Passed in 2000, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent seven Resolutions make up the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. This agenda is an international policy framework addressing the gender-specific impacts of conflict on women and girls, including protection against sexual and gender-based violence, promotion of women's participation in peace and security processes and support for women's roles as peace builders in the prevention of conflict and rebuilding of societies after conflict. The handbook addresses the concepts and early history behind WPS: international institutions involved with the WPS agenda: the implementation of WPS in conflict prevention and connections between WPS and other UN resolutions and agendas
The book addresses the challenges faced by women on the two shores of the Mediterranean. While in the European Union’s Mediterranean countries inequality is mostly linked to the social sphere and in particular refers to labour market dynamics, in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) area the social and private spheres are blended and cultural and religious factors have a great impact on women autonomy and opportunities beyond the family perimeter. The chapters in this book were originally published in a special issue of the Journal of the Balkans and Near Eastern Studies.