04 September 2008

Paris, France: A UNV volunteer has addressed delegates at a major international conference on how volunteerism has put gender issues into Kosovo's wider security debate.

The 61st Annual DPI/NGO Conference in Paris, one of the key NGO events of the year, was organized by the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) in cooperation with the NGO community. Held from 3-5 September and opened by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon via video-conference, it attracted more than 2,000 NGO representatives from some 90 countries.

UNV volunteer Bianca Jinga from Romania, who works as an External Relations Reporting Officer for the Office of Gender Affairs at the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), spoke during a workshop on 'Reconciling Human Rights with State Security'. Her presentation on 3 September (reproduced below) provided a focus on women's rights, highlighting ways in which volunteerism "can give practical solutions to punctual questions" and how it acts as "a nexus between international action and local level engagement". She also described efforts by the UN and Kosovar civil society to introduce gender issues into legislation and get women more involved in political processes.

The aim of the DPI/NGO Conference is to highlight effective ways in which civil society, in partnership with other actors, can contribute to the advancement of human rights at the international, regional, national and local levels. This year was the first time in its 60-year history the annual meeting took place outside of United Nations Headquarters in New York. Furthermore, 2008 marks 60 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an anniversary that lent the gathering additional significance.

Other bodies involved in organizing the conference included the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Government of France. The workshop at which Ms. Brinja spoke was sponsored by the Foundation for Subjective Experience and Research and co-sponsored by UNV and the Association of German Development Non-Governmental Organizations.



Integrating gender in the security debate: A view from Kosovo

Bianca Jinga

Integrating gender into the broader security debate is like looking through a kaleidoscope through the opposite end of the peephole: we can no longer see the patterns, but we can analyze in detail the individual gems. Men and women experience conflict differently, and yet the traditional understanding of security focuses on society as a whole. The question is therefore how to address threats to state security without losing sight of the needs of individuals, men and women.

My recent assignment as a UNV volunteer with the Office of Gender Affairs (OGA) at the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) allowed me to have a glimpse into the practical ways in which various actors in Kosovo found solutions to this (otherwise) academic question.

One of the most effective ways for contributing to the advancement of human rights in general, women's rights in particular, is through the involvement of civil society. By fostering a climate of tolerance and respect for individuals, men and women, civil society has, in effect, enabled international actors to enhance collective security.

I would like to focus on the nexus between international action and local level engagement, and the role of volunteerism in connecting the two.

UNV volunteers have enabled the UN to engage with civil society. From its inception, OGA has worked with UNV volunteers, providing them with the opportunity to contribute to the advancement of women's rights. On their part, UNV volunteers served as catalysts for involving other volunteers and communities. A few highlights:

• OGA initiated a series of meetings between women's organizations and the UNMIK leadership. In May 2000 representatives of women's organizations and political parties met for the first time with the Special representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) to discuss ways of pushing gender equality onto the political agenda. This first initiative of OGA and civil society was in line with the later-adopted United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 (October 2000). At the beginning of 2005, OGA facilitated the organization of quarterly meetings between the SRSG and Kosovo women leaders with the objective of creating a formal mechanism for women leaders and representatives of women's NGOs to voice their concerns and articulate their proposals directly to the highest UN authority in Kosovo.
• Following discussions with women activists and NGOs, OGA has advocated for the inclusion of gender equality goals in the Standards for Kosovo (introduced in December 2003), centralizing gender within the Kosovo political agenda.
• More recently, OGA has encouraged the Agency for Gender Equality in the Prime Minister’s Office to engage civil society in two important projects: drafting the Kosovo Action Plan for Gender Equality (2006-2015); and the first Kosovo reporting under the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). I have been involved in both initiatives.

Engaging community volunteers has enabled NGOs and the UN to be more effective:

• Women's advancement advocates have been particularly active and strong in Kosovo. They built upon their engagement in assisting women during the conflict and their role in post-conflict reconstruction. By being very vocal and visible at the local level, they kept a constant pressure on decision-makers at all levels, including the UN, to facilitate women's involvement in participatory processes, and not to lose focus on promoting gender equality in general. As a result of this concerted action, Kosovo benefits from a legislative framework conducive to improving gender equality (highlights: women occupy 30.8 percent of the seats in the Assembly, and they make up 15 percent of the police force).
• Women's organizations have been preparing a 'shadow report' for the initial Kosovo reporting under CEDAW. Their perspective will complement the view presented by the Kosovo authorities in collaboration with UNMIK, providing a better understanding of the challenges women face, and therefore a better platform for action.
• Last but not least, I would highlight the important contribution of the local volunteers to promoting inter-community exchange and reconciliation. Together with members of the Kosovo Youth Network, UNV volunteers organized several sports activities, chess competitions and clean-ups of environmentally affected areas such as Mitrovica.

My experiences as a UNV volunteer helped me better understand the dynamics of the interaction between different actors promoting a human rights or a security agenda, in a more traditional sense. It also made apparent the importance volunteerism has in connecting the two spheres.

Volunteering alone may not be able to change the world, or provide straightforward answers to complicated questions, but I hope I have revealed at least a few ways in which it can give practical solutions to punctual questions.