“Which women? What agenda?” Situating WPS in North Africa: the case of Tunisia

The debate on the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda has taken root in Tunisia after the 2010-11 revolution, in the context of women’s push for democratic reforms and increasing non-state political violence. Although Tunisia adopted a National Action Plan (NAP) for implementing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1325 (Res. 1325) in 2018, the WPS dossier has aroused little interest among civil society (CS) so far. This article aims to investigate the relationship between the international agenda and local change. On the one hand, it analyses the extent to which the WPS debate and practice is representative of Tunisian women’s needs, perspectives and expectations, trying to unpack the issue of which women and what agenda they advance and represent. On the other, it examines the main achievements and challenges in terms of implementing the 2018 NAP in an effort to discern whether this Plan is reframing the concept of security in Tunisia

Disruptions in the ENP Cycle: EU Gender Policies in Tunisia from a ‘Decentring Perspective’

The article explores how policy actions generated by the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) are enacted in partner countries as the result of cooperation between their governments and EU headquarters and between local actors and EU delegations (EUDs). By borrowing insights from the literature on EU democracy support and on external perceptions of the EU, the article considers the implementation of EU gender policies in Tunisia through the analytical lens of the ‘policy cycle model’. It adopts a ‘decentring perspective’ privileging local actors’ needs, expectations and viewpoints, which reveals that major disruptions in the implementation of EU gender policies derive more from the organization’s bureaucratic rigidity than from the way policy is conceived. The EU does not properly address these disruptions, because of a mix of procedural constraints and political prioritization, which affect the functioning of the ENP cycle. This risks undermining desired outputs at the local level and questions the so-called EU ‘local turn’ that accelerated especially after 2011. The article concludes that the ‘policy cycle model’ can be a useful analytical tool to examine other ENP policies, especially if combined with a ‘decentring perspective’

Women movements’ perspective on the WPS Agenda in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Assessing “human security” and peacebuilding

Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the first countries in the Western Balkans to adopt a National Action Plan (NAP) for implementing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1325 (Res. 1325) and it is currently completing the implementation of its third NAP. More than a decade after the adoption of the first NAP, however, not all the parties concerned agree on what results have been obtained: while national institutions highlight achievements in the sectors of security and defence, women’s movements claim that these measures have failed to promote a different understanding of peace and security. Given this context, the article aims to further investigate this tension by analysing how the concept of “human security” and more substantial involvement on the part of local civil society could improve the impact of the WPS Agenda at the local level

“Which women? What agenda?” Situating WPS in North Africa: the case of Tunisia

The debate on the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda has taken root in Tunisia after the 2010-11 revolution, in the context of women’s push for democratic reforms and increasing non-state political violence. Although Tunisia adopted a National Action Plan (NAP) for implementing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1325 (Res. 1325) in 2018, the WPS dossier has aroused little interest among civil society (CS) so far. This article aims to investigate the relationship between the international agenda and local change. On the one hand, it analyses the extent to which the WPS debate and practice is representative of Tunisian women’s needs, perspectives and expectations, trying to unpack the issue of which women and what agenda they advance and represent. On the other, it examines the main achievements and challenges in terms of implementing the 2018 NAP in an effort to discern whether this Plan is reframing the concept of security in Tunisia

Powered by caring: daily struggles to keep the WPS Agenda alive. Interview with Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini

This interview originated from the encounter between the guest editors of the Special Issue and Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini during the activities of the project “Enhancing Women’s Participation in Peace and Security (WEPPS)”. The interview was held via Zoom on the afternoon of October 1, 2021. At the time, the international community was dealing with the consequences of the sudden US withdrawal from Afghanistan that occurred on August 31. Sanam Naraghi Anderlini is a British-Iranian activist and researcher who has acquired about twenty-five years of experience in the field of women, peace and security. Having participated as a civil society leader to the drafting of UNSC Resolution 1325, she has worked in several projects and initiatives concerning women’s participation to peacebuilding processes. Founder and Executive Director of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), she spearheads the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL). She is the author of Women Building Peace, What they do, Why it Matters (Lynne Reinner Publishers, 2007). In 2011, she was appointed as the first Senior Expert on Gender and Inclusion on the UN Mediation Standby Team. She has been working in a number of conflict situations in different regions of the world (e.g. Somalia, Libya, Syria, Nepal). In 2019, she joined the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) as Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security. In 2020, she was awarded an MBE for her services to International peacebuilding and Women’s Rights

Women movements’ perspective on the WPS Agenda in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Assessing “human security” and peacebuilding

Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the first countries in the Western Balkans to adopt a National Action Plan (NAP) for implementing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1325 (Res. 1325) and it is currently completing the implementation of its third NAP. More than a decade after the adoption of the first NAP, however, not all the parties concerned agree on what results have been obtained: while national institutions highlight achievements in the sectors of security and defence, women’s movements claim that these measures have failed to promote a different understanding of peace and security. Given this context, the article aims to further investigate this tension by analysing how the concept of “human security” and more substantial involvement on the part of local civil society could improve the impact of the WPS Agenda at the local level

The Women, Peace and Security Agenda: time to gild the cracks?

Special Issue Introductio

Powered by caring: daily struggles to keep the WPS Agenda alive. Interview with Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini

The interview originated from the encounter between the Guest Editors and Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini during the activities of the project “Enhancing Women’s Participation in Peace and Security (WEPPS)”. The interview was held via Zoom on the afternoon of October 1, 2021. At the time, the international community was dealing with the consequences of the sudden US withdrawal from Afghanistan that occurred on August 31

The p75NTR-induced Apoptotic Program Develops through a Ceramide-Caspase Pathway Negatively Regulated by Nitric Oxide

SK-N-BE neuroblastoma cell clones transfected with p75(NTR) and lacking Trk neurotrophin receptors, previously reported to undergo extensive spontaneous apoptosis and to be protected by nerve growth factor (NGF) (Bunone, G., Mariotti, A., Compagni, A., Morandi, E., and Della Valle, G. (1997) Oncogene 14, 1463-1470), are shown to exhibit (i) increased levels of the pro-apoptotic lipid metabolite ceramide and (ii) high activity of caspases, the proteases of the cell death cascade. In the p75(NTR)-expressing cells, these parameters were partially normalized by prolonged NGF treatment, which, in addition, decreased apoptosis, similar to caspase blockers. Conversely, exogenous ceramide increased caspase activity and apoptosis in both wild-type and p75(NTR)-expressing cells. A new p75(NTR)-expressing clone characterized by low spontaneous apoptosis exhibited high endogenous ceramide and low caspase levels. A marked difference between the apoptotic and resistant clones concerned the very low and high activities of nitric-oxide (NO) synthase, respectively. Protection from apoptosis by NO was confirmed by results with the NO donor S-nitrosoacetylpenicillamine and the NO-trapping agent hemoglobin. We conclude that the p75(NTR) receptor, while free of NGF, triggers a cascade leading to apoptosis; the cascade includes generation of ceramide and increased caspase activity; and the protective role of NO occurs at step(s) in between the latter events

Momento Económico (46)

En este número Momento político: La ofensiva conservadora y la nueva Ley Federal del trabajo, Víctor M. Bemal Sahagún 2. ¿De cuál desarrollo y de cuáles regiones se trata en el Plan Nacional?, Angel Bassols Batalla 3. El Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 1989-1 994, Luis Fuentes Aguilar 10. Fernando Carmona de la Peña: Maestro emérito, Benito Rey Romay 12. José Luis Ceceiía Camez, Maestro emérito, Alma Chapoy Bonifaz y Salvador Martínez Della Roca 13. La deuda externa del llamado Tercer Mundo y la paz, Ramón Matínez Escamilla 14. Cananea: entre la quiebra y la privatización otro golpe a los trabajadores, José Casca Zamora 17. Paraestatales: Telmex y Pemex, Arturo Bonilla y Sergio Suárez Guevara 20. Los verdaderos alcances de la renegociación de la deuda externa de México, José Lorenzo Santos Valle 22. Indicadores económicos: México balance económico de los sectores primer semestre de 1989, Clara Eugenia Aranda 25. Temas de hoy José Antonio Moreno 32