Gender Practices and Policies in a Fragile Setting: The Case of Eastern Congo

This paper seeks to understand how gender equality can be enhanced in the context of state fragility - specifically, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It explores how prevailing gender norms and masculinities limit women's opportunities and what strategies and forms of female leadership can be adopted to enhance women's rights in a context of hybrid political power structures - that is, structures in which both state actors and non-state actors participate.

Key findings include:

• Cultural notions and patriarchy - Development initiatives (international actors) need to be culturally sensitive, taking account - for example - of what is described here as "a system of 'minimalisation' in which women themselves contribute to negative attitudes and behaviour against themselves and other women. Under such conditions a 'culture of traditions' makes sure, that women are not able to exercise their various rights. For example, women do not vote for female politicians because they think it is 'bad' for a woman to be in charge and to 'neglect her family'....By solely focusing on changing gender roles without addressing underlying gender ideologies, actions will not have a sustainable impact..."
• Bridging institutions and organisational reform - "Next to linking of and coordinating between the different institutions, a vigorous capacity development programme is needed....When inside or outside actors want to change the status quo in a fragile situation with regard to gender equality, opportunities to work with the above mentioned non-state actors including the 'patriarchal' customary authorities should be investigated. More study is also needed to understand what strategies and forms of female leadership can be adopted to successfully enhance women's rights in such a hybrid political setting."
• Men and masculinities - "In order to create more gender equality and justice, the inclusion of men in policy and transformative development practice is necessary - just as much as a realisation that a root cause of gender inequality are historically grown norms, values and traditions....[T]he alleged focus of (I)NGOs [international non-governmental organisations] and UN [United Nations] agencies on women - and in particular gender based violence (GBV) - has led to a feeling of discontent among some men who feel that this human rights discourse emphasises the rights of children and women, while neglecting theirs....It should not be forgotten that sexual violence against men and boys also has happened frequently, either as direct victims or because they were forced to sexually abuse their family or neighbours, or to witness the rape of their wife or children. Apart from being a societal taboo, this is also a blank spot in many programmes, as they tend to ignore this reality."
• Effectively promoting SRHR [sexual and reproductive health rights] - "When trying to improve sexual and reproductive health of women, underlying cultural notions should be addressed. One possible approach could be to work through and expand upon customary systems and involve non-professional health providers (i.e. unskilled birth attendants) as they can be important conduit for both service delivery and awareness creation, apart from being themselves a target for training etc.. A second approach is to engage women in leadership roles more actively..."
• Female leadership - "We should be wary of initiatives solely introduced from outside. Such donor-induced agenda’s may in the first place not reflect local needs, priorities and approaches, but also invariably run into problems of ownership and sustainability. On the other side, one has to accept that women are not automatically gender-aware, and that even the fact that leaders are women does in itself not guarantee that gender concerns will be addressed....Programmes need to focus on transformative female leadership, especially during transitional periods from conflict to peace..."
• Combating sexual violence - "[T]he pervasive SGBV [sexual and gender-based violence] in the DRC is embedded in prevailing gender relations exacerbated by conflict and in popular discourse and by cultural beliefs that portray 'good' women as obedient and allow polygamy for men. Efforts by the international community to combat rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo are often not responsive to the manner in which masculinity and femininity are performed..."

This publication is an outcome of the work of the Peace, Security and Development Network (PSDN), which aims to support and encourage the sharing of expertise and cooperation between the different Dutch sectors and organisations involved in fragile states. The PSDN aimed at the integrated deployment of knowledge, expertise, and funds to facilitate poverty reduction in fragile states that generally lag seriously behind in their attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). PSDN's working group Gender and Conflict (WGC), embarked on an analysis of the gender-related situation in fragile state settings, followed in 2010 and 2011 by concrete pilot activities aiming at action research to facilitate both learning and change. Participating partners include: Centre for Conflict Studies, Utrecht University (CCS); Netherlands Institute of International Relations 'Clingendael'-Conflict Research Unit (CRU); Oxfam Novib; Netherlands Ministry of Defence (MoD); Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA); and Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR).