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| ISBN 92-2-110692-6 First published 1997 |
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| ABOUT THE AUTHOR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This chapter will first seek to bring out some of the methodological problems encountered in writing the report, and the wider consequences for research and intervention. It will also present some of the issues highlighted in the report concerning the specific situation of war affected groups on the basis of which some recommendations will be formulated.
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| 8.1 Methodological problems | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The report has noted methodological problems in:
The second difficulty concerns the sub-groups identified in the ToR (such as displaced, ex-combatants, widows ) which are seen and discussed as a cohesive, homogenous unit. The report argued that these categories blur the complexity of women's experience during conflict and are by no means clearly defined and self-contained. As noted, a woman may become impoverished following displacement, yet she can remain within the mainstream of society, while another displaced woman might have been pushed to the periphery, lacking basic resources. It is important to find ways to break down categories of vulnerable groups into meaningful ones. Research in the intra-household dynamics, for instance, would show that a woman head of household has different needs in terms of training and work if she is in charge of young children and dependent elders than a woman head of household with grown-up children. Micro-level research is fundamental for the design of thoughtful intervention. Sustainable programmes can only be specified once the target population has been defined with greater precision. Only then can NGOs and IGOs avoid the creation of programmes which assume the uniformity of women's needs, interests and resources. Another issue which was identified concerns the difficulty in targeting war-affected women and assessing their needs. Women become even less visible during and following conflict for reasons which were discussed earlier in the report. The lack of visibility entails restricted access to economic and political resources and inadequate needs assessment. Women are also less able to voice their needs in times when resources are scarce because of cultural restrictions on their behaviour and expression. They do not feel entitled to claim their share and most were brought up to believe that the needs of the family and community should prevail over their own. The war-affected groups discussed in the report such as displaced persons who are the largest war-affected group in the country, women head of households, especially in rural areas, youth and poor women were identified by NGOs and IGOs as vulnerable groups. Other equally affected groups are totally ignored due to the dearth of information and the lack of visibility inherent in their situation. For all these reasons, the short-term research assigned for this report and the reliance on secondary sources is not adequate, especially in a post-war context. This approach reproduces the same vicious circle, whereby the voiceless, most vulnerable people are left in the shadow and their needs remain ignored. The assumption that NGOs are "spokesmen" of those people is problematic. The drawbacks of this approach have been underlined (in Chapter 6) and are linked to the modalities used by NGOs in assessing the needs of women. For instance, the participatory approach used in the best of cases is not adequate since it usually fails to ensure women's participation. Further, the majority of NGOs in Lebanon have little or no awareness of gender issues. The absence of NGOs in the rural areas during the war is also another limitation to their knowledge of the impact of war on rural women. |
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| 8.2 Recommendations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The recommendations concern the three main issues identified in the report. The first addresses the structural framework in which women can create a political space for themselves through institutional collaboration and the development of civil society, and build on the few opportunities the war has opened to them. The second addresses some specific needs of women heads of households related to training and income-generation projects. Finally, the third recommendation deals with the question of group mobilization in displaced communities. The interrelatedness of the macro and micro levels in all interventions cannot be emphasized enough.
Recommendation 1: Restore and develop civil society as part of efforts to expand women's political space The report has noted the reinforcement of sectarianism as a result of the war and the division of the population along confessional lines. These phenomena have undermined emerging class identities and thwarted the evolution of social integration. They have weakened civil institutions which became polarized. The report also pointed out the increased tendency towards narrow religious interpretations of the role and position of women in society.
Objective 1: Enhance civil society institutions in the reconstruction of the country Considering that the war has led to the breakdown of inter-communal relations, the reinforcement of civil society, mainly secular associations and the unions, would allow for the formation of cross-cutting, mixed groupings of people.
Objective 2: Targeting the actors Identifying the NGOs that would be the best partners in implementing gender-sensitive projects targeting war-affected groups would require much more research than simply collecting policy statements. The report has only mentioned names of NGOs to give some examples of their interventions. Some criteria should be met by NGOs in order to enhance gender sensitivity in post-conflict intervention. An NGO should:
In order to meet the goal of strengthening civil society, local NGOs should be favoured as much as possible.
Objective 3: Strengthen the position of women within labour unions As noted in the report, labour unions have developed a new role during the war by articulating people's grievances and social and political rights. They were thus propelled onto the national scene as the main representatives of social and political opposition. Although they have not been very instrumental in promoting women's rights, their struggle for the poor and those left out of the reconstruction process is essential for the defence of war-affected groups.
Objective 4: Build on the opportunities war has opened to women by supporting women's associations The report has noted the lack of research on the new social configurations that have emerged as a result of the war. A new organizational life is developing to fill the gap left by the destruction of the social fabric and the disruption of family life.
One of the strategies women used in order to survive the hardship of war and the loss of social networks and family support was to organize themselves in associations. For many women these groupings represented a "safe haven" where they could take refuge from daily struggle for survival and share their experiences with others. Women's survival strategies need to be supported through the reinforcement of their formal and informal associations.
Recommendation 2: Support survival strategies through training Another type of intervention would require the organizers to listen to the people. They could adopt the technique of using the devise of self-help groups to identify the needs and the local strategies of survival and support the kinds of jobs women/men find for themselves. They can listen to their comments on their experience of conflict as a way of accommodating it in the group.
Objective 1: Identifying groups and their survival strategies In rural areas the number of female-headed households has increased during the war. Migration of men to urban centres or abroad has forced women to face alone the workload and put up with harsh working conditions. Often women had to become the main income-generating persons in the family. These problems are aggravated by the size of most rural families. The absence of the father meant also that their maternal role and responsibilities increased. These women are often illiterate.
Objective 2: Identify the needs of women heads of households As noted, research is needed on intra-household dynamics. Women with dependent children or elderly persons do not have the same needs as women with adult children. Women who have young children might not be able to work in the formal sector for instance, nor in a workshop and would prefer home-based activities. It is only when such research is done that NGOs and IGOs cannot effectively target groups of war-affected women.
Objective 3: Provide and improve training The quality of training provided is often very poor. Programmes suffer from low standards and the lack of knowledge of the market demands. Often the income-generating projects undertaken have no market. A market analysis of the area should precede any training programme design and implementation in order to determine what skills should be developed.
Recommendation 3: Promoting group mobilization within the context of the disrupted community relations As noted in the rport, during the war the militias had provoked massive population shifts in order to create homogenous self-contained zones. Permanent displacement has affected more than 22 per cent of the population and has also affected every region of the country. It has resulted in an imbalance in population distribution with a high concentration in the receiving urban areas.
Objective 1: Establish the right conditions for intervention Comparative research and interviews with community leaders and local NGOs have proved that thorough preparation and both qualitative and quantitative research are needed. The expertise of the Ecole Libanaise de Formation Sociale could be used by agencies who do not have the capacity to undertake such research. This academic institution in collaboration with the Institut d'Etudes en Sciences Sociales Appliquees trains social assistants and undertakes in-depth research on the integration of the displaced.
Objective 2: Activities bringing communities together On the basis of comparative research and ethnographic investigation in the country, one can recommend that the first step towards establishing a dialogue between hostile communities is by bringing them to identify a common and immediate need and build on this.
Sectoral distribution: Investments in years 1 to 5 According to the information available in 1996, the following table shows the contrasts which have already been awarded with the work in progress in the first phases, together with contracts which are under preparation for the second and other phases.
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Naila Nauphal
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