A gender analysis of post-conflict reconstruction in Kosovo : women's access to decision-making

This study examines in detail the complexities of mainstreaming gender within the context of United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK). By examining how gender has been incorporated within the context of the UN-managed post-conflict reconstruction in Kosovo, this research draws upon current feminist theories in political participation, militarism, peace and violence, and the emerging framework of gender mainstreaming within the context of peace-support operations. In particular, this research investigates how gender and ethnic identities intersect to form a web of power relations in post-conflict Kosovo, studying the evolving forms of political participation experienced by Kosovo Albanian women at various levels of regional decision-making. This research examines (a) how, and to what extent, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo was able to take advantage of the post conflict 'window of opportunity' to engender the processes of post-conflict reconstruction in Kosovo; (b) to what extent politically active Kosovo Albanian women exploited this opportunity to gain access to political decision-making in the region by means of formal and informal participation; and (c) to what extent this participation was beneficial towards political and economic empowerment of various groups of Kosovo Albanian women. In doing so it examines: (a) legal and institutional frameworks for gender mainstreaming established by UNMIK as a foundation for the post-conflict policies of gender mainstreaming; (b) the origins of these frameworks, including the unique 'nation-building' mandate of UNMIK, and unique cultural and political contexts in Kosovo within which these frameworks were established. This research examines the factors, which define the nature of Kosovo Albanian women's political activism, exploring connections between gender, militarisation and ethnicisation of day-to-day life in Kosovo.