Research network on women peace and security supports feminist approaches to peace and security at a time of global conflict and crisis

SFU International Studies professor and Simons Chair in International Law and Human Security, Megan MacKenzie, has been named co-director of the Research Network on Women, Peace and Security (RN-WPS). The Network was recently selected as a collaborative network through a competitive process for funding of $750,000 over three years by the Department of National Defence (DND) via the Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security (MINDS) Program. The Network is a bilingual research hub that mobilizes Canadian-based expertise on issues related to the WPS agenda, and more broadly, the intersections of militarism, climate change, and gender.  

Specifically, the core objectives of the network include knowledge innovation in relation to pressing global issues that challenge the WPS agenda and link to MINDS Strategic Challenges; fostering the next generation of feminist scholarship and pedagogy on WPS through fellowships, policy labs, curriculum development, mentorship, and exchanges; and generating knowledge exchanges between academic, policy makers, civil society organizations, and community based groups through symposiums, roundtables, workshops, and research presentations. 

“The two main goals of my entire academic career have been to try to change the conversations we are having about war, in order to prevent it and to draw attention to the ways gender matters to understanding war and insecurity,” MacKenzie shares. “This network is so exciting to me because it allows me to pursue both these goals and to work with incredible scholars across Canada who are all interested in finding ways to reduce and end conflict and increase security and well-being.”

One of the overarching contributions of the network will be to inform DND’s efforts to create internal cultural change, assess and address obstacles to attracting and retaining a diverse and excellent workforce, and strengthen its relationships with external communities and partners to advance gender equality. Another overarching commitment of the RN-WPS is to ensure the ongoing relevance and role of the WPS agenda at a moment when global conflict has increased, and military solutions and commitments have been elevated. The Network will explore ways to promote and support the meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and conflict resolution mechanisms and institutions, and to mainstream gender perspectives in peace and security activities and strategies. Another major contribution of the Network will be to bring into conversation Arctic defence and security, climate change, and the environment from a feminist perspective.