gender analysis or gender aware planning exercises. Again, it appeared that where women were included in programming it was part of a women in development (WID) approach rather than mainstreaming gender and development (GAD). 1.9 Some conclusions The ensuing summary chapters show the extent of social, economic, physical, political, institutional and other changes unleashed by armed conflicts and their gender dimensions. They cannot be ignored in planning and implementing effective and sustainable reintegration, reconstruction and peace building processes, including the promotion of decent work. The chapters also contain detailed conclusions and recommendations which, to avoid repetition, are not all summed up here. Furthermore, they attest to the strong need for integrating gender analysis and planning in policies and programmes to address the challenges in conflict-affected context, and the limited extent of gender perspectives so far adopted in particular in employment promotion. A few of the general conclusions that can be drawn include the following:
It is obvious that conflict creates or intensifies vulnerabilities. Less apparent are the capabilities individuals and communities possess. A helpful framework has been developed in the context of disaster-preparedness based on the notion that AEven if [people] have lost all their possessions, they have their own abilities to work and the skills and knowledge with which to produce@ (Anderson and Woodrow: 47). The capabilities and vulnerabilities matrix is thus a useful tool in identifying individual and community-based strengths and weaknesses. It can be adapted to take gender into account - opportunities and threats. Strengthening the work of the diverse women's organizations and help them bring their voices from the periphery to the center. These measures can impact positively on the creation of a social structure which is a building block of democracy and sustainable peace. The ILO has a comparative advantage to play a major role. With its focus on promotion of social justice, equity and decent work for both women and men and a historic mandate in sustainable peace-building through employment, the ILO is well placed to be at the forefront of the incorporation of gender issues across the various phases of the post-conflict reintegration, reconstruction and peace-building processes. It is essential to recognize gender equality as a central element in building "universal and lasting peace". Furthermore, the ILO's current InFocus Programme on crisis response and reconstruction which has a major work item on gender and crisis, provides another opportunity for the ILO to play a greater role in this area. The programmes and projects, elaborated and promoted by the Programme, should help to create a new environment that contributes to offer potential for the advancement of women. They should seek to correct structural imbalances between men and women in the home, workplace, and community through an acceptance of changing gender roles and relations. Selected Bibliography(2) Anderson, M.; Woodrow, P.J.: "Reducing vulnerability to famine: Developmental approaches to relief", in Disasters, (15 (1):43-54, 1991). Baden, Sally: Post-conflict Mozambique: Women's special situation, population issues and gender perspectives and the integration of these concerns in skills and employment promotion, June 1997. Byrne, B.: Gender, Conflict and Development, Volume 1 (Brighton, IDS BRIDGE, 1995). Byrne, B. and Baden, S.: Gender, Emergencies and Humanitarian Assistance (Brighton, IDS BRIDGE, 1995). Date-Bah, Eugenia: Sustainable peace after war: Arguing the need for major integration of gender perspectives in post-conflict programming, May 1996. El Bushra, J. and Piza Lopez, E.: Development in Conflict: The Gender Dimension, Oxford Discussion Paper No. 3 (Oxford, 1993). ILO: Gender Guidelines in Employment and Skills Training in Conflict-Affected Countries (Geneva, 1998). ILO: Employment Organization - Transition from War to Peace, Recommendations No. 71 (1944). ILO: Framework for Design of Guidelines for Training and Employment of Ex-Combatants, Report of an ILO Expert Meeting (Harare, 1995). ILO: Framework for ILO Policy and Action in the Conflict-affected Context (Geneva, 1998). ILO: Crisis Response and Reconstruction (Geneva, 1999). Loughna, Sean and Vicente, Gema: Population issues and the situation of women in post-conflict Guatemala, June 1997. Maramba, P.: Reintegration of Women Ex-combatants (Geneva, 1995). Moser, C. and Shrader, E: A conceptual Framework for violence reduction (Washington DC, World Bank, Latin America and Caribbean Region, Sustainable Development Working Paper No.2, 1999). Moser, C. and Clark, F. (eds.): Gender, Armed Conflict and Political violence (London, ZED Books). Nauphal, N.: Women and other War-affected Groups in Post-War Lebanon (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Trujillo, M.: "The Socio-economic Dimension of Conflict and Post-Conflict Contexts" (Manuscript, Geneva, 2000). Turshen, M.: The political economy of violence against women during armed conflict in Uganda, in Social Research, Volume 67, Issue 3 (New York, 2000). Walsh, Martha: Post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina: Integrating women's special situation and gender perspectives in skills training and employment promotion programmes, June 1997. 2. Framework for launching the country studies in 1996(3) Eugenia Date-Bah 2.1 Summary Wars are widespread in the current world. There have been more than 150 since the Second World War with untold human, social and economic costs, which make conflict prevention, conflict resolution and the promotion of sustainable long-term peace an urgent priority. This situation also demands a major focus on countries emerging from war in enhancing their capacity to tackle not only the emergency relief but also rehabilitation and development needs. (4)t entails more than the conclusion of peace accords; it also demands improvements in the material conditions of the population in terms of training, employment and poverty alleviation (5)nd the general empowerment of the vulnerable groups. As pointed out by an ILO Expert Meeting on the Design of Guidelines for Training and Employment of Ex-combatants, "the creation of employment and income opportunities for conflict-affected groups is ... a key ingredient of peace-building" (ILO, 1995a, p. 7). A special strategy is required for this work which may differ from that employed for other societies for a number of reasons: the nature of war and its impact on society in general; transformations in demographic compositions and in gender roles; changes in community relations and trust and in the psychological well-being of the people; weakening of the economy; and an increase in the mobility of the people. Although war's consequences affect all population groups in a country, women tend to bear a disproportionate burden. Women constitute the bulk of the internally displaced and refugee populations during conflict, and of the general population after conflict. Despite horrendous psycho-social suffering, economic burdens and human rights' abuses, women prove resourceful in adopting a number of survival strategies in the war context, including assumption of male roles. Unfortunately, "women's suffering in times of war, as well as the contribution they make to their community's survival, has been unacknowledged, undervalued and perhaps increased" after war (OXFAM UK/I-ACORD, 1993, p. 4). For example, Eritrean women who fought in the war against Ethiopia have observed that while they were treated equally with men during the war, they have had to return to their traditional roles and a patriarchal society after the war (The Guardian, 6 May 1996, p. 8). Women's plight in war and the need to involve women in conflict resolution, peace education and post conflict-related work are also emphasized in the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women (1995), as well as in the regional platforms adopted by the various regional preparatory conferences (1994) and outcome of the Special Session of the General Assembly, held in 2000, to review progress in the Beijing Platform's implementation. The ILO Expert Meeting (Harare, July 1995), already mentioned above, also notes that there has been Ainadequate planning for women" and the other special groups in the post-war societies and called for action in this area. while war and post-war contexts can generally be termed a "disenabling" environment, they can also in some ways constitute an "enabling" environment for the promotion of women's empowerment (6)nd gender equality in employment. However, there appears to be a dearth of insight necessary for providing effective technical assistance that adequately reflects women's diverse concerns, gender perspectives and socio-economic needs in the post war context as well as the principles of equality of opportunity and treatment enshrined in international labour and other instruments. (7)Analysis of some of the available literature was undertaken as part of the preparatory work for launching in-depth country studies to gather insights for effective integration of women and gender concerns within an overall set of ILO guidelines for promoting decent work in countries emerging out of Armed Conflict. It is geared to promoting and strengthening: capacity of national and other relevant institutions in tackling the employment and special needs of women and men as an integral part of the post-war reintegration and reconstruction efforts as well as for advocacy and awareness-raising on post-war challenges. The preliminary analysis briefly summarized below attempts to isolate some of the critical dimensions of the broad-based cross-sectoral strategy required for action.Developing an effective post-conflict gender perspective and strategy is a complex and challenging exercise, which must take adequate account of a range of critical issues to avoid accentuating women's vulnerability and reversing any "gains" (such as in role diversification) during war. Some of the key factors, contributing to women's general situation and other gender concerns in the post-war context, which have to be considered in the formulation of the required strategy, include:
2.2 Conclusions: Implications for strategy and policy From the analysis contained in Sustainable peace after war: Arguing the need for major integration of gender perspectives in post-conflict programming (8)Date-Bah: 1996), some conclusions were drawn which are summarised below. A serious effort needs to be made to ensure gender-sensitivity in post-war-related work and to guarantee that women, who have been adversely affected in a disproportionate manner by war, obtain the assistance they need. Tackling these needs in the after war environment, as has been observed above, involves consideration of a number of factors. (9)It therefore requires the adoption of a broad-based holistic approach based on adequate data on all the factors. Some of the strategic elements of such an approach are:
3. Postconflict Mozambique: Women's special situation, population issues and gender perspectives to be integrated into skills training and employment promotion: Extract by Sally Baden 3.1 Summary This chapter provides a brief gender perspective on employment, income generation and skills training in postconflict Mozambique, based on a literature review and field research, including an assessment of existing policies and programmes. It is intended to feed into the process of developing an overall policy framework and guidelines for future interventions in conflict-affected countries, as part of the ILO's "Action Programme on Skills and Entrepreneurship Training in Countries Emerging from Armed Conflict", launched in 1996. In addition, the study identifies priorities for technical assistance, and provides an institutional and bibliographic database. The recent conflict in Mozambique was fought primarily between the government forces of Frelimo and opposition forces of Renamo (with considerable external backing) between the late 1970s and October 1992, when the General Peace Accord (GPA) was signed. The war was fought mainly in rural areas and impacted in different areas of the country with varying intensity, reaching its peak in the late 1980s. A combination of external and internal factors, relating to regional politics and to the policies of the Frelimo Government, are thought to have fuelled the conflict. The war was marked by the death of up to 1 million persons, extreme brutality against civilians, widespread sexual violence against women, and the displacement of at least 6 million people, including over 1.5 million across international borders. In addition, the conflict led to the destruction of thousands of schools, health posts, economic units and roads and bridges. Homes were destroyed and looted, cattle stolen and killed, forests burned and roads, villages and fields mined. Drought in the early 1990s added to the already huge human cost of war and was a major factor in propelling forward the negotiation process, led by the Catholic Church, with considerable grass-roots pressure, including from women's organizations. The end of the cold war and the negotiated transition in South Africa further undermined remaining support for the war. By the end of the war, Mozambique was one of the poorest, most aid-dependent and indebted countries in the world, and had some of the worst indicators in health and education internationally. The economic, social and psychological impact of war will be felt for many years to come. The GPA provided for demobilization of the armed forces, among whom women officially constituted less than 2 per cent, and their reintegration into a new army. It laid down the framework for transition to democratic elections in October 1994, under UN supervision. There were no provisions to address questions of human rights abuses, nor specifically the abuse of women's human rights. The new Constitution in 1990 reiterated earlier commitment to gender equality, although this is weakened by the provisions of the civil code and customary norms which remain de facto in force. Four-and-a-half years after the end of the war, Mozambique is between rehabilitation and development, although emergency responses and a safety net for those vulnerable to extreme poverty continue to be needed. Demobilization, returnee and reintegration programmes have all drawn to a close. While the reconstruction of roads, schools and health units continues with slow progress, a range of agencies, many with little prior experience, are introducing credit and training components into their activities, There is a danger that these are seen as panaceas for post-war development. Rural livelihoods were disrupted for at least some part of the war in most areas. A variety of responses to the conflict and livelihood strategies were adopted, including migration and displacement to refugee or displaced camps or settlements and urban areas, dependence on relief aid, hunting and gathering, agricultural labour and informal sector activity. Many women attempted to keep farming for as long as possible, often working at night to produce for their families. Some were kidnapped and coerced into being soldiers, or being "wives" for Renamo troops. Since the end of the war, many formerly displaced persons and refugees have returned to rural communities and reestablished their farms, but remain vulnerable due to lack of assets and reserves, such as tools, seeds and cattle, lost during the war, and to poor rains especially in the south. Disputes over land have intensified, and a new land law is being introduced which will strengthen individual ownership rights, with a danger that the rights of small farmers, and particularly women, are weakened in the face of commercial pressures. Few women have title deeds and in both matrilineal and patrilineal areas are dependent on husbands or male relatives for access to land. Displaced and refugee populations are thought to have had a higher proportion of women than men, although this may reflect women's greater visibility, while men travelled further afield to seek work. In urban areas, households grew larger as many accommodated relatives from rural areas and the rate of urbanization increased to an estimated 30 per cent. High levels of female headship were noted in displaced groups. Displacement and longterm separation also resulted in dual marriages, creating tensions on return. Thousands of children were lost, or permanently separated from their parents, and some were taken in by substitute families. The diversity of household forms and composition in post-war Mozambique suggests a weakening of traditional patriarchal structures, echoed by changes in divisions of labour and intra-household decision-making processes and greater visibility for women. It also indicates complex patterns of vulnerability which cannot be identified using crude categories, but require contextspecific research and consultation. Genderbased violence occurred on a large scale in the war in Mozambique, and yet, in the postconflict period, has not received much public attention. There are few services or initiatives to support either victims or perpetrators. Implicit in the Peace Accord was an acceptance that there would be no human rights investigations and this limits the scope to discuss violence against women as a human rights issue. Communitybased reintegration processes have addressed questions of rape and other genderbased violence and further research is required on this to increase understanding of these processes. During the war period, the influx of people into urban areas, wartime survival strategies, processes of economic liberalization and rising unemployment fuelled a rapid growth of the informal economy, based mainly on commerce, now estimated at around 30-40 per cent of GDP. Pressure on household incomes and the incidence of female headship has led to increased visibility of women and children in the informal sector, including in begging and sex work. Within the informal economy, women tend to be concentrated in petty food trading, in highly competitive segments of the market, while men are more likely to trade in higher value manufactured goods. Incomes are variable and, while a few are getting high returns (particularly as intermediaries bringing produce in from other countries), a large proportion are eking out an existence, barely able to retain enough from one day's sales to buy basic necessities and supplies. Complex systems of regulations, licences, fees and fines discourage many from registering their activities. Markets are sprawling, crowded, disorganized and unhygienic and lack transport or other basic infrastructure and facilities. The informal sector is poorly served by formal credit institutions, although many in this sector, particularly women, are active in informal savings schemes (xitique). Despite considerable progress in extending education provision and literacy between 1975 and 1980, the legacy of lack of investment in education and skills for Africans since the colonial era was further exacerbated by the disruption of education and training during the war. Following the war, the destruction of facilities means that rebuilding the sector is a slow process, many schools operate multiple shifts and lack qualified personnel. Quality of provision is low, the curriculum outdated and drop- out and repetition rates high. Girls and women have historically been disadvantaged in access to education and are underrepresented nationally at secondary, technical and higher education levels, as well as in some provinces, particularly in the northern region, at primary level. There remains a wide gender gap in literacy. A range of demand and supplyside factors limit female access to education and programmes have been launched to tackle some of these problems. Continued gender gaps in education limit women's scope for economic activity by restricting access to most formal sector jobs to men, and because of the educational requirements of credit and training programmes. Improved access to education opportunities for literacy, academic and technical training, are a vital complement to vocational training schemes, particularly for those who missed opportunities because of the war. During the war, the structures of power at local level were a site of much conflict and, following the war, a multiplicity of local institutions exists, often in parallel, including traditional leaders, religious leaders and secular administration. Traditional authorities have regained some influence in the post-war era, and are exercising functions such as land allocation and the interpretation of customary norms, with major implications for women's lives. Ongoing research is investigating the interpretation and implementation of laws on succession and maintenance at local level and their gender implications, as well as changing patterns of land tenure. There are considerable opportunities in the post-war situation to build on changes in gender relations which have occurred, in order to promote opportunities for women and gender equality. Women are, in many areas, more visible in economic activity and vocal in decision-making. Some are organizing self-help groups to set up enterprises and collective activities of various kinds, especially in urban areas. Forthcoming municipal elections offer the possibility for increased women's influence in local-level power structures. Support is required for these processes to ensure that gains are consolidated. To date, there is no consistent overall planning framework for post-conflict rehabilitation and development in Mozambique and international agencies as well as government efforts have been poorly coordinated. Moreover, a gender analysis is not yet well integrated into government policy and planning, although institutional mechanisms are in place to support this. This partly reflects the earlier dominance of emergency programmes, based on relief hand-outs, so that social policy concerns are driven by a focus on "vulnerable" or "war-affected" groups, among whom "women", or "female-headed households," are usually singled out as categories. Prioritizing interventions on the basis of these broad categories may not be appropriate, in that they are potentially divisive within communities, are not reliable indicators of vulnerability and are of diminishing relevance in the aftermath of war. Consultations with communities, including women within these communities, on context-specific vulnerabilities may be a more useful approach. The forthcoming census, as well as a growing body of socio-economic data, provides the basis for a more nuanced assessment of poverty and vulnerability, including its gender dimensions, and, more generally, for improving the use of gender-disaggregated data in the planning process. Emergency and rehabilitation and reintegration programmes have tended to reinforce a "male breadwinner" model, flying in the face of the post-war reality. The demobilization and reintegration programmes in Mozambique were driven by security and political concerns and focused on individual training or grants for mainly male ex-combatants. No specific consideration was given to the needs of female ex-combatants, nor were gender issues incorporated into their design. Priority has been given to physical and economic aspects of rehabilitation (e.g. reconstruction, employment and training), with less attention to social, institutional and psychosocial aspects. A broader approach to reintegration would involve looking at the institutional context, of families, communities, and markets, and considering changes in gender relations as one aspect of the process. In training and employment programmes, participation of women has been low, skills offered have been gender-segregated and little encouragement has been given to women's take-up of non-traditional" skills. Training has been variable in quality, not well integrated with market demand, or not providing sufficient skill to support a viable livelihood. There has been insufficient follow-up in terms of credit, business skills, marketing and other support. While some of these weaknesses are being rectified, more rethinking is required, and also support to the development of training capacity. A broader range of skills needs to be developed in, for example, agriculture and agricultural processing and marketing, arts and crafts production, tourism, administration and management, in line with current and future market demand, and with women's aspirations. Future programmes need to adopt more proactive measures to encourage female participation and institutionalize a capacity to monitor their impact by gender through qualitative as well as quantitative assessments. With some exceptions, credit programmes have a poor record, with slow and bureaucratic disbursement and low repayment rates. The transition from emergency relief and grants to market-based credit requires a rethinking of institutional structures and processes. A few schemes have been relatively successful in reaching women with loans, where measures have been taken to reduce transaction costs and increase flexibility and where commercial activity has been a focus of support, but the impact of this on intrahousehold welfare and decision-making is not clear. A review of credit and savings schemes to identify the lessons learned from a gender perspective in the Mozambican context would be timely to inform the development of financial institutions and sector reforms. In spite of a general perception that cooperative and group-based activities have been discredited, there are numerous examples of group mobilization for both economic, political and social purposes in post-war Mozambique. The introduction of assets or resources into communities can be viewed as part of a process of rebuilding trust, cooperation and collective activity and institutions, disrupted by the war. A significant NGO community has mobilized in the last six to seven years, and while still weak in managerial and participatory development skills, is beginning to develop its own agendas and to lobby for changes in policy. There is considerable scope for supporting research and lobbying in areas of economic policy reform which directly impact on women's lives, such as privatization, financial sector reform and informal sector regulation. Unless broader economic policy takes account of gender equality issues and the current constraints to women's economic opportunities, piecemeal programmes will have limited impact. Government capacity is weak, as a result of the weak educational and skills infrastructure, bureaucratic procedures and poor incentives in the public sector. There is a particular gap at the middle-management level, and also in front-line personnel (e.g. health and education workers) at local level, many of whom have little training or support and no resources. The proliferation of international agencies during the war and its immediate aftermath also undermined government institutional structures. Current processes of public sector reform and decentralization aiming to improve service delivery must ensure that women, especially at community and district levels, are given opportunities to upgrade their skills. Dependence on external aid means that the Government has tended to be driven by donor agendas and is reliant on donor funding to develop new programmes. In this context, introducing gender concerns runs the danger of being seen as a top-down process, with little consideration to local sensitivities. It is crucial that local expertise in gender research, training and policy analysis is utilized in attempts to promote debate on gender equality issues and that priority is given to institutionalizing capacity for gender analysis, alongside programmes of capacity-building in the Government more generally. 3.2 Conclusion The conflict, as well as drought, in Mozambique brought about huge population movements, disruption of families and communities and high levels of mortality. This, combined with the diversification of livelihood strategies in response to economic adjustment, has fuelled an expansion of the urban population and an increase in urban poverty, linked to greater diversity of family forms. Women and children particularly are much more visible in market activity and a range of survival strategies (sex work, begging), indicating pressure on household incomes, and the increasing unreliability of male support.
There is increased diversity in household formation and composition, linked to second marriages established during the war years, the adoption of children in substitute families and an increase in female- and child-headed households. Patterns of vulnerability are therefore complex and intra-household dynamics are an important factor. The increase in numbers of dependants may lead to greater work burdens for women, or to neglect and abuse of children, for example. There is evidence of marital tension, domestic violence and breakdown during and in the immediate aftermath of the war. The dependent nature of women's civil status, property and tenure rights means that women are vulnerable to dispossession as a result of marital breakdown. This suggests a need for rethinking legal frameworks and social policy to safeguard the interests of women and children within shifting patterns of household formation, breakdown and dependency. In urban areas particularly, household size and dependency ratios have increased. At the same time, the social networks of support, particularly for those in urban areas, are considerably weakened as a result of displacement and familial breakdown, as well as rising levels of urban poverty, suggesting increased vulnerability. Since women are often living away from their areas of origin, are less likely than men to remarry and are more likely to be raising dependants alone, they are particularly vulnerable to social isolation and poverty. For women who have either chosen, or been forced, to survive independently, there are considerable barriers to establishing themselves, and particularly in gaining access to land and housing. Some assessments view the breakdown of familial structures accelerated under war conditions as a shift in gendered power relations, whereby some (particularly younger and more educated) women have broken free of patriarchal structures and gender norms to lead a more independent and autonomous existence. This interpretation has also been extended to younger people in general, reflecting a breakdown of "patriarchal authority" structures and of moral codes. On the other hand, attempts to revive traditional initiation and other ceremonies and, at the same time, the growing strength of evangelical and syncretic churches, suggest that both old and new patriarchal institutions are asserting claims to moral and cultural authority, as well as providing support structures and moral guidance for participants, and livelihoods for organizers. It is not clear what role women play in the organization of such activities, although older women are likely to have some influence. One consequence of war was the collapse in previous government and party authority structures and organizations in some areas, and their replacement with Renamo-backed authorities, or other more ad hoc arrangements. "Traditional" local power structures have regained influence. There was a decline in the activities of OMM at local level and to date these have not resumed their pre-war levels. The way in which local-level power structures are reconfigured is critical for women, whose property rights are decided through customary norms and institutions at local level. The upcoming municipal elections will be important for women to assert some influence at local level, so that interventions to increase women's chances of being elected and effective in office are of great importance. Gender-based violence was endemic during the conflict in Mozambique but remains largely taboo as a subject for open public debate. Recent campaigns aiming to raise awareness of violence against women in the home were the first of their kind in Mozambique and may in future extend to consideration of wider societal violence, and nonphysical forms of abuse. The lack of attention to gender-based violence linked to the war is in part linked to the terms of the GPA and the implicit acceptance that there would be no process of investigation, or bringing to justice of those who committed human rights abuses on either side. While this has a positive aspect in that it enabled an agreement to be reached and a genuine spirit of reconciliation to prevail, it renders difficult any public discussion of the widespread abuses against women during the war period and so may isolate and stigmatize women who have suffered such abuse, particularly those who were Renamo "captives". In addition, for the perpetrators of violence, the lack of opportunity to re-evaluate their actions may legitimize their behaviour and lead to ongoing forms of violence against women. Understanding of the changes in social relations, including gender relations, which occur during and after periods of conflict is still in its formative stages. Rather than conflict "impacting" on people's lives, people, including women, are active agents in creating and responding to conflict. There is a need to move away from identifying women primarily as "victims" or "peacemakers" in conflict and postconflict situations, and beyond the assumption that women in general are necessarily more negatively affected than men during wartime. Linked to this, the experience of Mozambique suggests that simplistic categories of population subgroups as "war-affected" (e.g., the displaced, refugees, war-disabled, ex-combatants, or even, less obviously, female heads of household, or "women"), while they may in certain instances have a political or administrative utility, need to be rethought as a basis for prioritizing intervention. Firstly, these categories are potentially divisive, in the post-conflict context, where promoting renewed trust and cooperation is a high priority. They are also not useful categories for targeting purposes, in that they are not reliable indicators of vulnerability or poverty, as the evidence from Mozambique suggests. Secondly, these categories become increasingly meaningless, as the conflict recedes and people reconstitute their lives. Gender analysis is not yet well integrated into development policy and planning in Mozambique. Current government social policy reflects an approach based on targeting women (and other categories) as "vulnerable group", within social and family programmes, reflecting a history of emergency relief work which has tended to provide hand-outs, rather than develop human or institutional capacities. In general, government institutional capacity is weak, due to lack of appropriate skills and training in management and administration, bureaucratic structures, inability to carry out work during the war period, poor incentives due to low pay, lack of resources, weak coordination and support structures and the undermining of government institutions by external agencies (particularly during the UNOMOZ period). The non-governmental sector is very new (dating back to 1989-90), lacks experience in development work and is to a large extent dependent on donor agendas as well as funding. There is also a lack of experience in working with communities in participatory ways and of recognizing and valuing people's own capacities, initiatives, skills ideas and resources. This is true of many NGOs and women's organizations as well as in the Government. In the post-conflict period, donor agencies have been influential in training personnel and introducing "gender" into aid and development programmes. Given heavy dependence on external resources, there is a danger of concern with gender being perceived as imposed from above, in a mechanistic and simplistic way, without consideration of the local context and sensitivities. Attempts by NGOs to introduce gender issues into their programmes in a formal way have sometimes provoked resistance, including from women, suggesting a need for creative and informal approaches. Sensitivity to questions of gender may be heightened in the post-conflict period when social relations are in flux and there are attempts to reassert "traditional" value systems and community structures. A small but dynamic group of female (and some male) researchers, trainers, policy-makers and activists are working to promote gender equality in Mozambique (see Appendix 2 for contacts). The demobilization and reintegration programme in Mozambique did not take account of either the specific needs of women ex-combatants, or, more broadly, the implications for families or communities of the demobilized soldiers. The reintegration programmes were designed to respond to immediate political and security concerns, and tended to reinforce a "male breadwinner" model, by focusing on individual skills training. Few examples were found in Mozambique of programmes which explicitly addressed the social, psychological or institutional aspects of post-conflict reintegration, in general, or especially in gender-sensitive ways. The post-conflict focus has been primarily on rebuilding physical infrastructure, on employment and training provision and supporting livelihoods (i.e. on economic and physical aspects). Some attention has been paid to ensuring women's participation in processes of physical reconstruction and in the redevelopment of communities, e.g. in labour-intensive public works or on water committees. Many programmes, however, have not addressed the structural constraints which limit female participation, or introduced measures to facilitate this, such as child care. Outside of a few isolated programmes specifically addressing psychosocial, mental health or human rights issues, the majority of programmes have not responded to the broader range of issues arising in the post-conflict situation, or, more specifically, their gender dimensions (e.g. violence against women). These are sensitive issues, however, which cannot be simply tacked on to existing programmes. Moreover, there is a high priority to restoring livelihoods among communities in post-war Mozambique and it is widely held that social-psychological aspects of reintegration are best left to communities themselves to address. Rebuilding of health and education infrastructure has been a priority in post-war Mozambique, although progress, especially in health, has been slow partly due to budgetary constraints. Moreover, the emphasis has been, initially, on physical reconstruction, while the human resources aspects of rebuilding social services, vital to improving the quality of services and utilization rates, have received less attention. Studies suggest that initial enrolment in schools, for example, is not the main problem facing the education system but that drop out and repetition, partly due to poor quality of provision, greatly reduce the efficiency (and equity) of the system. Latterly, there has been more attention to improving the quality of social services, to redressing gender biases in the take-up of services and to extending non-formal or community-based provision, in order to widen access to services, especially to education for those who "missed out" during the war years. Programmes of human resources development in the health and education sectors are under way, focused on upgrading skills. Restructuring of the public administration and decentralization may have implications for the gender distribution of skills and employment, for professional recognition and pay and for the quality of public services and their accessibility to women. Existing capacity for skills training in Mozambique is weak and poorly linked to labour and product market demand. Much training provision is poor in quality and does not provide a sufficient level of skill to support a viable livelihood. This is the legacy of lack of education and skills development, of earlier planned economy models and of wartime destruction. In the immediate aftermath of the conflict, with the pressure to demobilize over 90,000 soldiers, training programmes were hurriedly established. Whilst they have had some success, they have also created frustration and unfulfilled expectations on the part of some trainees, particularly women. There is also the danger that, faced with competition from a flood of newly trained "entrepreneurs", equipped with free tool kits, existing businesses will be negatively affected. Training initiatives are beginning to recognize some of these weaknesses, to provide more support and follow-up to trainees, make links to credit programmes and upgrade training skills and capacity. However, it is questionable whether models of training set up in the immediate aftermath of conflict, to respond to an essentially political need to demobilize predominantly male soldiers, are appropriate for longer term skills development across the wider population, without considerable modification. With regard to the specific needs of women (ex-combatants or otherwise), most training provision has been in skills conventionally recognized as male. Where training has been specifically provided for women, again, this has been in stereotyped activities. A depressing number of programmes across a range of agencies have set up sewing classes for women, in spite of the obvious limitations of this as a source of livelihood. Only a few instances of "non-traditional" skills training for women were identified. Training related to agriculture (e.g. food processing), construction (e.g. brick and building materials manufacture), administrative and managerial skills, tourism and commerce would all appear to be highly relevant to women's current and potential position in the labour market. There is a need to both broaden the range of skills offered and to encourage women's participation in areas which might not be considered "female" skills. Credit programmes also have a poor record in Mozambique, and specifically have not targeted small-scale agriculture or the informal sector effectively. For this reason, few women (or men) have been able to access institutional financial support for their activities. The problem is not just lack of provision in these areas, but also poor design and management of those schemes which have attempted to give credit to small-scale enterprise, leading to high rates of non-repayment. At the same time, there are highly developed systems of informal savings and credit (xitique) in urban markets, revealing a potential for mobilizing savings, including among women. In the last two to three years, a change in attitude towards credit provision and informal sector activity is evident in Mozambique, and the Government and financial institutions have begun to take on board the need to find ways of developing the sector, drawing on experience from elsewhere. There is a danger of credit being seen as a panacea and of highly visible credit institutions becoming a focus of activity, without having learned the lessons from earlier experience both in Mozambique and elsewhere. The transition from a regime of grants and relief hand-outs to market-based financial services requires a change in approach by agencies as well as different institutional structures. Encouraging savings and the investment of own resources in economic activity is a useful starting point, which requires efforts at outreaching and creating more flexible services by financial institutions. Alongside provision of credit, a supporting infrastructure (of skills development, management, marketing, transport) is required. Changes are also required in the regulatory system and in the policing of informal sector activity, to rationalize and reduce formal and informal taxation of small-scale enterprise. In all of these areas, efforts are required to address gender biases. A major constraint to supporting women's enterprises in the informal sector or income generation is that men are often hostile to partners' independent economic activity and/or may attempt to control any cash resources coming into the household. Pressure on women's incomes from household expenses is another constraint, particularly for women who are sole incomeearners, supporting several dependants, and women often use credit for consumption purposes. Thus, credit to women may require a longer-term commitment. Lack of collateral and low levels of education are other factors, which restrict women's access to credit, suggesting a need for more flexible eligibility criteria. Women's participation rates in credit schemes have been high where commerce has been a main target and where measures have been introduced to reduce transaction costs, by simplifying procedures, e.g. using mobile bankers. These factors need to be investigated to ensure that credit delivery systems do not strengthen existing biases against women. A review of experience to date on women's participation in credit and savings schemes in Mozambique would be timely (see below). It is generally held that in post-war Mozambique initiating cooperative activities is not viable because of their association with earlier, discredited cooperatives introduced under Frelimo. In some views, this hostility towards cooperatives extends more broadly to group-based activities, and this, combined with the disruption of social structures consequent to the war, implies a lack of scope for group-based activities and a generalized distrust of formal associations. At the same time, there are imperatives for collective activity, particularly in the informal sector, where economies of scale can be achieved, e.g. by bulk-buying, or in making credit applications, where donor agencies may only consider loans above a certain size, or have a preference for group activities. And there are plenty of examples of functioning collective activities. Informal savings schemes (xitique) operate on the basis of groups. Market associations have formed in the informal sector in Maputo. Community banks have successfully been organized in Gaza. Some women have set up self-help groups (in part a result of experiences during the war, e.g. in refugee camps) and a large number of NGOs have formed in the post-war period. Many organizations see the introduction of resources and assets (even on a very small scale) into communities as an opportunity to initiate a process of rebuilding trust and reciprocity where these may have broken down, or been disrupted. Encouraging community associations to form and to register title to land, or other assets created during project activities (schools, etc.) is another mechanism being used to strengthen community ties. Such processes need to be built into the design of interventions, to ensure that women are represented on local management committees and that their rights to usufruct or ownership of assets are not sacrificed to wider "community's interests. In spite of enormous suffering, the conflict in Mozambique has brought about processes of dynamic change, including in gender relations and there are positive aspects to this for at least some women. Exposure to new environments, ideas, skills and activities, albeit under circumstances of hardship, has sewn the seeds for future initiative and enterprise for women and for greater prominence in decision-making at all levels. The task of external agencies then is to facilitate the development of women's initiative, through measures to build confidence (e.g. education and skills development at all levels, supporting the development of organizations), raise awareness (e.g. gender training, sponsoring public debate, supporting campaigns), promote changes to strengthen women's independent access to resources and capacity to retain control over incomes (e.g. savings schemes, improving property rights) and above all by increasing women's participation in the design and implementation of interventions. The socio-economic database in Mozambique is weak but rapidly developing, with the implementation of the census in 1997. In view of the availability of a greater range of accurate data to inform post-conflict planning, the ILO could provide support to government agencies and research institutions in the analysis and presentation of data on trends in labour force participation, livelihood strategies, and household composition and migration (inter-alia), including specific attention to their gender dimensions. Additionally, support to planners and policy-makers in the interpretation and use of such data would encourage greater sensitivity and responsiveness in planning. The advent of the new labour law creates an opportunity for awareness-raising and lobbying on employment rights and working conditions. The ILO has a role in supporting trade union and NGO efforts to promote public discussion and awareness of employment rights, the likely impact and relevance of the new labour law from a gender perspective and to lobby for measures which would improve conditions in sectors with a high concentration of women (particularly agriculture and the informal sector). In conjunction with the above, it would be timely to review mechanisms for monitoring implementation of labour laws and their provisions for protecting women workers from discrimination, as well as existing Conventions on gender equality in the workplace. This should include promotion of a discussion on the relevance of and mechanisms for implementing the provisions of the recent (1996) ILO Convention on homeworking. Gender analysis of the Feeder Roads Programme (FRP) has been useful in identifying a range of constraints to raising female participation and proposing measures to address existing biases. These lessons should be made more widely available and other programmes supported or executed by the ILO would benefit from similar assessments, using the pool of local gender expertise. It is also important that the recommendations of the FRP study are implemented and their impact closely monitored. This is crucial if new programmes aiming to target a broader range of groups are to succeed in attracting women, and to enhance the credibility of the ILO in terms of its commitment to promoting gender equality within its own programmes.
Post-conflict reintegration programmes (including the programme supported by the ILO) lack data to make a systematic assessment of their gender impact, although preliminary analysis suggests a failure to consider women's specific needs or broader issues of gender discrimination. The ILO should ensure that all future programmes of training and employment promotion consider gender issues in their design stages (including range of activities promoted, location of training activities, eligibility criteria, recruitment mechanisms, childcare provision, support to literacy improvement, inter alia). Consultation with relevant local women's organizations and advisory support from local gender experts would assist in this process. Existing programmes of training and employment promotion should consider as a matter of urgency mechanisms for increasing the quantity and quality of female participation. Employment of women in programme management, improved outreach using a variety of media and languages in locations and through channels accessible to women, consultation with a range of women's organizations in early design stages and also in recruitment, use of past female participants as channels to promote future participation, etc. and transparent and nondiscriminatory guidelines and procedures for recruitment are all useful ways forward. Existing and future skills training and employment programmes aiming to broaden their target group must introduce, from the earliest stages of programme design or implementation, systems for monitoring the gender breakdown of participants, and breaking down internal and external measures of effectiveness/impact by gender of participant. In addition, mechanisms are needed for gathering qualitative information about participation, through, for example, indepth followup interviews and focus group discussions, both mixed and single sex. The latter would also encourage groupbased identification and solving of problems. Attempts should be made to broaden the range of skills training offered to women beyond "typically female" activities into activities with greater market demand and higher profit margins, using pilot programmes. This diversification should be accompanied by measures to encourage women to train in areas not "traditionally" seen as female skills (including new skills acquired during the conflict period) and to assist posttraining entry into employment or selfemployment, taking account of possible discrimination faced by women. Agricultural production, processing and marketing, construction and building materials production, arts and crafts production, marketing, tourism, administrative and managerial skills, financial services, are all potential areas of viable training and activity for different groups of women, requiring further investigation. As well as obviously vocational skills, given the disruption of education systems in the war and patterns of gender discrimination in access to education, it is important that provision is made for both literacy training and academic courses as well as secondary technical education for both women and men who missed out on these opportunities during the war years. The ILO could play an important role in supporting or facilitating the development of such provision, alongside skills training or employment promotion initiatives. Curricula and teaching methods should be reviewed to examine gender sensitivity as well as relevance to the current economic and political situation. Capacitybuilding In view of the commitment to broaden the target group for future training provision, the ILO could assist in the assessment and development of existing training capacity (associated with the PROFEM initiative), including a gender perspective. Such assistance should identify organizations and individuals with a capacity to deliver training to women, beyond traditionally "female" skills (such as sewing) and include consideration of organizational measures necessary to encourage female participation in training as both providers and beneficiaries (selection criteria, pretraining literacy, range of skills offered, provision of child care, location of training, training of trainers courses). Future skills training and employment promotion activities should take account of trends in the labour market and product market demand in identifying viable areas of skills and activity, with a strong focus on informal sector activity. An awareness of gender divisions and segregation in labour and product markets must be incorporated into such assessments. Training in gendersensitive assessment of market demand, particularly in informal sector markets, would be a useful input into this process. Further research Credit and savings Given their high level of involvement in the informal sector and in agriculture, an important contribution to the promotion of women's livelihoods is to find viable mechanisms for the delivery of credit and/or provision of financial services (savings facilities). There is now considerable experience in a variety of programmes in Mozambique and it would be timely to comprehensively review lessons learned on women's participation in informal credit and savings systems and in existing and past credit/savings programmes, both general and womenspecific. (Group, individual, and creditinkind, rural and urbanbased schemes should all be considered.) This should include not just numerical assessments of female participation but also qualitative assessment of the genderspecific impact of savings/credit programmes in terms of promoting sustainable livelihoods, skills development, household welfare and decisionmaking processes, division of labour, community participation and decisionmaking. Consideration should also be given to what complementary services are required to encourage female participation. These lessons should be made widely available. Privatization There is considerable concern, including from women's organizations and trade unions, about the impact of recent and ongoing privatization programmes on employment and livelihoods while there is a lack of readily available, systematic research on this issue. Retraining and selfemployment programmes for the unemployed would benefit from detailed information on groups which are affected by privatization and on existing compensation or retraining measures. Analysis of the impact of privatization should include assessment of the gender distribution of employment losses and of the potential for retraining or selfemployment. Relevant findings could form the basis for discussion about future privatization programmes. Communitybased reintegration processes Contextspecific research into community responses to issues of violence, trauma and mental health associated with the aftermath of conflict would improve understanding of reintegration processes, and their gender dimensions. The widely held assumption that such issues are best and adequately dealt with within communities needs to be reviewed. Property rights The issue of post-war redefinition of property rights and local governance systems has major gender implications. In particular, further research is required into local practice in land allocation and transfer from a gender perspective particularly in view of the implementation of the new land law, and into women's perceptions and views on property rights. Public administration and sector reform Research into the existing structures of gender bias in public sector employment and the aspirations of women in this sector, particularly at provincial and district levels, would be a useful input into ensuring that women are not disadvantaged by the current process of public sector reform. Gender relations Changes in gender relations within the household during and following the conflict require more detailed research, which is context specific. This will be crucial to the design of interventions which aim to improve women's employment and incomeearning prospects and to support women's empowerment. 4. Gender Concerns in the Immediate Post-Conflict Period in Bosnia and Herzegovina by Martha Walsh 4.1 Summary On 14 December 1995, the Bosnian conflict officially came to an end. After nearly four years of war which engulfed the country, 250,000 persons are dead, over two million are displaced internally or abroad, the infrastructure is in ruins, the economy in collapse, and society fragmented by distrust and suspicion as well as displacement and shock. Moreover, the conclusion of the conflict resulted in the division of the country along ethnic lines. Bosnia has now moved into what is referred to as the stabilization period in which it is envisaged that the economy will be revived, selfsufficiency increased, and the return and reintegration of refugees and the displaced will be achieved. However, many political hurdles stand in the way of achieving these objectives. The gendered consequences of the war are most immediately apparent in the predominantly male death toll and from that the sexratio imbalance and increased dependency ratio in the postconflict population. These demographic factors will pose constraints to women's mobility, time, and access to resources. In addition, the exigencies of the war (e.g. the absence of male labour) necessitated women assuming responsibilities beyond those traditionally ascribed, posing a challenge to conventional gender roles and identities. Whereas fluidity in gender roles and responsibilities was accepted during the war, in the post-war era there has been an emphasis on returning to the prewar construction of gender roles, stressing women's obligations in the home. Importantly, this has been expressed by both men and women from varying class and geographical backgrounds. These attitudes will further inhibit women's ability to take advantage of strategic gains made during the war, for example increased access to and participation in community administrative structures. In many conflicts, women are seen to constitute the overwhelming majority of the displaced. However, the lack of data in Bosnia, specifically gender-disaggregated data, renders it impossible to draw any conclusions as to the makeup of the displaced population. Regardless, displacement has significant gendered consequences, relating particularly to the break-up of community structures and the ability to integrate into new environments. While both women and men rely on communities for basic forms of social exchange, women defined community organization and relations, particularly in rural settings. The break-up of carefully crafted networks based on trust and reciprocity will limit their strategies for coping with duress. The distrust which pervades Bosnia has and will continue to hamper people's ability to forge new ties or integrate into new communities, which will pose particular problems for women on their own or with children. Despite increased economic activity and efforts to improve selfsufficiency in the post-war period, many households remain vulnerable to shocks and crises. Again, it is impossible to discern from available data if women are more likely to be vulnerable than men, nor should that assumption be made. Gender is an important element determining vulnerability, notably with regard to the heavier work burden on women in the home, discrimination against women in the labour market and economy and restricted access of women to resources. However, ethnicity also remains a key determinant of vulnerability relating to preferential access to resources, benefits, and jobs. Class, age and disablement have also been seen to affect ability to cope with shock. While programmes to provide basic necessities exist for those considered most vulnerable, they fall short in not identifying and addressing the multifaceted causes of vulnerability. Efforts have been made, however, to decrease dependency and increase selfsufficiency for which employment and income generation have become central to the strategies of international donors. However, the opportunities for men and women in the labour market are starkly differentiated and seem to reflect prewar gendertyping of occupations. Women, for example, are virtually excluded from constructionrelated jobs, which is where the bulk of current job vacancies is to be found. Rather, they are encouraged to assume "traditional" occupations in administrative fields, clothing manufacture, or in the production of homemade goods. Horizontal as well as vertical segregation in the labour force, where women constitute the lowest strata, also keeps them marginalized from decisionmaking bodies and spheres of influence. Women's health declined appreciably during the war, particularly their reproductive and mental health. Concerted efforts were made by numerous international organizations to provide support to women survivors of trauma. Significantly, it was noted that one of the main causes of depression was unemployment. Moreover, where there have been sundry initiatives to address the mental health needs of women, few such programmes target men. This oversight at the same time emphasizes women as victims and neglects the health needs of men which, if unattended, may result in increased family and community violence. In considering the impact of the war on women, it is critical to appreciate the heterogeneity of the population prior to the war. Not only did different women experience the war differently, their prewar positioning informs the way in which they respond to the consequences of war, for example, among the displaced population as well as women who had been housewives with only a primary-school education and women who were urban professionals with secondary or higher qualifications. The same is true for female excombatants and other categories of what are often referred to as "waraffected" groups. The situation of women is unlikely to be improved through extant institutional structures, which in fact appear to be biased against increased participation of women in the public sphere. Women are virtually invisible in decisionmaking bodies, particularly in the political realm. Current legal and regulatory frameworks inhibit private initiatives in the business and NGO sectors. Particularly disturbing is the recent draft labour law which emphasizes women's reproductive role, diminishing opportunities for their advancement in productive capacities. Both emergency and rehabilitation assistance have been targeted at women in their domestic capacities, focussing on their practical needs, with minimal consideration or room for identification of strategic interests. Overall, there has been a limited use of participatory methodologies in the design and implementation of projects. In some cases, this has led to a misidentification of needs and sources of vulnerability. Moreover, there appear to be few gender specialists or focal points on the ground and almost no collection of gender-disaggregated data on beneficiary populations. In addition to international programmes for women, there are now over 50 local organizations run by women, mostly targeting women beneficiaries. They range in mandate from basic needs provision to human rights monitoring and encouraging women's political participation. Some organizations were founded during the war as either offshoots of international programmes or as spontaneous initiatives. Others have emerged in the post-war era. These groups clearly constitute a solid base of the civil society, yet many are reticent to engage in the public arena and have not had the institutional support which would prepare them for that role. Bosnian women's own initiatives offer the best opportunity for identifying and redressing the inequalities and barriers to women's equal participation in the economy, labour market, and key decisionmaking bodies. That so many diverse organizations have emerged is a positive sign of women's increased willingness to play active roles in emerging civil society. These efforts should be fostered, carefully, to ensure that sustainable organizations remain in place well beyond the withdrawal of the international community, to continue to serve and promote the diverse interests of women in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. 3.2 Conclusions 4.2.1 Policy and programme implications It is difficult, if not impossible, to arrive at a set of guidelines or recommendations which are applicable to every post-war situation and will guarantee the incorporation of a gender perspective and the successful involvement of women. Yet, from the research conducted in Bosnia, some broad themes arise which may be put forward for consideration in general policy and programme development. Assessment of gendered impacts of relief operations As ILO interventions occur mainly during the postconflict phase, consideration must be given not only to the effects of war on women and gender relations, but also to the gendered impact of emergency relief. The type of emergency aid and way in which it was delivered has significant implications for development and rehabilitation assistance in the postconflict era. For instance, there are documented difficulties with the mechanisms for the delivery of aid which simultaneously disempower women and increase their burdens making them less likely to participate in employment-generation schemes, vocational training and other related programmes. However, there are also instances where relief programmes have encouraged the participation of women in the planning and design of projects, fostered the growth of women's organizations, taking positive advantage of the fluidity of gender roles which often occurs during conflict.
Gendersensitive information gathering and analysis In Bosnia, the dearth of information available highlights the difficulty in making accurate overall assessments and identifying target populations without basic macrolevel data. The need for gender-disaggregated data is essential in order to fully understand the situation of women in relation to the population as a whole and within the different sectors in which they may be more disadvantaged. Further, gender analysis of target communities is necessary to understand the variances in gender relations at the household and community level which is likely to differ among population groups. In this instance, quantitative data may be insufficient to determine individual vulnerabilities and capabilities. Additionally apparent is the need for skills assessments to be conducted as soon as it is practicable, for too often it is assumed that women in postconflict situations, particularly refugee women, are deplete of skills and higher education. And, as with the case of demobilized women soldiers, the skills acquired during or because of the conflict are commonly ignored.
Focus on longterm prospects Though it is difficult in a post-war economy to predict potential growth sectors, there are usually some indicators which can be used to guide areas for training and smallscale enterprise projects. However, as seen in Bosnia, there is a tendency, found in the majority of training programmes there, to focus on a very limited number of fields which are linked to the shortterm conditions in the reconstruction phase and in particular to the presence of the international community. This is especially the case for women who have been assumed to possess few marketable or transferable skills. Hence, income-generation, training and employment schemes are generally targeting areas which will not only produce minimal income but may well be irrelevant in the future.
Non-discrimination and socio-cultural constraints to women's employment and economic empowerment
Relating to the point above, a lack of participation in a particular area on the part of women may not necessarily reflect lack of interest but rather social or cultural barriers which prevent their taking part. It is well documented that women have been unable to participate in employment and training programmes as a result of their domestic obligations. Beyond that, there is often a gender stereotyping of professionals which inhibits women's participation in specified sectors (usually better paid) of the labour market. 4.2.2 Cooperation and coordination with other programmes Recurrent in many development contexts is an overlap of projects by the different development and other agencies, particularly in post-conflict situations where chaos reigns. This problem results not only from a lack of time for substantive coordination, but also from competition for scarce resources and the dictates of donor agencies. Hence, organizations may overextend themselves, diminishing the quality of assistance provided. Beneficiaries would be better served by a process whereby programmes and projects of the varied agencies dovetailed rather than duplicate.
3.3 Considerations for ILO projects in 1997 in Bosnia and areas for further research 4.3.1 Programmes Labour information system. The development of a labour information system on labour market supply and demand is critical at this stage in Bosnia. In its development, gender must be considered, particularly with regard to the avoidance of gender stereotyping currently evident in employment data. Information and access to the system should be made readily available to women. Community development training for Bosnian women's initiative beneficiaries. Given that the development of an NGO sector is a recent occurrence in Bosnia, this training will be essential to improve the sustainability and effectiveness of the projects funded under BWI. Ideally, such training should be conducted in a Bosnian context with Bosnian facilitators. It has been mentioned that programming can be more effective if conducted by known and trusted local personnel. The training could also be complemented and enhanced by training in gender awareness and assertiveness for both beneficiaries and project managers. Labour Code. The Labour Code is problematic in its emphasis on women's reproductive role. More consideration of paternity benefits and family leave may serve as a signal of acceptance of shared responsibilities in child rearing, and hence a more fluid construction of gender roles. It may also be necessary to enact extraordinary measures to ensure women's full and equal access to all levels of employment and to all employment sectors. Support to local employment services. Clearly, the current employment institutions view the employment of women in terms of the prewar gender segregation of the labour force. Efforts could be made in the context of capacity building to encourage reconsideration of the approach to women's employment in order to enhance their opportunities in all sectors. Public works programme. Public works programmes are commonly, or at least in Bosnia, considered to be for men, mostly demobilized soldiers. Yet there are opportunities for broader community participation, including that of women, for example in the construction of libraries, parks, gardens and playgrounds, where the community has a stake. Consideration must be made of the constraints to women's participation in such projects, but they should not be assumed to be uninterested. Development of local economic development areas (LEDAs). LEDAs have proved in other areas to have been an effective strategy through which to improve the livelihoods of participants. They should offer an opportunity for women to build on and expand their skills and knowledge. Linked to the UNDP/UNOPS PROGRESS project, the involvement of women in these projects offers them an opportunity to become active participants in the revitalization of their communities as well as selfsufficient entrepreneurs. To further enhance women's potential and capacity in both enterprise and community development, a gender-awareness and assertiveness component may be added to the LEDA programme. Sustainable employment for waraffected women. The current ILO programme outline appears to address many concerns raised here. However, again, it should be emphasized that the consideration of waraffected women may not account for others who may remain particularly vulnerable, most notably Roma women. Due consideration must also be given to women's occupations, skills, and social circumstances prior to the war. Training. Bridging courses now being provided for those whose education was disrupted by war may offer the opportunity for women who achieved only primary-level education, to upgrade their academic qualifications, a need cited by both women's organizations and the Ministry of Education. 4.3.2 Further research in Bosnia Rural areas. The situation of women and gender relations in rural areas are underresearched. It was not possible in the course of this study to undertake a closer examination of the composition of the rural population and the particular constraints and opportunities for women's employment in rural areas. However, as agriculture appears to be a potential growth sector, a more thorough evaluation of women's participation in this area should be undertaken to ensure that they are not left behind. Republika Srpska. Most efforts have been concentrated on the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Logistical and political difficulties impeded further research in the RS for this study. However, the situation of women in the Republika Srpska merits closer attention, particularly with regard to the effect of the embargo and the influence of Serb nationalism on gender identities. Evaluation of postconflict projects. As the shift in assistance strategies has been recent, more time should be allowed for projects, such as the BWI-funded programmes, to get under way before a full assessment is made. However, it will be important to bear in mind, in conducting reviews of these projects, their relevance and relationship to the emerging economic priorities and labour market structure. Currently, a number of locally initiated microenterprise and training projects are based on somewhat artificial assessments of market demand given the limited information on the projected direction of the economy. Gendered impact of structural adjustment. As Bosnia has negotiated a structural adjustment programme with the International Monetary Fund, an assessment should be carried out, in due course, to evaluate the gendered impacts of the SAP programme. Experience elsewhere has illustrated that women are likely to be disproportionately negatively impacted through the implementation of SAPs, which in Bosnia may also compound the gendered impacts of the war. It is difficult, if not impossible, to arrive at a set of guidelines or recommendations which are applicable to every post-war situation and will guarantee the incorporation of a gender perspective and the successful involvement of women. Yet, from the research conducted in the immediate aftermath of the war in Bosnia, some broad themes arise which may be put forward for consideration in general policy and programme development. 5. Women's situation in the immediate postconflict Guatemala by Sean Loughna and Gema Vicente 5.1 Summary On 29 December 1996, 35 years of armed conflict in Guatemala formally came to an end. This conflict was between an armed leftist guerrilla movement seeking political and socioeconomic reform and the country's armed forces protecting their own economic interests and those of the landowning élite. In a predominantly agriculturebased economy, the military resisted attempts to reform the massively unequal patterns of land ownership and consequent socioeconomic inequity. The last period of emergency and intense conflict, from 1978 to 1985, was characterized by many thousands, of particularly rural, indigenous noncombatants, being killed, villages being destroyed, the internal and crossborder displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and the militarycontrolled resettlement of many others. The political, economic and social structure of Guatemala reflects its colonial experience and the polarity of the society that gave rise to the civil war. Spanishdescended élites continue to monopolize power; the majority of the population comprises 22 marginalized indigenous groups, speaking distinct languages. Spanish is the language of the dominant, largely westerninfluenced, culture known as ladino, although this population includes many poor people as well. Although there was a return to civilian democracy and constitutional order in Guatemala in 1986, the security forces have prevented genuine social and economic reform taking place through repression and by targeting key leaders and reformists for intimidation, torture, "disappearances" and extrajudicial execution. Weak government and an ineffective police and judiciary system have contributed to the impunity enjoyed by the security forces. The military, who were running projects in rural areas, were more concerned with security than development. The army's use of male members of the indigenous communities to act as informants as well as intimidate, torture and kill members of their own communities, has undermined, if not destroyed, the norms of communal life. Others fled, either into hiding in the jungles of Guatemala or over a border, particularly into Mexico. During the 1990s, under increasing pressure internally and internationally, the Government and military agreed to engage in negotiations with the guerrillas, eventually leading to the signing of a series of progressive and wideranging reforms. Remaining refugees, mainly in Mexico, began returning in larger numbers. However, this process of return had slowed to almost a complete halt by the end of 1996, due to a lack of available land and funding to acquire land (despite government guarantees), as well as continuing insecurity. The experience of displacement, which for some lasted over a decade, has had an enormous impact on Guatemalan society. Some of those in refuge had access to education and health services, which has greatly altered their expectations. Many lived in camps with other ethnolinguistic groups, learnt Spanish and organized themselves politically for the first time. The return of refugees has exacerbated tensions in communities already wrecked by suspicion and fear as a consequence of years of repression. Both returnees and the internally displaced may be accused of having links with the guerrillas. Competition for land is intensifying the deep divisions in some regions. The targeting of assistance exclusively to returnees in some development projects, has served to exacerbate tensions between them and other impoverished, rural populations. Diminishing state oppression however has not yet led to the hoped for Asecurity". Life in Guatemala is increasingly characterized by lawlessness and crime. People, with little faith in the police and judicial system, are taking the law into their own hands. Contrary to the wishes of the majority of the population, there is likely to be a blanket amnesty for all human rights abuses committed by both sides in the conflict. Guatemala's population reached 10.6 million in 1996, and is expected to double by 2018. Its fertility rate is still the highest in Latin America and its population is young. Fertility and mortality differ widely among the indigenous population (who mainly reside in rural areas) as compared with the ladinos, because of their differential access to resources, education and health facilities. The reproductive health situation in Guatemala is alarming. High fertility is a function of poverty, culture and lack of education. Women's mortality, including maternal mortality, is also high. Fertility rates are much higher in rural than in urban areas and among indigenous women than ladinas. The conflict in Guatemala did not substantially alter male/female ratios of the population, since, although men died in higher numbers, women formed a greater part of the crossborder migration. By the end of the period of intense violence in the mid1980s, there were an estimated 75,000 widows and 250,000 orphans. Guatemala's economy is the largest in Central America and is still dominated by the largescale plantationproduction of crops for export. Conversely, much of the rural population relies on subsistence agriculture for their family's survival, often with insufficient land. Consequently, these large plantations are able to benefit from the abundance of a lowcost, largely indigenous labour force. In Guatemala, over threequarters of all families live in poverty and are dependent on seasonal paid labour which also requires migration to other parts of the country; a third of the country live in extreme poverty. Many who are landless or uprooted by violence, are now permanently squatting in urban centers where they lack access to basic services, including adequate housing. Tax revenue is one of the lowest on the continent, and the introduction of increased tax on gross income has disproportionately elevated the burden on the poorer sectors of the population. Since the 1980s and the regional economic crisis, debt servicing and structural readjustment programmes have become top government priorities. Government expenditure on health, education and housing has reduced in real terms. The Guatemalan Government has been forced to accept the conditions of international financial institutions, which includes the ongoing privatization of most government services. As a consequence of the conflict, together with successive governments' socioeconomic reforms, the country's poor majority has become more impoverished. Among these people, the majority are indigenous people living in rural areas, especially in the north and northwest of the country. Evidence suggests that among these, women have comparatively suffered more in terms of inadequate and worsening health, education and economic opportunities. The problem of illiteracy in Guatemala has been growing. Guatemalan women's illiteracy rate is the highest in the Americas. The inadequate provision of government resources, poverty and cultural attitudes, all contribute to the limited participation of girls in education, particularly in rural areas. Even the syllabus reinforces the inferior status of women. The few training courses available for girls and women follow conventional stereotypes of their role. Several waraffected groups can be identified as being in particular need of support and assistance. A major social problem facing the Guatemalan Government is the high incidence of impoverished households headed by women. Even where a male head of household exists, he is often absent because he is required to move to find employment. A large proportion of women heading households are widows, who face a whole series of additional problems, not least societal stigmatization. The lack of economic opportunities open to women forces many of them to work in the informal sector, where there is no legislative protection, less remuneration and where they endure poor conditions. Activities for women and girls in the informal sector are mainly selling sweets, cigarettes, snacks, and so on, on the streets or working as domestic servants. Although not legal, women are strongly discriminated against in their ability to gain access to credits or loans to support their microenterprises or for the purchase of land. rAnother major social problem in Guatemala is domestic violence, which has increased significantly since the conflict. During the conflict, forces acting on behalf of the State used sexual violence extensively. These issues are highly sensitive ones in Guatemala, especially for indigenous women and girls, who make up the majority of those affected. There are no official figures on levels of violence against women, nor are there state provisions to assist or protect victims. Although Guatemala is a signatory to numerous international instruments protecting the rights of women in many areas and the Guatemalan Constitution guarantees equality between men and women, in practice these commitments are contradicted in domestic legislation. Another large and heterogeneous group in particular need of assistance as a consequence of the conflict, are returnees and the internally displaced. The Government is failing to provide land and other assistance guaranteed to these people. The shortage of land and competition for development assistance is exacerbating existing tensions between them and local populations who remained. With the recently agreed formal end to conflict and the signing of a series of progressive accords that promise comprehensive reform in Guatemala, there is a large amount of governmental, nongovernmental, intergovernmental and private money entering the country, in the form of development aid, assistance, investments and loans. Rebuilding Guatemala's wartorn society necessitates an integrated effort addressing both the impoverishment of the majority as well as the breakdown of normal relations at the community level. To achieve both of these objectives, all assistance must target the whole population, while ensuring the substantial inclusion as beneficiaries of certain disadvantaged groups. 5.2 Conclusions and recommendations With the recent completion of the peace negotiations and the soontobecompleted demobilization of former combatants, this is a unique and crucial opportunity in Guatemala's history. The accords are very progressive and promise a great deal, notably to disadvantaged groups in Guatemala. However, in order to implement the terms of these accords, Guatemala will be dependent upon substantial assistance (financial, technical, educative and advisory) from bilateral and multilateral agencies, national and foreign NGOs, as well as other sources. The challenge Guatemala faces is not to be underestimated. Over 35 years of civil war have resulted not so much in physical destruction but in the unraveling of the societal fabric with various serious and deeprooted political, cultural and psychosocial consequences. Any intervention in the country has to operate within the context of weak or inexistent local government structures, extensive inter and intracommunal conflict, competitiveness and mistrust. The police force and the judicial system are widely perceived as being underresourced, corrupt and ineffective, allowing for the continued impunity of forces acting on behalf of the State. This has allowed for the continuance of unacceptably high levels of human rights abuses; for crime levels in general to soar; for people to adopt illegal, and often violent, means to settle personal grievances; and for disenchanted communities to increasingly enact their own justice against alleged criminals by lynching them. On the whole, the conflict has particularly affected and disadvantaged the rural indigenous in the north and northwest highlands of the country, which bore the brunt of the violence. Many of these people lost their land and most of them became more impoverished. A number of key groups can be identified as continuing to particularly suffer as a consequence of the impact of the conflict on their lives. These groups include impoverished womenheaded households (especially by widows), victims of torture and sexual violence, returnees and the internally displaced. This is not to say that all members of these groups are necessarily disadvantaged or that these groups are mutually exclusive. Indigenous women in rural areas tend to have little or no formal education, are illiterate and few are Spanish speakers. These characteristics seem to be directly related to their typically early marriage, low awareness of contraception, high fertility rates as well as high infant and maternal mortality rates. The particularly poor standards of health and education endured by women in rural regions are related to a desperate lack of resources, a lack of awareness of the issues, compounded by culture and genderimposed barriers which are hostile to them redressing these problems. The differential opportunities available to men and women in education extend to economic activities in both rural and urban areas, where strict genderspecific roles apply which provide women with few incomeearning options and result in many being reliant on activity in the informal sector. This is predominantly the case for women who head households. However, as is the situation for women wishing to purchase land, in practice they have great difficulty gaining access to credits and loans to set up or develop microenterprises. Other conclusions are as follows: The war undoubtedly had an impact on gender roles. Traditional gender roles were also affected by life in exile where men's economic role was Aundermined" and women were exposed to new ideas and information. Such shifts in power between men and women are yet to be consolidated in Guatemala. Measures to this effect are therefore necessary. Development projects should contain an educational component to inform the population of the provisions extended to them in the peace accords, the principles of democratic participation and respect for human rights and tolerance. As progressive and comprehensive as the peace accords are, with poor education and flow of information, most people remain unaware of their rights. The process of educating people throughout the country of their rights has already been going on in a limited (and underresourced) extent, with the activities of PDH and MINUGUA. In collaboration with these institutions and maximizing on their presence and experience in rural areas, a programme of information and education needs to be established which encompasses all of the peace accords and other important legislation and which targets women and men throughout the country. The delivery of minimalist credit to microproducers and microvendors in the informal sector as well as to the selfemployed. Such projects can be run by specially setup parallel lending agencies (outside the formal banking system) that are taskfocused and target men and women but include specific incentives to reach women clients included in the programme design. Establishing solidarity groups for male and female microentrepreneurs may support such a programme. Currently the range of projects on offer is much too narrow and is resulting in duplication of products, rendering business uncompetitive. Microenterprises are also failing because women lack training in most of the skills required for management success, including accounts, pricing, marketing strategies, production techniques and standards. Literacy may be a prerequisite to success in some small businesses. A national literacy programme should be set up which targets men and women all over the country. Mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that indigenous women in rural areas benefit substantially from the programme. Also of great importance, is that indigenous people have the opportunity to learn to speak Spanish and access to bilingual education in a way that does not overtly favour males over females. Support should be provided to the work of the small number of grassroots organizations which are attempting to establish the truth behind Adisappearances" and to help people to come to terms with their losses and trauma. Some such groups are now broaching with women the highly taboo issues of sexual violence and domestic violence. Most of these groups are the initiatives, or involve the participation, of indigenous women. Generally speaking, westernstyle psychosocial interventions are not perceived to be appropriate in Guatemala. Guatemalan women have the right to equal opportunities and responsibilities under the law and also in accordance with the various international instruments already ratified by their country. Unfortunately there is a lack of correspondence between de jure and de facto which needs to be remedied. Women also lack sufficient knowledge of their rights in order to begin to claim them. The culture of many of the communities is also a further impediment for women's rights. The coverage of Guatemala among the countries within the ILO project on information dissemination on women workers' rights should make a positive contribution in this area. The lack of coordination of externallyfunded projects and the fact that many are designed to target one group or to favour another constitutes a threat to the reintegration of the group concerned as it could heighten their sense of identity as a group. This could hamper the reconstruction of such a wartorn society. There is considerable evidence in Guatemala that the rest of the population saw returnees as being specially privileged beneficiaries of project assistance. There is, therefore, the need to incorporate those who remained in the country during the war in the activities and services provided by the development agencies and NGOs to the returnees. Strengthening of the police service and the judicial process is critical to consolidating a genuine peace in Guatemala. Both institutions are generally perceived as being ineffective and corrupt: reform of the police is to involve the recruitment and training of a new force whereas the judicial system is to be reformed. To realise both of these objectives successfully, will necessarily require international assistance in the provision of training, based upon extensive knowledge and experience. The Guatemalan Government's plan for decentralization of government spending and increasing the role of the country's mayors should be supported. But this needs to be accompanied by reform to currently inadequate local structures to ensure that the needs of different communities within each municipality are taken into consideration and to ensure transparency generally in the distribution of funds. The strengthening of civilian institutions would facilitate this process. Relying on existing structures such as the local proimprovement committees runs the risk of strengthening a group that does not represent the community as a whole. Efforts should be made to reverse recent trends of competition for funds between different groups within communities. Where local institutions are very weak or ineffective, work can be carried out in collaboration with foreign or national NGOs. These NGOs will often need training or retraining before they themselves train and educate others. It is paramount that the provision of assistance, in whatever form, must not engage in discriminatory practices and must target the wider community or group. For instance, assistance for returnees must also target the local population; vocational education and technical training should target men and women, boys and girls. Indigenous women want any improvement to benefit all the members of their household; they wish to restore and retain their former communal life. Any initiative which fails to improve the position of men as well as that of women will, in their view, create greater rather than less gender conflict. Similarly at the community level, any group being solely targeted as beneficiaries are likely, in already divided communities where everyone perceives themselves as victims of the conflict, to be treated with hostility by others. This said, the substantial inclusion of the aforementioned groups, as beneficiaries of these policies and programmes should be ensured. With the Guatemalan social structure after the war (even with a progressive peace accord) still having the Spanishdescended élites monopolizing power and the majority of the population (the 22 indigenous groups) under privileged, greater emphasis is urgently required on the application of the International Labour Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, 1989 (No. 169), which has not only been ratified by Guatemala but is also reflected in the peace agreement. There is a need to connect the rural communities to markets to increase productivity. The provision of a network of roads is one of the highest priorities of women and others living in the rural areas. The Government and the military have constructed Allweather roads but these were situated to meet their needs and not necessarily those of the population. At present there are myriad small clusters of people who are cut off from access to commercial activities and public services by roads which are barely passable or nonexistent. If a network of roads were available throughout the country, these isolated people would be able to overcome what is the fundamental obstacle to overall development in the long term. In the short term, incomes would improve, raising household income and benefiting the women and their economic activities. Another longterm effect of opening up a network of roads would be to decrease another impediment to development, the shortage of land. The lack of access by road has excluded a great deal of land from agricultural production. Many of these remote populations include returning refugees, internally displaced and other individuals who never fled. The communities are likely to be highly fractionalized, but a road project which promises to improve the lot of its members and for which they would have to work together to realize may serve as a mechanism to reduce conflict and improve community life. 6. Women and other war-affected groups in Post-war Lebanon by Naila Nauphal 6.1 Summary The country's history since its creation in 1920 has been made of successive periods of peaceful coexistence and instability, followed by the outbreak of a war in 1975 which lasted fifteen years (1975-1990). The intensity of the conflict and its longevity has had deep human and structural effects. Since this study was undertaken in 1997, it does not cover the recent post-conflict situation in South Lebanon, following the Israeli withdrawal in 2000. The war had a devastating impact on the economy and the labour market. More than 5% of the population died, a massive movement of out-migration seriously reduced the human capital of the country that was an essential part of its previous development. A very large amount of capital flight has accompanied this emigration, depriving the country of much needed financial resources. The destruction of public infrastructure, buildings and communication networks was large scale. Since the Israeli invasion in 1982, a phenomenal slide of the value of the pound started and lasted through the remaining years of the war. Internal migration was a major determining factor of the demographic and social changes that resulted from the war. More than a million people have been displaced; some were permanently dislocated, the rest returned when hostilities ceased. The social fabric of rural and urban communities was severely affected. In most cases, displacement has disrupted the family and social networks. The imbalance in the population distribution is one of the main compelling factors for the government to organise the return of the displaced from over-populated areas to the nearly empty places of displacement. The post-war picture reflects a definite renewal of economic activity and a good degree of optimism in Lebanon. This should not, however, obliterate anxiety about signs of potential problems facing the sustainability of Lebanon's development path. Unemployment, low wages and inequitable income distribution are most important; they put the weight of reconstruction on those who can bear it the least. The government's belief that the "trickle down effect' will resolve social problems is misplaced, especially in light of the experience of Lebanon prior to the war. The war has modified the living and working conditions of the Lebanese and was responsible for the impoverishment of a large part of the population. Almost a third of the Lebanese population is estimated to live below the absolute poverty line. Two thirds of the extremely poor live in the rural areas. The weight of poverty falls unequally on various groups. Women, especially rural ones, are more discriminated against and tend to be invisible to poverty alleviation measures. From 1985 onwards the economic crisis reached unprecedented proportions and resulted in:
With the changing social structures and gender relations, the collapse of state institutions and services, male-oriented institutions and organisations, the war had a differential impact on the economic stability, access to resources and survival strategies of men and women War affected the physical and psychological well-being of the population, but women's vulnerability in health matters is both socially and biologically rooted. Women had more limited access to health care facilities. Further, the reinforcement of their maternal role during the war has led to increased responsibility towards the well-being of their children Legal and cultural factors have also contributed to the marginalisation of women. The status and conditions of women are determined by the legal premises, which define and confine women in a state of subordination. While the civil code grants equality for all its citizens, the Personal Status Laws, which regulate gender relationships, contradict all the basic legal principles of equality and non-discrimination. Thus the state sets the parameters for women's unequal positions in the political and family arenas, by accepting the unequal terms on which family laws are based. In addition, the rise of religious conservatism is a factor whose negative impact on gender relations and on the status of women should be of great concern. The >confessionalisation" of the society as a war-related phenomenon has eroded civility, sharpened the segmentation of the social fabric and lead to a breakdown of inter-communal relations. The climate of religious intolerance is paralleled by the reinforcement of patriarchal values and can only weaken further women's position. Women were not passive victims of conflict, but their active contribution to the survival of their families and groups remains largely unacknowledged. Women's survival strategies in this context included selling assets such as gold and land which jeopardised their long term financial security, transforming their domestic skills into marketable ones, and in the worse cases, resorting to socially unacceptable jobs such as prostitution. Women have also taken on tasks usually carried out by men. Their new responsibilities put additional burdens on them as their workload in the domestic arena was not alleviated accordingly. The heavier burdens are shouldered by women heads of households especially in rural areas which were more affected by displacement. Despite the fact that they were absent from decision-making as military and political actors, many women performed war-related tasks and provided essential support for militiamen. Thus, their involvement was through >active resistance". The war has opened new avenues for women by redefining their role and increased their involvement in public life. Many women have reorganised their social life around associations and participation in social work and benevolent aid. In Lebanon, new social configurations have emerged as a result of the war. A new organisational life seems to be forming in an attempt to fill a space left by the destruction of the social fabric and the disruption of family life. The relationship between some war-related phenomena (such as the disruption of the social fabric in Lebanon due to massive population transfers and migration, paralleled by the re-enforcement of sectarian cleavages) with the development of civil society should be studied. In the gap created by the breakdown of family ties there is a potential for the development of a civil society as a base for democracy. Women in post-war Lebanon are eager to join associations which represent alternative support groups.
The reorganisation of social interests in a way that cuts across sectarian denominations and traditional affiliations is essential to the establishment of a solid democracy. The importance of labour unions and women's associations in the reconstruction of the country lies in the fact that they could constitute a crosscutting, organisational basis which could bring people together around vital issues such as employment, civil and political freedoms. These organisations can thus help overcome the regional, sectarian, and partisan politics that prevailed during the war. Women have always lacked the public space where they could express their concern and organise their interests in a politically meaningful manner. These groupings are important support systems to women while providing an important escape from an environment that puts too many demands on them. The autonomy they have gained through the war has encouraged them to resist traditionally defined roles and identities imposed on them by their families and society. The imbalance in policies for intervention in a country emerging from war, in which >war-affected" women receive insufficient attention, is partly due to a lack of sensitivity to gender differences. The difficulty in adequately addressing war-affected women's needs also stems from reasons which are inherent in their condition. Women become even less visible during and following conflict because of increased isolation. They are also less able to voice their needs in times when resources are scarce because of cultural restrictions on their behaviour and expression. The lack of visibility entails restricted access to economic and political resources and inadequate needs assessment by non-governmental and inter-governmental agencies. Another fundamental issue regarding intervention towards war-affected groups in the country is the lack of a clear, defined strategy with the creation of permanent mechanisms and budget allocations. Governmental and non-governmental interventions can be characterised by an atomised approach that does not address problems at their roots. 6.2 Conclusions The analysis noted a number of methodological problems, such as in defining categories of war-affected women; and dealing with the least visible women. Categorising women into >war affected" groups with their subcategories poses methodological problem for research and intervention. The absence of clear indicators of what constitutes a >war affected" group (for the purpose of intervention) is compounded by the difficulty in determining the degree to which women are affected by war. How are women directly and indirectly affected by war demarcated from each other and how are they separated from those who >are not affected" by conflict? The second difficulty concerns the subgroups identified as displaced, excombatants and widows, which are seen and discussed as a cohesive and homogenous unit. These categories blur the complexity of women's experience during conflict and are by no means clearly defined and selfcontained. As noted, a woman may become impoverished following displacement, yet she can remain within the mainstream of society, while another displaced woman might have been pushed to the periphery, lacking basic resources. It is important to find ways to breakdown categories of vulnerable groups into more meaningful ones. Research in the intrahousehold dynamics, for instance, would show that a woman head of household has different needs in terms of training and work if she is in charge of young children and dependent elders than a woman head of household with grown up children. Micro level research is fundamental for the design of thoughtful intervention. Sustainable programmes can only be specified once the target population has been defined with greater precision. Only then can NGOs and IGOs avoid the creation of programmes, which assume the uniformity of women's needs, interests and resources. Another issue concerns the difficulty in targeting waraffected women and assessing their needs. Women become even less visible during and following conflict for reasons which were discussed earlier in the report. The lack of visibility entails restricted access to economic and political resources and inadequate needs assessment. Women are also less able to voice their needs in times when resources are scarce because of cultural restrictions on their behaviour and expression. They do not feel entitled to claim their share, and most were brought up to believe that the needs of the family and community should prevail over their own. The waraffected groups such as displaced persons, who are the largest waraffected group in the country; women head of households, especially in rural areas; youth and poor women were identified by NGOs and IGOs as vulnerable groups. Other, equally affected groups are totally ignored due to the dearth of information and the lack of visibility inherent in their situation. Some recommendations are made below which concern three of the main issues identified in the analysis. The first, addresses the structural framework in which women can create a political space for themselves, through institutional collaboration and the development of civil society, and build on the few opportunities the war has opened to them. The second addresses some specific needs of women heads of households related to training and income generation projects. Finally, the third recommendation deals with the question of group mobilisation in displaced communities. The interrelatedness of the macro and micro levels in all interventions cannot be overemphasised. Restore and develop civil society as part and parcel of efforts to expand women's political space There has been reinforcement of sectarianism as a result of the war and the division of the population along confessional lines. These phenomena have undermined emerging class identities and thwarted the evolution of social integration. They have weakened civil institutions, which became polarised. The report also pointed out the increased tendency towards narrow religious interpretations of the role and position of women in society. The above is required for a number of objectives:
For many women these groupings represented a >safe haven" where they could take refuge from daily struggle for survival and share their experiences with others in an unpressured, therapeutic manner. Women's survival strategies need to be supported through the reinforcement of their formal and informal associations; Support survival strategies through training Another type of intervention would require the organisers to listen to the people. They could use the devise of selfhelp groups to identify the needs and the local strategies of survival and support the kinds of jobs women/ men devise for themselves. They can listen to their comments on their experience of conflict as a way of accommodating it in the group. In most cases, the targets are >conventional females roles". For instance, in an urban setting, a woman can transpose her role at home to catering for others. Although the feminist literature insists on liberating women from their confinement in traditional activities, these should not be undermined since they represent cultural and local competence and skills. Organisations should pursue and fund those goals since they become lowrisk in the process of being identified and targeted. In rural areas the number of female headed households has increased during the war. Migration of men to urban centres or abroad, has forced women to face alone the workload and put up with harsh working conditions. Often women had to become the main income generating persons in the family. These problems are aggravated by the size of most rural families. The absence of the father meant also that their maternal role and responsibilities increased. These women are often illiterate. It is important to target the informal sector which absorbed the majority of women who had to earn income during the war. Their involvement in the informal sector will be affected by privatisation and structural adjustment. Thus more research is needed on the impact those policies on women's work in this sector. It is also important to target community based strategies to strengthen them. Considering that the government is weakened by the lack of resources in the postwar era, NGOs will have a major role. Research is needed on intrahousehold dynamics after conflict. Women with dependent children or elderly persons do not have the same needs as women in with adult children. Women who have young children, might prefer home-based activities. It is only when such research is done that NGOS and IGOs can target effectively groups of waraffected women. In addition to offering new skills training, one has to build on their existing capacity and skills and see how they can be marketable. The women can, for example form microenterprises rather. Women in desperate situations will also need to improve their access to social benefits. Thus intervention should be upstream and downstream to be effective. Thus, at the policy level, intervention should aim at modifying those restrictions on women's access to social security. The Law of Benefits and Services is discriminatory for women, and decrees (such as decree no 3950) also restrict their equal access to benefits. For instance, a woman head of household with a husband who is incapacitated, will only be reimbursed at 50 per cent for medical expenses, while the husband will get 75 per cent back. Promoting group mobilisation within the context of the disrupted community relations The war provoked massive population shifts which resulted in an imbalance in population distribution, with a high concentration in the receiving urban areas. For the displaced people, "going home" might not be the natural outcome of a decade or more of exile. Going back will not automatically create a sense of belonging since population shifts have generated new ties and new community allegiances. Considering the conditions under which many of the displaced have fled, return will not necessarily restore a sense of moral obligation to neighbours and local residents, especially in the villages that have been the scene of bloody confrontations, either between the inhabitants or between them and neighbouring villages. The Ministry of the Displaced has devised a programme to encourage the local reconciliation between returnees and local residents. The programme encourages the participation of the returning populations through the creation of village committees representing the returnees (Lijan al Awda), and committees of the residents. Those committees were formed so the government > would pay attention to the needs of the local community >, and in order to involve the population in the planning process (MOD 1996). Unfortunately, this collaboration was not very successful according to people interviewed. The failure was perceived to be the consequence of a >disguised participatory approach" hiding a topdown policy. Unemployment, lack of resources and lack of infrastructure in the villages of return jeopardise the peaceful "reintegration" of the returnees. The reconstruction of the socioeconomic infrastructure is a priority needed for rebuilding the social fabric. Both qualitative and quantitative researches are needed. Participatory needs appraisal should be favoured in all cases of intervention as it becomes a tool for promoting intra/intercommunity dialogue. However, the common approach found in the country based on the involvement of focus groups formed by formal and informal representatives of the communities, is not sufficient. The report has argued that those leaders are usually men, and as such, are not aware of the specific needs of women. Therefore the presence of women has to be ensured among each group and at every step of the intervention. The neutrality and credibility of the agencies involved in mediation is also a precondition for success. The first step towards establishing a dialogue between hostile communities is by bringing them to identify a common and immediate need, and build on this. One can also recommend certain basic activities that bring people together, such as initiating projects which the population has an expressed need for. Schools, wells, churches, and mosques are all located in public spaces and serve a common purpose. One proposal that fulfils these criteria is the digging of wells, traditionally built in central squares or in areas which symbolise communal activity and guarantee common use. Targeting women should necessarily be subsumed to the reconstruction of the whole community, therefore the above proposal should be gender sensitive. As fieldwork indicated, women tend to be more easily mobilised and, in this particular respect, the more likely users of reconstructed communal resources. For instance, while construction of wells will be mainly dependent on men's labour, their use will be dependent on the participation of women. Projects, which include women as part of an overall scheme, while identifying their different needs and contributions, are more sustainable because they guarantee dual wage and minimise the risks of intrafamily conflict. Projects aiming at directly changing roles create tensions and anxiety, and would only increase the risk of confrontations. 7. Gender and agricultural livelihoods in conflict and post-conflict contexts: A brief summary by(10)Monica Trujillo 7.1 Summary The chapter covers agricultural livelihoods in the conflict affected context. It captures the different phases "before", "during" and "after" conflict. The "before" phase refers largely to pre-conflict "normal" conditions and facilitates comparative analysis with the following two phases. It also identifies opportunities, best practices and some research needs. The bulk of current wars are in developing countries where a large proportion of women in the labour force are engaged in this sector. Armed conflicts have a direct impact on agriculture. Violence and widespread destruction cause a substantial decline in production, especially monetised agriculture. Yet, small-scale and subsistence agriculture, which predominates among women, tends to grow sharply in relative terms. A number of coping strategies are adopted including shifts in farming patterns, crop diversification, production of short-cycle crops, and intensification of subsistence production. However, there is little systematic analysis of how war impacts on female agricultural production, for example the extent of losses in Afemale" crops, or shifts in the division of agricultural labour between women and men. Does the intensification of subsistence agriculture suggest that female production is less vulnerable to crises such as war? If so, this would suggest an added reason for strengthening women's coping strategies. More systematic and comparative analysis would help to improve our understanding of this important sector of female employment. Most emergency and rehabilitation assessments count losses in staple cash crops, which are associated with male production. Thus, men tend to benefit from seeds for agricultural recovery that are distributed. Although women contribute labour they do not retain or control the income generated from cash crops. Percentage losses in all local crops, whether female or male, should be a fundamental input to programme design and planning in response to conflict. In spite of the growing body of evidence that reveals the central role of women in agriculture, case material suggests that rural farming systems are still assumed to be male domains by policy-makers and practitioners in post-conflict policies and programmes. Given the trend in the feminisation of agriculture, policy interventions should make an additional effort to focus on women. This would also contribute: (a) to restore losses caused by war, (b) to improve agricultural productivity; and (c) to improve food security and income. It would be especially useful to develop key gender-sensitive indicators for agricultural assessments which will facilitate mapping women's war-time and post-war productive activities in agriculture, income trends and so on. Such tools would also facilitate rapid data collection and hence rapid response. Finally, one crucial concern with respect to agriculture is access to land. Many women face the structural disadvantage of being denied the legal right to own land or property, and there is indication that conflict increases women's landlessness and homelessness. This post-war reconstruction phase presents an opportunity for reforming or establishing new laws to foster a more just and equitable society, including women's right to land and property. This is especially critical for returning female refugees and the internally displaced and those widowed by war. Finally, gender sensitivity means directing resources also to agriculture, self-employment and the informal economy. This ensures that policy and practice are based on where women are located in the economy during and after war. Furthermore, in addition to ILO's traditional social partners in stable and conflict-affected countries who tend to be male-dominated situations, ILO should also reinforce its partnerships with women's organizations and coalitions as a feature of its gender-sensitivity in conflict response. 7.2 Conclusions Efforts should be made to: · promote women's rights to land and property, particularly in land reforms, new land development projects and housing projects after war; and · invest resources in those sectors where women predominate in conflict and post-conflict situations, namely agriculture, self-employment and the informal economy. This ensures that policy and practice are based on where women are located in the war and post-war economy. Relevant ILO Materials in Crisis I. Selected outputs of the IFP/CRISIS since September 1999: Date-Bah, E.: Gender in Crisis Response and Reconstruction (Mar. 2000). Date-Bah, E.: "Economic Aspects of post-conflict rehabilitation: the challenges of transformation", OSCE's Eighth Economic Forum (Prague, 11-14 April 2000). Date-Bah, E.: InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction and its Research Needs (May 2000). Enarson, Elaine: Gender and Natural Disasters, IFP/CRISIS Working Paper No. 1 (Geneva, Sept. 2000). ILO: Tackling the Employment Challenges of Armed Conflict: Key ILO Tools (Geneva, Sept. 1999). ILO: Crisis Response and Reconstruction: An ILO InFocus Programme (Geneva, Nov. 1999). ILO: Employment for Peace in Sierra Leone (Dec. 1999). ILO: ILO Strategy and activities on employment and social concerns in crisis situations, Second Item on the Agenda, Committee on Employment and Social Policy, GB.277/ESP/2 (Geneva, Mar. 2000). ILO: Programme for Employment Recovery and Reduction of Economic Vulnerability - A Response to the Floods of Mozambique (Maputo, Mar.-Apr. 2000). ILO: Generic Modules on ILO's Response to Crises (Draft, Apr. 2000). ILO: Rapid Needs Assessment Manual (Draft, Apr. 2000). ILO: ILO Programme Proposals in Response to East Timor's Employment and Reconstruction Challenges (Geneva, June 2000). ILO: Report on Consultation with Workers and Employers Delegates (Jun. 2000). ILO: Framework for Post-Conflict Employment Promotion and Socio-economic Integration in South Lebanon (IFP/CRISIS and ROAS, Beirut, Jul. 2000). ILO: Report on High Level Research Consultation on Crisis (Geneva, Aug. 2000). Krishnamurty, J.: ILO Presentation to the Humanitarian Segment of ECOSOC (19-20 Jul. 2000). OIT: Programa de Recuperación de Empleos y de Reducción de la Vulnerabilidad Socioeconómica en Venezuela, (Caracas, Abril del 2000). II. Other relevant ILO materials on crisis A. Action Programme on Skills and Entrepreneurship Training for Countries Emerging from Armed Conflict (a) Key products: ILO: Towards a framework for ILO policy and action in the conflict-affected context: Training and employment promotion for sustainable peace (Geneva, ILO, 1997). ILO: ILO policy on conflict-affected countries, draft statement adopted by the ILO Interregional Seminar on the Reintegration of Conflict-Affected Groups (Geneva, ILO, 1997). ILO: Guidelines for employment and skills training in conflict-affected countries (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Also available in French and Spanish. ILO: Gender guidelines for employment and skills training in conflict-affected countries (Geneva, ILO 1998). Also available in French and Spanish. ILO: Employment for peace: The ILO's comprehensive programme of technical assistance to conflict-affected countries (Geneva, ILO, 1997). ILO: Compendium of employment promotion initiatives in the conflict-affected countries (Draft, Geneva, ILO). ILO: Capacity building of employment promoters in conflict-affected countries: A training package (Draft, Geneva, ILO). ILO: Quick access to recommendations and findings of the "Action Programme on Skills and Entrepreneurship Training for Countries Emerging from Armed Conflict" (Geneva, 1998). (b) Working papers, reports and other materials Baden, S.: Post-conflict Mozambique: Women' special situation, population issues and gender perspectives to be integrated into skills training and employment promotion (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Bryant, C.A.: Training and employment programmes for war-affected populations: Lessons from experience in Mozambique (ILO, Geneva, May 1997). Cramer, C.; Weeks, J.: Analytical foundations of employment and training programmes in conflict-affected countries (Geneva, ILO, Dec. 1997). Date-Bah, E.: Sustainable peace after war: Arguing the need for major integration of gender perspectives in post-conflict programming (ILO, Geneva, May 1996). ---.: ILO experiences in rebuilding conflict-affected communities through employment promotion, paper presented at Round Table on Rebuilding Communities Affected by Armed Conflict (Philippines, June 1997). Dilli, D.: Handbook - Accessibility and tool adaptations for disabled workers in post-conflict and developing countries (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Gassama, M.: Role of the Ministry of Labour and other labour institutions in reintegration, reconstruction and peace-building processes: The case of Sierra Leone (Draft, Geneva, ILO, 1998). Hakemulder, R.: Promoting local economic development in a war-affected country: The ILO experience in Cambodia (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Also available in French and Spanish. ILO: ILO and conflict-affected peoples and countries: Promoting lasting peace through employment promotion (Turin, ILO, 1997). ---: Towards a model for dynamic training support of ILO constituents: Promoting employment in conflict-affected countries (Geneva, ILO 1997). ---: Trade unions in conflict-affected countries: Experiences and roles in peace negotiation, social healing, reconstruction and development, Report on a meeting for workers' delegates (Geneva, June 1997). ---: Report of the ILO Interregional Seminar on Reintegration of Conflict-affected Groups through Skills Training and Employment Promotion (Geneva, ILO, 1997). ---: "From war to work: Giving peace - and people - a chance", in World of Work, No. 20, (Geneva, ILO, June 1997). ---: "Employment generation," chapter in Role of the UN system in post-conflict recovery (Geneva, ILO, 1997) ---: Challenges for skills training and employment promotion in a country emerging from armed conflict, Report on an ILO Seminar, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 1997 (Geneva, ILO, 1997). ---: The role of the ILO in reconstruction of conflict-affected countries, in Proposal for the agenda of the 88th Session (2000) of the International Labour Conference, GB. 270/P (Rev.2) (Geneva, ILO, November 1997). Also available in French and Spanish. Lobner, S.: Life skills for the world of work: Experiences in South Africa (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Loughna, S.; Vicente, G.: Population issues and the situation of women in post-conflict Guatemala (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Maslen, S.: The reintegration of war-affected youth: The experience of Mozambique (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Medi, E.: Mozambique: Study of vocational rehabilitation, training and employment programmes for persons disabled by the conflict, experiences and issues (Geneva, ILO,1997). ---: Angola: Study of vocational rehabilitation, training and employment programmes for persons disabled by the conflict: Experiences and issues (Geneva, ILO, 1997, after revision). Muhumuza, R. (with Poole, J.): Guns into ox ploughs: A study on the situation of conflict-affected youth in Uganda and their reintegration into society through training, employment and life skills programmes (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Nagarajan, G.: Developing financial institutions in conflict-affected countries: Emerging issues, first lessons learnt and challenges ahead (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Nauphal, N.: Post-war Lebanon: Women and other war-affected groups (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Smith, N.: ILO's technical assistance projects in conflict-affected countries: A sample (Geneva, ILO, 1997). Specht, I.; Van Empel, C.: Programme enlargement: The Liberian experience (Draft, Geneva, ILO, 1998) Walsh, M.: Post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina: Integrating women's special situation and gender perspectives in skills training and employment promotion programmes (Geneva, ILO, 1997). B. Ex-combatants ILO: Manual on training and employment options for ex-combatants (Geneva, ILO, forthcoming). ILO: Reintegration of demobilized combatants through (self-) employment and training: An issues paper (Geneva, ILO, 1995). ILO: Labour market assessments for the reintegration of ex-combatants in war-affected sub-Saharan African countries. Practical guidelines (Geneva, ILO, 1995). ILO: Reintegrating demobilized combatants: The role of small enterprise development (Geneva, ILO, 1995). ILO: Reintegration of young ex-combatants into civilian life (Geneva, ILO, 1995). ILO: Reintegrating demobilized combatants: Experiences from four African countries (Geneva, ILO, 1995). ILO: Relevance and potential of employment-intensive works programmes in the reintegration of demobilized combatants (Geneva, ILO, 1995). ILO: Rehabilitation and reintegration of disabled ex-combatants (Geneva, ILO, 1995). ILO: Framework of guidelines for reintegration of demobilized combatants through training and employment (draft) (Geneva, ILO, 1996). ILO: Report of the Expert Meeting on the Design of Guidelines for Training and Employment of Ex-combatants (Africa region), Harare, Zimbabwe, 11-14 July 1995 (Geneva, ILO, 1996). Srivastava, Ramesh: Reintegrating demobilized combatants: A report exploring options and strategies for training-related interventions (Geneva, ILO, 1994). C. Other relevant materials Lazarte, Alfredo: "Desarrollo Economico Local: Promoviendo el Desarrollo Humano Sostenible a nivel local en el marco de la Consolidacion de la Paz", 41pp. (Ginebra, 1996). Lazarte, Alfredo: "Developement Economique Local: Promotion du Developement Humain Durable a niveaux local dans le cadre de la Consolidation de la Paix", idem., 41pp. (Ginebra, 1996). Lazarte, Alfredo: "Las Agencias de Desarrollo Economico Local: Promoviendo la Empresarialidad en el marco del Desarrollo Humano Sostenible - El Caso de Centroamerica-", 13pp. (1995). Lazarte, Alfredo: "Les Agences de Developement Economique Local: Promouvoir l'Esprit d'Entreprise dans le cadre du Developement Humain Durable- Le cas de l'Amerique Centrale-", 13pp. (1995). Lazarte, Alfredo: "El Financiamiento del Desarrollo Economico Local: Como enfrentar los costos del desarrollo?- La Experiencia del Programa PRODERE" 15pp. (1995). Lazarte, Alfredo "Le Financement du Developement Economique Local: Comme fair face aux frais du developement? - l'experience du Programme PRODERE", 15pp. (1995). Martinez, Daniel: "Apoyo a la reinsercion economica de los ex-combatientes en la Republica de El Salvador" (1992). Peri Paredes/UNOPS: "El Conflicto Centroamericano y la Experiencia del PRODERE", 37 pp., (1997). Revilla, Victor: "Examen critico de la Partipacion de la OIT en el Programa de Desarrollo para Desplazados, Refugiados y Repatriados en Centroamerica -PRODERE-". 38pp. (San Jose, 1993). World Summit on Social Development: "PRODERE" in: Building a consensus on International Cooperation For Social Development: A focus on Societies in Crisis, pp. 11-14, (Copenhagen 1995). Some of the IFP/CRISIS materials are available on its website: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/recon/crisis/index.htm How to obtain documents Ø Priced items published by the ILO: ILO Publications, International Labour Office, 4, Route des Morillons CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. Tel.: +41-22-799 6938 Fax: +41-22-799 8578 (A complete catalogue is available on request. or visit http://www.ilo.org/public/english/support/publ for more information). Ø Working papers and all other documents may be requested directly from: InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction International Labour Office, 4, Route des Morillons CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. Tel.: +41-22-799 7069 or 7591 Fax: +41-22-799 6189 E-Mail: ifpcrisis@ilo.org 1. Africa has, however, had an unfair share. In a report to the United Nations Security Council in March 1998, the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, pointed out that "since 1970, Africa has had more than 30 wars ...the vast majority of which have been intrastate in origin. Fourteen of Africa's 53 countries were afflicted by armed conflicts in 1996 alone. These accounted for more than half of all war-related deaths worldwide and resulted in more than 8 million refugees, returnees and displaced persons". (International Herald Tribune, Saturday-Sunday, May 2-3, 1998). 2. For more detailed bibliography, see relevant ILO working papers and manuscripts on the subject. 3. For analysis of the framework and the literature which underpins it, see Date-Bah, E.: Sustainable peace after war: Arguing the need for major integration of gender perspectives in post-conflict programming (Geneva, ILO, May 1996). 4.The UN Administrative Committee on Coordination (1995) has identified the post conflict situation as the most critical case facing the United Nations system and requiring priority consideration. 5. The Employment (Transition from War to Peace) Recommendation (No. 71), adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1944, for example, observed that the character and magnitude of the employment adjustments required during the transition from war to peace will necessitate special action, more particularly for the purpose of facilitating the reemployment of demobilized members of the armed forces, discharged war workers, and all other persons whose usual employment has been interrupted as a result of the war ". 6. It is observed, for example that "unlike in Viet Nam where women fought in the wars and, thereby gained status, the effects of war appear to have led to a deterioration in the position of women in Cambodia" (UNFPA Country support team for East and South-East Asia, 1995). 7. For example: Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111); Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100); Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156); the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979). 8.I am grateful to Patricia Pereira, the coordinator of the ILO Action Programme on Skills and Entrepreneurship Training for Countries Emerging from Armed Conflict, and Yaw Ofosu, my colleague in the Population and Development Unit of the Development Policies Branch, for their valuable comments on an earlier draft of this document. 9.Owing the large number of needs, the need for prioritization and sequencing of the different interventions has for example been observed (ILO, January 1994, p. 100). 10. For a more detailed analysis of the issue and others, see the full report, Trujillo, M.: The Socio-Economic Dimension of Conflict and Post-Conflict Contexts (Geneva, ILO, 2000, unpublished manuscript).
Updated by GT. Approved by EDB. Last
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Updated by GT. Approved by EDB. Last update: 10 January 2002.
