Defence Team Framework to Implement the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda

Preface

The Defence Team Framework to Implement the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda (herein referred to as “the Framework”) outlines core issues within the agenda that are applicable to a military institution, in particular, DND/CAF.

It was developed to provide practical and specific guidance to members of the Defence Team (DT) on mainstreaming intersectional analysis and contextually relevant WPS themes or issues as the DT works on institutional transformation and more responsive and effective operations.

The document responds to identified gaps and needs within the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) and provides a nexus with ongoing efforts within the institution in relation to the WPS agenda. It also provides guidance on how and when the organization uses Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) and other intersectional analysis tools within the context of WPS.

The Framework is designed to inform the CDS/DM Directive on Implementing the WPS agenda, the current DT Implementation Plan under Canada’s 3rd National Action Plan, and future plans relating to WPS. It will be used to frame related activities, such as but not limited to: DT-wide training and education needs analysis; curriculum development; aligning and making DT policies or processes consistent; formalizing terms of reference or job descriptions for specialist advisors on intersectional analysis and WPS; and providing the foundation for a future Defence WPS Handbook for both civilian and military members.

The Framework was developed in collaboration with subject matter experts from Chief Professional Conduct and Culture, the Dallaire Centre of Excellence on Peace and Security, and Strategic Joint Staff.

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Introduction

1. The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda is a broad framework that emerged in 2000 with UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 in response to evidence from conflict-affected countries that people experience armed conflict and crisis differently depending on their intersecting identity factors, and that women and girls are disproportionally impacted.
2. The WPS agenda recognizes gender inequality as a root cause of conflict that leads to insecurity, and persistent and recurring instability in any given situation or institution.
3. Since 2000, the WPS agenda has evolved beyond the characterization of women and girls as victims of violence and armed conflict to consider them as crucial actors in enabling and achieving long-lasting peace, as well as agents of conflict themselves.
4. As such, it calls for women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in all stages of conflict prevention and resolution, the delivery of relief and recovery efforts, and at all levels of decision-making. In recent years, the agenda has also moved away from a narrow focus on women and girls to better understand how armed conflict and crisis also impact men, boys, and gender-diverse people and, as such, now has an expanded focus for the Defence Team (DT).
5. It is important to ensure all DT members have a common understanding of the concrete tasks and roles of DND/CAF in implementing and operationalizing the WPS agenda^{Footnote 1}  and how to apply intersectional perspectives using GBA Plus or similar tools in operations, missions, and activities as well as institutional policies and programmes.
6. The absence of a DT-endorsed framework for implementing the WPS agenda results in a lack of doctrine, or related concepts, guidance, and standardisation across the DT, which in turn has made implementation uneven and inconsistent.

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Aim

7. The aim of this document is to provide the Defence Team (DT) with an endorsed framework to implement the WPS agenda in alignment with commitments outlined in the DT’s Implementation Plan under Canada’s Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (C-NAP 3).^{Footnote 2}

Scope

8. This Framework will be used to inform those areas within the Defence Team (DT) that require review and development in alignment with the DM/CDS Directive on Implementing the WPS agenda and related capability and doctrinal development. It will also frame related activities such as but not limited to: a training and education needs analysis; development of a curriculum; identification of changes in policy or processes; development of terms of reference for specialist advisors on WPS; and creating a DT WPS Handbook.

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Background: Defence and the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda

9. The WPS agenda is a normative framework that emerged in 2000 with UNSCR 1325. At its core, it is a crisis-prevention agenda made up of 10 UN Security Council resolutions that delineate a commitment towards addressing, and working towards eliminating, gender inequality as a root cause of persistent conflict or insecurity.
10. Broadly speaking, the first group of resolutions, initiated by UNSCR 1325 (October 2000), focus on the need for women’s active and effective participation in the prevention and resolution of armed conflict, the maintenance of peace and security, and post-conflict peacebuilding. This includes women’s rights defenders in peace processes and peacebuilding, and ensuring women are present and meaningfully engaged in electoral and judicial processes and bodies.
11. The second group of resolutions, initiated in 2008 by UNSCR 1820 on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV), acknowledged that sexual violence when used as a tactic of war can be a threat to international peace and security. Under this UNSCR, rape and other forms of sexual violence are no longer seen as inevitable side effects of armed conflict but are to be treated as crimes against humanity.^{Footnote 3}
12. These two groups of resolutions resulted in a framework consisting of four pillars:
    1. Participation: calls for meaningful and equal participation of women at all levels of decision-making, including national, regional, and international institutions; in mechanisms for the prevention, management and resolution of conflict; in peace negotiations; and in peace operations;
    2. Protection: calls for the protection of women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence, including   in emergency and humanitarian situations;
    3. Prevention: calls for improving intervention strategies in the prevention of violence against women and girls, including prosecution of those responsible for violations of international law in conflict and post-conflict situations; and
    4. Relief and Recovery: meeting women and girls’ specific relief needs and reinforcing women’s capacity to act as agents in relief and recovery in conflict and post-conflict situations.
13. In recent years, the WPS agenda has broadened beyond the four pillars, gaining increased recognition as a critical framework for promoting gender equality and enhancing the effectiveness of peace and security efforts. The following WPS issues underpin this framework and are relevant to the Defence Team (DT) :^{Footnote 4}
    1. Representation and Meaningful Participation of Diverse Women in the Defence Team:^{Footnote 5}  means the need for the meaningful participation of women with diverse identities in key leadership and decision-making positions. This is enabled by the removal of barriers and the creation of a safe and inclusive environment for all members of the DT, which can advance the equitable recruitment, retention, and career progression of diverse women.
    2. Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV): is violence of a sexual nature, committed against a person because of their sex or gender.^{Footnote 6}  For the purposes of this framework, SGBV consists of the following within the context of armed conflict and crisis, where the military can intervene and respond.
       1. Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV)^{Footnote 7}  refers to acts of sexual violence directly or indirectly linked to an armed conflict and/or crisis that are perpetrated against women, men, girls, boys and gender-diverse people. CRSV is frequently, deliberately, and strategically used to target civilians. CRSV, when used or commissioned as a deliberate tactic of war or as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilian populations, can significantly exacerbate situations of instability, crisis, or armed conflict and may impede the restoration of peace and security. It is no longer seen as an inevitable byproduct of war, but rather a crime that is preventable and punishable under International Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law.
       2. Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) refers to any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust for sexual purposes, including but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially, or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. Sexual abuse is the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.^{Footnote 8} 
       3. Sexual Misconduct applies to situations between personnel within the CAF; by CAF members against a member of other armed forces/security personnel, and vice versa. The term sexual misconduct has been updated^{Footnote 9}  to include three terms:
          1. Conduct deficiencies of a sexual nature: inappropriate behaviours and acts of a sexual nature that negatively impact CAF organizational culture, operations, and personnel where the act or behaviour is causing, or is reasonably expected to cause, harm to others;
          2. Sexual Harassment:^{Footnote 10}  is harassment of a sexual nature; sexual harassment may take many forms, including overt sexualized behaviour as well as discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender expression and identity; and
          3. Sexual Assault: refers to all sexual assault and other criminal offences of a sexual nature under the Criminal Code, and for which punishment is outlined in the Criminal Code.
       4. Cyber Violence (also called Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence [TFGBV]): is a form of gender-based violence (GBV) committed and amplified through use of information and communications, technologies, or digital spaces against a person that is actively used by malign state and non-state actors. It can take many forms,^{Footnote 11} including sextortion (blackmail by threatening to publish sexual information, photos, or videos); image-based abuse (sharing intimate photos without consent); doxxing (publishing private personal information); cyberbullying; online gender and sexual harassment; cyberstalking; online grooming for sexual assault and trafficking; hacking; hate speech; online impersonation; and using technology to locate survivors of abuse in order to inflict further violence. Targets of cyberviolence are chosen based on an understanding of social, economic, and political inequalities in order to have the greatest harmful impact or disruption to a society or population group. This form of GBV has reduced women’s participation and leadership in public, political, and military spheres as well as in decision-making processes.
    3. Unlawful Recruitment and Use of Girl, Boy, or Gender-Diverse Child Soldiers: while the use of child soldiers is primarily part of the Child Protection Agenda, there are overlaps with the WPS agenda, specifically the inclusion of appropriate child-protection provisions with an intersectional approach to understand how gender and other intersecting identify factors make children more or less vulnerable to grave and serious violations and abuses.^{Footnote 12}
    4. Intersectional Approaches to Emerging Peace and Security Issues: new and emerging threats to peace and security result in different impacts on women, men, girls, boys, and gender-diverse people. These emerging risks underscore the importance of developing a greater understanding of how particular issues impact diverse populations differently, an understanding informed by conducting intersectional analysis. Current emerging peace and security issues include, but are not limited to:
       1. Countering Violent Extremism and Organizations (CVEO): previous approaches to CVEO have essentialized women as mothers or sisters trying to prevent men and boys from joining extremist groups and instrumentalized women as sources of information within their communities – potentially placing them in harm’s way. Through an intersectional analysis, one can consider active agency to better understand the complexities of how extremist groups and networks recruit and use women, men, girls, boys, and gender-diverse people.^{Footnote 13}
       2. Climate Security: the consequences of human-induced climate change and extreme weather events have become a significant threat to populations and potential drivers of insecurity, conflict, and instability, potentially increasing the impact of these crises on at-risk populations already impacted by existing power imbalances, especially women and girls who still disproportionately bear the burden of climate risk. By gaining an intersectional perspective, gender-responsive options can be developed.
14. Operationalised under C-NAP 3, these WPS issues are integrated into six focus areas, selected because of their responsiveness to existing needs and the potential for Canadian leadership to have transformative impacts:
    1. Building and Sustaining Peace: Focuses on increasing support for peacebuilders and human rights defenders, especially women’s rights, and other equality-seeking organizations and feminist movements to carry out their work;
    2. Security, Justice, and Accountability: Focuses on improving security, justice, and accountability for all―particularly women, girls, and gender-diverse people―in Canada and abroad;
    3. Crisis Response: Focuses on ensuring that the differentiated needs of diverse populations are addressed in the Government of Canada’s responses to peace and security-focused crises in Canada and abroad;
    4. Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Focuses on preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence―including TFGBV―in conflict, post-conflict, and humanitarian contexts, and ensuring perpetrators are held accountable, including actors working in peace, humanitarian, international development, and security sectors in Canada or abroad;
    5. Leadership and Capabilities: Focuses on strengthening the capabilities of the Government of Canada and its partners to fully implement the action plan and ensuring Canada is a recognized leader and trusted partner in advancing the WPS agenda; and
    6. Inclusion: Focuses on meaningfully integrating diverse, intersectional, and anti-racist perspectives throughout all Government of Canada’s efforts on women, peace, and security partnerships, with a focus on removing structural barriers to inclusion.

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Focus Areas of the Framework

15. The implementation of the WPS Agenda by the Defence Team falls within the contexts of armed conflict,^{Footnote 14} crises,^{Footnote 15} or situations of iinstability – domestically and internationally. However, to achieve operational outcomes, institutional reforms are required, such as increased inclusion and representation of women in all their diversity, and the elimination of barriers to equality. The Defence Team (DT) focus areas cover internal DND/CAF institutional change with regards to systems, structures, and culture, and CAF missions, operations, and activities. Thus, a framework for the DT consists of two interrelated areas:
    1. Achieving Operational Objectives – focused outwards, this area identifies the full range of potential roles and tasks that DND/CAF could take to implement the WPS agenda across all operations, missions, and activities. This would be in the form of a menu that presents a list of tasks for commanders, policy advisors, Gender Advisors (GENADs)/Gender Focal Points (GFPs), and planners that is informed, or constrained/restrained, by the political objectives, national approaches, capabilities, resources and type of mission, operation, or activity;
    2. Achieving Institutional Objectives – focused inwards towards DND/CAF as an institution, this area identifies the actions that DND/CAF could take across doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership development, personnel, facilities and interoperability (DOTMLPFI).^{Footnote 16}  Embedding the requirements of the WPS agenda into command and control, leadership, and management through removal of barriers to create a safe and inclusive institution would ensure the meaningful participation and career success for all Defence Team members and inform professional development and training needs analyses to continue improvements.

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Applying Intersectional Perspectives

16. Applying intersectional perspectives^{Footnote 17} by conducting a Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) results in gaining an understanding of how people’s intersecting identity factors (gender, ethnicity, race, age, socio-economic status, rank, etc.) lead to unique experiences during armed conflict or crisis.
17. When considering Defence Team actions related to WPS issues, regardless of the level of HQ, or if it is institutionally or operationally focused, it is essential that intersectional perspectives are gained by conducting a GBA Plus to ensure operations, missions, and activities account for:
    1. the different perspectives of women, men, girls, boys, and gender-diverse individuals;
    2. how armed conflict or crisis affect women, men, girls, boys, and gender-diverse individuals differently;
    3. the different needs of women, men, girls, boys, and gender-diverse individuals and how those needs can be met to inform military responses;
    4. how military activities may impact (positively and negatively) diverse populations;
    5. power dimensions of conflict, recognising that women are not only victims but also powerful actors who can prevent or perpetrate conflict; and
    6. how gender stereotypes and biases are weaponized by adversaries.
18. Intersectional analysis should be integrated within the planning, conduct, and evaluation of operations, missions, and activities, and when developing processes and policies at the institutional levels.

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Achieving Operational Objectives

19. Operationalization of the WPS agenda will require the appropriate mandate, resources, training and education, coordinated with other government departments, other mission elements, international organisations, civil society and civilian WPS actors, and tailored for the context in which they will be conducted.
20. DND/CAF actions can be divided into three categories: assess, act, and support:
    1. Assess: need to integrate intersectional perspectives into planning factors when conducting strategic, operational, and tactical planning processes;
    2. Act: activities include the prevention of, response to, and reporting of WPS issues; and
    3. Support: where the CAF plays a supporting role within the larger whole of government and/or coalition operation, mission, or activity context. In addition to military tasks, this can include the Defence Team’s advocacy role to advance the WPS agenda outside of DND/CAF.

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Assess

21. Assess integrates intersectional perspectives and contextually relevant WPS issues and their connections within the specific operating environment. A robust intersectional analysis will ensure a comprehensive understanding of the human environment to develop appropriate gender-responsive courses of action. This analysis must be supported by data disaggregated by sex, gender, age, and other intersectional identity factors appropriate to the context.
22. By developing and examining gender-responsive early warning indicators (EWI), DND/CAF can better assess where armed conflict or crises may emerge, and who may be impacted. This can be accomplished by ensuring that intelligence processes explicitly apply an intersectional analysis with a focus on WPS issues, and by working with  formal and informal women’s rights networks and organizations, as well as other equality-seeking organizations where possible, to gain a better understanding of the different experiences and needs of diverse populations, and the potential impact of DND/CAF actions on various communities.
23. At the strategic and operational levels, conducting a contextual analysis of the country or mission supports understanding which of the WPS issues mentioned above are appropriate or relevant to that context. For example, in the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, incidents of CRSV^{Footnote 18}  were significant, and therefore an assessment of these incidents on various populations, as well as potential courses of action for prevention and response, would strengthen mission effectiveness.

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Act

24. Based on assessment inputs, strategic-level decision makers will develop an understanding of a given situation and provide strategic-political direction to DND/CAF through the appropriate authorities and instruments. The strategic-political objectives outlined in the mission mandate will enable DND/CAF to identify constraints and restraints for a specific action, in addition to authorizing the necessary resources and capabilities to execute the mission. This will vary on a case-by-case basis to meet mission-specific requirements, and within the parameters of these authorities or mandate.
25. It is critical to analyze assessment results to inform military planning processes and integrate WPS issues across the J-Codes. When informed by intersectional perspectives, and in coordination with civilian WPS and human rights actors and, where possible, local community leaders, resulting actions can include both kinetic and non-kinetic activities. In developing military options, commanders and planners must consider how actions taken by the military can affect other WPS and human rights protection actors and local community support organisations.
26. Act consists of several sub-components that are to be used to further define tasks and responsibilities. They are to include as a minimum:
    1. Force Generation – ensure the force is structured and trained to be able to conduct Assess, Act, and Support tasks to prevent, respond, and/or report WPS issues;
    2. Planning, Direction, and Orders – ensure intersectional perspectives inform the development of plans, directives, and orders, while ensuring that WPS issues are explicit in planning considerations for all operations, missions, and activities;
    3. Monitor and Report – target gathering of accurate, timely, objective, and reliable information on known or suspected WPS issues, then report this information within the military reporting systems, as well as share with WPS actors as authorised; and
    4. Respond – respond with military tasks possessing the deliberate aim or intent to deal with WPS issues as a primary outcome. Although responses may be linked to a wider task such as protection of civilians, the focus when planning and executing the task should be on responding and, where mandated and with sufficient warning. preventing potential or ongoing WPS issues.

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Support

27. In most cases, the Defence Team will play a supporting role within a larger whole-of-government and/or coalition operation, mission, and activity context in dealing with those gendered, intersectional, and contextual factors that impact WPS issues. The CAF will often support the work of relevant actors and be prepared to support the work of WPS networks.
28. The CAF is usually not the lead actor to address WPS issues but plays a supporting role. Support activities are military activities that allow others (political groups, human rights defenders and organizations, humanitarian and development actors, police, military, protection actors, local leaders, women’s groups, and communities when appropriate) to advance the WPS agenda in areas that are beyond the CAF’s focus.

Achieving Institutional Objectives

29. It is essential to look inwards at how DND/CAF as an institution can embed the requirements of the WPS agenda into national military approaches to command and control, leadership, and management. Drawing from C-NAP 3, this section offers suggestions across DOTMLPFI, by providing a menu of possible actions to implement the WPS institutionally.
30. The process towards building a gender-integrated and inclusive Defence Team requires commitment across all aspects of DOTMILPF-I to achieve the institution’s goals and enable operational effectiveness with respect to WPS issues.
31. To effectively implement the WPS agenda across DND/CAF, there is a requirement to have updated policies and guidance that address its implementation, such as:
    1. directives that ensure response measures related to CRSV and SEA are in place;
    2. integration of intersectional perspectives into policy frameworks; and
    3. human resources management policies and documents to ensure equal opportunities for recruitment, career development, and retention.

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WPS and DOTMLPF-I

32. With the appropriate policies in place to guide implementation, the Defence Team (DT) can proceed with developing the needed capabilities to implement the WPS agenda. The items listed below are neither prescriptive nor exhaustive, rather they are intended to provide a range of options the DT could take to implement the WPS agenda:
    1. Doctrine: includes the development of gender-responsive military doctrine and strategies that incorporate intersectional perspectives and consider the specific needs and roles of diverse men, women, and gender-diverse people. This is intended to enhance the effectiveness of military operations, mission, and activities and contribute to sustainable peace wherever the CAF is employed;
    2. Organization: includes mainstreaming intersectional perspectives into the military’s organizational structures and processes, and supporting and facilitating the inclusion of diverse women, men, and gender-diverse people;
    3. Training: includes the provision of comprehensive training for military and civilian personnel to enhance their understanding of intersectional analysis and WPS issues, and to ensure their ability to operationalise the WPS agenda;
    4. Materiel: includes recognizing the need for gender-responsive budgeting as a key enabler to guarantee that the specific needs of men and women with diverse identities are considered in the design and provision of military equipment;
    5. Leadership: includes initiatives to promote gender-responsive leadership, support mainstreaming of intersectional perspectives through all military functions, and provide meaningful participation of diverse women across the DT;
    6. Personnel: includes efforts to understand and remove barriers to an inclusive and safe environment for all DT members, which promotes increased representation, career progression, and meaningful involvement of all members, particularly diverse women;
    7. Facilities: includes the provision of gender-responsive infrastructure and services; and
    8. Interoperability: includes promoting cooperation and coordination with allies and partner nations as well as with other actors, including civil society organizations such as Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs) and Women’s Rights Leaders (WRLs), in the implementation of the WPS agenda.

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Conclusion

33. C-NAP 3, the DND/CAF C-NAP 3 Implementation Plan, and Defence Team (DT) policy reiterates Canada’s commitment to the implementation of the WPS agenda institutionally and across all operations, missions, and activities, while advancing gender equality and human rights as a reflection of Canadian values.
34. A key method of ensuring that the DT can advance the WPS agenda is through applying WPS issues and intersectional perspectives in operations and integrated across DOTMLPF-I. However, the lack of an endorsed approach which identifies the DT’s tasks in implementing this agenda institutionally and operationally results in a lack of doctrine, military concepts, guidance, and standardisation across the DND/CAF.
35. The Framework outlined in this document can be used as a starting point to identify strategic, operational, and tactical-level considerations to inform how the DT can best operationalize the WPS agenda for Canadian, coalition, UN, and NATO operations, missions, and activities. However, identification of the institutional and operational tasks needed to fully implement the WPS agenda requires the development of a handbook that provides detailed responsibilities and tasks within the DT.

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Glossary

Diverse women are individuals who identify as women and encompass a wide range of intersecting identities and experiences, including but not limited to sexual orientation and gender identity (including transgender women), race and ethnicity, disability, age, socio-economic status, religion, and spiritual affiliations.

Gender refers to an individual’s personal and social identity as a man, woman or non-binary person (a person who is not exclusively a man or a woman). Government of Canada.

Gender analysis refers to the variety of methods used to understand the relationships between men and women, their access to resources, their activities, and the constraints they face relative to each other. Gender analysis provides information that recognizes that gender, and its relationship with race, ethnicity, culture, class, age, disability, and/or other status, is important in understanding the different patterns of involvement, behaviour and activities that women and men have in economic, social and legal structures. Government of Canada.

Gender diversity is an inclusive, umbrella term that is used to describe gender identities that demonstrate a diversity of expression beyond the gender binary (men/women) framework. GoC Termium.

Gender mainstreaming is a strategy to assess the implications for both men and women, of any planned actions, policies or programmes in all areas and at all levels. This approach recognizes the need to take social and economic differences between men and women into account to ensure that proposed policies and programmes have intended and fair results for women, men, boys and girls. Government of Canada.

Gender perspectives are the results gained from understanding (through a gender analysis) how a particular situation impacts the diverse needs of men, women, boys, girls and gender-diverse people. At the international level, the United Nations and NATO employ gender perspectives to understand and advise on the human terrain. The Government of Canada uses an intersectional approach, which is at the core of a quality analysis. This is why in Canada, the term intersectional analysis is often used, and, also why the results from a GBA Plus will yield intersectional perspectives (see below for definition of intersectional analysis and intersectional perspectives).

Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus)/Intersectional Analysis is an analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs, and other initiatives. The Plus denotes going beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion, and sexual orientation and understanding how these identity factors intersect to create unique experiences and lived realities or needs.

Intersectional perspectives are the results gained from an intersectional analysis (GBA Plus).

Women, Peace, and Security Agenda is a normative framework that emerged in 2000 with UN security council resolution (UNSCR) 1325 in response to evidence from conflict-affected countries that people experience armed conflict and crisis differently depending on their intersecting identity factors, and that women and girls are still disproportionally impacted. The agenda recognizes the critical role that women can, and already do, play in conflict resolution, reconstruction and peacebuilding efforts, as well as serving as perpetrators of conflict themselves. At its core, the WPS agenda is a crisis-prevention agenda made up of 10 UN Security Council resolutions that delineate a commitment towards addressing – and working towards eliminating – gender inequality as a root cause of conflict that leads to persistent conflict or insecurity.

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