Introduction
Conflict, political instability, fragility, displacement, violent extremism, climate-related insecurity, and humanitarian crises have significant and often differentiated impacts on women, men, girls, and boys. Women and girls may face heightened risks of gender-based violence, displacement, loss of livelihoods, exclusion from decision-making, and reduced access to essential services, while at the same time playing important roles as peacebuilders, community leaders, mediators, human rights defenders, humanitarian actors, and agents of social and economic resilience.
The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda recognizes that sustainable peace and security require the meaningful participation, protection, and leadership of women throughout conflict prevention, peacebuilding, conflict resolution, recovery, and reconstruction. It also recognizes the importance of addressing the gendered dimensions of conflict and ensuring that women’s rights and perspectives are integrated into peace and security processes.
Fragility creates additional challenges for gender equality and peacebuilding. Weak institutions, limited access to justice, poverty, political instability, displacement, insecurity, weak social protection systems, and limited state capacity can deepen existing gender inequalities and increase vulnerabilities. Conflict can also disrupt education, healthcare, livelihoods, governance, and community support systems, with significant consequences for women and girls.
At the same time, women are not only victims of conflict and fragility. Women participate in formal and informal peace processes, community mediation, early warning systems, humanitarian response, conflict prevention, reconciliation, local governance, peace education, economic recovery, and social cohesion initiatives. Strengthening these roles can contribute to more inclusive and sustainable approaches to peace and security.
This comprehensive training course equips participants with the knowledge, analytical frameworks, and practical skills required to understand and apply the Women, Peace and Security agenda within conflict-affected, fragile, humanitarian, and post-conflict environments. Participants will examine the four pillars of WPS, gender and conflict analysis, women’s participation and leadership, conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence, prevention and protection, peacebuilding, mediation, peace agreements, disarmament and reintegration, humanitarian action, displacement, climate and security, and post-conflict recovery.
The course emphasizes practical application through conflict and gender analysis, case studies, peacebuilding simulations, stakeholder mapping, early warning exercises, peace agreement assessments, programme design, and strategic planning. Participants will develop practical approaches for strengthening women’s participation, preventing gender-based violence, integrating gender into peacebuilding and security interventions, and supporting inclusive and sustainable peace in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Understand the foundations, principles, and evolution of the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
- Explain the relationship between gender, conflict, peace, security, and fragility.
- Understand the four core pillars of Women, Peace and Security: participation, prevention, protection, and relief and recovery.
- Analyse the gendered drivers and impacts of conflict and fragility.
- Conduct gender-sensitive conflict and context analysis.
- Identify the different roles women play in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, mediation, and recovery.
- Strengthen women’s meaningful participation in peace and security processes.
- Analyse conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence and protection risks.
- Integrate gender considerations into conflict prevention and early warning systems.
- Promote gender-responsive approaches to mediation and peace negotiations.
- Assess the gender dimensions of peace agreements and peacebuilding processes.
- Integrate women, peace, and security principles into humanitarian action and recovery programmes.
- Understand the relationship between displacement, conflict, fragility, and gender inequality.
- Examine the relationship between climate change, natural resources, conflict, and women’s peace and security roles.
- Strengthen approaches to women’s leadership in peacebuilding and local governance.
- Integrate gender into security sector and justice sector interventions.
- Develop gender-responsive approaches to disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration.
- Design gender-responsive peacebuilding and recovery programmes.
- Develop indicators for monitoring Women, Peace and Security outcomes.
- Develop practical Women, Peace and Security strategies and action plans.
Duration
5 Days
Target Audience
This course is designed for:
- Gender Specialists and Gender Officers
- Peacebuilding Professionals
- Conflict Resolution Specialists
- Peace and Security Professionals
- Humanitarian Professionals
- Development Practitioners
- Programme and Project Managers
- Government Officials
- Public Sector Managers
- Diplomats and Foreign Affairs Professionals
- Defence and Security Professionals
- Police and Law Enforcement Professionals
- Justice Sector Professionals
- Mediation and Negotiation Professionals
- Conflict Analysts
- Early Warning and Early Response Professionals
- Human Rights Professionals
- Protection Officers
- Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response Professionals
- Humanitarian Coordination Professionals
- Refugee and Displacement Professionals
- Community Development Professionals
- Civil Society and NGO Professionals
- International Development Professionals
- Peacebuilding and Reconciliation Practitioners
- Social Protection Professionals
- Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Professionals
- Policy and Planning Professionals
- Researchers and Academics
- Professionals working in conflict-affected, fragile, humanitarian, and post-conflict environments.
Module 1: Foundations of Women, Peace and Security, Conflict and Fragility
Understanding Women, Peace and Security
- Definition and evolution of the Women, Peace and Security agenda
- International frameworks and commitments
- The relationship between gender equality and sustainable peace
- Women’s rights and peace and security
- Gender-responsive approaches to security
- Women as agents of peace and change
- National and institutional WPS frameworks
The Four Pillars of Women, Peace and Security
- Participation
- Prevention
- Protection
- Relief and recovery
- Interrelationship between the four pillars
- Translating the pillars into programmes and policies
- Institutional responsibilities for implementation
Gender and Conflict
- Understanding conflict
- Conflict drivers and dynamics
- Gendered causes and consequences of conflict
- Gender roles during conflict
- Women’s experiences of conflict
- Men’s and boys’ experiences of conflict
- Gender and power relations
- Conflict-related inequalities
Understanding Fragility
- Definition and dimensions of fragility
- Institutional fragility
- Political and economic fragility
- Social fragility
- Governance and institutional capacity
- Fragility and inequality
- Fragility and conflict risks
- Gender dimensions of fragile environments
Gender, Peace and Security Analysis
- Gender analysis
- Conflict analysis
- Political economy analysis
- Stakeholder analysis
- Power analysis
- Conflict sensitivity
- Do-no-harm approaches
- Intersectionality
Practical Exercise
Participants will conduct a Gender, Conflict and Fragility Analysis of a selected country, region, community, or hypothetical conflict setting. The exercise will identify conflict drivers, gender inequalities, power relations, affected populations, institutional vulnerabilities, women’s roles, and opportunities for peacebuilding.
Module 2: Women’s Participation, Leadership, Prevention and Peacebuilding
Women’s Participation in Peace and Security
- Women’s participation in peace processes
- Political participation
- Community-level participation
- Women’s representation in security institutions
- Participation in peacebuilding programmes
- Barriers to women’s participation
- Meaningful versus tokenistic participation
- Creating enabling environments
Women in Mediation and Peace Negotiations
- Women’s roles as mediators
- Formal and informal mediation
- Community-based peacebuilding
- Peace negotiations
- Inclusive peace processes
- Gender-responsive negotiation
- Women’s perspectives in peace agreements
- Supporting women mediators
Women in Peacebuilding and Reconciliation
- Community peacebuilding
- Social cohesion
- Reconciliation
- Transitional justice
- Dialogue and community engagement
- Local peace committees
- Women’s peace networks
- Grassroots peace initiatives
Conflict Prevention and Early Warning
- Conflict prevention
- Early warning systems
- Early response mechanisms
- Gender-sensitive conflict indicators
- Women’s knowledge and community-level early warning
- Gender-responsive risk analysis
- Community-based prevention
- Preventive diplomacy
Women’s Leadership in Peace and Security
- Women’s leadership
- Political and community leadership
- Leadership barriers
- Women’s peace networks
- Capacity building
- Mentorship and sponsorship
- Leadership protection
- Strengthening women’s influence
Practical Exercise
Participants will conduct a Women’s Participation and Peacebuilding Assessment for a selected conflict-affected setting. They will identify barriers to women’s participation, map women peace actors and institutions, analyse opportunities for greater participation, and develop an inclusive peacebuilding intervention.
Module 3: Protection, Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and Humanitarian Action
Protection of Women and Girls in Conflict
- Protection risks in conflict
- Gender-based vulnerabilities
- Human rights and protection
- Conflict-related displacement
- Access to justice
- Protection mechanisms
- Community protection
- Accountability
Conflict-Related Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
- Understanding conflict-related sexual violence
- Gender-based violence in conflict
- Drivers and risk factors
- Sexual exploitation and abuse
- Trafficking and exploitation
- Gender-based violence against displaced populations
- Prevention and response
- Survivor-centred approaches
Women, Peace and Security in Humanitarian Settings
- Gender-responsive humanitarian action
- Gender analysis in humanitarian programming
- Protection in emergencies
- Humanitarian coordination
- Essential services
- Women’s participation in humanitarian decision-making
- Accountability to affected populations
- Gender-responsive humanitarian standards
Displacement, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
- Gender dimensions of displacement
- Women and girls in refugee settings
- Internally displaced women
- Protection risks
- Access to livelihoods
- Education and healthcare
- Documentation and legal protection
- Participation in displacement responses
Justice, Accountability and Protection
- Access to justice
- Rule of law
- Gender-responsive justice systems
- Documentation of violations
- Accountability mechanisms
- Transitional justice
- Reparations
- Survivor-centred justice
Practical Exercise
Participants will analyse a Conflict-Related Protection Scenario involving displacement, gender-based violence, and institutional fragility. They will identify protection risks, stakeholders, referral mechanisms, prevention measures, accountability requirements, and gender-responsive humanitarian interventions.
Module 4: Gender-Responsive Peacebuilding, Security Sector Reform and Recovery
Gender and Security Sector Reform
- Gender-responsive security sector reform
- Women’s participation in security institutions
- Gender-responsive policing
- Defence and security institutions
- Community security
- Accountability in security institutions
- Prevention of abuse
- Building trust between communities and security institutions
Gender and Justice Sector Reform
- Gender-responsive justice systems
- Access to justice
- Legal barriers
- Women’s participation in justice institutions
- Community justice mechanisms
- Legal empowerment
- Alternative dispute resolution
- Gender-sensitive legal reform
Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration
- Understanding DDR
- Gender dimensions of DDR
- Women associated with armed groups
- Gender-responsive disarmament
- Reintegration of women
- Economic reintegration
- Psychosocial support
- Community acceptance and social reintegration
Peace Agreements and Post-Conflict Governance
- Gender in peace agreements
- Women’s participation in negotiations
- Gender-responsive provisions
- Political representation
- Constitutional and institutional reform
- Power-sharing arrangements
- Transitional governance
- Monitoring implementation of peace agreements
Post-Conflict Recovery and Reconstruction
- Gender-responsive recovery
- Livelihood restoration
- Economic empowerment
- Reconstruction planning
- Access to land and property
- Infrastructure and essential services
- Women’s participation in reconstruction
- Building resilient institutions
Climate Change, Natural Resources and Peacebuilding
- Climate change and conflict
- Natural resource competition
- Gender and environmental security
- Women’s roles in natural resource management
- Climate-related displacement
- Women’s participation in climate peacebuilding
- Environmental peacebuilding
- Gender-responsive climate adaptation
Practical Exercise
Participants will conduct a Gender-Responsive Post-Conflict Recovery Assessment and develop recommendations covering security sector reform, justice, DDR, livelihoods, governance, women’s participation, natural resource management, and institutional recovery.
Module 5: Developing and Implementing Women, Peace and Security Strategies
National and Institutional WPS Strategies
- Women, Peace and Security action plans
- National implementation frameworks
- Institutional WPS strategies
- Strategic objectives
- Implementation responsibilities
- Institutional coordination
- Financing WPS commitments
- Accountability mechanisms
Gender-Responsive Peacebuilding Programming
- Conflict-sensitive programme design
- Gender analysis
- Peacebuilding theories of change
- Stakeholder engagement
- Community participation
- Women’s leadership
- Protection
- Sustainability
Monitoring and Evaluation of WPS Programmes
- WPS indicators
- Gender-sensitive conflict indicators
- Participation indicators
- Prevention indicators
- Protection indicators
- Relief and recovery indicators
- Qualitative and quantitative approaches
- Outcome and impact measurement
Financing Women, Peace and Security
- WPS financing
- Gender-responsive budgeting
- Resource allocation
- Programme costing
- Donor financing
- Tracking WPS expenditure
- Institutional accountability
- Sustainable financing
Partnerships and Multi-Stakeholder Coordination
- Government partnerships
- Civil society organizations
- Women’s organizations
- Community leaders
- Security institutions
- Development partners
- Humanitarian organizations
- Regional and international institutions
Developing a Women, Peace and Security Action Plan
- Conflict and gender assessment
- Strategic priorities
- Objectives and interventions
- Institutional responsibilities
- Partnerships
- Resource requirements
- Implementation timelines
- Performance indicators
- Monitoring and reporting
- Risk management
- Sustainability
Practical Exercise
Participants will work in multidisciplinary teams to develop a comprehensive Women, Peace and Security Action Plan for a country, institution, sector, or conflict-affected community. The plan will integrate participation, prevention, protection, relief and recovery, women’s leadership, conflict prevention, peacebuilding, humanitarian action, security and justice sector reform, financing, monitoring, and accountability. Teams will present their strategies for peer review and facilitator evaluation.
Training Approach
This course adopts a highly practical, participatory, conflict-sensitive, and application-oriented learning approach combining expert presentations, facilitated discussions, conflict and gender analysis, case studies, peacebuilding scenarios, mediation simulations, stakeholder mapping, early warning exercises, policy analysis, group assignments, programme design workshops, and strategic planning.
Participants will progressively move from understanding the foundations of Women, Peace and Security to analysing conflict and fragility, strengthening women’s participation in peacebuilding, addressing protection risks, integrating gender into security and justice systems, and developing practical WPS strategies.
The course emphasizes learning from diverse conflict, post-conflict, humanitarian, and fragile contexts. Participants will examine both formal and informal peacebuilding processes and explore the contributions of governments, communities, women’s organizations, civil society, humanitarian actors, security institutions, development partners, and local peace actors.
Where appropriate, participants will use their own institutional policies, peacebuilding programmes, conflict assessments, WPS strategies, humanitarian plans, early warning frameworks, or organizational challenges during practical exercises. This enables the course to generate practical outputs that can be applied within participants’ professional environments.
Particular emphasis will be placed on women’s meaningful participation and leadership, recognizing women not only as populations affected by conflict but also as peacebuilders, mediators, community leaders, negotiators, humanitarian actors, and agents of resilience and social transformation.
General Notes
Training Requirements: Participants should have a basic understanding of gender equality, peacebuilding, conflict management, development programming, humanitarian action, governance, security, or public policy. Previous experience working in conflict-affected or fragile settings is beneficial but not mandatory.
Training Materials: Each participant will receive a comprehensive training manual, presentation slides, gender and conflict analysis tools, Women, Peace and Security frameworks, stakeholder mapping tools, conflict-sensitive programming templates, peacebuilding planning tools, WPS monitoring frameworks, case studies, action plan templates, and relevant reference materials.
Certification: Participants who successfully complete the course will receive a Kincaid Development Center Certificate of Completion.
Training Venue: The course may be delivered at Kincaid Development Center’s training facilities, at the client’s premises, or through a live instructor-led virtual training platform.
Course Customization: The course can be customized for government institutions, ministries responsible for gender, defence, security, foreign affairs, justice, and development, international organizations, humanitarian agencies, NGOs, women’s organizations, civil society organizations, development agencies, peacebuilding institutions, research organizations, and other stakeholders involved in peace and security.
Organizational Application: Participants may incorporate their own WPS strategies, conflict assessments, peacebuilding programmes, humanitarian plans, early warning systems, institutional policies, or organizational challenges into practical exercises. This enables the training to generate context-specific and actionable outputs.
Country and Regional Context: The course can be adapted to the specific conflict, peace, security, humanitarian, governance, and institutional environment of the participating country or region. Relevant national and regional Women, Peace and Security frameworks can be incorporated into the programme where appropriate.
Safeguarding and Protection: Training discussions involving conflict-related sexual violence, gender-based violence, displacement, and other sensitive issues will be approached using appropriate safeguarding, confidentiality, survivor-centred, and do-no-harm principles.
Post-Training Application: Participants will be equipped with practical analytical frameworks, planning tools, and implementation approaches that can be applied to WPS strategies, peacebuilding programmes, conflict prevention initiatives, humanitarian interventions, security sector reforms, recovery programmes, and institutional planning.
Training Delivery: Kincaid Development Center can deliver the programme as an open-enrolment course or as a customized in-house programme for organizations seeking to strengthen their capacity to integrate gender, peace, security, conflict prevention, humanitarian action, and recovery into their policies and programmes.