Webinar

Date: 12^th April, 1-2pm

The Participation-Protection Nexus: Future Directions for the UN Security Council’s Women, Peace and Security Agenda

Speakers: (opens in a new window)Catherine Turner  & (opens in a new window)Aisling Swaine

Chair:  (opens in a new window)Krisna Ruette-Orihuela

Registration: (opens in a new window)here

Abstract: The UN Security Council’s Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has dominated global approaches to advancing women’s rights in peace and security. Over time the agenda has become characterised by a binary approach that treats women either as agentic leaders participating in public life, or as passive victims in need of protection from sexual violence. Absent from this approach has been conceptual and practical consideration of the connections between the participation and protection  ‘pillars’ of the agenda.  In this seminar, the ways that participation, protection, and their inter-relationship have evolved through the WPS resolutions will be explored. Research on protection concerns arising for women in leadership roles in Northern Ireland will be used to illustrate the significance of the connections between the two pillars. The synergies, gaps and productive tensions that must be anticipated as attention at the UN turns to the protection concerns of those in leadership in conflict-affected contexts will be discussed.

Bio of speakers:

Catherine Turner is an academic, trainer and consultant who advocates for greater use of inclusive mediation and peacemaking practice  through research and policy engagement.  She is currently Associate Professor of International Law at Durham University (UK), and the Deputy Director of the Durham Global Security Institute (DGSI). She has published extensively in the fields of peace mediation and transitional justice, focusing on promoting more inclusive approaches to peace and justice in her home Northern Ireland and internationally.

Aisling Swaine is Professor of Gender Studies and Head of Subject for Gender Studies in the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, UCD. She was named by A-Political as one of the world's 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy 2021. Aisling’s research is interdisciplinary engaging with the fields of feminist legal theory, transitional justice, conflict-related violence against women, gender peace and security and gender in global governance. Prior to her academic roles, Aisling worked with the United Nations and international NGOs in humanitarian and post-conflict recovery settings globally as well as at global policy levels and remains engaged in technical advisory roles with international organisations.

Organised by: Professor Aisling Swaine

For more information please email (opens in a new window)Aisling.Swaine@ucd.ie