In this thesis, I explore how the duration of missions affects the participation of women in United Nations (UN) peace operations. I argue that women are less likely to be deployed in the early stages of missions because new missions are associated with high levels of uncertainty which is ultimately a type of risk. Instead, women’s participation will increase as the uncertainty decreases and the operating environment becomes more predictable. I also test if more gender equal force contributing countries are less prone to deploy women to new missions due to a stronger gendered protection norm constraining deployment of women to risky environments. Applying a large-N approach, this thesis studies the proportion of women in military contributions to UN peace operations between 2009 and 2015. Using a set of multilevel mixed-effects generalized linear models, the main argument initially find empirical support. But, when the main findings are challenged through robustness tests, the results become somewhat ambiguous and it is not sound to exclude the possibility that unobserved factors drive the empirical results. This thesis does not find more gender equal countries to be less prone to deploy women to the early stages of missions. Rather, countries which see higher levels of gender equality seem more prone to deploy larger proportions of women, regardless of when the deployment takes place.

This thesis analyzes the National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPA) that aredeveloped for the least developed countries within the United Nations FrameworkConvention of Climate Change. The NAPAs are developed to help the least developedcountries to deal with the challenges that are likely to occur due to climate changeissues. Within the United Nations there is strong consensus that gender mainstreamingmust be a part of all of the strategies implemented within the UN.By analyzing the NAPAs concerning food security and energy using gender theory anddiscourse analysis it is clear that gender is often overlooked when creating solutionsfor future issues that are likely to be caused by climate change. The energy sector inparticular overlook the needs of women in rural areas and have a clear male bias. In theNAPAs concerning food security women’s participation is slightly more present, butthere is a clear lack of gender mainstreaming in the documents.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / The study explores trends in women’s participation in agriculture at Tshiombo Irrigation Scheme in Thulamela Municipality, Limpopo Province. The overall objective is to assess the trends in women’s participation in agricultural activities and to find out if this enhances their livelihoods. The study seeks to answer four core questions: 1) To what extent do women at Tshiombo Irrigation Scheme participate in agriculture, and what is the nature of their participation, e.g. in respect of labour provision, decision-making, and determining who benefits? (2) What are the main factors that over time lead men to withdraw from agriculture and women’s role in agriculture to become more prominent? (3) To what extent does women’s increased participation in production activities contribute to a better and more secure livelihood for themselves? (4) What are the main challenges women experiences in agriculture at Tshiombo Irrigation Scheme?Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed in the collection and analysis of data, and a case study approach was used at three villages under study, namely Mutshenzheni,Matombotswuka and Maraxwe.The main research findings are: 1) over time, women have come to dominate farming at Tshiombo Irrigation Scheme to prevent poverty and therefore their participation improves food security in their households; 2) men’s decline in agriculture is attributed to water shortages, commitment to off-farm jobs and high production costs; 3) women are faced with a number of challenges in agricultural production which include amongst others water shortages, high input costs and lack of skill in marketing their products.The following recommendations were made: 1) government should seek ways of lowering the cost of ploughing services, whether this means encouraging farmers to return to animal traction, or encouraging more providers of tractor services, so that the prices are reduced through competition; 2) extension officers should encourage farmers to make more use of cow dung or other natural fertilizers, because this would assist in lowering input costs as well as benefiting the soil; 3) in terms of water shortages, the government is installing the floppy irrigation systems through Revitalization of Irrigation Schemes; however, in the interim,farmers should try to upgrade and maintain the storage dams which are currently not in use; 4)the re-introduction of water bailiffs could help to supervise and manage water, which in turn could ease water shortages and prevent conflict among farmers; 5) the Department of Agriculture should train women farmers in marketing skills. The study will be of primary benefit to amongst others, policy makers, scholars, and civil society organisations.

Is the inclusion of social provisions in peace agreements influenced by the participation of women, and if so, why? It is suggested that if women participate in the negotiation, the agreement is likely to broaden with social provisions. But our understanding regarding why social provisions are shaped by the participation of women is still limited as previous research rarely looked at this phenomenon. By drawing on theories suggesting women’s participation will broaden the scope of the negotiation, and theories proposing women through the agency for being at the negotiation table would push for social provisions, this study hypothesizes that if women participate, the agreements are likely to broaden with more social provisions. A content analysis of the agreements reached on Liberia 2003, Sierra Leone 1999, Côte d’Ivoire 2003 and Niger 1995, and a supplementary in-depth comparative case study presents evidence suggesting women does influence peace agreements to become more holistic with more social provisions. At the same time, this study also highlights the essence of taking other factors that shape the scope of the agreements and the presence or absence of social provisions such as the context and duration of the conflicts and the belligerent actor’ will into consideration.

This study aims to shed light on the gendered dynamics of nonviolent resistance and democratisation. Illuminating the role that women can play in the democratisation processes can help underline the importance of women's empowerment.  Therefore, this study aims to answer the research question How can female participation in nonviolent resistance movements lead to a higher likelihood of successful democratisation? I theorise that nonviolent resistance movements enable 1) the elevation of pro-democratic female leaders, and 2) the development of political skills and networks of female participants and women’s organisations. These two factors allow women and women’s groups to continue mobilisation and fight for the institutionalisation of egalitarian democratic norms, which influences democratisation. Using the methods of structured, focused comparison and process tracing, the hypotheses were tested on Brazil’s 1984 Diretas Já Movement and the Philippines' 1986 People Power Revolution. This study found no support for the elevated leader argument, but some support for the development of political skills and networks influencing democratic outcomes. Extra research is warranted to confirm this correlation.

Are peace agreements more likely to include gender provisions if women participate in the peace negotiations? The international community, national governments and civil societies around the world have assumed that women’s inclusion in peace negotiations result in higher quality peace agreements, where women’s interests are better taken into consideration. To date, there is a lack of empirical underpinning of the assumption. This study uses a twofold research design, combining statistical and qualitative methods to examine the interrelation between women’s descriptive and substantive representation in peace negotiations in the post-Cold War era. First, the statistical analysis suggests that peace agreements are more likely to include at least one gender provision referring to women’s rights and security if women participate in the negotiation. At the same time, the agreements are not more likely to address a higher number of different areas for increased rights and security measures for women. Second, the qualitative analysis examining the mechanisms shows that there is no guarantee that women will push for gender provisions, but that their particular experiences and interests in conflict, and the expectations from others give them strong reasons to do so. Important factors for women to successfully push for gender provisions have to do both with their individual will and personal ability, and external factors relating to the presence of traditional gender norms and the power balance between men and women in the country of conflict.

The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood has since the start of the Syrian uprising in March 2011 moved from a low-key position in exile to become one of the main actors in the political opposition. There appears to be a consensus among researchers today on the democratic commitment of the Syrian Brotherhood. However, ambiguity remains regarding its commitment towards gender equality, women’s rights and participation. This essay focuses on the gender discourse of the Syrian Brotherhood’s leadership, according to its policy-documents, from 2004 – 2013. By applying a critical discourse analysis, a movement from a more Islamist, exclusionary discourse in 2004 towards a more inclusive, feminist inspired discourse in 2013 becomes apparent. Nonetheless, traditional gender roles linger and more Islamist and pan-Arab, pan-Islamic discourses are not distant features. The movement of the gender discourse towards greater inclusion confirms claims made by democratic theorists on inclusion and moderation.