Over the past 15 years, USIP has supported over 90 projects related to women, conflict, and peacebuilding.  From grants to fellowships, from training to education, from working groups to publications, the Institute strives to encourage more practice and scholarly work on women, and seeks to deepen understanding of the role of women in conflict and in peace.

The Institute's Grant Program has funded over 50 projects related to women throughout the world, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Colombia, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, Northern Ireland, Sudan, Thailand, and Uganda. Grant projects address both practice and research, and include a wide range of women-focused concerns from war-time sexual violence; women as negotiators; cross-ethnic and religious cooperation among women; building social tolerance and respect for women's equality; to rule of law problems for women in post-conflict societies.

The Institute integrates gender issues into its core education and training programs. Internationally, USIP conducts ongoing training programs in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and makes great effort to stress the importance of including women as participants in training programs, especially in more traditional societies where women are often excluded.

• Projects
• Publications
• Events
• Training Programs
• Specialists

Projects

Below are brief descriptions of some of USIP's recent projects that focus on women:

• Network of Iraqi Widows
  Decades of conflict and economic sanctions have turned an unusually high percentage of Iraqi women into widows.  For these women and their families, the death of their partners and primary breadwinners is a source of animosity toward the "other," but also a basis for reconciliation. USIP in concert with an Iraqi partner is encouraging the latter through joint training sessions with widows drawn from both Sunni and Shi'i communities in Baghdad. Widows received training in conflict management, while concurrently working to overcome their shared animosity. Widows who graduate from the program identify other widows for future training. Through the initiative, Sunni and Shi'i widows (and their children) are building relationships that cut across sectarian lines, are developing peacebuilding skills relevant to their communities, and are working with civil and governmental organizations to address the practical needs of widows and their children.
• Women and Afghan Jirgas
  Despite some progress in Afghanistan, citizens often view the police and judiciary with suspicion. In the absence of a reliable formal judiciary, traditional local decision-making bodies called Jirgas offer an alternative framework for conflict resolution. In the Western province of Herat, the Institute is supporting a project to help reform Jirgas and increase the participation of women and minority groups in their work. 
• Role of Women in Demobilization and Reconciliation in Colombia
  In Colombia, women have played central roles in community-based peacebuilding. To document their contributions, and to distill and disseminate lessons learned, USIP is supporting a local NGO in Putumayo as it assesses the role of local women in demobilization and reconciliation efforts.
• Human Rights and The women of Iraq Individuals who cannot read often have difficulty accessing information on human rights and other key concepts of democracy. This is the case in rural Iraq, where the female literacy rate is less than 40 percent. Recognizing this, USIP funded a project to develop a 45-minute animated film on the status of girls and women and their rights in Iraqi society. Produced in both Arabic and Kurdish, the film targets primary, middle, and high school students, as well as women in rural areas. In just 36 weeks the film was shown in 700 schools, and was broadcast via local and satellite television throughout Iraq. In interviews with participating educators and students, 95 percent indicated that the film and workshops strengthened their understanding of democracy, the constitutional process, and human rights.
• Conflict Transformation at the Local Level: Youth, Women, and Children in the Nuba Mountains Region of Sudan
  In the Nuba Mountains, with the support of USIP, an NGO pursues a multifaceted approach to conflict transformation at the local level. Activities include conflict resolution and reconciliation training sessions for youth, ex-combatants, and women; peace festivals, sporting events and exchange programs between four villages enmeshed in low-level conflict; and theater productions to teach school children and their parents about conflict resolution and a culture of peace.
• Women's Memories of War, Peace and Resistance From Colombia 1995-2008
  USIP supports a Historical Memory Commission report on the gendered dynamics of war in the northern coastal region of Colombia. The study analyzes how violence against women occurred within the armed conflict, the gender discriminatory mechanisms involved in that violence, the participation of women within that violence, and also the resistance initiatives promoted by women.
• Understanding Sexual Violence During War: A Comparative Study
  In an effort to explore the causal mechanisms that underlie variations in wartime sexual violence and suggest ways to reduce such violence, USIP funds this study that combines statistical analysis of data gathered by truth commissions, human rights groups, war crimes tribunals, and medical groups, with field research in El Salvador, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Peru, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Colombia.

Publications

Special Reports

• The Role of Women in Reconstruction and Stabilization
  Special Report, August 2006

Peaceworks

• Women in War and Peace: Grassroots Peacebuilding
  Peaceworks #34, August 2000

USIPeace Briefings

• Women's Role in Liberia's Reconstruction
  USIPeace Briefing, May 2007
• Iraq at a Juncture: Constitution, Referendum and Elections
  USIPeace Briefing on the rights of women in the new Iraq, September 2005

Events

• USIP Celebrates International Women's Day with Tribute to Rose Lucey
  Event, February 27, 2009
• Education in Afghanistan: Then and Now
  Event, February 18, 2009 (Audio Available)
• Integrating Women into Liberia's New Security Forces
  Event, Janurary 24, 2008 (Audio Available)
• Women's Role in the Reconstruction of Liberia
  Event, April 23, 2007 (Audio Available)
• The Role of Women in Stabilization and Reconstruction
  Event, April 10, 2007 (Audio Available)
• In the War Zone: How Does Gender Matter?
  Event, April 10, 2006
• Women and Islam
  Event, June 17, 2002 (Audio Available)
• Us and Them: The Role of Women Today in Peacemaking
  Address by Ambassador Nancy Rubin, September 14, 1999

Training Programs

• Capacity Building Workshop for Afghan Women Leaders
  USIP Training Program, September 2005
• Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Workshop for Iraqi Women
  USIP Training Program, July 2004
• Women Waging Peace Colloquium
  USIP Training Program, November 2002

Specialists

Below are specialists that focus on women and conflict:

• Virginia Bouvier
• Kathleen Kuehnast
• Asieh Mir
• Manal Omar
• Marie Pace
• Mary Hope Schwoebel
• Mona Yacoubian