Gender mainstreaming is: "a strategy for making women as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and progammes ... so that women and men benefit equally" (UN Economic and Social Council). It is aimed at bringing about gender equality and advancing women's rights which is in line with Millennium Development Goal number three.
Gender mainstreaming is crucial during peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction processes because conflict affects women and men differently, whether as victims or combatants. Women are vulnerable to gender differentiated violence, so they are ...