Empowering women for peaceful communities: Evidence from Indonesia and Bangladesh

This brief summarizes innovative research conducted by Monash University’s Gender, Peace and Security Centre in conjunction with UN Women’s “Empowered Women, Peaceful Communities” programme. The research examined how the programme has impacted social cohesion, women’s empowerment, community empowerment, and preventing and countering extremist ideologies in the programme communities in Indonesia and Bangladesh. To do this, an in-depth qualitative and quantitative study across six communities, three each in Bangladesh and Indonesia, was conducted. The analysis revealed that the UN Women programmes contributed directly to women’s confidence and their subsequent contribution to PVE.