Pakistan has been a priority country for international development assistance since the early years of its creation. Though Pakistan celebrates National Women’s Day on 12 February each year to commemorate the 1983 women’s march, three decades of war in neighbouring Afghanistan have stoked violent extremism and constrained development gains and gender equality. Canada led the first global efforts to support women’s rights and gender equality in the region.

The Twelfth of February tells the story of the Canadian International Development Agency’s support for women’s organizations and civil society in Pakistan. Rhonda Gossen traces the ebbs and flows of financial aid, drawing on her own unique experience as a development worker as well as compelling interviews with activists, non-governmental organizations, officials, and diplomats. She assesses how women’s organizations work to resist violent extremism and makes the connection between gender inequality and security threats in a volatile region. Despite the influence of Islamic extremism, the gender equality movement in collaboration with civil society in Pakistan did make tangible headway.

The Twelfth of February addresses a problem that is all too timely: given violent extremism’s devastating impact on development gains including women’s rights, security , and the elimination of gender-based violence, what is the future role for international development?

Rhonda Gossen is a former Canadian diplomat and Canadian International Development Agency manager and a senior advisor to the United Nations.

Rhonda Gossen's profile page

“Rhonda Gossen’s account of CIDA’s groundbreaking work on gender equality in Pakistan reveals the unhappy fact that development is not always linear. Here, she tackles the fraught nexus between culture and gender, showing how the Hobson’s choice between security and development has long favoured the former.” Ambassador Robin Raphel, former US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia

"Gossen’s excellent contribution to the development literature ... spotlights a growing body of research showing how gender inequality links to violent extremism and undermines stable societies." Janet Dunnett, Open Canada

“A must-read for all those interested in how a few brave women took up the fight for their rights under the worst military dictatorship. They indeed put the issue of the legal challenge to the status of Pakistani women on the agenda of the global media. A number of western nations including Canada stepped forward to help them amplify their voices across the globe. In the ensuing decades international support built up the pressure that was needed to either discard certain laws, abolish discriminatory regulations, or at least erecting legal bars to their indiscriminate application on women. The Twelfth of February is an excellent compendium of Pakistani women’s struggles for equal status as citizens." Center for Research & Security Studies

“Most interesting to me in this book is the conclusion Gossen draws: how a gender lens on security, development and diplomacy can help combat forces threatening human rights and democracy.” Policy Magazine

“Gossen’s book is so powerful and novel because it draws on her on-the-ground experiences as a Canadian aid official to substantiate the claim that aid programs focusing on women’s empowerment can help push back against violent extremism.” Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute

“The Twelfth of February provides a nuanced account of CIDA’s gender equality efforts in support of Pakistani organizations, against the backdrop of women’s rights struggles in the face of growing militancy. Gossen offers history as an inside story.” Rehana Hashmi, activist-in-residence, Carleton University

“The Twelfth of February marries fine storytelling with scholarship, recounting decades of Canadian commitment to the aspirations of women and girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Gossen portrays the crushing impact that religious extremism, born of conflict and nurtured by poverty, has had on the battle for these human rights. Her respect for local activists whose struggles have spanned decades shines through.” Kathy Gannon, author of I is for Infidel: From Holy War to Holy Terror in Afghanistan