Gender and Human Security in Post-Conflict Pakistan: Policy implications of local, gendered perceptions of security and development

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A major challenge in assisting women in post-conflict contexts is understanding the complex and dynamic links between security and development, and how they are gendered. In the shift from military to civilian security such as the police, and from humani tarian to development activities, particularly the gender dimensions of security and development are difficult to grasp. This project takes the case of post-conflict Swat in NWFP Pakistan, and explores how women and men perceive and experience different k inds of insecurity as they attempt to pursue their livelihoods following the government operation to expel Taliban militants. Using human security as an overarching framework, the project will investigate the ways in which women and men may have differen t opportunities and strategies as they maneuver amongst the plethora of traditional institutions and authorities, civil society groups, NGOs, local government, the judiciary, the police and the military in order to secure their lives. Using participatory , qualitative methods, we will investigate how local understandings of security and insecurity, threats and vulnerabilities, rights, conflicts and negotiations compare with those of state and non-state institutions, moving from local, to district, to prov ince to national/international levels, and what the implications of these differences mean in terms of changes in policies and programs such that women's position in Swat is strengthened and gender equality achieved. This will link micro-macro processes to understand not only local contexts, but how they are embedded in a wider social, political and economic context. The project includes PhD and MSc students from both Pakistan and Norway, and there will also be opportunities for staff from CIIT to visit Norway for capacity building, particularly in gender and conflict studies. Government and civil society organizations, as well as international NGOs working in Swat, will be an important part of the project network.