Global Review of Challenges and Good Practices in Support of Women in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations

Studies show that refugee and displaced women are treated differently from men and are also affected differently by conflict and displacement. They have special concerns stemming from their special experiences. Displaced women and girls face such challenges as malnutrition; shelter; reproductive health, including childbirth and family planning; rape and sexual abuse; relocation stress; role strains and role change; family separation; and perceived hopelessness. This report of a workshop and meeting addresses the issues and outlines ways of improving the response to these interwoven challenges.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been in the forefront of implementing United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. The resolution recognizes that women experience war differently from the way men do, and that women’s participation in peace and post-conflict reconstruction processes is essential in programme interventions in conflict and post-conflict situations. Such interventions include: • Ensuring access to comprehensive health information and services, including sexual and reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS prevention; • Strengthening relevant sectors to ensure an effective response to gender-based violence, in part by sensitizing and training those working in areas of conflict and camps; • Working to empower women through training and capacity-building to ensure their presence and representation at decision-making levels by working with grass-roots organizations as well as by strengthening institutional frameworks for developing national plans for implementing resolution 1325.