Bosnia-Herzegovina

Gender and Peacebuilding Center Director, Kathleen Kuehnast, discusses USIP's focus on women's equality in 2011 and looks ahead at the gender projects USIP will work on in 2012.

This report is based on the panel presentation and the views expressed at a September 12, 2011 meeting of the Security Sector Reform working group.

USIP, in collaboration with the Institute for Inclusive Security, USAID, and Vital Voices, hosted a discussion with Ambassador Swanee Hunt and USAID’s Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg on lessons emerging from the Bosnia conflict with a particular focus on the best ways to ensure a direct role for women in peacebuilding efforts worldwide. In addition, film producer Abigail Disney and film director Pamela Hogan presented their PBS documentary, “I Came to Testify,” that describes how a group of 16 women from Bosnia, victims of the war’s systematic rapes, broke through political and societal silence by stepping onto the witness stand at an international tribunal.

In the aftermath of war, two processes are vital to successfully manage the transition to stability: disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR).  On September 12, 2011, the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted a panel of distinguished experts with combined experience implementing DDR and SSR in Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia, the Balkans, Somalia and Haiti.

Disputes and grievances over land and property are implicated in practically all conflicts. This course provides policymakers and practitioners with analytical tools for assessing and addressing an array of complex land and property disputes, from competing ownership claims and restitution to customary land rights and illegal urban settlements. Drawing on case studies of peace operations and peacebuilding efforts, participants explore the range of entry points (humanitarian, human rights, state building, development, etc.) and options for dispute resolution and structural reform.