Building an Evidence Base for Empowering Women for Peaceful Communities: A case study of Bangladesh and Indonesia

This study in Bangladesh and Indonesia has identified the many ways in which women and men influence values, attitudes and behaviours within their communities, from raising awareness of violent extremism, challenging belief systems that cause harm to women and children, to advocating education for women and girls. Four key outcomes can be discerned from the research conducted across programme and non-programme sites in Bangladesh and Indonesia. Each is described in detail below:

• Greater individual empowerment of women was found with respect to both confidence in joining P/CVE initiatives, as well as reporting violent extremism and knowing what to do to counter or prevent violent extremism in the UN Women programme sites versus the non-programme sites.
• Increased awareness related to women’s empowerment and greater confidence in engaging in P/CVE initiatives was evident in programme sites.
• Both women and men in the programme sites recognised that greater economic empowerment of women decreased tensions within the family and community and thereby contributed to more peaceful and resilient societies.
• Community engagement was found to be a key factor in P/CVE.