Police recovery and reform is widely understood to be one of the mainstays of post-conflict recovery, as the effectiveness of all governance processes derives from effective law enforcement.2 However, a wide range of concerns must be addressed in post-conflict efforts to re-establish the rule of law, and in the past women’s entitlement to security has often been an overlooked aspect of the reform process. In addition to violating their human rights, the neglect of women’s security needs can compromise the inclusiveness and sustainability of peace-building and efforts to build democratic governance after conflict. As a contribution towards more effective, rights-based and sustainable programming in this area, this briefing note reviews key components of gender-sensitive police reform (GSPR) in post-conflict states.

To further the UN’s commitment to empower women and work towards gender equality in times of war and of peace,3 in 2006, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (UNDP/BCPR) and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) commissioned a study of the UN’s experience in gender-sensitive police reform to capture best practices to contribute towards the development of minimum standards for policing policy and operations.