This blog is part of the WPS Forum on 15 Years of UK WPS. Carol Cohn and Claire Duncanson discuss strategic policy opportunities to boost the UK Government WPS agenda in climate justice and gender equality

Cohn, Carol

Duncanson, Claire

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LSE Research Online

09/01/2023, 15:44 Domestication of the UK National Action Plan: Considerations from Northern Ireland | LSE Women, Peace and Security bloghttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/wps/2022/10/19/domestication-of-the-uk-national-action-plan-considerations-from-northern-ireland/ 1/7Jonna Monaghan Dr Aisling Swaine October 19th, 2022Domestication of the UK National Action Plan: Considerationsfrom Northern Ireland0 commentsEstimated reading time: 3 minutesThis blog is part of the WPS Forum on 15 Years of UK WPS Jonna Monaghan and Aisling Swaine discuss how institutions and civil society inNorthern Ireland have a role to play in advancing implementation of WPS. They outlinetwo key areas where ‘domestication’ of WPS through the next UK NAP would be relevant. Women in Northern Ireland, as anywhere, are a diverse population, with widely differingviews on social, political and economic issues affecting the region, including thoserelated to the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland and its ongoing peacebuilding processes.However, gender responsive structures, access to high quality services and inclusivedecision making systems are vital to the lives of all women and girls. This has long beenthe focus of women’s civil society in Northern Ireland, as a cornerstone for an equal,sustainable and peaceful future for all. Engagement with women by for exampleNorthern Ireland Rural Women’s Network and Women’s Resource and DevelopmentAgency shows that women value the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, which remains thebasis for many of the equality provisions that inform public policy.Prior to the adoption of UNSCR 1325 in 2000 and indeed since, women’s civil societyhave been instrumental in advancing peace in Northern Ireland. Many organisations see09/01/2023, 15:44 Domestication of the UK National Action Plan: Considerations from Northern Ireland | LSE Women, Peace and Security bloghttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/wps/2022/10/19/domestication-of-the-uk-national-action-plan-considerations-from-northern-ireland/ 2/7the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda as a signi cant and relevant internationalframework that should both inform implementation of the broader peace agreement, aswell as be implemented as a distinctive policy agenda in itself. In particular, the sectorfeels this would help strengthen women’s meaningful participation in policy and decisionmaking, and to prioritise gender equality.Opportunities have been missed, not least in the context of the UK’s National Action Plan(NAP) on WPS, three iterations of which have failed to substantively recognise thatinstitutions and civil society in Northern Ireland have a role to play in advancingimplementation of WPS.A gendered approach to peacebuilding in NorthernIreland, particularly in the context of the UK’sobligations under the WPS agenda, is as relevant here,as it is anywhere else. While advancing theparticipation and representation of women, andensuring gendered responses to the legacy of theTroubles remain ongoing priorities, they also remain tobe fully realised.The next UK NAP should thereby be designed in line with existing global good practicethat evidences the importance of coordination and inter-departmental involvement andleadership on WPS implementation, framed through a NAP. In the case here, it is theleadership available through the devolved administration in Northern Ireland, along withwomen’s civil society actors.We outline two key areas where ‘domestication’ of WPS through the next UK NAP wouldbe relevant – participation, which we tie to broader policy concerns across the UK interms of women’s basic needs and rights; and legacy issues related to the Troubles inNorthern Ireland. Devolution in Northern Ireland remains volatile, while at the same time,09/01/2023, 15:44 Domestication of the UK National Action Plan: Considerations from Northern Ireland | LSE Women, Peace and Security bloghttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/wps/2022/10/19/domestication-of-the-uk-national-action-plan-considerations-from-northern-ireland/ 3/7its role in leading gendered approaches to peacebuilding is an ongoing imperative. Thecontribution of women and women’s organisations to peacebuilding has always beenand remains signi cant, but also goes largely unrecognised. There is ongoing need toaddress gendered barriers to peace and peacebuilding and for building trust with localcommunities, a key opportunity through a policy planning tool such as a NAP on WPSwhich is relevant to this context.First, while advancing women’s participation, a key aim of UNSCR 1325, is a criticalconcern for Northern Ireland, the UK NAP must also recognise that women’sparticipation is dependent on an effective, rights based policy framework realisinggender equality in everyday life –  otherwise it is a meaningless concept for the majorityof women. Access to childcare, adult social care, transport, education and other basicservices is an essential part of this, as is employment legislation and social protectionsystems that enable women to both make and support their families with dignity.The current cost of living crisis is disproportionately affecting women, who typically workin the lowest paid, most precarious jobs and manage household budgets on top of otherresponsibilities. Recent research by the Women’s Regional Consortium on women anddebt show that women in low income households often forgo essentials, even food, toprovide for their children, with signi cant physical and mental health consequences. Overhalf of respondents in this study were in debt, with many forced to resort to high costlending including loan sharks and in some cases illegal lending, which has links toparamilitarism.  A meaningful approach to WPS must include acommitment to gender responsive policy making,building on mechanisms such as gender budgeting. In aUK context, this could helpfully be implemented byemphasising the principles of UNSCR 1325 as a crosscutting mandate for devolved administrations toprioritise such action.09/01/2023, 15:44 Domestication of the UK National Action Plan: Considerations from Northern Ireland | LSE Women, Peace and Security bloghttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/wps/2022/10/19/domestication-of-the-uk-national-action-plan-considerations-from-northern-ireland/ 4/7Research has shown elsewhere that NAPs can be effective if they get a balance betweenaddressing the practical and strategic needs of women and girls i.e. planning theimplementation of WPS in ways that respond to ful lling the basics of women’s everydayand in some cases such as the current  nancial crisis, basic survival needs, so that fromthere, their more strategic rights, such as political participation, can be availed of andachieved more equally across diverse demographics of women.Second, through the devolved administration’s implementation of the WPS agenda, it isimperative that peacebuilding responding to the legacy of the Troubles becomes betterat being gender responsive. There remains need for recognition of women’s experiencesof con ict violence and the associated and ongoing impacts of gendered harm inwomen’s lives. This is particularly important in the context of evolving approaches todealing with the past, where gendered responses more broadly, and particularly togendered violence, are lacking.There is also need for speci c recognition and support to the vital work of peacebuildingled by women’s organisations at community levels. That includes ensuring that localpolicy agendas that connect with the WPS agenda, such as the Violence Against Womenand Girls Strategy currently being developed by the Department of Justice, recognisesand takes speci c measures to respond to the ways that enduring paramilitarismin uences women’s experiences of gendered violence, including their engagement inpolitical leadership and peacebuilding.Fundamentally, the WPS agenda grounds the views of grassroots women and girls asvalid representations of the conditions and circumstances faced by their communitiesand societies. Therefore, an effective UK NAP implemented in Northern Ireland needs tore ect community led and responsive approaches, recognising that the context in eachsetting will vary, enabling concrete action to be de ned, developed and delivered withlocal women and organisations fully familiar with each context. This would also assist inensuring domestic and foreign policy coherence, which is signi cant for the NAP as ameaningful element of UK policy.The UK NAP should a rm the importance and relevance of implementation of WPSwithin the UK and as outlined here, with sensitivity particularly important in a domesticscenario with respect to devolved administrations and the speci cs of each context,such as outlined here for Northern Ireland.  It should legitimise and provide a platformfrom which responsibility for implementation of WPS is advanced by devolvedadministrations, responding to, working with and being led by priorities identi ed bywomen’s civil society.09/01/2023, 15:44 Domestication of the UK National Action Plan: Considerations from Northern Ireland | LSE Women, Peace and Security bloghttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/wps/2022/10/19/domestication-of-the-uk-national-action-plan-considerations-from-northern-ireland/ 5/7The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the author(s)only, and do not necessarily re ect LSE’s or those of the LSE Centre for Women, Peaceand Security.Image credit: Allan Leonard (CC BY-NC 2.0)About the authorPosted In: WPS ForumJonna is Director of Women’s Platform and leads delivery of the organisation’sstrategic plan. Women’s Platform acts as secretariat for the All Party Group onUNSCR 1325, Women, Peace and Security, and Jonna’s role includes buildingrelationships between grassroots women, women’s sector organisations andelected representatives. She also coordinates the Northern Ireland civil societyresponse to UN processes and mechanisms for women’s rights, including CEDAWand the Commission on the Status of Women.Jonna MonaghanDr Aisling Swaine is Professor of Gender Studies, School of Social Policy, SocialWork and Social Justice, University College Dublin. Her book ‘Con ict-relatedViolence Against Women: Transforming Transition’ was published by CambridgeUniversity Press in 2018 and she has also published in Human Rights Quarterly,International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Journal of Peacebuilding andDevelopment and the International Feminist Journal of Politics. She is a VisitingFellow at the LSE Centre on Women, Peace and Security, a Visiting Fellow at theTransitional Justice Institute, Ulster University, and previously a Hauser GlobalFellow at the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice at the School of Law, NewYork University. Twitter: @aislingswaineDr Aisling Swaine

Re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic? The UK Government and the WPS agenda in a time of climate crisis

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Re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic? The UK Government and the WPS agenda in a time of climate crisis

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