Mainstreaming Gender in the Military & the Security Sector: The Role of Civil Society

Panel I: Gender Mainstreaming in the Military
Among the challenges faced by militaries in the 21st century has been the influx of female soldiers and a debate about gender roles in a military context. This challenge has been coupled with an international focus on eradicating gender based violence particularly during conflict. Senior leaders and policymakers have struggled to deal with related conceptual and practical issues.

How to train gender sensitive armed forces and bring authentic gender mainstreaming to the military? What roles can women play in modern armed forces? What are the ingredients of an effective gender approach, and what else can be done beyond mere training measures? The members of this panel discussed their perspectives on these questions by sharing the experiences of the United States as well as European and African militaries.

Speakers:

Lieutenant Colonel Shannon Beebe
U.S. Department of Defense
Colonel Birame Diop
Institute Director
African Institute for Security Sector Transformation
Colonel David Walton
Department Chief
Directorate of Regional Studies and Education, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School
Major Stephanie R. Ahern, Discussant
Strategist
U.S. Army
Kathleen Kuehnast, Moderator
Director, Gender and Peacebuilding Center
U.S. Institute of Peace

Panel II: Civil society and security sector reform
Gender mainstreaming has been only one part of a global agenda to make security sector actors more accountable, transparent, and representative. Civil society, long a watchdog of the security sector, is increasingly partnering with governments to implement reforms through citizen oversight councils and trainings on human rights, gender and protection of minorities for the armed forces, including peacekeepers.

The panelists discussed the role civil society plays in security sector transformation from the perspectives of active programs in the field and the donor and policy environment needed to support this kind of work throughout the world.

Speakers:

Michael Bittrick
Deputy Director, Office of Regional and Security Affairs, Bureau of African Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Michael Hess
Vice President for Global Accounts
L-3 Communications/MPRI
Teresa Crawford
Director
Partners for Democratic Change
Betty Reardon, Discussant
Consultant and Founding Director Emeritus
International Institute on Peace Education, Columbia University
Robert Perito, Moderator
Director, Security Sector Governance Center
U.S. Institute of Peace