Gender dynamics: the role of female engagement in setting the conditions for countering violent extremism

The purpose of this thesis is to assess the impact of Female Engagement (FE) policies in setting the conditions for Countering Violent Extremism and to establish to what extent the defence and security sector is contributing through operationalising FE in the fight against extremist organisations. It uses the Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF) Pre-Deployment Training for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) as the main case study. Adopting a 3Cs framework the research analyses FE through the themes of culture, collaboration and communication to answer two core questions that will assist policy makers and international security forces in the implementation of FE in a non-conventional conflict scenario. ‘Do female engagement policies work in setting the conditions for CVE?’ and ‘Can the defence and security sector better facilitate the operationalisation of these policies?’ The research design applied a qualitative methodological approach in which a scoping review created the 3Cs framework that was confirmed by a literature review and tested against primary data acquired from field research to analyse the operationalisation of FE by soldiers from the UPDF during Pre-Deployment Training for Somalia. The study proposes that FE policies can help set the conditions for CVE identifying three key factors which increase the potential for success.; women’s empowerment; female activism; and feminist research In the defence and security sector a policy-operational gap exists that can be mitigated by a better understanding of the three key factors above alongside improved training, clear definitions and Measurement of Effect.