Researcher
Jenny Lorentzen
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Jenny Lorentzen is a Senior Research Fellow in the research group for Peace, Conflict and Development at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), where she conducts research on norms, Women Peace and Security (WPS), and gender in peace processes, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding. She is the PI of a Researcher Project for Early Career Scientists titled “From combatants and war supporters to peacemakers? Women’s participation in political violence and political transitions (Gendered Transitions)” funded by the Research Council of Norway 2025-2028. Lorentzen holds a PhD in Political Science from Lund University (2020). Her research has been published in international academic journals such as International Affairs, International Political Science Review, the Journal of Modern African Studies, and International Peacekeeping. Lorentzen is a member of the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) International Research Working Groups for the period 2023–2027.
Expertise
Education
2020 PhD in Political Science, Lund University
2012 MSc in International Relations, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)/Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (NUPI)
2009 BA in Asian and African Studies, University of Oslo
Work Experience
2023- Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (NUPI)
2021-2023 Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Political Science, Lund University
2015-2020 Doctoral Researcher, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) & Department of Political Science, Lund University
2012-2015 Research Assistant, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
Aktivitet
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Clear all filtersWomen’s participation and influence in peace processes and implementation of peace agreements in Colombia and South Sudan
This report analyses women’s presence and influence in the peace processes and implementation of peace agreements in Colombia and South Sudan. It demonstrates how women’s organisations and women leaders succeeded in breaking barriers and influencing both the process dynamics and more concrete outcomes in both processes. The report further analyses how Norwegian support contributed to women’s participation and influence in these processes. The report identifies key enabling factors and supporting actions that contribute to enhancing women’s influence. We suggest that when planning support for women’s participation and influence, in order to achieve more impact external actors should design interventions around enabling factors and supporting actions, and combine different types of support. Based on the research and analysis in this report, we present a set of recommendations for external actors who aim to support and contribute to women’s influence in peace processes.
Backlash Against the Women, Peace and Security Agenda
In recent years, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has faced mounting resistance from regressive political forces seeking to undermine its hard-won normative gains. This Open Access book offers a timely and rigorous examination of this global backlash, providing both theoretical innovation and empirical depth. Bringing together leading scholars and practitioners, the volume introduces a novel analytical framework that weaves together the concepts of backlash, counter-practices, and counter-discourses. It pioneers a deeper conceptual understanding of backlash—an often under-theorized phenomenon in feminist scholarship—and explores how resistance to gender norms is mobilized, manifested, and sustained across diverse contexts. Through richly detailed case studies from around the world, the book reveals how backlash operates at multiple levels, from subtle discursive shifts to overt political maneuvers. It interrogates how these dynamics stall, reshape, or reverse the WPS agenda, exposing the fragility of normative progress in international peace and security governance. Essential reading for scholars, peacebuilders, and advocates committed to advancing gender justice in global security, this volume not only diagnoses the threats facing the WPS agenda but also underscores the urgent need for sustained scholarly and policy engagement to protect and advance feminist achievements in global security.
Introduction: Backlash Against the Women, Peace and Security Agenda
This edited volume sets out to examine how the backlash against gender equality and women’s rights affects the aims and ambitions of the WPS agenda. Since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has grown to form a comprehensive normative framework and body of knowledge. However, backsliding of women’s rights in the UN and beyond signals a potential reversal of an agenda that has steadily progressed and diffused globally for the past 25 years. Today, we see a backlash against liberal progressive norms, and support for women’s rights cannot be taken for granted as conservative and patriarchal norms gain ground within existing international and domestic normative structures. In this introductory chapter, we theorize and illustrate the interplay between norm development and regressive politics that aim to undo normative progress. The chapter presents an overview of research on the implementation and contestation of the WPS agenda, followed by a theoretical exploration of the concept of backlash. The chapter also asks what backlash against WPS norms might look like, and how resilient WPS norms might be. Finally, we outline the volume, summarize the contributions of each chapter to the study of the WPS agenda and conclude by emphasizing the volume’s overall theoretical and empirical contributions to the field.
Handlingsrom og norsk støtte til kvinner, fred og sikkerhet i Afghanistan og Sudan
This article examines how Norwegian support for the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in Afghanistan and Sudan is affected by factors such as war, humanitarian crises and democratic decline. In the article, the authors look more closely at the factors that influence the support provided, and how the relevant actors respond to changes in the framework conditions. The authors find that the work is affected by changes in the political space, including armed conflict and democratic decline. The situation is somewhat different in the two countries, but in both cases, the absence of official cooperation with the countries’ central authorities requires Norway to take a more flexible approach to the WPS work and to direct more of its efforts toward the local level. In both Sudan and Afghanistan, there are local variations in terms of humanitarian access and willingness to work with the WPS agenda. In other words, there is room for Norway to continue its work to support the implementation the WPS agenda in these contexts, although in countries affected by crisis and conflict this often must be done differently than in countries where Norway has an embassy or official cooperation with the local authorities.
Kvinner, fred og sikkerhet i norsk utenrikspolitikk: En politikk med vikeplikt?
Women, Peace and Security in Norwegian Foreign Policy: A Policy of Yielding?Over the past 25 years, Norway has been an important supporter and driving force behind the global effort to implement the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, and has built significant status as a leading actor in this field. As we mark the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, we see that the international community’s commitment to and belief in shared global values – which has laid the foundation for Norway’s status building – is changing. This means that continued strong support for the WPS agenda may not yield the same results in terms of international status and foreign policy capital in the years to come. In this article, we outline what place the WPS agenda has had – and still has – in Norwegian foreign policy, and question the extent to which Norway will have the ability and willingness to continue to play a leading global role on WPS given the current, turbulent, geopolitical situation. The already well-established status as a global leader on WPS means that Norway is well positioned for taking this work forward. However, this will require an approach that is adapted to a changing international system, and a willingness to pursue a policy which is increasingly contested and where the return, at least in the form of status and foreign policy capital, may not come as easily and as quickly as it did in the past.
Introduksjon: 25 år med kvinner, fred og sikkerhet i nordisk utenrikspolitikk
Over the past 25 years, the Nordic countries have been important supporters and drivers of the global efforts to promote and implement the Women, Peace and Security agenda, and have built significant status as leading actors in this field. However, there are several rocks in the sea for the future of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Internationally, we are facing major aid cuts, global setbacks against women’s rights, and an increase in war and conflict. It is also unclear how a greater focus on security policy challenges in our regional neighbourhood will affect the work on Women, Peace, and Security in the foreign policy of Nordic countries. In this introductory article for the special issue on “25 years of Women, Peace and Security in Nordic foreign policy”, the guest editors summarize key issues across the contributions. They highlight the role the Women, Peace and Security Agenda has played as a brand for Nordic foreign policy and the implications of the changing security situation in the Nordic region for the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, and ask: What can we learn from the different approaches of the Nordic countries over the years? How have the Nordic countries responded to changes in the global situation? And what can we expect from Nordic cooperation on women, peace and security in the years to come?
UN reform, budget cuts and gender backlash: What is at stake for Women, Peace and Security in peace operations?
This research paper explores possible risks and consequences of UN80 reform efforts and current financial contingency planning for the WPS agenda in peace operations. Based on interviews with member state representatives and UN staff working in headquarters and field missions, it finds that contingency planning to mitigate the liquidity crisis, and gender backlash within the UN system are having a detrimental impact on WPS programming in peace operations. Further, WPS programming is moving from being underfunded to defunded and deprioritised, leading to a loss of gender expertise in peacekeeping, and contributing to the shrinking of women’s civic spaces in post-conflict states. Finally, WPS expertise and resources must be protected during UN80 reforms and budget cuts.
From the Algiers Process to the Inter-Malian Dialogue: Women’s Participation in Peace and Reconciliation Processes in Mali 2013-2025
This research note discusses challenges and opportunities regarding women’s meaningful participation in the Algiers peace process (2013-2023) and the Inter-Malian Dialogue for Peace and National Reconciliation (DIMPR) (2023-2025). Activists, practitioners and policymakers have used UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), the WPS agenda and related policy frameworks to push for women’s meaningful participation, at all levels, in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts around the world. Still, women remain under-represented in peace processes. In Mali, women, girls and other marginalised groups are directly affected by conflict yet face significant challenges in influencing conflict resolution and dialogue processes. Women’s meaningful participation in future conflict resolution and dialogue efforts in Mali and the Sahel is therefore key to ensuring a broader involvement of the affected populations and more sustainable peaceful solutions.
Report on the Status of Norwegian Support to Women, Peace and Security
This report aims to provide an overview of Norwegian support to WPS, with a focus on the work of the Foreign Service in the priority countries identified in Norway’s National Action Plan for 2023-2030 (NAP). Based on interviews, conversations, observation and desk research, the report discusses the support to WPS and the challenges to implementation in the priority countries. The report also addresses aspects related to institutionalization and mainstreaming, as well as monitoring the progress of implementation and results. The report finds that there is a high degree of knowledge in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the work and support to WPS, and that the 2023-2030 NAP has thus far been successful in setting overarching priorities and in mobilizing and raising awareness. Yet there is variation in the extent to which the NAP is a driver or tool of strategic implementation of efforts. Regarding institutionalisation and mainstreaming across the foreign service, the report finds that many important tools, frameworks, policies and practices have been established, but that this work is somewhat uneven and requires continued effort.
FBA Research Brief: Prospects for Dialogue in the Central Sahel
Over the past decade, dialogue processes have been a cornerstone of national and international efforts to address the multifaceted crisis affecting the countries of the Central Sahel. Since 2020, the military has seized power in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger and radically changed the approach to solving the crisis and the role of dialogue. Is there still room for dialogue as an instrument of peace in the Central Sahel and, if so, in what form? This is a key question this report addresses. Three thematic arenas of dialogue are reviewed: regional diplomatic dialogue, dialogue with jihadist rgents, and women’s participation in conflict resolution and national dialogue processes. The report takes stock of progress made in these dialogue arenas over the years, discusses the remaining challenges under the Sahelian military regimes, and makes concrete recommendations to national, regional and international actors for how dialogue can be supported in the current political and security climate characterizing the region.