Engendering the Transition to Peace and Narrative progress update (January March 2017)
Introduction Engendering the Transition to Peace and is a programme developed by PAX, Impunity Watch, Iraqi Al Amal Association and its partners. It aims to contribute to structural change of gender norms, laws and institutions in Iraq, promoting equal rights, capacities and opportunities for men and women. This will enable them to fully participate in transformative peace building and social reconstruction. It specifically challenges the idea that Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) is a private issue by linking it clearly to conflict patterns and histories that are markedly political, leading to integrating gender-sensitive and active women s participation in security sector reform (SSR), justice and reconciliation processes in after ISIS Iraq. Overall Programme Objective The overall objective for this programme is: To contribute to a structural change of gender norms, laws, and institutions in Iraq, giving women and men equal rights, capacities, and opportunities. Enabling them to participate fully in transformative peacebuilding and social reconstruction with a particular focus on SGBV issues and countering impunity thereof. Specific Programme Objectives 1. Increased understanding and awareness of root causes and patterns of SGBV and impunity thereof and increased capacity develop, implement and evaluate effective transformative strategies to carry out applied research on SGBV. 2. Targeted Iraqi police and judiciary become more responsive to SGBV cases as a result of increased cooperation, voice and participation of women. 3. Increased influence and engagement of women organizations and networks in discussions on security and SSR on local, national and international level. This narrative update describes progress of the programme from January until March 2017, the first quarter in implementation. During these months the programme set up continued; partnership contracts have been signed; the assumptions underlying the Theory of Change (ToC) in the initial proposal have been tested and slightly adapted (see the inception report for more detail), and a participatory monitoring and evaluation framework is being designed. The first programme interventions were rolled out 2
1. Context and Conflict Analysis 1.1 Context and conflict analysis - update Since the beginning of 2017, context and conflict dynamics in Iraq have continued to develop at a high pace. The ongoing fight against ISIS has led to the re-conquering of many towns and villages by the Iraqi army, Iraqi police and allied militia groups known as Popular Mobilisation Units (PMUs). Support through air bombardments, training of Iraqi army and Peshmerga, as well as the provision of technical and military equipment is provided by the International Coalition Against ISIS. The Netherlands is part of this coalition and provides air support in cooperation with Belgium, as well as technical training and medical equipment to the Iraqi army and Peshmerga troops. Currently, the battle for Mosul is ongoing and resulting in new waves of displacement and high numbers of civilian casualties. The UN is struggling to provide sufficient humanitarian support to all those who need it and the situation in refugee camps is dire. The Iraqi and Kurdish governments are actively encouraging (and sometimes forcing) IDPs to return to areas that have been reconquered. In some instances, they have also obstructed the return of IDPs. Local security dynamics in these areas have changed considerably, however, with new actors on the ground in the form of (mainly Shiite) militia groups as well as new people in power in (local) governmental and administrative positions. Tribal justice is used to broker deals between tribes to determine who is allowed to return, and who is not based on accusations of ISIS membership. These processes happen parallel to (mainly local) trials before local Iraqi sharia courts where people accused of crimes under ISIS rule are tried. At the same time those who are accused of ISIS membership and captured by Iraqi army, Peshmerga or the police are held in official detention centres in various locations to await trial or vetting. In a number of places, particularly in Anbar and Diyala provinces, high numbers of men and boys have disappeared, presumably taken away by militias to unofficial detention centres. Those who get out relate stories of extreme torture and killings. Politics of demographic engineering are also in place in areas that are bordering Iran or that are disputed between KRI and GoI. This means that return is a contentious issue, and that families that do decide to return voluntarily, often do this in stages. The male heads of households go to the place of origin to check the level of destruction of properties and the general security. Women often stay behind in IDP camps or privately rented apartments with the (younger) children. If the situation is safe and basic services are in place, families unite during school holidays in order to ensure children can continue their education relatively uninterrupted. Women in IDP camps have been trained by a range of (international) civil society organisations in the past years. Access to facilities many women never had, such as 3
vocational training and literacy classes, suddenly became available. Now that return of families to areas of origin is slowly starting to take-off, it will be interesting to investigate if women, and indeed their wider families, are able to capitalize on the new skills they acquired, or that this will in fact become an obstacle for women to reassume traditional roles. This is one of the topics PAX and partners would like to conduct research on through this program. On November 26 2016 the Iraqi parliament passed a law establishing a new security force independent of the Iraqi army consisting of the predominately Shiite militias of the PMU under the leadership of the General Commander of the armed forces. According to the parliament s Security and Defence Committee, the law turning the PMU into an official security institution would be structured similarly to the anti-terrorism apparatus. The PMU law stipulates limiting fighters to 50,000, of which 15,000 are to be Sunni. Current figures indicate that there are 150,000 fighters in the PMU's ranks. The 2017 budget, however, includes funding for 110,000 fighters, pointing to the possibility of only 40,000 fighters being demobilized. The fear amongst mainly Sunni communities of these PMU forces is extremely high due to their sectarian nature. Some of the PMU groups have announced that they want to take part in the upcoming provincial (September 2017) and parliamentary elections (in 2018). Sunni political forces, as well as the political movement of Shia leader Sadr, are actively blocking the implementation of the law for this reason. If implemented, the law will turn the PMU into an official security body affiliated with the Iraqi armed forces. In Iraq, political parties and entities wishing to run for election must abolish their armed wings. The new law would allow the armed factions under the PMU umbrella to be incorporated into one officially recognized body. As a result, the factions affiliated with the PMU would be considered as purely political entities or parties without having to actually dissolve their armed wings considered as official security bodies under the law. 4
2. Programme Progress After the decision on the grant for Women, Peace and Security 2016 2019: Engendering the Transition to Peace and was awarded on 31 October 2016, PAX as lead applicant organised an introductory kick-off meeting with the consortium partners based in the Netherlands on 30 November 2016 in Utrecht. In this first programme management meeting, the contract requirements were introduced, the partnership agreement was reviewed, accountability obligations were touched upon and the steps to efficiently roll out the programme and to prepare for the inception workshop in Erbil, KRI with all partners were discussed. It was agreed that the inception workshop would take place in Erbil from 2 4 February 2017. All details can be found in the inception report that was submitted to MoFA on 26 April 2017. 2.1 Progress on interventions Below a short update on the progress of implementation from January until March 2017 is outlined per consortium partner. Where applicable there will be elaborated on the steps to be taken in the following period, April until June 2017. Progress on Overall Coordination and Management The coalition set up an Expert Advisory Committee for this programme that consists of a member of the Directorate of Women Empowerment of the Iraqi Council of Ministries, a UNAMI expert working on (S)GBV, an Iraqi legal expert, a SSR expert with practical experience in Security Sector Reform and an expert on Dealing with the Past. A Terms of Reference (ToR) has been written and approved by all partners during the first quarter of this programme. The committee members have been invited and the partners are awaiting a response. The monitoring and evaluation framework described in the original programme proposal (chapter 5 and annex 3) continues to be valid. PAX designed formats for baseline and narrative reporting that allow reporting against the framework. During the months of February and March 2017 the baseline exercise has been completed by the Iraqi partners and PAX. The initial baseline focussed on collecting data on the behaviour of actors in the different geographical locations of the programme as well as the (inter)national level. This will need further elaboration in the coming months. Some areas for improvement are: consistency of descriptions of current behaviour of actors in different project areas; means of verification. Where needed, further development of output indicators will also take place. 5
Progress by PAX and Utrecht University PAX, UU and IAA are in the process of developing the training module on inclusive participatory research methodologies (activity 1.5) and monitoring and evaluation methodologies (activity 1.8). In agreement with the IAA and AF it was decided to combine these activities to make them more accessible for Iraqi participants and staff, but also to make more efficient use of the budget. The first consultations on the contents of both trainings was carried out in a needs assessment workshop on 5 6 February in Erbil, after the inception workshop 1. Criteria for participants are developed and UU and IAA agreed on the admission procedure. The first design of the training is currently being drafted by UU (in cooperation with PAX) and IAA oversees the selection procedure of the academic participants for the gender sensitive research methodology training. It should be mentioned that local staff from Basra, Kirkuk and Salah ad-din governorates will not participate in the research methodology training due to a large difference in research capacities of local staff and the academics. The monitoring and evaluation methodologies training remains targeted at local staff from partners only. The ToR of the gender-sensitive conflict analysis manual (activity 1.2) is in development. An assessment of which gender sensitive conflict analysis manuals are already published is part of the approach. Progress by Iraqi Al Amal Association and Iraqi al-firdaws Society In the first quarter of the programme, two meetings were held within the project team in Al-Amal Baghdad office. The programme plan for 2017 and the preparation for the training on inclusive and participatory gender sensitive research and monitoring and evaluation methodologies was discussed. The women s groups are about to be set up in Salah ad-din province and a concept for these workshops is about to be drafted (activity 2.2). The first round-table session with high level parliamentarians and governorate level decision makers is planned to be linked to the 16- day of Activism against Gender-based Violence. A specific subject related to gender-sensitive SSR process in Iraq is to be determined later on in the programme. Progress by Impunity Watch The exchange trips were rescheduled to July 2017 for Tunisia and November 2017 for Morocco. While preparations for Tunisia exchange are fully on track we had to postpone the trip to July for a range of reasons including calendar conflicts with other parts of the programme, coordination with the hosting institution, Tunisia s Dignity and Truth Commission (IVD), visas and Ramadan festivities. Coordination with the IVD is being conducted by IW s local consultant in Tunis. A first draft for the programme of the exchange in Tunisia is being developed and contacts with local 1 The results of this consultation and the complete report is available upon request. 6
civil society groups and INGOs, official institutions and academics have started. Official invitations will be issued promptly by the IVD in order to facilitate the visa process. Selection of participants will soon be finalized with IAA. Progress by Human Security Survey (PAX) The data collection phase for Basra and Kirkuk governorates is completed in March and April 2017, and currently analysed and synthesed. Following from this, the local partners are busy drafting activity plans for the community engagement phase, which will take place from July- December 2017. At least one event in each governorate will focus specifically on gender-based security issues. The survey findings will also be shared with the other partners for use in related project activities. 2.2 Modifications in programme planning Taken into account the progress of the programme after the first quarter, the activity plan was slightly adapted. The focus below is merely on modifications in planning for 2017. The overall updated planning is attached as a separate document (Annex A) and an activity plan per month for the first year of the programme is available upon request. 2 Specific objective 1 Increased understanding and awareness on root causes and patterns of (S)GBV and impunity thereof, and increased capacity to develop, implement and evaluate effective transformative strategies on (S)GBV. Activity 1.1. Mapping of occurrences of (S)GBV in Basra, Kirkuk, Salah ad-din (year 1, 2, 3). The training and subsequent data collection for Salah ad-din governorate is planned to take place in Q3, 2017. The two thematic reports on patterns of SGBV for Basra and Kirkuk governorates will be produced during Q3 2017 (activity 2.2.3) The third report for Salah ad-din will follow after the survey and analysis are completed, likely at the end of Q4 2017. The 7 planned dialogues in Salah ad-din governorate (including one focused on gender issues) will follow after the survey is completed and the data is analysed, starting in November 2017 and likely continuing into Q1 2018. Activity 1.2. Design and implement participatory gender-sensitive conflict analysis for and with local partners and security and juridical stakeholders from 4 locations (Basra, Kirkuk, Salah ad Din, and IDPs from Anbar located in Baghdad) (year 1, 2, 3). The development of the manual will take place during Q3/4 in 2017 and will most likely be tested 2 We assume MoFA will agree with the adapted planning unless this is not the case and we will translate the modifications into the annual budget-breakdown which (in case of substantial deviations from the original approved budget) will be submitted to MoFA for approval. 7
in Q1 2018. Activity 1.3. Mapping of patterns and root causes of (S)GBV. IW will hold a training in Q4 of 2017 to prepare the ground for the mapping exercise. The other components of the activity will be postponed to the second year of the programme, and more specifically to the first and second quarters of 2018. Activity 1.4 Pilot on truth-telling on (S)GBV in Kirkuk governorates. While most parts of this activity cluster were already scheduled for the second year of the programme, the exchange trips to Morocco and Tunisia are rescheduled to take place in Q3/4 of 2017. Activity 1.5. Training module on inclusive participatory research methodologies for a network of Iraqi researchers and local staff from Basra, Kirkuk, Salah ad-din. The training module was originally planned to start in Q1/2, but this delayed to Q3/4. In the inception workshop, it came to the fore that it was better to combine the 15 days of training in two trainings rather than the three trainings that were mentioned in the original proposal. Activity 1.6 Participatory set up and implementation of 4 research pilots with Iraqi academics. In the original proposal the research pilots for academics were planned to start in Q3/4 after the training module had taken place (3, 5-day trainings, activity 1.5) and finish before the end of the first year. Since these research pilots build on this training module (activity 1.5), the launch is scheduled at the end of the second training likely in Q3/4 (October 2017) and likely to end in Q1/2 of 2018. Activity 1.8 Development of knowledge and skills on inclusive participatory monitoring and evaluation methodology. In agreement with the Iraqi partners, it has been decided to reschedule the first training on participatory M&E methodologies (activity 1.8.2.) to Q3/4. It has been decided that this training will take place at the same time as the research methodology training (activity 1.5) to increase accessibility for all partners and make more efficient use of the budget lines. Specific objective 2 Targeted Iraqi police and judiciary become more responsive to (S)GBV cases as a result of increased cooperation, voice and participation of women. Activity 2.2. Participatory dialogues sessions between IDPs, (women) civic change agents, judiciary and police on (S)GBV, participation, protection and security issues to build trust. The dialogues session amongst the women s groups (incl. the set-up of two new groups in Salah ad Din) has been postponed to Q2. 8
Activity 2.5. Development of accountability mechanisms (e.g. code of conduct) for police and judiciary stakeholders. The development of a code of conduct for police and judiciary (activity 2.5.1) was originally scheduled to start in 2018, the second year of the programme. IAA did start, however, drafting amendments to this code of conduct in Q1 of this year. Activities related to programme coordination and management meetings Activity 0.1.1. Expert advisory committee established with experts on SSR, policing, justice sector, and gender. PAX will take the lead in inviting the proposed committee members in Q2 of 2017. Activity 0.1.5. Active participation in Iraq working group of Dutch Gender Platform. MoFA and the Dutch Gender Platform are in the process of deciding on how to go about the country working groups. PAX has therefore not initiated a meeting of the Iraqi working group. It is expected that the working groups will starting to take place in Q3/4 of 2017. Activity 0.1.6. 3 policy meetings with local partners at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands. Dutch MoFA decided that the first policy meeting with local partners would not take place in 2017. After official approval, the budget for this policy meeting in 2017 can be re-allocated. 2.3 Modification to Budget No substantial deviations to the annual budget-breakdown have occurred during the first quarter of the programme. Modifications that occurred in the annual planning for 2017 will, however, be translated in the original approved budget during quarter three. In case of substantial deviations from the original approved budget it will be submitted to MoFA for approval at the next periodic update on progress. 2.4 Overall indication of programme progress It can be concluded that overall the progress of the programme s interventions in January until March 2017 is, as was indicated in the inception report as well, slightly delayed. The initial inception period was to be completed by the end of December 2016, however, after approval by MoFA the alliance extended this period up to the end of April 2017. Setting up a programme with several partners in a rapidly changing and challenging context as the Iraqi context takes time and consideration. In terms of behavioural change of actors there was understandably no change indicated. The prediction is that the consortium partners will be able to better indicate progress (while this might be only small change) on behavioural change after the first year of the programme. 9
Lessons Learnt Relevance of inception workshop It proved necessary and relevant to organise an inception workshop attended by all partners involved. While developing the programme has been an inclusive and locally embedded process, the joint endeavour of thoroughly going through the programme rationale and planning removed some overlap and unclarities. Furthermore, implementing staff that are based in different governorates are introduced to the programme and given the opportunity to comment on the feasibility and relevance of context specific components. Nonetheless, key (and challenging) in timely and quality implementation of the programme is continuous close coordination with all the implementing partners. In the first quarter, it was challenging for some partners to get the required human capacity in place, especially people who are both well informed as well as adequately available (in terms of time at their disposal) to closely coordinate with the overall coordinator of the alliance. 10