Women Peace and Human Security: A Guidance Note on Parliamentary Engagement During and Post-COVID-19

"[P]roviding civil society with meaningful opportunities for inclusive dialogue and engagement in the parliamentary process is key to advancing gender equality and social cohesion, while upholding human rights and the rule of law."

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) points out that the spread of COVID-19 across the world has led to impacts such as stigmatisation, the disruption of existing political processes, and the proliferation of misinformation. These impacts, according to UNDP, are deeply gendered, particularly in fragile settings, where women are marginalised to the periphery of peace and political solutions, and their decision-making power and access to information is diminished. This guidance note looks at how parliaments can promote women, peace, and security (WPS)-aligned pandemic response and recovery. Specifically, it shares strategies for promoting women's participation and leadership both during the crisis and beyond, in the context of the vision articulated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Providing several examples throughout the document, UNDP argues that countries with higher levels of women with decision-making power have responded better to the gendered impacts of COVID-19 on women and girls (e.g., a heightened risk of sexual and gender-based violence, or SGBV). In the long run, UNDP stresses, having more women in leadership will be critical to addressing systemic causes of exclusion, discrimination, and violence against them - as well as empowering them to contribute to building society back better.

Some strategies for facilitating the WPS agenda in the context of COVID-19 include:

• Ensuring parliamentary scrutiny - "Women and women-led civil society must be reassured that even during crisis and with the lack of face-to-face interaction, a system of democratic control is in place to ensure that special measures are designed and funded in a way that meet their and their communities' needs....Parliament should consult and engage with activists, organizations and experts in the area of women's rights, WPS and human security, including within constituencies, to analyze the content and adequacy of response proposals..." For example, in Sierra Leone, the parliament has taken a cue from the Ebola epidemic, which exacerbated existing gender inequalities, including increased early childbearing and permanent dropout from education. To that end, UNDP is supporting the Parliamentary Female Caucus in engaging local radio stations to sensitise: constituents on COVID-19 and its gendered implications, state institutions and traditional leaders on security concerns and implications for women and girls, and border authorities on the safety and security of women trading along border communities.
• Standing with women-led civil society - "Parliaments can use their power of scrutiny to ensure recognition and protection of civil society actors during the emergency response, and to remove barriers to their efforts to protect the health and wellbeing of communities..." For example, this might entail liaising with constituencies to: provide facts and dispel misinformation about COVID-19, its effects, the government-led response, and available support; raise awareness of the essential role of women and women's organisations in emergency response and resilience; address SGBV, gendered stigma, and hate speech; and identify the support required.
• Fostering international cooperation and support to the immediate global response - "Given the looming threat of escalating social unrest globally, now more than ever, there is a need for parliamentary oversight and diplomacy to foster assistance, accountability and coordination between countries." For example, in recipient countries, parliaments should engage in consultations with the government and donors to ensure gender- and conflict-sensitive recovery assistance, and they should scrutinise such funds to maximise accountability, transparency, and aid effectiveness.
• Learning and applying lessons from the crisis - "Systematic failure to take stock of women's and girls' particular vulnerabilities and experiences, and of women-led resilience, risks aggravating existing gender inequalities and hamper inclusive and effective response during this and every future crisis to come. In the aftermath of a crisis, parliaments will have the opportunity to significantly contribute to the process of learning and applying the lessons from COVID-19 response..." For example, this could include opportunities for representatives of actors and communities on the ground, including those most vulnerable and at increased risk, to meaningfully participate in reports by independent oversight institutions regarding the use of funds and the legality, efficiency, and effectiveness of national responses.

In light of the above analysis and examples, the document includes a box with areas of support - e.g., encouraging governments to set up digital platforms with gender- and age-disaggregated data to support inclusive and data-driven decision-making and oversight.

Next, taking a longer-term view, UNDP examines ways to build back better through parliamentary support to women's full and equal participation in the WPS agenda. As stated here, "The challenge and opportunity will be to ensure that decision-making processes start to break the mold of who is perceived as an 'expert', bringing new kinds of people, including a diverse representation of women, locally-sourced ideas, innovations, and solutions." Provided this barrier can be overcome, UNDP believes that "Strong and well-capacitated parliaments can translate collective visions into legislation and budgets leading to a more resilient and sustainable future in which women and men enjoy equal rights to security, participation, decision-making and empowerment." Strategies include:

• Engaging a diverse representation of women in post-COVID-19 decision-making - This will require, for example, systematically developing user-friendly and context-sensitive tools and partnerships with local civil society, community networks, local authorities and the media for engaging different groups of women at risk of being left behind during future crisis response, including those who are: in remote areas; without access to internet; traditionally less able or unable to participate in the decisions that impact them (e.g., women, youth, persons with disabilities); and marginalised within marginalised groups (e.g., women in minority ethnic groups).
• Promoting women's voice and agency in post-COVID-19 society - This calls for actions such as supporting: civil-society- and community-led efforts; education, economic, and technological empowerment; and women's political participation. As an example of the latter, in Sri Lanka, where the parliament has been dissolved since early March 2020 ahead of elections, UNDP has supported women public and community leaders to raise awareness among communities of the impact of COVID-19 on women's safety, risk factors for SGBV, and support available from civil society organisations (CSOs). UNDP has also facilitated a communications campaign with a series of short videos on the importance of women's leadership in the COVID-19 response and recovery, including political leadership.

Among the areas of support related to the above strategies are, to cite only one: international networking and good practice exchange among women parliamentarians on WPS and post-COVID-19 participative foresight.

UNDP presents gender-sensitive parliament as a force for realising WPS and gender equality agendas post-COVID-19, noting that "Only by integrating gender sensitivity into its own culture, structure, infrastructure and ways of working can parliament serve as a force for realizing the WPS and gender equality agendas beyond COVID-19 recovery, towards 2030..." One of the proposed areas of support is to HeforShe initiatives that aim to ensure that WPS and gender equality are the responsibility of men and women MPs alike.

In conclusion: "Emerging from the COVID-19 crisis into a more resilient, secure and sustainable economic model aligned with the planet's natural limits, respecting basic needs and leaving no one behind will require harnessing women's potential as leaders, peacebuilders, innovators and agents of change."