Equal Power Lasting Peace Obstacles for women’s participation in peace processes Equal Power – Lasting Peace The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation Phone: +46-8-588 891 00 Obstacles for women’s participation Slakthusplan 3 e-mail:
[email protected] in peace processes 121 62 Johanneshov www.kvinnatillkvinna.se Sweden www.equalpowerlastingpeace.org Researchers: Johanna Mannergren Selimovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq), Åsa Nyquist Brandt (DRC, Liberia) and Agneta Söderberg Jacobson (Armenia and Azerbaijan) Editor: Åsa Carlman Reference group: Åsa Carlman, Lovisa Strand and Eva Zillén Design: Dahlbäck/Söderberg ISBN 978-91-979583-5-6 Kvinna till Kvinna 2012 Johanna Mannergren Selimovic Åsa Nyquist Brandt Equal Agneta Söderberg Jacobson Power Lasting Peace Obstacles for women’s participation in peace processes 4 Contents 5 Foreword 6 Introduction 18 Armenia and Azerbaijan: Stuck in conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh 36 The Democratic Republic of Congo: No peace for women 52 Iraq: Between war and peace 68 Liberia: The custodians of peace 84 Bosnia and Herzegovina: Preparing for the next step 102 Comparisons and Conclusions: Challenges ahead 114 Things to bear in mind 116 References 122 Abbrevations 124 Footnotes Foreword 5 eace matters to everyone living in con- as currency at the negotiating tables in countries flict regions. It concerns those who like Afghanistan and Iraq. After the upheavals of have seen their relatives killed, their the Arab spring, there are signs of a backlash against houses demolished and the economy women’s human rights in the Middle East and North crash – those with memories and Africa. Twin trends of nationalism and extremism, P wounds that will stay with them coupled with economic crisis, threaten women’s forever.