Dr An Jacobs, Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Diplomacy and International Governance (IDIG) and Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University and Dr Katerina Krulisova, Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, have published a policy brief on gender mainstreaming in peacebuilding with the LSE Centre for Women Peace and Security.  

The peace engages with debates on gender mainstreaming in operational environments. It presents initial findings based on over 15 interviews with peacebuilders deployed to EU and UN missions in Mali, Central African Republic, Niger, Kosovo, and Georgia. The policy brief identifies three key challenges to successful operationalisation of gender mainstreaming in peacebuilding, including the reliance on personal convictions, the ‘add women and stir’ approach, and negative connotations associated with the terms ‘gender’ and ‘feminism’.  

The policy brief then provides four recommendations to help tackle these challenges and enhance successful implementation. The recommendations focus on improving pre-deployment and in-deployment training, enhancing data collection and analysis, and working towards a better understanding of gender issues.  

Read the full policy brief on the LSE Centre for WPS website here.