Gender and Security Sector Reform Toolkit
In line with its objective of integrating a gender perspective into the work of the actors and institutions that comprise the security sector and its supporting structures, ODIHR - together with the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) - developed this toolkit as an initial response to the need for information and analysis regarding gender and security sector reform (SSR).
The publication is aimed at SSR policymakers, practitioners and researchers in national governments, security sector institutions, international and regional organizations and civil society groups.
The toolkit presents best practices and recommendations for strengthening a gender perspective within the security sector. It addresses a broad pool of security sector institutions, including the armed forces, police and national parliaments, as well as providing insight on gender within the context of national security policy-making, justice reform, and border management. It considers gender training for security sector personnel and SSR assessment, monitoring, evaluation and gender.
By ensuring that day-to-day decision- and policy-making processes include a gender perspective, interventions in security-related matters will be more likely to: (a) achieve their intended objectives, (b) have greater impact, and (c) support, address and respond to the security needs of men and women, boys and girls.
Such measures include: guaranteeing that women are viable participants in drafting national security plans; giving women equal access to the judicial system; and ensuring that the operational policies of such actors as the police and armed forces integrate gender.
The toolkit comprises:
- User guide
- 13 tools (20 pages each)
- 13 corresponding shorter practice notes (4 pages each, based on the tools)
- Annex on International and Regional Laws and Instruments related to SSR and Gender
All tools and practice notes are available in English, French and Russian. Unofficial translations of selected titles are available in Albanian, Georgian, Macedonian and Serbian.
