GCRF Gender, Justice and Security Hub

The GCRF Gender, Justice and Security Hub will deliver innovative interdisciplinary research on the challenge of achieving gender justice and inclusive security in conflict-affected societies. The Hub addresses the overlapping of three major policy areas: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality; SDG 16 on peace, inclusivity and justice; and the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. The UK is a global leader on these issues, particularly gender equality, which is at the heart of UK Aid Strategy as well as a national security priority. Yet in each of these areas, progress has been frustratingly slow, and in some cases has stalled altogether. The Hub will develop an evidence base on the intersections of gender, justice and security; expand research capacity in collaboration with international partners; and make use of unrivalled links with leading ambassadors for gender justice (Hub Champions) to translate research into impact for the achievement of sustainable peace. Promoting the conditions for gender justice and inclusive security requires a broad vision, ability to unite disparate specialisms, develop capacity across the sites where the development challenge is most intense, and provide independent scrutiny of policy initiatives. A diverse team of PI and co-investigators, widely regarded as experts in gender studies, development, justice and/or WPS, will lead the research. The Hub will pursue its key questions through four projects - on Transformation & Empowerment; Land, Livelihoods & Rights; Migration & Displacement; and Masculinities & Sexualities, as well as two cross-cutting work streams on Law & Policy Frameworks and Methodological Innovation. The challenge the Hub confronts is global, but appears in different ways across contexts. To generate detailed knowledge from which to draw scalable conclusions and recommendations, the Hub will focus on eight core cases: Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Uganda. While each is distinctive in its experiences and timelines of conflict, the cases are broadly geographically representative and are all significantly conflict-affected. The Hub structure is designed to build deep and lasting links between researchers, project partners, policy makers, civil society actors and vulnerable groups. In addition to a range of academic outputs (monographs; journal articles; visual materials; working papers; policy reports) specific to each project, the Hub will yield several other outputs of significance for the wider research community: new datasets on transitional justice, women's empowerment and subsequent backlash, and post-conflict reconciliation; a major 'Global Gender, Justice and Security' report, with researchers from across the Hub contributing data and chapters; and an innovative web portal providing wide access to Hub research. The portal will be the Hub's main site of public engagement, featuring videos, podcasts and case studies of the development challenge and effective responses to it, as well as serving as a resource beyond the end of the award. While the Hub will be housed administratively at the LSE Centre for WPS, its activities will be most evident in the eight core countries. Hub workshops will be held in each one throughout the grant, to include knowledge exchange, research presentation and development, leadership team meetings to identify project synergies and forward plan, visits from Hub Champions, policy meetings, networking and collaboration opportunities and expert-led training. Hub institutions have committed to providing access to research methods courses for researchers from the core countries. The Hub's activities will be geared towards achieving five forms of impact (including policy and institutional reform and capacity building), in partnership with global south researchers and civil society, to the benefit of those currently facing gender insecurity and injustice.