Women's role in fostering water security in the South Caucasus
The project 'The Nexus between Women Peace and Security, Transboundary Waters and Environmental Peacebuilding in the South Caucasus' (duration one year) receives funding from NWO Open Competition Domain Social Sciences and Humanities.
The research aims to better understand factors that enable, or prevent, women’s participation in the dialogue around water security and its transboundary management. The focus will be on the Southern Caucasus, where Armenia and Azerbaijan clash over the water-rich region of Nagorno-Karabakh and where control over the territories and water resources of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (Georgia) is in dispute. What role can women play in negotiating a water-secure peace in a still strongly patriarchal culture?
The project intents to map out the current state of affairs of women’s participation in water management and 'environmental peacebuilding' in the South Caucasus, to bring stakeholders together in a workshop, and from there build on an inter-disciplinary, cross-sectoral network of experts and women’s groups, who will work – through the process of environmental peacebuilding – on achieving peace and (water) security. The broader aim is to connect with the UN Security Council's resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), concerning the need for women’s participation in peace processes. Read more in the article (link below).