Conflict, Civil Society, and Women’s Empowerment: Insights from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is a specific study on how civil society organizations (CSOs) foster civic engagement, resilience and women’s empowerment in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Conflict, Civil Society, and Women’s Empowerment: Insights from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is a specific study on how civil society organizations (CSOs) foster civic engagement, resilience and women’s empowerment in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

This publication focuses on the gender dimensions of intrastate conflicts (civil wars), organised around eight key themes of gender and warfare, sexual violence, formal and informal peace processes, post-conflict legal frameworks, work issues, rehabilitation of social services and community-driven development. For each theme, the authors examine the impact on gender roles of conflict situations, the development challenges involved, and the policy options available to help build more inclusive and gender balanced post-conflict societies.

Focusing on the term empowerment this book examines the various meanings given to the concept of empowerment and the many ways power can be expressed - in personal relationships and in wider social interactions.

In recent decades, the states in the northeast of India have been home to a number of protracted violent conflicts. And while the role of women's movements in responding to conflict and violence tend to be marginalized both by the media and by scholarship, they have played a crucial role in attempts to strengthen civil society and bring peace to the region. This collection offers a close look at the successes and failures of those efforts, adding important insight into ongoing debates on gender and political change in societies affected by conflict. At the same time, the book takes a fresh, critical look at universalist feminist and interventionist biases that have tended to see peace processes as windows of opportunity for women's empowerment while ignoring the complexity of gender relations during conflict.

Women are at the heart of civil society organizations (CSOs) that challenge oppressive practices at a local and global level and develop outstanding entrepreneurial activities. Yet CSO research tends to ignore considerations of gender, and the rich history of activist feminist organizations is rarely examined. This collection corrects that oversight, exploring the nexus between the emancipation of women and their roles in CSOs. Featuring contrasting, international studies from a wide range of contributors, it covers emerging issues such as the role of social media in organizing, the significance of religion in many cultural contexts, activism in Eastern Europe, and the impact of environmental degradation on women's lives. Asking whether involvement in CSOs offers a potential source of emancipation for women or maintains the status quo, this book will have an impact on both equal-opportunity policy and practice.

The next U.S. administration should require women’s representation and meaningful participation in conflict resolution and postconflict processes, increase investment in efforts that promote women’s inclusion, reform U.S. diplomatic and security practices to incorporate the experiences of women in conflict-affected countries, improve staffing and coordination to deliver on government commitments, strengthen training on incorporating women in security efforts, and promote accountability. These steps will help the United States respond effectively to security threats around the world, improve the sustainability of peace agreements, and advance U.S. interests.