Baines (U. of British Columbia and Simon Fraser U.) examines the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its initiatives over the past decade to introduce and implement policies on gender equality. She explores why the body adopted such policies in the first place, and what difference they have made in Guatemala, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Rwanda. The policies are narrowly articulated, she argues, fail to recognize or engage changing missions, and remain rooted in traditional gender assumptions. Therefore, large-scale women's empowerment initiatives in post-conflict settings tend to reinforce nation-building efforts that fix women and men into particular roles and relationships.
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