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Abstract

In this paper, I address the question of how Bosnian women's NGOs have contributed to the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on Women, Peace and Security in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). What instruments did they use to enforce gender, peace and security norms into state policy and the policy of international actors in the post-conflict internationalized society of BiH? Since national and international actors did not comply with international gender specific norms and standards, I argue that, as norm advocates, Bosnian women’s NGOs have been working with a double strategy to influence gender, peace and security policy and enforce change, both by national and international actors. In order to act gender-sensitively, this paper claims—unlike most of the literature on global norm diffusion—it is not only the national actors who need to be socialized to comply with international norms and standards, but also the international political elite. Hence, it not only looks at the process of norm implementation into domestic policies, but also in the policies of international actors in post conflict countries.

The methodology followed is a descriptive one wherein the analyses is conducted on information resulting from interviews and published secondary data.

Author Biography

Jagoda Rošul-Gajić holds a Ph.D from the Universität der Bundeswehr München, Germany, where she is a research fellow and lecturer in the Department of International Relations. From August 2014 until July 2015, she was a visiting scholar at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University. Research interest: gender norms and women’s rights in conflict and post-conflict contexts, feminist security studies, feminist IR-theory.

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