Peacebuilding Through a Gender Lens and the Challenges of Implementation in Rwanda and Côte d'Ivoire

Abstract With the hypothesis in mind that discrimination against women increases the likelihood that a state will experience internal conflict, this article contends that considering gender is a key part of an effective peacebuilding process. Evidence gathered by studying peacebuilding from a feminist perspective, such as in Rwanda and Côte d'Ivoire, can be used to reconceptualize the peace agenda in more inclusive and responsible ways. Following from this, the article argues that a culturally contextual gender analysis is a key tool, both for feminist theory of peacebuilding and the practice of implementing a gender perspective, in all peace work. Using the tools of African feminisms to study African conflicts, this contribution warns against “adding women” without recognizing their agency, emphasizes the need for an organized women's movement, and suggests directions for the implementation of international laws concerning women's empowerment at the local level. The article concludes by suggesting that implementation of these ideas in practice is dependent on the way in which African feminists employ mainstreaming, inclusionary, and transformational strategies within a culturally sensitive context of indigenous peacebuilding processes. Heidi Hudson is Professor of Political Science and program director at the Centre for Africa Studies, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Her area of specialization is International Relations, and she is particularly interested in questions relating to IR theory, globalization, security, and gender. Heidi Hudson has been the recipient of several scholarships, such as Fulbright and Rotary, and was guest researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden in 2006. She is a rated National Research Foundation (NRF) researcher and has published articles in, amongst others, Security Dialogue and Agenda. Heidi Hudson serves on the editorial board of the Journal for Contemporary History and is currently President of the South African Association of Political Studies (SAAPS). She is also convener of the NRF panel for Philosophy, Political Science, and Policy Studies. I would like to thank the editors of Security Studies and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. Also, this article would not have been possible without Laura Sjoberg's continued support and academic insight. Notes 1 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, 6 October 2000, S/RES/1325 (2000). 2 Cynthia Enloe, “What if Patriarchy Is ‘The Big Picture’? An Afterword, ” in Gender, Conflict, and Peacekeeping, ed. Dyan Mazurana, Angela Raven-Roberts, and Jane Parpart (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005), 280–83. 3 Mary Caprioli, “Gendered Conflict, ” Journal of Peace Research 37, no. 1 (January 2000): 51–68. 4 Johann Galtung, Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilization (London: Sage Publications, 1996), 112. 5 Hugh Miall, Oliver Ramsbotham, and Tom Woodhouse, Contemporary Conflict Resolution: The Prevention, Management and Transformation of Deadly Conflicts (Cambridge: Polity, 2000). 6 Marianne H. Marchand and Anne Sisson Runyan, Gender and Global Restructuring: Sightings, Sites and Resistances (London: Routledge, 2000). 7 As discussed in the introduction of this special issue, “feminists critique the human security approach's failure to recognize the humans as gendered. ” See Laura Sjoberg, “Introduction to Security Studies: Feminist Contributions, ” Security Studies 18 (2): 206. 8 Maria Stern and Malin Nystrand, Gender and Armed Conflict (Stockholm: SIDA, 2006). 9 Louise Vincent, “Current Discourse on the Role of Women in Conflict Prevention and Conflict Transformation: A Critique, ” Conflict Trends no. 3 (2003): 5–10. 10 Referring to the “add women and stir” notion coined by Marysia Zalewski, “Feminist Theory and International Relations, ” in From Cold War to Collapse: Theory and World Politics in the 1980s, ed. Mike Bowker and Robin Brown (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 116. 11 Isabella Bakker, “Identity, Interests and Ideology: The Gendered Terrain of Global Restructuring, ” in Globalization, Democratization and Multilateralism, ed. Steven Gill (New York: United Nations University Press, 1997), 127–39, 135. 12 Sandra Harding, cited in Bakker, “Identity, Interests and Ideology, ” 133. 13 Bakker, “Identity, Interests and Ideology, ” 135. 14 For example, Chandra Mohanty, “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses, ” Feminist Review 30, no. 1 (Autumn 1988): 61–88. 15 J. Ann Tickner, “Feminist Perspectives on 9/11, ” International Studies Perspectives 3, no. 4 (November 2002): 333–50. 16 It must be noted that feminist criticisms against Western feminism come from many circles: that is, not only from the developing world, African, or Asian women, but also from Western women who—on the basis of religion, race, or class—feel excluded from the lily-white middle-class discourse. See in this regard black feminist work such as Beverly Guy-Sheftall, ed. Words of Fire: An Anthology of African American Feminist Thought (New York: The New Press, 1995) ; and Patricia Hill-Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment (New York: Routledge, 1991). Central themes include black women's interlocking oppressions of race, class, and gender as well as a critique of white feminism. In an African context, the work of Amina Mama—author of, amongst others, Beyond the Masks: Race, Gender and Subjectivity (New York: Routledge, 1995) stands out for its contribution to feminist theory and the discourse of the interconnectedness of subjectivity. From 2001 to 2003, the feminist journal Agenda devoted three special issues to the main currents and manifestations of African feminisms. 17 Heidi Hudson, “Gender, Peace-building and Post-conflict Reconstruction in Africa: Breaking the Chain Between Inequality and Violence, ” in Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development: Lessons for Africa, eds. , Dirk Kotzé and Hussein Solomon (Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa, 2008), 9–29, 13. 18 Hudson, “Gender, Peace-building and Post-conflict Reconstruction, ” 13. Also see Beverly Guy-Sheftall, “African Feminist Discourse: A Review Essay, ” Agenda no. 58 (2003): 31–35. Guy-Sheftall also offers a useful outline of what African feminist discourse entails. 19 Mary M. Kolawole, “Transcending Incongruities: Rethinking Feminism and the Dynamics of Identity in Africa, ” Agenda no. 54 (2002): 92–98. The term “womanism” was coined by Alice Walker in In Search of Our Mother's Garden: Womanist Prose (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983). 20 Amanda Gouws, “Changing Political Opportunity Structures: A Study of the Women's Movement and Activism in South Africa, ” paper presented at the SAAPS Conference, University of the Western Cape, 5–8 September 2006. 21 Tim Murithi, “African Approaches to Building Peace and Social Solidarity, ” African Journal on Conflict Resolution 6, no. 2 (2006): 9–33. 22 Christine Sylvester, Feminist International Relations: An Unfinished Journey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 242–64. 23 Ibid. , 244. 24 Article 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights calls on all states to eliminate every form of discrimination against women and to ensure the protection of women's rights as stipulated in international declarations and conventions, accessed at http: //www1. umn. edu/humanrts/instree/z1afchar. htm, 5 May 2008. 25 Dyan Mazurana, Angela Raven-Roberts, and Jane Parpart with Sue Lautze, “Introduction: Gender, Conflict, and Peacekeeping, ” in Gender, Conflict, and Peacekeeping, eds. , Mazurana, Raven-Roberts, and Parpart (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005), 1–26. 26 Nadine Puechguirbal, “Involving Women in Peace Processes: Lessons from Four African Countries (Burundi, DRC, Liberia and Sierra Leone), ” in Gender and Peace-building in Africa, ed. Kari Karamé, 47–66; and Elisabeth Porter, “Women, Political Decision-Making, and Peace-Building, ” Global Change, Peace and Security 15, no. 3 (2003): 248. 27 Women's involvement in informal grassroots peacebuilding (for example, through interclan marriage, acting as intermediaries between opposing clans) was completely overlooked. See Tom Woodhouse and Tamara Duffey, Peacekeeping and International Conflict Resolution (New York: Dag Hammarskjöld Centre, 2000). 28 See King, “What Difference Does it Make? ” 38; and Porter, “Women, Political Decision-Making, ” 260. 29 Jean Elshtain, “Against Androgeny, ” in Feminism and Equality, ed. Anne Phillips (New York: New York University Press, 1987), 142. 30 Noeleen Heyzer, “Women, War and Peace: Mobilising for Peace and Security in the 21st Century, ” The 2004 Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture. Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, 22 September 2004. 31 Hudson, “Gender, Peace-building and Post-Conflict Reconstruction, ” 16. 32 Jill Steans, Gender and International Relations: An Introduction (Cambridge: Polity, 1998), 115; Laura Sjoberg and Caron Gentry, Mothers, Monsters, Whores: Women's Violence in Global Politics (London: Zed Books, 2007), chap. 6; and Meredeth Turshen and Clotilde Twagiramariya, What Women Do in Wartime: Gender and Conflict in Africa (London: Zed Books, 1988) ; Codou Bop, “Women in Conflicts, Their Gains and Their Losses, ” in The Aftermath: Women in Post-Conflict Transformation, eds. , Sheila Meintjes, Anu Pillay, and Meredeth Turshen (London: Zed Books, 2001), 19–34. 33 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, adopted by the Conference of Heads of State and Government, Maputo, Mozambique, African Union, July 2003, available at http: //www. achpr. org/english/ᵢnfo/womenₑn. html. 34 Tim Murithi, “The AU/NEPAD Post-Conflict Reconstruction Policy: An Analysis, ” Conflict Trends no. 1 (2006): 16–21, 17–19. 35 For example, the 2003 Liberian Peace Agreement. 36 Kari Karamé, “Gender Mainstreaming in Peace Building Process, ” in Gender and Peace-building in Africa, ed. Kari Karamé (Oslo: NUPI, 2004), 11–26, 12. 37 Gender balance thus refers to the degree to which women and men participate within the full range of activities within any organization. See Mazurana, Raven-Roberts, and Parpart, Gender, Conflict, and Peacekeeping, 13. 38 June Lennie, “Deconstructing Gendered Power Relations in Participatory Planning: Towards an Empowering Feminist Framework of Participation and Action, ” Women's Studies International Forum 22, no. 1 (January 1999): 97–112. 39 Christine Chinkin and Hilary Charlesworth, “Building Women Into Peace: The International Legal Framework, ” Third World Quarterly 27, no. 5 (2006): 937–57, 940. 40 Puechguirbal, “Involving Women in Peace Processes: Lessons from Four African Countries (Burundi, DRC, Liberia and Sierra Leone), ” 47. 41 Hudson, “Gender, Peace-building and Post-conflict Reconstruction, ” 20. 42 “Beyond Victimhood: Women's Peacebuilding in Sudan, Congo and Uganda, ” Africa Report 112 (28 June 2006), accessed at http: //www. isn. ethz. ch/isn/Digital-Library/Publications/Detail/? ots591=0C54E3B3-1E9C-BE1E-2C24-A6A8C7060233 and Kari H. Karamé, “Gendering Human Security: From Marginalisation to the Integration of Women in Peace-Building, ” recommendations for policy and practice from the NUPI-Fafo Forum on Gender Relations in Post-Conflict Transitions, NUPI Report 261, Fafo Report 352, accessed at http: //www. gdrc. org/sustdev/husec/2-doc. html, 14 July 2006. 45 Seminar Report, Women and Peacebuilding in Africa, policy seminar hosted by CCR and UNIFEM, Centre for Conflict Resolution and United Nations Development Fund for Women, Cape Town, South Africa, 27–28 October 2005, 28. 46 Shelly Whitman, “Women and Peace-building in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: An Assessment of Their Role in the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, ” African Journal on Conflict Resolution 6, no. 1 (2006): 29–48, 39. 47 Seminar Report, Women and Peacebuilding in Africa, 29. 48 King, “What Difference Does it Make? ” 28–9. 49 Chinkin and Charlesworth, “Building Women into Peace, ” 943. 50 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1645 S/Res/1645 (2005). 51 Kofi Annan, press release, “Women Still Excluded from Peace Table Despite Their Pivotal Role, ” New York, 28 October 2004, accessed at http: //www. un. org/apps/news/storyAr. asp? NewsID = 12376 and Elizabeth Rehn and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Women, War, Peace: The Independent Experts' Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Women's Role in Peace-building (New York: UN Development Fund for Women, 2002), 9. 56 Logan, “Remembering the Women, ” 235. 57 Elizabeth Powley, Strengthening Governance: The Role of Women in Rwanda's Transition (Washington DC: Hunt Alternatives, 2003), 172. 58 Catherine Onekalit, “The Frightful Actuality: Girls Tools of War in Africa, ” in Gender and Peace Building in Africa, eds. , Dina Rodríguez and Edith Natukunda-Togboa (New York: University for Peace, 2005), 99–112, 105. 59 Logan, “Remembering the Women, ” 236. 60 African Rights, Rwanda — Not So Innocent: When Women Become Killers (London: African Rights, 1995). 61 Peter Landesman, “A Woman's Work, ” New York Times Magazine, 15 September 2002; and Elisabeth Porter, Peacebuilding: Women in International Perspective (London: Routledge, 2007), 140. 62 Dyan Mazurana, “Women in Armed Opposition Groups in Africa and the Promotion of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, ” report of a workshop organized in Addis Ababa by Geneva Call and the Program for the Study of International Organization (s), 23–26 November 2005, 50. 63 Consuelo Remmert, “Rwanda Promotes Women Decision-makers, ” UN Chronicle no. 4 (2003), 25. 64 Porter, “Peacebuilding: Women in International Perspective, ” 177. 65 “Women and Peacebuilding in Africa, ” Centre for Conflict Resolution and UNIFEM, 21. 66 Jennie E. Burnet, “Gender Balance and the Meanings of Women in Governance in Post-genocide Rwanda, ” African Affairs 107, no. 428 (2008): 361–86, 370. 67 Cecilia Ntombizodwa Mzvondiwa, “The Role of Women in the Reconstruction and Building of Peace in Rwanda: Peace Prospects for the Great Lakes Region, ” African Security Review 16, no. 1 (2007): 99–106, 103; and Powley, “Strengthening Governance, ” 3. 68 Briefing paper, Women Taking a Lead: Progress Toward Empowerment and Gender Equity in Rwanda (Washington DC: Women for Women International, 2004), 16–17. 69 Anne Marie Goetz, Hanny Cueva-Beteta, Raluca Eddon, Joanne Sandler, Moez Dovaid, Malika Bhandarkar, Samina Anwar, and Anjali Dayal, Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009 (New York: UNIFEM, 2008), 24. 70 Mzvondiwa, “The Role of Women in the Reconstruction, ” 103. 71 “Women Taking a Lead, ” Women for Women International, 14–15, 37. 72 Powley, “Strengthening Governance, ” 2. 73 The Gacaca courts system, which represents the revival of a traditional tribal system of justice, used to deal with minor family disputes and cattle theft. In the aftermath of the genocide, the criminal justice system was unable to cope and the traditional system was adopted to assess the guilt or innocence of alleged perpetrators of the genocide. 74 Thirty percent of Gacaca judges are women. The President of the Supreme Court is also a woman. Facts and Figures on Women, Peace and Security, United Nations, October 2005, available at http: //www. unifem. org/newsₑvents/currents/documents/currents200510WPSFacts. pdf. 75 Mzvondiwa, “The Role of Women in the Reconstruction, ” 105. 76 Ibid. , 102. 77 Kelly Fish, “Cooperation Among Enemies: Mixity of Women in Post-Genocide Civil Society, ” paper presented at the International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Meeting, Montreal, 17–20 March 2004. 78 Powley, “Strengthening Governance, ” 13. 79 Myriam Gervais, “Human Security and Reconstruction Efforts in Rwanda: Impact on the Lives of Women, ” Development in Practice 13, no. 5 (2003): 542–51, 544. 80 Rehn and Sirleaf, “Women, War, Peace, ” 2. 81 See John Mutamba and Jeanne Izabiliza, The Role of Women in Reconciliation and Peace Building in Rwanda: Ten Years after Genocide 1994–2004—Contributions, Challenges and Way Forward, National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC), Kigali, Rwanda, May 2005, 24. This study highlights respondents' emphasis on the role of women as life nurturers and givers, mediators between different families, and the way in which women are prepared from early childhood to ensure the togetherness of families, serving the general good of the community. 82 Powley, “Strengthening Governance, ” 17. 83 This refers to the concept “mixity” coined by Cynthia Cockburn, The Space Between Us: Negotiating Gender and National Identities in Conflict (London: Zed Books, 1998). See also Fish, “Cooperation Among Enemies”. 84 UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-violence, accessed at http: //www. southasiafoundation. org/saf/aboutₛaf/safᵣelations/safᵤnesco/safᵤnesco₇, 28 November 2008. 85 Rehn and Sirleaf, “Women, War, Peace, ” 126–27. 86 Fish, “Cooperation Among Enemies, ” 34. 87 Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, “Democratisation and Militarisation in Rwanda: Eight Years After the Genocide, ” African Security Review 11, no. 3 (2002): 77–87, 81–83. 88 Porter, “Peacebuilding: Women in International Perspective, ” 82–83. 89 See Erin K. Baines, “Le Femmes aux Mille Bras: Building Peace in Rwanda, ” in Gender, Conflict, and Peacekeeping, eds. , Mazurana, Raven-Roberts, and Parpart, 220–41, 232. 90 Bounéus, “Truth-Telling as Talking Cure, ” 56; Gervais, “Human Security and Reconstruction Efforts, ” 549; and Fish, “Cooperation Among Enemies, ” 21. 91 Gervais, “Human Security and Reconstruction Efforts, ” 545. 92 Jenny Wong, “Ethnic Animosity: Côte d'Ivoire's Precarious Peace, ” Harvard International Review 27, no. 3 (Fall 2005): 7. 93 These attempts include the 2003 and 2004 Accra agreements, the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), and the 2005 Pretoria agreements. See Megan Bastick, Karin Grimm, and Rahel Kunz, Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict: Global Overview and Implications for the Security Sector (Geneva: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, 2007), 39; and Patrick McGowan, “Coups and Conflict in West Africa, 1955–2004: Part II, Empirical Findings, ” Armed Forces and Society 32, no. 2 (January 2006): 234–53. 94 Peace Building Fund (PBF) Priority Plan: Support to the Ouagadougou Political Agreement and the Government Crisis Recovery Programs, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, United Nations and Government of Côte d'Ivoire, 17 July 2008, accessed at http: //www. unpbf. org/docs/Coted'IvoirePBFPriorityPlan_ (17. 07. 08). pdf. 95 The concept Ivoirité refers to the idea of pure Ivorian descent. In that context, it means the exclusion of Northerners (usually immigrants) and Muslims or non-Christians from having the right to Ivorian citizenship. 96 “Women in Côte d'Ivoire, ” accessed at http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/WomenᵢnC%C3%B4ted%27Ivoire. 97 Bastick, Grimm, and Kunz, “Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict, ” 39. 98 Focus on Women in Côte d'Ivoire, UNDP Crisis Prevention and Recovery, accessed at http: //www. undp. org/cpr/whatsₙew/focusₒncotedivoire. shtml, accessed 2 January 2009. 99 Amnesty International, Côte d'Ivoire: Targeting Women: The Forgotten Victims of the Conflict (Washington DC: Amnesty International, 15 March 2007), 30. 100 Action Alert: Côte d'Ivoire: A Country in Distress, An Opportunity to Act, United Methodist Women's Action Network, June 2003, accessed at http: //gbgm-umc. org/umw/actionᵢvorycoast. html. 101 Goetz et al. , “Progress of the World's Women, ” 138. 102 Female Ministers of the République de Côte d'Ivoire/Ivory Coast, accessed at http: //www. guide2womenleaders. com/CotedIvoire. htm, 24 October 2008. 103 Kemi Ogunsanya, “Women Transforming Conflicts in Africa: Descriptive Studies from Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Sudan, ” ACCORD Occasional Paper Series 2, no. 3 (2007): 11. 104 Puechguirbal, “Gender and Peace Building in Africa, ” 3–4. 105 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1826, SC/9409 (2008), “Security Council Extends Mandate of United National Operation in Côte d'Ivoire until 31 January, Allowing Mission to Support November Elections, ” available at http: //www. un. org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9409. doc. htm; and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1842, (2008). 106 Appeal for Help to Stop Violence Women, UN 10 November 2008, accessed at 28 November 2008. 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