Publikasjoner
Seksualisert vold i Kongo
Artikkelen inneholder ulike måter å forstå motivene til soldater og militsgrupper i Den demokratiske republikken Kongo for hvorfor de begår seksuelle overgrep mot sivilbefolkningen i en konflikt som har pågått siden 1996. Diskusjonen deles opp i tre overlappende nivåer bestående av individ-, gruppe- og makronivå. Fotsoldater i Kongo lever ofte på eksistensminimum og bruker sivile som overlevelsesgrunnlag. Kvinner er en økonomisk ressurs samt en rikdom for mannen. Kvinner blir derfor kidnappet og brukt til husarbeid og som sexslaver. I tillegg har regjeringssoldater begrunnet seksuelle overgrep og drap på sivile kvinner som et resultat av sinne og frustrasjon overfor overordnede og sine koner. Frustrasjonen bør forstås i lys av den lave levestandarden til soldatene og deres familie og behandlingen de får av sine overordnede. Kampen om områder og naturressurser i Ãst-Kongo, kombinert med manglende sosial og politisk tilknytning til lokalbefolkning, kan også være en faktor som påvirker soldaters motiver for å plyndre og seksuelt torturere sivile for å tvinge mennesker på flukt. Konflikten har i stor grad handlet om å bryte ned samfunn gjennom terrormidler som seksualisert vold, slik at nye territorier blir vunnet. På et makronivå har det å begå menneskerettighetsforbrytelser og dermed være en sikkerhetstrussel åpnet opp for at militsgrupper får tilgang til forhandlingsbordet.
Systems Approaches to Animal Disease Surveillance and Resource Allocation: Methodological Frameworks for Behavioral Analysis
"A New Kind of Arctic Power? Russia's Policy Discourses and Diplomatic Practices in the Circumpolar North"
The Civilian Capacities Initiative and Gender-Responsive Peace-building: An Inclusive Approach?
Gender perspectives in UN peacekeeping innovations? The case of MONUSCO in the eastern democratic Republic of Congo
The UN Operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) has experienced some military victories, as exemplified by the recent defeat of the M23 rebel group. MONUSCO has also instigated some crucial innovative measures aimed at improving its peacekeeping and protection practices. This policy brief examines three such innovations – the Community Liaison Assistants (CLAs), Community Alert Networks (CANs) and Joint Protection Teams (JPTs) in South Kivu province – with a critical discussion of some challenges of gender mainstreaming in these approaches and potential measures. The findings indicate that several areas need further attention in order to improve gender mainstreaming at the local and mission level. First, it is essential to draw on the experience of the CLAs for internal gender training within the mission at the civilian as well as military level. The CLAs have excellent skills in understanding local communities, and their knowledge is important for improving gender perspectives at the mission level. Secondly, experiences with these community-targeted innovations could be used to improve cooperation between UN sections on gender perspectives, where it seems to be low levels of institutional cooperation. It is important to address the gendered roles within communities that obstruct or enable the possibilities of security changes, not least the passivity of men who now rarely leave their homes and their stakeholder roles as formal and traditional representatives. One could say that Congolese men are unable to fulfill their masculine roles as breadwinners and heads of household. Moreover, there is a need to address the gap between what gender issues entail and how this affects the regular liaison work and reporting mechanisms of CLAs and JPTs. A focus on gender issues does not mean working also with women, but rather working with the entire society and understanding how actors and their institutions are informed and reproduced by gender relations in society, and in turn how these relations facilitate or obstruct the desired outcomes.