Gender Perspectives on Human Security

Join us for an insightful panel discussion on gender perspectives on human security! We have three experts from different fields, including gender studies, human rights, and security, who will share their knowledge and experiences on how gender perspectives can contribute to a more secure and just world for all. 

We are excited to announce three distinguished speakers, including Saba Azeem: project lead at PAX for peace, Dr. Vanessa Newby; professor at Leiden University and president of WIIS Netherlands and Dr. Gemma Van Der Haar: professor at Wageningen University & Research

Saba Azeem

Saba has over twelve years of experience working in the development, peace and humanitarian sectors in conflict and post-conflict environments. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Conflict Studies and Human Rights, with experience working in fundraising, grant management, donor liaison, programme management, and social research. Originally from Pakistan, Saba has also lived and worked in Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and the Netherlands for organisations such as the Danish Committee for Aid for Afghan Refugees (DACAAR), the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Oxfam and PAX for Peace. She is currently the Human Security Survey (HSS) Iraq Project Lead within the Protection of Civilians (PoC) team in PAX, under which she works with Iraqi partners to collect representative information on civilian perceptions on the seven pillars of human security across four governorates. She has written six chapters in the book ‘On Civilian Harm’ and was the lead researcher and co-author of the report ‘After the Strike’ which brings forth civilian experiences while laying bare the direct and reverberating civilian harm faced 6.5 years after the 2015 Dutch airstrike on the city of Hawija, which killed a minimum of 85 civilians. She also contributes to policy development and training initiatives as part of the work the PoC team is conducting with the Office of the National Security Advisor (ONSA), Iraq.

Dr. Vanessa Newby

Vanessa is an Assistant Professor at Leiden University. She is the author of Peacekeeping in South Lebanon: Credibility and Local Cooperation with Syracuse University Press (2018) and is published in international peer-reviewed journals such as the Global Studies Quarterly, European Journal of International Security, Third World Quarterly, and GlobalGovernance. Her next book, Peacekeeping in the Mediterranean: Narratives of Agency in Neglected Conflicts is under contract with Oxford University Press. She has blogged for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the Lowy Institute, and the Australian Institute of International Affairs. Vanessa is an Arabic speaker and spent over four years conducting research in Lebanon and Syria. She is the author of Follow the Arabic Road: Going Off Track in the Middle East, a memoir about her experiences learning Arabic and travelling in the region. Vanessa also founded the Netherlands chapter of Women in International Security (WIIS) in March 2020 of which she is currently President.

Dr. Gemma van der Haar

Dr. Gemma van der Haar works at the crossroads of development sociology and conflict studies. She is based at the Social Science Department of Wageningen University, chairgroup Sociology of Development and Change. She has worked on a range of issues related to conflict, (in)security, (land) governance, and gender. She has been involved in the IS Academy Human security and fragile states (with Thea Hilhorst). She is interested in how people live war and live with war and how crisis shapes society. In the field of gender, she has worked -with PhD colleagues and students- on topics related to gendered coping mechanisms and gender transformative change in the context of war and disaster.

Two publications related to gender and security are the following:

• Necessity or choice: women’s migration to artisanal mining regions in eastern DRC

Bashwira, Marie Rose ; Haar, Gemma van der (2020)

Canadian Journal of African Studies 54 (1). – p. 79 – 99.

• Living Maoist gender ideology: experiences of women ex-combatants in Nepal

Luna, K.C. ; Haar, Gemma Van Der (2019)

International Feminist Journal of Politics 21 (3). – p. 434 – 453.

Interested to hear their insights? Then make sure to register via this link as this event is the perfect opportunity to engage with the topic of gender and security through our interactive panel discussion! Moreover, the panel will take place in Room 3.46 in the FGGA Wijnhaven building of Leiden University, located in The Hague, on March 23rd from 19:30-21:00. We hope to see you soon!