Women’s Participation in Peace Processes in East Africa—Selected Aspects

Abstract

According to the United Nations, women are one of the most vulnerable group during both, war and conflicts, as well as, civil strife. On the one hand, the women’s need for promotion of equality, development and peace is often red as an objection of being the victim, and on the other hand, as a result of political changes and strengthening the role of women, playing in conflict resolution and peace-building. This process started with the international changes initiated by the set of Conferences on Women. After Conference in Nairobi, in 1985, a new course of action for the advancement of women was devised, which outlined measures for achieving gender equality at the national level and for promoting women’s participation in peace and development efforts. Increasing involvement of women in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms has been aimed at preventing and managing conflicts trough a various activities. The paper will refer to the role that women have played in shaping the peace processes, considering the selected aspects of East Africa’s case study. The analysis will be referring to the social constructivism. The assumption is that actors (women) may interact and affect the normative and the ideational structure, and shape the behavior of different entities (entities responsible for peace). However, the author does not attempt to take a comprehensive explanation of relations between actors and structures, or build assertions about the nature of cause and effect, but only to consider and understand this phenomenon. The paper will be based on the content analysis of both, writings and reports on: women’s activity, conflicts and peace processes and negotiations, as well as, the political and mass media discourse (including: BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, All Africa).