Participation, Gender and Security

Abstract

The conflict and post-conflict period in the Papua New Guinea (PNG) province of Bougainville provides a useful case study for the examination of the participation components of the women, peace and security framework. The matrilineal community structures,¹ as well as women’s roles in negotiating peace in Bougainville,² reveal the complexity and variation of gender norms that require attention in strategies to enhance women’s participation in conflict resolution and post-conflict decision-making structures. The conflict in Bougainville extended from 1988 through to 2001. On 31 August 2001, the Bougainville Peace Agreement was signed and the demilitarisation processes, as well as the withdrawal of PNG forces, commenced.³ The Bougainville shift toward peace straddles the period in which the Security Council’s women, peace and security framework mushroomed from a single resolution, adopted in 2000,⁴ to a sequence of seven resolutions on women, peace and security by the end of 2013.⁵ The combination of the emergent international understanding of the nexus between women, peace and security and the central role of Bougainville women in local decision-making structures, as well as the general sense of collective security achieved,⁶ suggests that Bougainville might also be expected to be a story of success in relation to gender-balanced participation.