Program

Gender and Human Security Issues (GHSI) Program

This four-year action-research program (2000-2004) developed innovative tools for dealing with the particular needs of women who had lived in war-torn countries and experienced military conflict. The collaboration between university-based researchers and community organizations was of prime importance in this program put forward with the belief that, by working together, we can enhance our respective capacities in research and intervention.

Program directors

Main components of the program

Research

The main goal of this research was to develop a strategy and methodological tools for conducting research and intervention in the field of human security from a perspective that addressed women's rights and needs.

CDAS and the Women's Centre of Montreal, with the support of other academic units, elaborated a program of research and activities that included the following axes:

1. Document the psychic trauma lived by refugee women who visited the Women's Centre of Montreal; examine the socio-economic and cultural context of refugee women and displaced persons in order to get a better understanding of their needs in intervention; identify the available strategies to help them deal with the violence, constant insecurity and systematic violation of human rights that prevail in their country of origin.
2. Develop and implement a model of group discussion for immigrant and refugee women who have been subjected to conflict and war.
3. Consolidate the process of sharing expertise and resources with a number of women's associations in Canada and in countries in conflict.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

During these years, part of the activities of the Gender and Human Security Program took place in sub-Saharan Africa with the participation of local community organizations established in the Great Lakes region, mainly the Eastern African Sub-Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI).

Other academic units

Besides the research projects jointly conducted by CDAS and the Women's Centre of Montreal, other studies directed by co-investigators expanded this action-research program. These studies explored the impact of armed conflict on human security and on the lives of women. They belong to one of the following axes:

• Human rights and security
• Peace consolidation and reconstruction
• Education
• Health

Training

Young researchers were involved in several projects as research assistants and interns under the guidance of professors attached to this program. Internships were located at the Women's Centre of Montreal.

Dissemination of results

The sharing of the results from research projects through seminars, conferences and other forums was an important component of the program. In line with that commitment, the Women's Centre of Montreal and CDAS produced respectively two practical guides. The first was an intervention guide to be used with the women and refugee families; the second was a publication that was designed to deepen the reflection on women's needs and strategies in conflict resolution and in the peace reconstruction/consolidation process. EASSI also produced a Peace Manual "A Handbook on Documenting Peace Processes in Conflict-Affected Areas" (2004). Workshops and training sessions were also organized through the program. As well, various documents as research-in-progress were published in a series of Discussion Papers (see the Publications section).

The GHSI program was funded by the Community-University Research Alliances (CURA) Program of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and was the first recipient of this grant at McGill.