UNHCR Gender Mainstreaming - a policy analysis
Author
Ismail Mohamed, Hodan
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2012
Submitted on
2012-09-03
Pages
56
Abstract
Siden 1980'erne har FN's Flygtningehøjkommissariat (UNHCR) haft særlig fokus på den internationale beskyttelse af flygtningekvinder. Dette udspringer af feministiske analyser og anbefalinger, der peger på, at kvinder og mænd kan have forskellige behov i en flygtningsituation. I 1988 anerkendte UNHCR officielt flygtningekvinders særlige sårbarhed og vedtog politikker, der skulle styrke og myndiggøre kvinder ud fra deres specifikke behov. Dette speciale peger på et dilemma: UNHCR kommer til både at fremstille flygtningekvinder som sårbare ofre og samtidig at ville myndiggøre dem. Spændingsfeltet mellem offergørelse og myndiggørelse er specialets omdrejningspunkt. Formålet er at undersøge de kønsantagelser, der ligger bag UNHCR's politikker og indsatser, for at belyse, hvilke virkninger politikken har. Specialet anvender en politikanalytisk tilgang, som ser på, hvordan problemer bliver defineret, og hvilke konsekvenser denne problemforståelse får. Ved at afdække de underliggende antagelser bidrager specialet til den løbende debat om kønsmainstreaming (at integrere kønsperspektiver i alle politikker og programmer).
Since the 1980s, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has paid special attention to the international protection of refugee women. This focus grew out of feminist analysis and recommendations recognizing that women and men can have different needs in displacement. In 1988, UNHCR officially acknowledged the particular vulnerability of refugee women and adopted policies aimed at strengthening and empowering women according to their specific needs. This thesis argues that UNHCR faces a dilemma: it often portrays refugee women as vulnerable victims while also seeking to empower them. The tension between victimization and empowerment is the study’s central focus. The aim is to examine the gender assumptions that underpin UNHCR’s policies and interventions, in order to shed light on the effects these policies have. The study uses a policy analysis approach that looks at how issues are defined as problems and what consequences follow from that framing. By revealing these underlying assumptions, the thesis contributes to ongoing debates on gender mainstreaming (that is, integrating gender perspectives across policies and programs).
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