Gender-Responsive SSR: What Does it Mean and What are the Challenges for its Implementation?

The integration of a gender perspective is widely recognised as one of the key principles of security sector reform (SSR). However, despite this, gender perspectives are often not strategically addressed or, worse yet, not considered at all during the practical implementation of SSR. The failure to ensure gender-responsive SSR prevents the reform process from contributing to an effective, accountable and sustainable security sector.

Building on the FBA’s approach to SSR, this brief aims to outline why the integration of a gender perspective is one of the key principles of the reform process. It also aims to raise some of the common misunderstandings related to gender and how they prevent gender-responsive SSR.

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New report: Ukrainians’ perceptions of security during the war

How do people in Ukraine experience their security during the war – and which issues are most critical for the country’s future stability? These issues are in focus in the report Beyond the Frontline: Public perceptions of security in Ukraine, developed by the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) in cooperation with the Ukrainian think tank Razumkov Centre.

2025-10-01 10:31

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The Gender-Responsive Leader's Handbook

Gender equality is both a goal and a prerequisite for sustainable peace and development. FBA’s Gender-Responsive Leadership (GRL) Initiative is designed to support leaders and managers within organizations such as the EU, UN, ECOWAS, OSCE and the African Union to fulfill their central role in enabling gender equal peace, security and development work.

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Gender-Responsive SSR: What Does it Mean and What are the Challenges for its Implementation?

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