“Why were women, who bore the brunt of war, expected to remain quiet while men debated how to make peace?”
The above quote was delivered by Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee in 2011.
Leymah is one of the guests of honor at the virtual event “Centering Care in Women, Peace and Security: Reflections from Civil Society in the Context of the Fourth Swiss National Action Plan 1325”.
The event, which takes place on September 21st, presents the main results of the project “Civil Society Contribution to the implementation of the Swiss National action Plan NAP 1325“. Coordinated by the Swiss Platform for Peacebuilding KOFF, together with PeaceWomen Across the Globe and the feminist peace organization cfd, the project ensures that civil society’s expertise is considered in the official implementation of the Swiss National Action Plan 1325 (NAP 1325).
Peace is not just the Absence of War
For the three peace organizations representing civil society, the feminist peace activists pushing for UNSCR 1325, peace must be understood in its broader sense – as positive peace – not limiting itself to the absence of war or direct physical violence. Thus, positive peace is constructed daily, locally and implies the engagement against structural and cultural violence.[1]
It is not unusual for countries in the global North to develop their NAP 1325 focused on their foreign policy while ignoring the importance and opportunity that the agenda brings to domestic policy issues. This posture reveals to be linked to a colonial behavior pattern that contributes to “perpetuate an image wherein the peaceful North (which nevertheless employs and relies on militarism for its practices of peace and security) is obliged to ‘rescue’ the insecure global South.”[2]
Like most of those countries, Switzerland resists to extending the focus of the NAP to domestic policy and, as elsewhere, is far from guaranteeing a positive peace within its own borders. Once budgets and political strategies are not conceived separately, domestic and international policy should as well be seen as interconnected. Therefore, agenda 1325 should not be read as a simple tool for the promotion of women’s participation, but as a serious guideline for transformative policy in Switzerland and abroad.
No Care, No Peace
The pandemic unveiled the dysfunctions and imbalances of our societies globally. In 2020, everywhere women have been particularly affected by the consequences of the pandemic, such as increased human rights violations, domestic violence, structural oppression, impoverishment, and multiplication of household duties. The crisis has made even more visible the important role played by women engaged in care-related activities that keep the tissues of our society together and promote peace daily. Despite its social and economic importance[3], care-workers are submitted to invisibility, social and economic insecurity and are often ignored in consultative or decision-making spheres.
An intersectional feminist peace policy – and an approach that centralizes care and care-takers as peace promotors – is essential to overcome (with the necessary humbleness) our global challenges.
It is therefore time to take action and time to take care.
[1] From cfd Glossary (21.06.2019) – Structural violence includes the violence that is reproduced by the social, political, and economic structures, that is “built into the system” (oppression of certain social groups, unequal life opportunities, and conditions due to systems such as apartheid, colonialism, etc.). Cultural violence describes the aspects in a society/culture that legitimize direct and structural legitimize violence (e.g., acceptance of violence against certain groups, role models, trans and homophobia, ableism, thoughts of superiority through ideologies such as racism, militarism, chauvinism). Religion, values, and mentalities can also be used to legitimize cultural violence. Cultural violence is also embedded in language and art, science and law, media, and education.
[2] Toni Haastrup and Jamie J. Hagen (2020): Global Racial Hierarchies and the Limits of Localization via National Action Plans, New Directions in Women, Peace and Security, edited by Soumita Basu, and Paul Kirby, Bristol University Press.
[3] The unpaid care work in Switzerland amounts to 248 billion CHF – more than the federal government, cantons and municipalities spend in the same year overall – and is predominantly carried by women.
