PeaceRep’s new online course for peacebuilding professionals provides an overview of the latest developments in the field of gender, peace and security, with a focus on gender inclusive peace processes in a rapidly changing world.

As complex conflicts frequently involve multiple actors across local, national, and geopolitical levels of conflict, this course examines how peacebuilders can understand and engage with peace initiatives with a gender lens, and experiment with PeaceTech tools to learn how women and gender perspectives can be included in peace processes and their agreements. The course will introduce students to the women, peace and security agenda, inclusive peace processes in theory and practice, and gender perspectives in peace agreements.

Launching in January 2024, the five-week course consists of self-contained, online learning delivered via a custom designed learning environment, accompanied by weekly online interactive class discussions with other students and the course lead.

This five-week course is aimed at peacebuilding professionals in international organisations, non-governmental organisations, government, and/or academia. Each week will cover a different topic related to gender inclusion and peace processes, including the Women, Peace and Security agenda, gender perspectives in peace agreements, and the challenges of advocating for gender inclusive peace processes in fragmented contemporary conflicts.

At the end of the course, participants will:

• understand the different ways that peace processes can support or endanger gender equality across a variety of contexts and conflicts;
• become familiar with theories of gender, inclusion, and peace processes, and become comfortable with accessing, interpreting and using gender and peace process data;
• develop core skills required for managing projects that are related to gender inclusion and peace processes, including conducting gender audits of peace agreements, using leading PeaceTech and data tools to assess gender inclusion in peace processes, and understanding strategies for inclusive change.

 

What does the course cover?

• What is gender, and how does it relate to peace processes?
• How have peace and conflict processes changed since 1990? Why is this important for gender equality advocates?
• What is the Women, Peace and Security agenda, and how does it relate to peace processes?
• How do we understand women’s inclusion in peace processes from different perspectives?
• What modalities and strategies do women’s rights advocates use to create spaces for inclusion in peace processes? What are the common factors that enable or constrain this?
• Why does it matter if peace agreements have a ‘gender perspective’?
• How can we use data and PeaceTech tools to evaluate peace agreements for their gender perspective?
• What are potential gender implications of core issues in peace processes?
• How do women mobilize for inclusion in local peace processes?

 

Dates

The five-week course runs from the week of Monday 15th January to the week of Monday 12th February 2024. Applications for the January 2024 intake are now closed. 

Week beginning	Course week	Topic	Focus
–	–	Pre-Course Materials	Familiarisation with LearnUltra platform  Preparation for Week 1  Introductions to fellow participants and course instructors
Monday 15th January	Week 1	Introduction to gender and peace processes (core concepts)	Defining gender, and why it matters in peace processes  Women, Peace and Security Agenda  Peace processes and their agreements in a changing conflict landscape
Monday 22nd January	Week 2	Inclusive peace processes	Normative approaches to women’s inclusion in peace processes  Challenges and opportunities for women’s participation  Inclusion of gender and sexual minorities in peace processes
Monday 29th January	Week 3	Gender perspectives in peace agreements	Gender perspectives, mainstreaming, and sensitivity   Conducting gender audits of peace plans   Using data and PeaceTech tools to evaluate peace agreements for gender perspectives
Monday 5th February	Week 4	Gender implications of key issues in contemporary peace processes	Familiarisation with core issues and trends in peace processes  Gender implications of common issues (e.g. power-sharing)  Strategies for mitigating gender impacts of sticky issues
Monday 12th February	Week 5	Gendered peace processes in a changing world	Changes in peace process landscape since 1990  Gender perspectives in local agreements and ceasefire agreements  Women mediators and local peace processes – strategies, avenues, and constraints for impact.

Applications for the January 2024 intake are now closed. The course will next run in September 2024, with applications opening in June 2024. Sign up to our teaching updates to be notified when dates are confirmed.

Fees

£750.00 per student. Successful applicants will receive a payment link within two weeks of the application closing date.

 

Application Process

We will notify applicants by email within two weeks of the closing date. Spaces are limited to 30 students per intake, so apply early.

Applicants from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) should contact peacerep.teaching@ed.ac.uk for a dedicated application form.

 

Entry Requirements

There are no minimum entry requirements. The course will be taught in English, and all materials will be provided in English (with select materials also available in Arabic). Applicants should be sufficiently fluent in English reading, listening, and writing to engage effectively with other learners.

Students will also need an internet connection capable of streaming live video.

 

Course Structure

The course will be run online only. The teaching combines weekly live seminars with pre-recorded lectures and reading material to study independently.

Each week, participants will be sent course content so that they can engage with the material in their own time. Later in the week there will be a synchronous, hour-long online interactive seminar discussion run by the course lead. This discussion is a key component of the learning process and enables participants to reflect on the course materials in a structured format, engage directly with the course lead, and meet other participants from across the field. The synchronous tutorials will be offered in a choice of two time slots, carefully timed to make the session as inclusive as possible across time zones and other commitments.

The expected time commitment for this course is 5 hours per week, which is split between 4 hours of self-directed study and 1 hour of interactive online seminar.

 

Completion

The course is non-credit bearing. Participants will receive a certificate of participation after completion of the course, based on meaningful engagement with online activities and tutorial sessions (defined as 80% attendance and participation in live sessions).

 

Faculty

This course is led by Laura Wise, a Research Fellow with the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Programme (PeaceRep) at the University of Edinburgh. Laura’s research explores the margins of peace processes and their intersections with the politics of inclusion, with a particular focus on gender. She regularly supports governmental stakeholders on analysing gender perspectives and women’s inclusion in peace processes. Laura has previously worked with UN Women to support women engaged in peace processes in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Libya. Read more about Laura.

PeaceRep: The Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform has developed substantial expertise and resources on gender and peace processes since its inception in 2014. This includes extensive engagement with women peacebuilders and gender policymakers through UN Women projects, workshops, and consultancies; providing support to women’s organisations and women mediators both directly and through our consortium partners; and making annual data and analytical contributions to the United Nations Secretary General’s report on Women, Peace and Security. Our resources include the PA-X Gender Peace Agreement Database, the PeaceFem smartphone mediation app, and a large collection of policy briefs, blogs, and reports on key gender issues and gender inclusion in peace processes, in addition to traditional academic outputs such as books and journal articles.

 

Contact

Contact peacerep.teaching@ed.ac.uk for more information.