ELSIE Initiative Research
The Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations is a multilateral project that is developing a combination of approaches to help overcome barriers and increase the meaningful participation of uniformed women from police and military institutions in UN peace operations.
One aspect of the Elsie project is developing a comprehensive barrier assessment methodology for security force organizations around the world. To do so, the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF) and Cornell University partnered and created The Measuring Opportunities for Women in Peace Operations (MOWIP) Methodology. MOWIP identifies the presence or absence of universal as well as context-specific barriers to personnels’ full integration in military or police organizations, and studies their access to deployment opportunities in UN peace operations.
As a Research Fellow at Cornell University, I work with Dr. Sabrina Karim on the ELSIE initiative projects. My primary responsibilities are leading a survey of police and gendarmerie personnel in Jordan, a survey of military personnel in Bangladesh, and a survey of military personnel in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. I also assist with Elsie projects in Uganda, Uruguay, Nigeria, and other countries. The result of our study will be a comprehensive Barrier Assessment report that develops an understanding of institutional barriers to personnels’ deployment experiences. The recommendations in the Barrier Assessment report are based on findings in the survey to identify personnel’s view of barriers, a fact finding questionnaire to identify institutional barriers, and elite interviews. Please see the following publications that were completed in 2022 and 2023:
The Public Security Directorate of Jordan MOWIP Report.
Bangladesh Armed Forces MOWIP Report.
National Police of Uruguay MOWIP Report.
National Police and National Gendarmerie of Senegal MOWIP Report.
In addition, I help the MOWIP projects through contributing to MOWIP Toolbox as well as Policy Briefs and the Global MOWIP Report that address salient issue areas in the MOWIP assessments.
I am the lead author of one of the ongoing projects of the Gender and the Security Sector Lab and coauthor on other projects. The projects aim to understand the effect of socialization on security forces’ attitudes toward the use of violence as well as exploring the institutional differences (police vs military institutions) in explaining such attitudes.
