UNMAS Breaks Gender Barriers in Iraq

On this International Women’s Day and for the first time in its history, the United Nations (UN) has achieved gender parity among its senior leadership.  Of 44 UN senior leadership roles, women hold 23 of these positions.  Secretary-General António Guterres has made it an integral part of his mission to reach parity at all levels. This has proven to be particularly challenging, however, in field projects and operations such as in the mine action sector.

While the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) programme in Iraq can report gains, according to an informal UNMAS poll of mine action organizations in Iraq, total posts held by women decreased from 16 percent in 2017, to 12 percent in 2018. UNMAS percentages are higher but still fall short of parity.

The talent pool for candidates with qualifications for explosive hazard clearance and management has largely been filled with those with prior military experience, meaning it has been predominately male.  In time, UNMAS envisions its specialized trainings will help address this shortfall in the Iraq context.

Even for programme-related positions, UNMAS finds it difficult to attract female applicants. A recent vacancy for a Senior Programme Officer is such a case: of the 263 applicants, only 22 were female. Attracting highly-qualified female candidates to hardship duty stations, particularly in areas where women’s rights and freedoms are limited, remains a struggle for UNMAS and other UN agencies alike.

Similarly, conservative traditional values can influence local women’s decisions who hesitate to push the limits based on prevailing cultural and social norms, and thereby limit their prospects for job placement and advancement.

Solving for this problem takes a two-prong strategy.

First, to achieve parity, women, men, boys and girls should have equal opportunities throughout their lives, beginning at an early age and through maturity.

Second, women should be afforded the same job opportunities as men.  To ensure this, UNMAS in Iraq considers not only promotion of these opportunities, but evaluates job requirements and procedures from a woman’s perspective so as to identify and address any cultural, practical, and social concerns which otherwise deter women from applying for a job.

For example, although many women would not be dissuaded from explosive hazard clearance despite its dangers, if body armour provided is only designed for men, even highly qualified women would have trouble performing required tasks.

On the job, cultural and social norms might conflict with undertaking normal tasks, such as how and which teams conduct searches of buildings. In Iraq, UNMAS recently introduced a ‘mixed team’ concept, pairing women and men to work side by side, ensuring that team composition takes into consideration social norms while also empowering women in new roles.

By the numbers

UNMAS conducted surveys of 12 Iraq-based mine action organizations in August 2017 and August 2018 and found that, although the numbers of staff changed, the relative percentages of men versus women remained about the same:

August 2017:   

1. Total staff members: 1,639

2. 1,371 Male staff vs 268 Female staff

August 2018:

1. Total staff members: 1,189

2. 1,006 Male staff vs 183 Female staff

The Reasons Why

“An inclusive and gender-balanced workforce increases the efficiency and effectiveness of mine action activities and benefits the community as a whole by ensuring a more coherent response to the different needs and priorities of women, girls, boys and men affected by contamination. A gender-balanced workforce also supports an agenda of equal rights, and programmes with more balanced staff composition report a better team atmosphere, improved satisfaction at work, and improved discipline.”

Forthcoming Gender in Mine Action Guidelines, 2019.

Making a Difference

Shahad, a Community Liaison Officer working in Mosul with one of UNMAS implementing partners for over a year, imagines a city restored even as the information she collects guides clearance teams and helps determine prioritization of missions to be undertaken.

“What is of value to me as a woman and a Community Liaison Officer is that one day, in the future, I will look at the city and say I was part of this, of a survival journey for this city”.

Shahad also participated in the 17th Meeting of the State Parties, Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention recently in Geneva, Switzerland, where she represented UNMAS in Iraq and spoke on the subject of “Women and Youth in Mine Action: Building Stronger Communities”.

“I want to involve and encourage more women to take part in the rehabilitation of Mosul; and the first step must be the clearance of the thousands of items of explosive hazards.”

Shaimaa Abdullah Ahmed works with the Danish Demining Group (DDG), an UNMAS implementing partner in Iraq, providing risk education for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Al Salamiya Camp near Mosul. She envisions a bright future for the women and children in her community, and hopes to represent her city in advocating for their rights.

“I insisted on working in the field of risk education for IDPs because I wanted to make a difference to my community and my country, and I aspire to keep on working in this field until the last explosive hazard has been removed from Iraq.”

As a Community Liaison Officer with the Health and Social Care Organization (IHSCO) in Fallujah, Noor has come to know families who have lost loved ones to explosive hazards.  Their stories, in turn, have helped her to deal with questions she expected in her conservative community.

“When I first started working, my family was slightly worried about the nature of my job, but that all changed once I started sharing with them details about the pain and suffering of our city.

“Considering that I am a woman living in a conservative community, I initially experienced some difficulties and criticisms from people. I was able to surpass those hurdles because I am extremely passionate about humanitarian work.”

Working toward a ‘safe home’

Most of the liberated area in Iraq – approximately one-third of the country – remains a ‘danger zone’ for returnees and IDPs alike for reason of contamination by explosive hazards. A walk home from school can be life-threatening.  The importance of the timely clearance of these hazards cannot be overstated, serving as a critical first step toward a normal life and the return to a safe home for all.  The UNMAS staff in Iraq have their own reasons for doing what they do, but ultimately their individual good reasons add up to a single right reason: an opportunity to contribute, to make a difference, to know no limits.

Dorra

Dorra, a Tunisian national and former translator with UNMAS Iraq.

“When I was offered the possibility to join the UNMAS Iraq team, I seized the opportunity to make a change, an opportunity that is not necessarily possible for all women from the region. In the field, I have witnessed the challenges faced by aid workers, IDPs, and officials trying to overcome the crisis caused by the latest conflict, and I am happy to be part of the solution.”

“During my spare time, I volunteer through an online app to help refugees and IDPs get access to free translation services that allow them to have access to aid workers, attorneys, and doctors. The conversations I am part of as a volunteer-interpreter are painful, but I am happy I can take some of the frustration away through language.” 

Noor

As one of the select group of women who work in mine action, Noor has spent her years at UNMAS cultivating a relentless professional portfolio that has impressed management, national authorities and colleagues alike.

Noor initially joined UNMAS as an Administration Assistant with the Support Services team, quickly moving up the ranks in a short amount of time. She embodies the fierce drive of a woman determined to succeed in spite of the numerous challenges, even as she is enrooted in a male-dominated work environment. Currently, Noor is the Associate Operations Officer working with UNMAS in Iraq for over three years, assisting the Head of Projects in coordinating operational activities.

“Even as a child, I vehemently rejected societal expectations that some things were meant for boys and others for girls. Now, as I work in the operations division of UNMAS, I am conscious of how very few women, especially local nationals, work alongside me, and have made it my mission to advocate for equal opportunities, and equal representation, in my line of work.”

Giorgia

Former Gender Expert, UNMAS Iraq

“Without peace, no country and society can progress, certainly not while neglecting ‘half of the population’.  One of the Iraqi women I came across during my work, Zahra, once said something that continues to echo in my mind: ‘Imagine Iraq as a beautiful bird in which men are one wing and women are the other. The bird can only fly forward if the wings flap together. But one wing is tied down. Is it really any wonder the bird is going around in circles, becoming exhausted and hitting the wall?’”

Lindsay

Former Head of Programme Office, UNMAS Iraq

 “The civilian women who are brave enough, and have fought hard enough, to secure a place in managing peace operations deserve the utmost respect.

“Every day I think about how I can be a role model for junior staff and also inspire women to push for their chance to be a catalyst for change, and to find their seat at the management table in the United Nations. 

“There are many obstacles in this journey, and I am very lucky to have a male champion, who is also a role model for other men to support women: my boss who is standing next to me in this photo. He has empowered me, challenged me and provided me opportunities like no other before him, which is crucial to create positive space for women at the table. “

Lyuba

Associate Programme Officer, UNMAS

“Ever since I found out how easy it is to create a booby trap and purposefully inflict harm on a human being in such a cruel way, I’ve wanted to work in mine action. When I tried on a bomb suit recently, my respect for explosive hazard clearance operators reached a new level… there is such a fine balance between personal safety and confidence in the skills necessary for successful operations.”

Clara

Senior Gender Advisor, UNMAS Iraq

“Globally, we are facing a crisis. Women’s representation and active participation in the peace and security sector is decreasing – and those numbers were not high to begin with. When we leave women out of peace negotiations, out of peacebuilding and out of the security and governance decisions of a nation, we lose their practical and strategic insights that can highlight the experiences and particular needs of half the population. When women aren’t part of the conversation and the decision-making, we must recognize that we are failing.”

“The same holds true for field programmes. At UNMAS Iraq, we are ensuring that gender is mainstreamed within all our programming, from risk education to explosive hazard management, and that the recruitment for all our posts is done in a gender-responsive manner. We know that it is step by step. Nevertheless, the data is on our side: including women is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do for our effective operations and for sustainable peace and security within a country.”

Pehr

Senior Programme Manager, UNMAS Iraq

“Ensuring diversity and the inclusion of the different needs of women, men, boys and girls is key to UNMAS success, whether within its senior leadership, programme staff, or in field-based operations.  For us, this isn’t something we only think about or talk about on International Women’s Day.  It’s every day.”

UNMAS in Iraq would like to thank the Governments of Australia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom for offering equal opportunities to women and men as well as supporting gender mainstreaming initiatives in mine action.