On 5-8 September 2017, the Gender and Conflict project team participated in the International Conference on Research for Development organised by the SNSF r4d programme in partnership with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the University of Bern.

Researchers from the project team presented findings on the gender dimensions of managing resource-driven conflicts in East Java and Enugu, on the role of constructs of masculinity in recruiting fighters in ethno-religious conflicts in Ambon, and on the transformation of gender roles in securing livelihoods during conflicts and in post-conflict environments in Ambon and Aceh.

Members of the teams also discussed the contributions of the project’s research findings to advancing the Sustainable Development Goal 16+ agenda (covering all relevant targets for peaceful, just and inclusive societies). Several promising suggestions emerged in collaboration with other r4d research consortia focusing on conflict management from a micro perspective.

The Gender and Conflict consortium is currently preparing publication of findings from the first phase of the project and beginning fieldwork for the second phase, which focuses on gender and peacebuilding. We continue our reflections on conflict management mechanisms that cut across the three SNSF/r4d social conflict projects in order to support the goal of creating peaceful, just and inclusive societies.