Women’s role in conflict resolution laudable — Dr Neu
Armed conflicts affect entire communities. Although women are not inherently vulnerable, they frequently face heightened danger in these situations of violence including the increased risk of sexual violence.
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Conflict situations which lead to security concerns, destruction of infrastructure and separation from male relatives can drastically affect women’s socio-economic and personal safety.
Furthermore, women do not belong to a homogeneous group: Depending on the cultural and social context of their country, their religious identities and other factors related to their personal circumstances, such as age, level of education and marital status, women will have different needs and vulnerabilities and must be able to deploy coping mechanisms and resilience.
Women in armed conflict
The issues surrounding women in armed conflicts, as well as the specific issue of sexual violence in armed conflict, pose numerous challenges to policy makers and humanitarian actors. Understanding and taking these specifics into proper consideration, and involving women in the design of the conflict resolution processes and activities, are essential steps when working to respond to their needs and strengthen their abilities in a sustainable manner.
Speaking in an interview, during a three-day visit to Ghana recently, Dr Joyce Neu, the first director of the newly established Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (IPJ), which is dedicated to fostering peace, cultivating justice, and creating a safer world through education, research, and practice, saiD: “In conflict situations, Women bring a different perspective to the table.”
She said women were often the bridge builders in their communities, describing them as the ones who hold families and communities together during conflicts and the ones who bring people together during the post-conflict period.
Dr Neu, who has conducted conflict resolution training for women in Burundi, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda and Kigali in Rwanda; conducted conflict assessments in Madagascar and Macedonia; and facilitated post-peace accord discussions in Cote d'Ivoire, in Rwanda and Madagascar, was in the country to teach mediation as part of a two-week training in conflict resolution and peace-building at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC).
Mediation and building peace
According to Dr Neu, women can also be important actors in conflict and post-conflict situations for their families and communities, stressing that women often have first hand experience in mediating and building peace, and play key roles in building communities and facilitating political and social reconciliation.
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She said although there may not be more women occupying high-ranking positions in international bodies like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), it was still relevant to discuss the important role of women in peace keeping, indicating that in many conflict situations, when men were out there fighting, it was the women who started peace negotiations and when men “ were concerned about jobs, positions and money, women concentrate on building bridges, to bring families and children together.”
She cited the example of Liberia, when the Women’s Movement of the country initiated efforts for peace talks during the country’s era of civil war, and also mentioned the role played by women in Sierra Leone during the country’s civil war, indicating that the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) junta was opposed by members of Sierra Leone's civil society such as student unions, journalists associations, women's groups and others.
Role of civil society organisations
Dr Neu also touched on the important role of civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations in conflict management and pointed out that good process of peacekeeping started at the local and grassroots level, where these organisations, including queen mothers’ associations, operate effectively.
“We need to move away from exclusive peace processes, and include women and civil society organisations (CSOs) in such processes,” she said and lauded women’s organisations like the Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) for their responsible role in the peace process.
Dr Neu asserted that with available resources, it was much better for countries to handle conflicts locally, before looking for international mediators and international experts.
Ghana’s democratic advancement
She said Ghana had made progress in its democratic advancement since the coming into being of the 1992 Constitution, but added that “we need to continue to watch because we are living in a difficult region where, everyday, citizens need to participate in what the government is doing and play their respective roles at the various levels.”
The United States recently recognised and commended Ghana for being one of the top five nations contributing female uniformed personnel in peacekeeping operations, with a total of 167 female soldiers from the Ghana Armed Forces and 85 female police officers.
Dr Neu said the current situation was not a guarantee that there could not be any incident that could lead to a conflict situation, and pointed out that there was the need to educate children to learn to read and write and analyse what people are telling them, as a step to involve them in the peace processes. She notes that no one in any community wants to see violence in their midst.
She said NGOs and human rights organisations needed to ensure that the rights of citizens were protected and the police play its watchdog role effectively to ensure that when conflicts arise in any part of the country, they would be nipped in the bud.