��Ӱֱ��

Two new projects funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and led by Faculty of Arts and Science researcher Stéfanie von Hlatky are focused on the objective of countering the backlash against gender equality norms through research collaborations.

Funding for the Global Feminist Resilience Network was part of a special call from SSHRC’s Destination Europe program. It paves the way for Canadian participation into where Canada's research and innovation communities can help develop solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges - from health to climate to social inclusion, the program offers opportunities for impactful discoveries and global partnerships.

“The Network is being led by researchers and practitioners who have an academic or professional interest in the (WPS) agenda - a global framework that recognizes the crucial role of women in achieving and sustaining peace, and the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls,” says Dr. von Hlatky. “The Network proposes redefining the foundations for academic and practical cooperation on WPS in a global context where gender equality norms are being attacked and undermined through various means, including online disinformation to the marginalization of women’s rights in mainstream politics, to the prevalence of sexual violence in peacetime and wartime.”

Proposed activities for the newly formed Network include a series of four workshops to co-design a research and practice-oriented response to important global governance challenges tied to gender equality and international security.

Given the depth of existing relationships within the WPS community of practice, the activities planned over the first year of the launch would be centered on workshops to co-design a research and practice-oriented response to important global governance challenges tied to gender equality and international security, according to Dr. von Hlatky.

“Despite a growing body of evidence showing that gender equality is essential to build more peaceful and prosperous societies, women’s inclusion within peace processes has gone down not up,” she explains. “Even with longstanding political commitments explicitly recognizing the importance of gender equality for peace, such as the WPS, resistance persists, perhaps most glaringly within security and defence organizations.”

The second project receiving funding, Strategies of Feminist Resilience for the WPS Community of Practice (SSHRC Connection Grant), will be a Brussels-based workshop to tackle some important issues including backlash, disappearance of expertise, and data on gender equality.

“Academics and practitioners will be coming together this October to take stock but also design a feminist archive so we can be stewards of the work done by feminist scholars and activists in countries that are wiping out this expertise.”

Learn more about the project partners on the Centre for International and Defence Policy (CIDP) website and the (RN-WPS) website.