Female peacekeepers’ added burden

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Wilén
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Peace Operations ◽  
Operational Effectiveness ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Relations Of Power

Abstract Twenty years since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 there is an almost unanimous call for an increased number of uniformed women in peace operations from policy-makers and multilateral organizations. This continuous push for the inclusion of more women is often justified by arguments about an increased operational effectiveness related to women's ‘added value': both implicitly and explicitly advocating for greater gender equality. Yet, in this article, I contend that using instrumentalist arguments to increase the number of female peacekeepers may on the contrary undermine gender equality. This is related to the risk of producing self-fulfilling prophecies whereby female peacekeepers try to live up to the high expectations by fitting into gender-stereotypes and/or by working harder than their male colleagues. Rather than increase gender equality, such efforts risk transforming the female ‘added value’ to an ‘added burden’ which male peacekeepers do not have to carry. Anchoring the study infeminist theory with the aim to understand gendered relations of power, to illustrate my argumentI draw on extensive interview material from military staff and peacekeepers in South Africa, Burundi, Belgium and Niger; interviews and informal discussions with female and male peacekeepers; and participation in several policy and research workshops on female participation in peacekeeping.

scholarly journals The challenges to gender equality in the legal profession in South Africa: A case for substantive equality as a means for achieving gender transformation

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matilda Lasseko-Phooko ◽  
Safia Mahomed
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Human Right ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Women In The Workplace ◽  
Substantive Equality ◽  
Gender Transformation ◽  
Formal Equality

SUMMARY South Africa lags behind with regard to an effective framework supporting substantive equality in the legal profession. The structure of the legal profession and the number of women represented in the legal profession do not as yet reflect the diversity of South African society. A number of factors play a role in the skewed representation of female attorneys and advocates in the legal profession. In addition, formal equality cannot translate into gender transformation, as the issues that cause such inequalities extend beyond the scope of attaining sameness. International instruments suggest that special measures be adopted to achieve substantive equality specifically with regard to the role of women in the workplace. This article analyses the current composition of the legal profession from the perspective of gender and race, while promoting the concept of substantive equality as a preferred approach to gender transformation in the legal profession. It considers the theoretical framework for gender equality as a human right in South Africa by examining relevant legislation and international and regional instruments, and analysing the extent to which the Cape Bar maternity policy, as an existing transformation initiative, implemented on the basis of a gender stereotype, encourages substantive gender transformation in the legal profession. Key words: gender equality; human rights; legal profession; substantive equality; formal equality; gender transformation; gender stereotypes

An Analysis of the Link between Water Infrastructure Financing and Water Provision South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3(J)) ◽  
pp. 74-83
Author(s):  
Lerato C. Bapela ◽  
Collins C. Ngwakwe ◽  
Mokoko P. Sebola
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
P Value ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Water Infrastructure ◽  
Control Variables ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Infrastructure Finance ◽  
Water Provision

This paper evaluated the relationship between water infrastructure financing and water provision in South Africa. The research followed a quantitative research design; secondary data for water infrastructure financing and water provision in South Africa was obtained from the Trans - Caledon Tunneling Agency (TCTA) and the World Bank for the period 1994 - 2014 . The regression results indicated two separate findings which offers unique contribution to the current literature; results from water asset finance as a single independent variable on water provision showed a significant relationship. However, an addition of two control variables , corruption and violence, neutralised the effectiveness of water asset finance on water provision to the extent that water asset finance became less significant with a P value of 0.05. The paper makes a nuance contribution from the findings, which specifically is that finance alone may not deliver target water provision if corruption and violence is left unbridled. The paper thus recommends the need for public policy makers to control the rate of corruption and violence to enable effective application of water infrastructure finance in water provision. The paper also recommends the need for further research on other government departments to integrate corruption and violence as control variables. 

The Innovators

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara J. Risman
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Gender Expectations ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Gendered Expectations ◽  
Level Of Analysis

This chapter introduces the innovators and provides a portrait of them. The chapter analyzes these innovators at the individual, interactional, and macro level of the gender structure. The chapter begins at the individual level of analysis because these young people emphasize how they challenge gender by rejecting requirements to restrict their personal activities, goals, and personalities to femininity or masculinity. They refuse to live within gender stereotypes. These Millennials do not seem driven by their feminist ideological beliefs, although they do have them. Their worldviews are more taken for granted than central to their stories. Nor are they consistently challenging gender expectations for others, although they often ignore the gender expectations they face themselves. They innovate primarily in their personal lives, although they do reject gendered expectations at the interactional level and hold feminist ideological beliefs about gender equality.

Universality, Quality & Economics: Finding a Balance in Ontario and British Columbia

1994 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 203-229
Author(s):  
John D. Blum
Keyword(s):  
Health Reform ◽  
New Ventures ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Price ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
The Us ◽  
Acceptable Model ◽  
National Economies

National economies worldwide are in disarray, evidenced by escalating debts and growing deficits. As countries struggle with their faltering economies they are hard pressed to fulfill commitments of social programs made in more prosperous times, much less take on new government initiatives. The current experiences in health reform in the United States present an interesting example of the dilemmas governments now face when they embark on new ventures. While great political pressures have been launched and high expectations abound, the reality of American health reform quickly reveals that expanded access will come at a high price that won't be offset easily by conventional cost containment or market forces.In the search for an acceptable model for health reform, it was popular for policy makers and academics to turn their attentions to the health systems of other nations. Recommendations were made that the US should adopt a German or Canadian solution for our health problems.

scholarly journals A more comprehensive approach offering instruments in one portal to facilitate higher uptake

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
C Rossmann ◽  
F De Bock
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Community Setting ◽  
Comprehensive Approach ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Activity Promotion

Abstract The good practice portal of the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) consists of a nationwide collection of projects and interventions to promote the health of socially disadvantaged groups at community/setting level. An exchange platform (inforo) is also offered via the operating agency, although its use is still limited. The results of the evaluation of the platform suggest that the provision of practical projects and exchange of knowledge alone is not sufficient to support policy makers and practitioners who want to promote health in the community/setting. There is a need for advice on needs assessment, selection and appropriate implementation of health promotion measures. A comprehensive approach currently being tested in the field of activity promotion for older people is the provision of a web-based “toolbox” comprising the following tools: assessment instruments for analysing the need for health promotion measures, a user-friendly intervention/project database and broader evidence synthesis documents, as well as information on project management (organisational, legal, financial). Following the example of other best practice portals, a ranking methodology was developed to make the level of effectiveness of interventions visible and the evaluation requirements transparent. Evidence synthesis documents provide an entry point to learn more generally what works in a particular area of health promotion. In order to make the “toolbox” accessible to policy-makers and practitioners, information from previous studies was used in the development with regard to content and graphical presentation. BZgA is currently working on integrating evidence into the good practice portal. The evaluation of the toolbox in a small area of health promotion will provide initial insights into the inclusion of evidence and its added value. This presentation will conclude with a discussion of possibilities for improvement, challenges and limitations of this approach.

scholarly journals Charting the Rough Journey to ‘Home’: The Contribution of Qualitative Longitudinal Research to Understandings of Homelessness in Austerity

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Emma Davidson ◽  
Briege Nugent ◽  
Sarah Johnsen
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Support Service ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Deep Insight ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Analytical Potential ◽  
Longitudinal Approach ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Insight Into

This article reflects on the contribution of qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) to understandings of homeless peoples’ experiences of support service interventions in an era of austerity in the UK. It brings into ‘analytic conversation’ data from qualitative longitudinal evaluations of homeless support projects operated by voluntary sector organisations in Scotland. With fieldwork spanning 2014-2019, the analysis expands the analytical potential of pooling small-scale studies through an interrogation of individuals’ ‘journeys’ through homelessness services and their rough path to ‘home’. By reflecting on our substantive findings, the article explores the added value and challenges of a longitudinal approach. It concludes that while QLR can deliver deep insight into lives lived by vulnerable populations and potentially reduce the distance between policy makers and those affected, its benefits must be balanced against pragmatism and the ethical responsibilities associated with the method.

When All Parties Nominate Women: The Role of Political Gender Stereotypes in Voters’ Choices

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 746-772
Author(s):  
Zoe Lefkofridi ◽  
Nathalie Giger ◽  
Anne Maria Holli
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Related Research ◽  
Actual Impact ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
The U.S

AbstractDo political gender stereotypes exist in egalitarian settings in which all parties nominate women? Do they matter for candidate selection in systems of proportional representation with multiparty competition and preferential voting? To date, these questions remain unanswered because related research is limited to the U.S. case. Our pioneering study examines political stereotypes in one of the “least likely” cases, Finland—a global forerunner in gender equality. We find, first, that stereotypes persist even in egalitarian paradises. Second, when testing across settings of candidate choice, we find that the effect varies greatly: political gender stereotypes are powerful in hypothetical choices, but they work neither in favor of nor against female candidates when many “real,” viable, experienced, and incumbent female candidates are competing. Although in open-list systems with preferential voting, gender stereotypes can directly affect female candidates’ electoral success, in Finland, their actual impact in real legislative elections appears marginal.

Design workshops in the age of climate change

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen De Waegemaeker ◽  
Eva Kerselaers ◽  
Maarten Van Acker ◽  
Elke Rogge
Keyword(s):  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Water System ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regional Project ◽  
Design Workshop ◽  
Specific Barriers

Purpose As policy makers address the issue of climate adaptation, they are confronted with climate-specific barriers: a long-term horizon and a high degree of uncertainty. These barriers also hamper the development of spatial planning for climate adaptation. So how can spatial planners encompass these barriers and steer the general debate on climate adaptation? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This research analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of an international design workshop on climate adaptation, and drought issues in particular. Design workshops are originally an educational setting but they are increasingly employed as a tool to explore alternative futures on a complex, real-life design problem. The case study illustrates how climate-specific barriers emerged throughout the design workshop and clarifies how they were encompassed by the participating design students. Findings The research clarifies the added value of a design workshop on climate adaptation. The paper highlights specific promising characteristics of the design workshop: the visualization of future adaptation challenges and the current water system, the focus on a regional project instead of sectoral adjustments and the integration of the adaptation challenge with other socio-economic goals. In the case study Flanders, however, the necessary participation of climate experts and policy makers of other domains proved challenging. Originality/value The paper argues that a design workshop has the potential to enrich the debate and policy work on climate adaptation. In many countries with low-planning tradition, however, additional tools are needed to help set the “adaptation agenda.”

scholarly journals Seawater desalination as an option to alleviate water scarcity in South Africa: the need for a strategic approach to planning and environmental decision-making

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. O. Schreiner ◽  
R. C. van Ballegooyen ◽  
W. Osman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Bulk Water ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Environmental Decision Making ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
Seawater Reverse Osmosis ◽  
National Water

In the last decade, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) has come to be seen by policy-makers as a novel technology that will significantly advance water security in South African coastal regions. Water purveyors, from the private sector, local/district municipalities and provincial authorities, are undertaking studies to explore the feasibility of SWRO to meet growing demand and relieve mounting pressure on current bulk water supply infrastructure. With this in mind, it is suggested that national strategic planning should be introduced to present the opportunities and constraints of the desalination option within the national water and energy policy. In absence of this, piece-meal decisions will be made at local authority levels and the construction of SWRO plants will be determined by regional circumstances (e.g. drought) as opposed to national water policy agenda. This paper explores the value of such a strategy by considering the drivers of SWRO in South Africa, the risk of unplanned large-scale SWRO implementation (with a focus on environmental impacts) and the initial steps that could be taken toward a Strategic Environmental Assessment for SWRO in South Africa.

scholarly journals Gender Advantages and Gender Normality in the Views of Estonian Secondary School Students

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiiu Kuurme ◽  
Gertrud Kasemaa
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
School Life ◽  
School Students ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Central Condition

Abstract The aim of the study on Estonian secondary school students was to obtain an overview of the gender-related views and experiences of the everyday school life by students, and to analyse the school-related factors in the development of gender roles and gender-related expectations. We view gender equality as a central condition for social sustainability. In the article, we focus on the perceptions and interpretations of the so-called normal boy and girl and the advantages of both genders at school. We analyse the experiences and the views of young people regarding their gender positioning in everyday school life vis-à-vis their views on gender equality. The survey used in the study consisted of 50 questions, mainly open-ended. It was conducted in 10 basic and secondary schools in grades 7, 9, 10 and 12, with a total number of 649 respondents. The open answers were analysed by applying the method of thematic qualitative content analysis. The findings reveal that the perceived advantages of both genders at school and the behaviour considered as normal at school are strongly related to traditional gender stereotypes. At the same time, students claim that they are primarily people with equal opportunities. We conclude that the belief in the ideology of gender equality outweighs personal gender-related experiences.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document