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GENDER AND PEACEBUILDING : THE ROLE OF SUDANESE DIASPORA WOMEN IN SUDAN'S POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION

Asha Arabi

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia July 2008

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Appendices Copyright Releases (if applicable) Dedication

I dedicate this thesis to my late Father, Arabi Mahmoud Hussein and my late Grandmother, Aboba Norah Nagadimu. Thank you for the gift of life.

IV TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables viii

Abstract ix

List of Abbreviations Used x

Acknowledgements xi

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

Justification of the Study , 1

Background of the Study 3

Statement of the Problem 6

Purpose of the Study 7

Research Questions 8

Research Objectives 8

Hypothesis 8

Definitions of Terms 9

Gender 9

Peacebuilding 10

Diasporas 11

Research Methodology 12

Assumptions of the Study 16

Organization of the Thesis 16

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 18

Theoretical Framework 18

Feminist Theory 18

Feminist Theory and Armed Conflicts 21

Peacebuilding Theory 26

v Literature Review... 28

Overview of Modern Conflicts . 28

Factors Contributing to Civil Conflicts in Africa 31

Effect of Conflicts on Africa and its Development 34

Women, Gender and Conflict.. 40

Peacebuilding 45

Women and Peacebuilding 47

Women's Organization for Peace 54

CHAPTER THREE: BACKGROUND OF SUDAN'S CONFLICTS 58

Background 58

Northern Sudan 63

Southern Sudan 64

The People and the War in Darfur 66

Civil Conflict in Sudan: 20th-21st Centuries 67

Signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement 70

CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH FINDINGS 72

How did the Civil Wars in Sudan Affect Sudanese Women? 73

What Roles Did Sudanese Women Play During Civil Conflicts in Sudan? 77

What are the Priorities for Successful Peacebuilding in Sudan? 80

What does Peacebuilding Mean to Sudanese Women and what is their State of Involvement?. 87

How do Sudanese Diaspora Women Contribute Towards the Post-Conflict Reconstruction of Sudan? ; 93

What kinds of Challenges Hinders Sudanese Women's Contributions and how do they Overcome them? 96

Were Sudanese Women involved in the Peace Processes? 99

Sudanese Diasporas, Justice and Reconciliation 102

vi Lessons that Sudanese Women have Learned from Sudan's Wars 105

Women's Self-Help Groups in Sudan 108

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Peacebuilding in Sudan Ill

CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION 11 7

Bibliography 124

APPENDIX A: CONSENT FORM... 131

APPENDIX B: RESEARCH INSTRUMENT- INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 135

APPENDIX C: MAP OF SUDAN 138

vn List of Tables

Table 1: Number of People Interviewed for the Research 15

viii Abstract Civil conflicts in other parts of the world have brought some good in liberating people and in changing reforms. However, with the case of Sudan, conflict has led to total destruction of social, cultural, economical and political structures of the country. It has led to high number of deaths and displacements where women and children have felt the impact the most. This thesis focuses on Sudanese diaspora women and their role in peacebuilding. It is based on qualitative methodology and in-depth interviews that were used to collect data and findings. The thesis argues that the participation of women and girls and the inclusion of gender perspectives in peacebuilding processes are crucial in the establishment of sustainable peace. Most women's involvement in peacebuilding has hardly been considered important because of gender roles and societal norm. Peacebuilding need to encourage a culture of peace by ending all sorts of violence against women.

IX List of Abbreviations Used

CPA: Comprehensive Peace Agreement

DDR: Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration

GOS: Government of Sudan

GQSS: Government of South Sudan

MDGs: Millennium Development Goals

NGOs: Non-governmental Organizations

NCP: National Congress Party

SADC: Southern Africa Development Community

SPLA: Sudan People's Liberation Army

SPLM: Sudan People's Liberation Movement

SWVP: Sudanese Women's Voice for Peace

UN: United Nations

UNICEF: United Nations Children's Fund'

UNIFEM: United Nations Development Fund for Women

x Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my thesis committee, Dr. Shelly Whitman and Dr. Peter Arthur for their guidance during this thesis process. I would also like to thank Dr. Carlos Pessoa for agreeing to be my external examiner and Dr. Owen Willis for all the assistance he gave me throughout my graduate study. Thanks to you Dr. Whitman for going beyond what was expected to ensure that my thesis was successful.

Thanks to you Dalhousie Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities for financial contribution towards my studies.

Thanks to the Almighty God for seeing me throughout my studies and my struggles in life.

To my family and friends-thank you for the support and encouragement-Mum (Mary Sakanya), Anna Michael, Dr. Samson Kwaje, Uncle Oliver Batali Albino, Christo Michael, Faiza Margaret, Aida Omar Musa, Patrick Kandi, Sarah Arabi, Jessica Nadia Chubb, Dominic Hakim Silvio, Jocelyn Burr, Jane Kirby, and the whole family. I would like to thank all my participants both in Canada and in Sudan for taking their time to participate in my research.

XI CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Justification of the Study During the First and the Second World War, the majority of causalities were combatants. However, modern conflicts have more negative impacts on civilians than they do on combatants. War is devastating and statistics shows that war has claimed over twenty million people and sixty million have been wounded in armed conflicts between

1963 and 2001 in Sub-Saharan Africa (Human Security Report, 2005). Eighty percent of these causalities are civilians (mostly women and children). War affects countries' political, economic and social structures (Grant, 2000).

Women's roles during and after violent conflicts has long been undermined.

Women, during wars, take on new roles to protect and provide basic needs when men are killed, taken to frontlines or taken refuge in other countries. During peace processes, women are often the first people to call for peace and to start rebuilding societies even before the formal signing of peace agreements. Once formal peace agreements are signed, women's visible roles start to disappear from the public (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002).

Also, during conflict, women's experiences are not the same as that of men. War affects everyone; however, its effect is felt most by women because of their gender defined positions in societies. Women are not a homogenous group and their roles differ significantly from culture to culture. These gender roles are defined by factors such as education background, ethnicity, region, religion, country, economic and politics.

Women's roles also depend on factors like their position as mothers, wives, and daughters (Sorensen, 1998).

1 Being an African who lived in Africa for many years and having experienced war in Sudan myself, I have been worried about the number of new and renewed conflicts on the African continent. I have seen for myself how war can be devastating and how it brings suffering, death, and destruction. I have also seen the suffering of refugees and internally displaced, persons in camps. I have witnessed how the impact of war is felt by women and children. During conflict, women bear responsibilities for their families with few resources.

Women are not always victims but can also be perpetrators of war. However, when they are victims, they bear the pain because of increased burdens on them. During violence in Sudan, I saw women who took many risks in order to provide food and water for their children. I saw women building houses even though that was a work that was typically associated with men. They had no choice because their husbands, sons, and fathers where captured and sent to armies with little hope of returning to their communities. Women went very far to fetch water and to bring food to their children knowing well the risk of going out and leaving those children alone in the house.

Furthermore, during conflict, many children do not understand the situation and still expect to have normal meals and experience life as it was before war. As a result, when children start demanding food, many women cannot ignore the sound for a long time without leaving the house and go into the bushes to bring wild fruits and firewood.

As a result of my experience as a little girl and having moved to a foreign land as a refugee, I have lived through many experiences but I am optimistic about life. Growing up in another country did not mean that I was able to become entirely happy and forget what my loved ones and other women were doing in and outside Sudan. As a result, I

2 continued to take interest in the relationship between women, war and peace and tried to look at what women outside Sudan were doing for sustainable peace and for a home that they could refer to as their 'own'.

Perhaps, for these reasons, I was inspired to undertake this study and I hope it will make some contributions to existing information on women and armed conflicts. I hope that this thesis through its findings will provide insights about the relationship between conflict, women and gender. I also hope that those who will continue to read and do research in this topic will help in telling the world that "women want peace and peace want women" (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002: p30). In looking at peace resolution, I am particularly interested in focusing on how both men and women can be active educators in peacebuilding. Can women take an active role in educating their children on the need to use diplomacy rather than armed conflict in Africa?

Background of the Study

Sudan suffered two civil conflicts since its independence in 1956. The first conflict started right after independence and was settled in 1972. The second conflict started in 1983 and ended in 2002. This conflict (1983-2002) lasted for twenty one years and was considered to be one of the longest civil wars in Africa. This conflict has had huge implications on the economic, political, and social structures of Sudan. Over 2 million people were killed and over four million displaced during the armed conflict between the government of Sudan and the former rebel group -Sudan People's Liberation

3 Army/Movement1 (Human Security Report, 2005). Many people were injured, displaced and fled to neighbouring countries as refugees.

The discovery of oil and its subsequent exploration has become a major issue in the conflict in Sudan. Natural resources are relevant to peace and peacebuilding. Several studies have shown that when a state depends on the export of natural resources, it is most likely to suffer from civil war. With the recent discovery of oil in Sudan-which has made it become the third largest oil producing country in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is the possibility of more conflict in Sudan if the profit is not distributed equally among the people and the regions within Sudan (Ballentine & Sherman, 2002).

The discovery of oil in Southern Sudan has made the central government of

Sudan claim ownership of oil producing regions that historically were located in the south of the country. The government of Sudan considers oil as a natural resource while the people of Southern Sudan see oil as the resource of Southern Sudan. Access to and control of petroleum wealth plays a critical role in sustaining and escalating the civil war in Sudan (Abura et al, 2002).

Oil production can reduce the likelihood of conflicts through economic development if it is evenly distributed between different social and economic groups.

However, oil production may contribute to armed conflicts by generating the inequitable distribution of benefits. It provides a source of funds to sustain repressive state institutions, fund official corruption or sustain armed opposition (Abura et al, 2002). As a

1 SPLA/SPLM-Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement.

4 Army/Movement1 (Human Security Report, 2005). Many people were injured, displaced and fled to neighbouring countries as refugees.

The discovery of oil in Southern Sudan has made the central government of

Oil production can reduce the likelihood of conflicts through economic development if it is evenly distributed between different social and economic groups.

1 SPLA/SPLM-Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement.

4 result, there is a need for an international political will in preventing the sale of these resources.

At the Beijing conference in 1995, there was an emergence of a declaration and a platform called the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (McKay &

Mazurana, 1999). The Platform called for equal access for both men and women and full participation of women in decision-making at all structures. This Platform is important because it can help prevent as well as find resolutions to conflicts around the world. It

can also promote security and peace during violent conflicts (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002). As a

follow-up of the Beijing conference of 1995, the United Nations Security Council came

up with a resolution referred to as Resolution 1325. This resolution acknowledged that

conflict impacted women and children the most. It called for the inclusion of women in

peace processes and peacebuilding (Mazurana & McKay, 1999).

Women's experiences in conflict are shaped and influenced by many factors such

as their identities, conditions, and their positions in their society. For example, during

conflicts in Sudan, women developed gender consciousness through their experience of

armed conflicts. These wars often opened up intended and unintended spaces for

empowering women. All challenges that were posed to traditional gender relations during

times of war became hard for patriarchal societies to accept at times of peace (Doiron,

2007). As a result, Sudanese women have continued to be marginalized through peace

processes and peacebuilding activities.

Furthermore, formal peace negotiation is often composed of male participants and

where women are also underrepresented. This pushes women to get involved in informal

peace process and peacebuilding activities. In these cases, for women, peacebuilding

5 activities are often referred to as voluntary, charitable, or social activities (McKay &

Mazurana, 1999). As a result, this leads to the underestimation of women's work in peacebuilding. Cultures of patriarchy at community and national levels have continued to hinder women from participating in peacebuilding activities (McKay & Mazurana, 1999).

For peacebuilding to be sustained, there has to be commitments from all angles. Peace is a woman's issue because peace paves the ways for political, economic, and social development which affects both men and women (Derahkshani, 2000).

Statement of the Problem

Africa has endured numerous conflicts in its post-colonial era. The period 1990-

2000 saw nineteen major armed conflicts, ranging from internal to intrastate wars (Porter,

2003). The root causes of conflicts in Africa are mainly structural and cultural, and ethnicity is usually not the main driving force of civil wars in Africa. Conflict risk is determined by history. Once a conflict has occurred in a place, it creates a legacy of hatred, and this hatred fuels further conflict (Migdal, 1994). Therefore, there is a need for peacebuilding that address the roots of conflicts and a sustained effort after the formal end to conflict.

Women's participation often helps communities during times of war because by necessity war creates a sense of equality and lessens gender differences during the time of conflict (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002). However, in the post-war era, women find it harder to maintain their positions because the societies often subsequently neglect women's roles

(Rehn & Sirleaf, 2002). The participation of women and girls and the inclusion of gender perspectives in both formal and informal peace processes and peacebuilding are crucial in

6 the establishment of sustainable peace. Therefore, during peacebuilding it is necessary to include both men and women so as to ensure gender equality and long-term peace.

The main question of the research is: what kinds of roles do Sudanese diaspora women play in post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan given their position in the Sudanese society? This research question will examine the position of women during the civil conflicts and how some of these important roles can be transformed into a positive mindset that will encourage long-term stability in Sudan.

Purpose of the Study

In the proposed research project, I seek to examine the roles that Sudanese diaspora women play in the post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan. How can diaspora women contribute meaningfully to sustainable peace to the country even if they are not present in Sudan? Were Sudanese women included during peace negotiations and the peace process? Are their roles more local or national? What factors hinder their effective involvement toward peacebuilding? Are there particular challenges that are affecting or hindering women from contributing to peacebuilding? How are women in Sudan connected to those living in the diaspora? Is there any coordination between the two groups? Do their views of peacebuilding differ from that of men? This research is focusing on women because including women in peace processes and peacebuilding is important since peace requires the cooperation and the contributions of both men and women. The research is mainly aimed at testing assumptions rather than seeking to prove them right.

7 Research Questions

• What contributions are diaspora women making to the peace process of Sudan?

• To what extent are these contributions effective?

• What are the constraints faced by women?

Research Objectives

• Document and analyze the contributions that diaspora women are making

• Determine the nature and the effectiveness of the contributions

• Find out the constraints

Hypothesis

Sudanese women in particular, diaspora women, have been playing many roles during conflict and post-conflict reconstruction to bring sustainable peace to Sudan. Their roles as peace activists and community advocates from outside Sudan have pushed for peace negotiation and peace agreement in Sudan. Women's participation often helped during times of war because by necessity war created a sense of equality and lessen gender differences during the time of conflict (Rehn & Sirleaf, 2002). Therefore, during peacebuilding, it is necessary for those involved in post-conflict reconstruction to

encourage the participation of both men and women in order to achieve sustainable peace

in Sudan.

8 Definitions of Terms

Gender

Gender is referred to as "a set of roles and behavior which communicate to other people that we are all feminine or masculine" (Rathgeber, 2005). This set of behaviours embraces our appearance, dressing, attitudes, and personalities, work within and outside the household, sexuality, family commitment, that all makes up gender roles and is learned once one is born. This can be acquired based on how a society perceives a certain gender, which also depends on different cultures where gender roles are passed from one generation to the other. Gender roles change over time, and differ from culture to culture.

They are all influenced by social and economic status, class, religion, age and ethnic backgrounds (McKay, 2001).

Our gender determines the different life experiences that we will be exposed to, and it also determines people's access to education, to work, and to the tools and resources. Gender can also determine our health, sexuality, relationships, life expectancy, freedom of movement, and ability to make decisions (Pankhurst, 2000). Gender relation is based on men's and women's roles, which is divided in household chores and in agricultural productions. In many African societies, women are mostly responsible for providing food, cooking, cleaning and taking care of children. On the other hand, men are the decision-makers, control the land, and control the household finances. However, women's position became visible during conflicts. For instance, during armed conflicts in some African countries, women looked after the wounded people, kept families and households together, and provided protection to men from further being recruited into armies (Achieng, 1998).

9 Peacebuilding

In the 21st century, Europe was considered to be one of the most violent continents that caused both World War I and II. However, in the second half of the 20th century, Europe produced one of the most successful stories of peacebuilding work

(Paffenholz, 2001). Peacebuilding is the fourth pillar of the United Nations2 approach to peace and security, the first three being preventative diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping (Cousens et al, 2001). Peacebuilding comes about after preventative diplomacy fails and violence starts destroying existing systems. Peacebuilding is also possible when there is a complete cease-fire and when peacekeepers have been deployed at conflict ridden zones (Cousens et al, 2001).

Peacebuilding has to include every member of communities and their grassroots organizations. It involves a process of healing from past trauma, reconciliation of communities, and empowerment. Peacebuilding is an on-going process and its success depends on how well the underlying causes of the conflict are tackled and solved. It is not

about not talking and solving the problem because such methods will lead to the failure of peacebuilding and give more room for renewed conflicts. Peacebuilding requires good

communication, collaboration, cooperation, and the involvement and participation of all

affected people (Paffenholz, 2001).

Peacebuilding is a broad concept and for the purpose of this research, I will be

defining the term from a gender perspective. Peacebuilding will be defined as a process which brings a conflict to an end and not only encourages a culture of peace, but also

2 UN-United Nations

10 brings equal opportunities for all; and encourages gender equalities and eliminates all sorts of violence against women (McKay & Mazurana, 1999).

Diasporas

The term diaspora is used "today to describe practically any population which is considered 'transnational" (Vertovec, 1999, pi). It is used to refer to people who are staying in a current country that is not their original land of birth. These groups of people often have strong political, economic, and social networks with their country of origin

(Vertovec, 1999).

Since 1980, the usage of the word has become popular. Initially, it was mostly used on people who make up the Jewish Diasporas. They are people living outside their homeland but still maintain connections with their country of origin. Diaspora communities can be formed because of political, economic, and social reasons. Most of these groups are usually connected with their homeland through traveling or taking part in political and economic affairs (Butler, 2001).). They can be ex-leaders in exile

(though with political ambitions) and refugee communities with critical link to their countries of origin through communication links.

Diasporas have been noted for their contributions towards the development of their homeland through remittances. However, there is also evidence showing that

diaspora communities have interfered during wars by sending and supporting war

activities that have led to prolonged conflicts in different parts of the world (Baruah,

2005).

11 Research Methodology

The research process was carried out by me, including the designing of the research methodology and choices of theoretical framework, establishing contact with the participants, acquiring consent from them, organizing interviews with the participants, analyzing the data, and producing the final report in the form of a Masters Thesis.

Anticipated Ethical Issues

After the initial contact, participants were informed orally and in written form about the purpose of the research, what the study involved, how much time it would take to complete the interview, and what outcomes they could expect from the research.

Participants were also informed that they were taking part in a study that was completely voluntary. Participants understood that they could withdraw from the study at any time or refuse to answer any question.

Benefits and Risks for Participants

There were no anticipated physical, social, or economic risks posed to the participants involved in this study. Any information that could identify participants or potentially pose risk at the community level was deleted from the research thesis. There were no expected tangible benefits from the study to participants. Participants were made aware that they would receive few, if any, personal benefits by taking part in this study though it was possible, that by sharing their experiences, they were helping in shedding some lights on the roles and efforts put by diaspora women for sustainable peace in

Sudan.

12 Confidentiality and Anonymity

Participants understood that their participation was completely voluntary. I informed participants that I would do everything in order to ensure the confidentiality of their information and their anonymity. In order not to disclose the identities of participants, I avoided linking the notes from the interviews to the individuals.

Data Gathering

I used telephone, face-to-face and e-mail interviews. E-mails were used to make

initial contact with participants. Telephone and e-mail interviews were used on participants who were living outside Canada, and face-to-face interviews were used for

participants living in Nova Scotia and Alberta. I interviewed Sudanese Women living in

Canada, the United States of America, Kenya and Uganda. I also conducted an interview

with different non-governmental organizations working at the grassroots level in Sudan

via telephone and e-mail. The countries and the locations in Canada were chosen because

of the large number of Sudanese diaspora communities residing in those areas.

The study's qualitative methodologies were based on open-ended interviews4 with

the participants. Interview questions were semi-structured5. However, there were

flexibility in the process, and some questions and topics were changed or added during

the interviews. Prior to the interviews, interviewees were allowed to give their written or

oral consent in order to obtain informed permission for the research.

3 NGOs- Non-governmental Organizations

4 Open-ended interviews: A set of questions allowing the formulation of any answer.

5 Semi-structured Interviews: An interview with an individual that follows a pre-defined set of question, although allowing for a degree of freedom in exploring a range of issues.

13 Secondary data was considered. I used secondary data to analyze some of the studies that had been done in the areas of gender and peacebuilding. I also used academic literature, United Nations documents, Non-governmental organization's papers, and reports of meetings from grassroots organizations. This methodology was useful for analyzing my literature review.

Field research was on-going. I started this research process with telephone and e-mail interviews weeks before doing my face-to-face interviews. The field research took about five weeks in Alberta and three weeks in Halifax. I used a snowball sample to get in touch and for finding potential candidates for this research. This method is one of the most effective ways of building a sampling frame (Bernards, 2002). Also, people in diasporas are most likely to be in contact with each other; hence, references made the recruitment process easier.

I interviewed six women in Halifax, fifteen women in Alberta (Edmonton, Calgary,

Brooks and Red Deer), and five women in the United States of America. Also, I

interviewed ten women working with Grassroots Non-governmental organizations and

seven other women working with both the government of Sudan and that of Southern

Sudan. In order to get men's perspective, I interviewed five men in Canada, two in the

United States of America, two in Sudan, and two in Kenya. All participants were over

18 years old and were not selected based on education because that could have limited

my findings.

14 Table 1: Number of People Interviewed for the Research

Gender Women Men Face-to-face Interviews 26 5 (49.06%) (9.43%)

E-mail Interviews 6 4 (11.32%) (7.54%)

Telephone Interviews 10 2 (18.87%) (3.77%)

Total 42 11 (79.25%) (20.75%)

Research Limitations

The study only focused on Sudanese diaspora women and women's organizations working inside and outside Sudan. It mainly focused on countries such as Canada, the

United States of America, Kenya, and Uganda. The organizations that were looked at were not limited, provided they worked directly or indirectly with Sudanese women.

One of the major challenges that I encountered was during e-mail interviews. I sent out e-mails in order to invite participants to take part in the research. I did not always get responses back and could only get a response from people who thought they could identify themselves with me through religion after reading my names. I had to send more e-mails to explain to potential participants that I was a student and wanted to know their insights about their involvement in peacebuilding. Some people were suspicious of me because of the nature and the mistrust that war has caused among the Sudanese. Another problem that I encountered was the issue of age. Many women looked at me as a young

15 person and were hesitant to participate. I managed to overcome this challenge by having more conversation with the people.

Assumptions of the Study

This research has the capacity to contribute to the debate about the relationship between women and peacebuilding. It will also provide a broader understanding and a more comprehensive picture of the current activities that are being undertaken by

Sudanese diaspora women as a result of their quest for peace and development of their country. The study also has the potential to contribute to efforts being undertaken by the

United Nations, Non-governmental organizations and regional bodies who are involved in peacebuilding.

Organization of the Thesis

This thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is an introductory chapter which highlights the main themes covered in the thesis. It provides an opening into the thesis topic and outlines research questions, objectives of the study, methodology and the background of the study.

Chapter two provides a literature review and theoretical framework. The chapter provides some insight into the relationship between women, conflict, and peacebuilding and shows how these relationships are affecting development in Africa.

16 Chapter three looks at the background of Sudan since its independence in 1956 to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement6 in 2005 between the government of

Sudan and the former rebel group (Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement).

Chapter four provides a discussion of field research findings that highlights the role of

Sudanese women during armed conflicts, peace processes and peacebuilding. It also looks at different Sudanese women groups and how they are contributing in post-conflict

Sudan.

Finally, chapter five provides a conclusion to the study by offering a re-cap of some of the important discussions that came out of the thesis. It also provides recommendations on what should be done in order to have a long-term sustainable peace in Sudan.

6 CPA- Comprehensive Peace Agreement

17 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Theoretical Framework

In this research, two theories will be used to address the research questions and objectives. These two theories are feminist and peacebuilding. Feminist theory in armed conflicts will provide a basis for examining the relations between women and peacebuilding, while peacebuilding theory will help in analyzing the concept of peacebuilding.

Feminist Theory

Until the 1970s, it was recognized that women's participation could be beneficial to development through economic and social processes. Some scholars like Ester Boserup started talking about the lives of women in the developing countries and how it was different from those in the global North. This period was also marked by a few NGOs acknowledging women and dedicating some projects towards women in developing countries, though many bilateral and multilateral agencies were still slow to use the concept of gender because of the meaning and politics that was behind the concept

(Ahoojapatel, 2007). Within that timeframe, there was the formation of the international women's movement, which led to four UN conferences. The first conference took place

in Mexico City in 1975, followed by those in Copenhagen in 1980, Nairobi in 1985 and

Beijing in 1995 (Rathgeber, 2005).

There were many themes that were raised during these women's conferences. The

conferences emphasized on gender equality, integration and full participation of women

in development, equal access to education, employment and health care services, legal

18 rights, political and economic participation. However, the Beijing conference in 1995

shifted the attention from women to gender, focusing more on gender equality rather than

exclusively on women (Rathgeber, 2005).

There were many outcomes of the conferences. The most notable was the creation of

the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)7. UNIFEM serves as the

institutional framework for research and operational activities in the area of women and

development (Ahoojapatel, 2007). As a result of the conferences, there have been more

roles for feminist organization opposing the policies of World Trade Organization

(WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank. The conferences also led

to the emergence of the analytical approaches of Women in Development, Women and

Development, and Gender and Development. These three discourses had different goals

and ideas towards the betterment of women's lives (Ahoojapatel, 2007).

Women in Development's (WID) discursive emphasis was on equality between men

and women, though it did not change all the stereotypes that were in the system about

women from developing countries. Specifically, women of the global South were still

being seen as backward and victims by women from the North (Ahoojapatel, 2007). The

problems with this discourse were that it did not integrate women in the economic system

and it narrowly focused on sexual inequality, while ignoring the structure and

socioeconomic factors within which gender inequalities were embedded. WID can be

seen as a non-confrontational approach; it does not question the source of women's

subordination and oppression (Sohal, 2005).

7 UNIFEM-United Nations Development Fund for Women

19 Women and Development (WAD) emerged as a result of the critique of modernization theory. It argued that women were not integrated into the process of development. WAD viewed both sexes as disadvantaged within the oppressive global structure based on class and capital .It also assumed that once international structures became equitable, women's position would improve. The problem with Women and

Development was that it emerged from dependency theory. Dependency theorists call for self-reliant development while radical feminists argued that women could only develop outside patriarchy power structures. WAD did not question patriarchy and it completely ignored the roles of women in production and their subordination and oppression

(Baruah, 2005).

The third approach is Gender and Development (GAD), which is the newest and most accepted approach. This perspective focuses on the role of states providing women with childcare, health, education and food security. It encourages women's economic independence, giving them a role in political activism, advocacy strategies such as community organization, transformative actions, public education and coalition building

(Marchand, & Parpart, 1995).

Since the inception of the UN Decade for Women, women in the developing countries are still marginalized. For example, development projects often give resources to the head of the family, assuming that everything is going to be shared equally. Also, women still constitute the majority of the poor (Ahoojapatel, 2007). In Africa, Structural

Adjustment Programs and the cutbacks of social services have most seriously impacted women in terms of accessing education and health care. The changes from the 1970s did not consider the fact that women were not a homogenous group. The dismissal of

20 knowledge from the South and the view of Northern feminists as experts, resulted in viewing Southern women as impediment to development and their representation as oppressed victims, sex objects, 'backward members of backward societies' (Ahoojapatel,

2007).

Many grassroots, national and international organizations are using the term gender as

an agenda of lobbying for funding and activism. This is because development agencies are under pressure to integrate gender and development in their policies. While this may be a feature in policy papers, in reality, not much is done. Gender is wrongly used by these bilateral, multinational organizations; it is used in place of women. They advocate

for a mainstream approach that does not look at differences among women, but rather

differences between men and women (Marchand & Parpart, 1995).

Feminist Theory and Armed Conflicts

Feminist theory argues that armed conflicts are always gendered because men and

women experience impacts of civil wars differently. This is important because this

characteristic can be used during peace processes and peacebuilding to bring about

changes that will help women during peace transitions. During war, women are excluded

through economic deprivation, displacement, poverty and gender violence. However,

during peace, women are regarded as 'victims'; and this notion undermines women's

efforts to participate, hence, their exclusion in peacebuilding (Schirch et al, 2005).

In the 1990s, a coalition of women started lobbying the United Nations Security

Council regarding the effects of armed conflicts on women and also the possibility of

involving women in peace processes and peacebuilding efforts. This as a result, led to the

21 signing of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325 in 2000 on women, peace and security (Schirch el al., 2005). About forty member states supported the idea of

mainstreaming gender perspectives in supporting women's participation in the peace

processes and peacebuilding. This resolution acknowledged that women and children

were affected the most during armed conflicts and therefore called for their participation

in peace and security. The resolution also called for women's participation in conflict

prevention and peace initiatives. This involvement of women was to be done through

mainstreaming gender in peacebuilding and peacekeeping. Mainstreaming gender is "the

recognition that gender differences are shaped by policy processes and outcomes" (True,

2003 :p3). However, this resolution does not only apply to the United Nations, but also to

other civil society organizations working in peace processes, peacekeeping and

peacebuilding (Evans, 1993).

Women's role in conflict prevention and peacebuilding is now becoming more

known than it was in the past (Schirch et al, 2005). However, this does not mean that

women are included more in peacebuilding. The problem is that many nations due to the

social construction of gender, are still resisting the inclusion of women in peacebuilding.

It is also important to make it clear that not every woman is a peace activist. Women can

be both actors and victims during armed conflicts, playing supporting roles, hiding and

smuggling weapons and providing supports and care for fighters. For example, some

women during violent conflicts in Sierre Leone were caught supporting the rebel forces

by smuggling weapons through checkpoints in baskets offish, under their clothes, and

through their children (UN, 2000). As a result, by including and by appreciating women's

22 role in peacebuilding, more women will become involved with the peacebuilding mission.

During peacebuilding, some women participate through activism and advocacy in non-violent means (McKay, 2002). At the time of peacebuilding, there is usually the presence of peacekeepers that help the country during peace transition after signing comprehensive peace agreements. This helps in reducing violence. Peacebuilding means that there is an encouragement of dialogue between two or more conflicting sides and this is often done through trauma counselling, negotiation and mediation. It also means that people are helped in peace capacity building through education, training, development and research (UNIFEM, 1997).

During conflict and post-conflicts, some women, through peace activists create awareness in their communities of the issues that are affecting them, and press for change. Some women's role as activists helps in pressuring governments and other peace activists around the world to hold the government responsible for their actions. As a result, this has never been an easy task for women involved in peacebuilding at grassroots

and at the national level (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002). Many women are jailed while others hide in other countries for fear of their lives. As this happens, there is usually another

group of women who pick up the new tasks. These groups are mothers and grandmothers.

They organize themselves to continue pressuring governments for change that will bring

about truth and justice. The role of women as peace activists has helped many African

communities that have undergone armed conflicts to move towards sustainable peace.

However, not every society appreciates women's roles; as a result, women's efforts in peacebuilding have been undermined (Anderson, 2000).

23 The gender lens theory argues that women facilitate and mediate talks through education and development processes. As a result, including women in peacebuilding will help communities in capacity building. These workshops help women to train other women so that they can subsequently go into their communities and pass on that instruction. This is important because this kind of capacity building helps in bringing about sustainable peace and development. With the role that women play in conflict zones, during peace process and peacebuilding, it is important to include women in post- conflict reconstructions of their countries so that they can bring different perspectives to these processes (Rehn et al, 2002).

Feminist theory puts a lot of emphasis on the empowerment of women. It argues that sexism makes it difficult for women because people in their communities believe that a woman's life is 'less' important than a man's. This at times, leads to violence against women during conflicts and during peace time. Hence, engaging women in peacebuilding will help in challenging sexist beliefs and other factors that undermine women's efforts in rebuilding their communities. Providing women with opportunity through training will mean that women will be better equipped to take part in planning, implementing and evaluating the processes of peacebuilding programs (Schirch et al, 2005).

The gender perspective approach to peacebuilding argues that the UN definition of security should not only include territorial and military security but also water, food, humane governance and environment security. This also means that real peace will not only be based on the absence of armed conflicts, but also on the elimination of unfair

social and economic gender relations in peacebuilding. The solution of women's participation in peacebuilding is not by increasing the number of women within

24 organizations or starting other branches within existing organizations, but rather advocating for change in people's perceptions about women as agent of change (Sirleaf

& Rehn, 2002).

Peacebuilding for women will mean that women and women's organizations are going to be included in post-conflict reconstructions. For example, many national and international organizations hardly collaborate with women's organizations at grassroots

levels because women's work at the grassroots is seen as part of their extended household work (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002). Since some of these women have always participated in bringing peace in their communities, it will be important to include them so that they can make a difference. These women in conflicts zones build civil societies through religious, ethnic, class, political and socioeconomic means (Pankhurst, 2003).

Feminist approaches to peacebuilding from a gender lens calls for those working

in peacebuilding to support women's networks so that women can come together with

ideas, and share the best practices learned from other conflicts both in Africa and other

parts of the world. Mainstreaming gender will mean that organizations working for

peacebuilding create programs that address challenges and successes of women in

peacebuilding. It will also be important for these organizations to use different

approaches to peacebuilding rather than focusing on the one that favours them (Mazurana

& McKay, 1999).

Feminist perspectives to peacebuilding argue that during war, masculinity gives

men advantages over women for certain positions. This masculinity prevails itself during

conflicts where women are left without a voice and this set of attitude is usually accepted

25 within various cultures (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002). During peacebuilding, this attitude is maintained by international organizations and the United Nations Security Council through its mission of peacekeeping where men are always sent to keep peace since women cannot 'keep peace' (Higate & Marsha, 2004). This furthers the marginalization of women in peacebuilding.

Peacebuilding Theory

The second theory that is relevant to this research is that of peacebuilding theory.

The theory argues that the concept of peacebuilding represents an advancement of peacekeeping and conflict management. This theory offers active solutions to dealing with violent conflicts through short-term and long-term approaches to peace. It addresses peacebuilding by looking at the underlying causes of conflict before offering solutions to conflict. It hardly uses the concept of offering humanitarian relief as a solution to conflict without addressing the problem (Keating and Knight, 2004).

Peacebuilding theory argues that the concept of peacebuilding has changed since its introduction to the international relations by Boutros Ghali, the former United Nations

Secretary General. Peacebuilding addresses conflicts and solutions through bottom-up processes. Peacebuilding transforms societies from cultures of violence to a culture of peace and non-violence. This theory combines problem-solving and critical approaches to peacebuilding. It also takes into account economic and political factors being the major challenges affecting peacebuilding (Higate, 2004).

Peacebuilding theories reflect and acknowledge the feminist approach to peacebuilding. Peacebuilding from a gender perspective requires a multidimensional

26 approach and there is no single approach to building peace in war-torn regions.

Reconciliation is a major component to peacebuilding. Feminist theory places more emphasis on gender and has only been applied to the recent theory of peacebuilding. It argues that the majority of people affected by modern war today are women and children; hence, women should be included in peacebuilding since they have a unique experience during and after conflicts. The feminist approach to conflict argues that mothers unify families and communities and they take care of their children during wars. They live to tell stories of the war. Whatever stories they tell their children can either bring reconciliation and peace or bring revenge in the future. This might continue for generations. As a result, involving women in peace processes and peacebuilding will help in bringing sustainable peace so that women can advocate peace and forgiveness to their children when they are young (Mbagwu, 2001).

Peacebuilding theory argues that putting resources, personnel and a humanitarian approach to peacebuilding in place to bring solutions to the problems is not of use if the underlying reasons are not addressed. Its central objective for sustainable peace is development. The theory argues that once development (economic, social and political progresses) starts to prevail in a society, this will deviate people's attention from conflict to development because the presence of conflict in an area can be a result of the failure of development. However, this will all depend on the commitments of donors and recipients to use the aid that they are given for peacebuilding to include participation of both men and women in order to achieve sustainable peace (Villanueva, 1995).

Further, reconstruction will mean that there will be confidence built within people especially on the conflicting sides. Deconstruction will include the three major activities

27 of peacebuilding which are; disarmament, demobilization, and demilitarization of societies. This is important because it helps rebuild societies that foster and support tolerance, stability, socioeconomic structure and development (Keating and Knight,

2004).

Peacebuilding comes with major reforms to police forces, security sectors, protecting human rights, provision of technical assistance and economic development, reforming institutions of governance, monitoring elections, building and creating administrative, courts, and judicial systems. Peacebuilding will also involve repatriating refugees and internally displaced persons to their original location (Keating and Knight,

2004).

The feminist approach to peacebuilding advocates for gender awareness and women's empowerment politically, socially, and economically. It involves personal and group accountability where there is room for condition of non-violent, equality and justice. The theory also argues for complete security and the absence of personal, physical and direct violence at all structural levels (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002).

Literature Review Overview of Modern Conflicts

Since independence, African nations have had a long history of civil wars. The

tVi first major civil war of the 20in Century was in Sudan in 1956. Other major significant civil wars took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1960 and Nigeria in late

1967. Currently, there are many new and renewed wars still existing in Africa (Doom &

Vlassenroot, 1994). Many countries such as Sudan, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Angola,

Uganda, Somalia, Liberia, Namibia, Western Sahara, Chad, Rwanda, and others have

28 experienced war at one point. Some of these wars were waged internally where rebel movements controlled certain territories within these countries. These rebel groups have their armies, uniforms, military units, and command structures. Rebel groups wage conflict for different ideologies, and for wanting the control of natural resources, political power or for self-interest (Patey, 2007).

Many African nations are characterized by political coups, civil unrests, financial crises, droughts, insurgencies, and anti-government guerrillas. Some states that have collapsed in Africa today have been through conflict-ridden processes of deterioration, decline, and erosion of state functions. Some of these weak African states lack the capability to penetrate and regulate social relations, extract and distribute resources, and implement politics, plans and policies (William & Peter, 2003). Political conflicts result when there is an attempt by the state to destroy alternative sources of social control where politics is usually in conflict between the state and the society. This is true with countries that are prone to civil war and genocides. Most governments in Africa have never possessed full administrative control over their territories and groups within their territories (Migdal, 1994).

Also, since war provides economic and political opportunities for groups that cannot access resources during peace; control of natural resources, aside from the state itself, is a considerable motivating force in African conflicts. The more natural resources are available the more the risk of war increases because every group wants to control the resources. Resources in this case are used for national revenue by governments who are not always transparent and accountable for the usage of these resources to their citizens

(Klare, 2001). However, increased natural resources can also reduce the risk of war

29 because the state can use the resources to enhance financial capacity of government and

its ability to defend itself through growing military expenditure (Collier & Hoeffler,

1998).

Once a civil war has been launched, many external actors like superpowers,

former colonial powers, rulers, neighboring states, and international organizations start to

participate directly or indirectly. For example, there has been much interference of

external factors in many Africa's civil wars. The roles of external factors have been

witnessed in many countries in Africa. For example, The Democratic Republic of Congo

(DRC) and South Africa intervened in the civil war of Angola, and Zimbabwe, Tanzania,

and South Africa participated in Mozambique, and Libya, Sudan and Congo intervened in

the civil conflict in Chad. This was through direct military participation in the conflicts.

Some countries also provided assistance of technical supports, training military

personnel, supplying weapons, providing equipment, and in the utilization of a variety of

diplomatic and economic support at different levels (Klare, 2001).

Africa is rich in oil, minerals, gems, and timber. Africa also possesses substantial

reserves of some of the world's most important minerals like diamond, bauxite,

chromium, cobalt, copper, gold, manganese, phosphate rocks, platinum, titanium, and

uranium. These minerals have not only fueled war, but also attracted foreign mining

companies to Africa (Migdal, 1994). However, it is very important to note that resources

alone do not cause conflict, but the way that the resources are constructed, transformed,

distributed, and mediated through power relations, is what does leads to civil conflicts in

many African nations (Patey, 2007).

30 The demand for these commodities of all types in the world market is resulting in the scarcity of resources worldwide. This is leading to more disputes over the ownership of resources than before. The African continent alone produces oil reserves of 75 billion barrels, which is about 7% of the total world supply (Leftwich, 1995). This is even expected to rise with the recent discovery of oil in Sudan, which has made it become the third largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, with the increase in resources, and competition over minerals such as gems and timber, it is likely that the continent will continue to encounter civil wars for many years to come (Migdal, 1994).

Factors Contributing to Civil Conflicts in Africa

External shaping of geographical boundaries and institutional structures led to the present national boundaries of Africa. During the colonial era, the imposed borders and the institutional patterns of rule were felt even after the colonial powers left the continent.

As a result, the roots of Africa's conflict lie within the political and economic conditions that existed after independence and the policies that were put in place by the elites (Patey,

2007). The artificial borders that were created had few skilled individuals and underdeveloped economies, and this contributed to many civil wars in Africa. The borders had nothing to do with the economic, political and cultural life of the African people. Consequently, political instability and violence have overwhelmed the continent

since most of its countries became independent in the late 1950s and 1960s (Beissinger &

Young, 2002).

During the scramble for and partition of Africa by the European powers in Berlin

between 1884 and 1885, there was almost no indigenous definition of geographical

31 boundaries and there was no involvement of indigenous people in the formation of the modern boundaries of modern African states (Migdal, 1994). The purpose of the colonial rule was not developmental in manner, but rather on primary objectives like the extractions of riches and raw materials. The intentions of the colonial ruler were not aimed at promoting and organizing national economic and political development of countries in Africa. Colonial rulers were authoritarian and elitist, and their actions were to benefit the interest of the colonial powers. Many African nations today continue to maintain the colonial legacies through authoritative rulers (Leftwich, 1995).

Furthermore, political conflict in Africa is rooted in structural imbalances of the colonial system where they favored development of some countries based on their ethnic and religious background at the expense of others. The colonial powers failed to establish equal distribution of political and economic development. This in turn has led to the emergence of military dictatorships. Since independence, many countries in Africa, notably Sudan, have had regimes, whether civilian or military, which have all contributed to civil wars. Also, African violent actions are no longer limited to grassroots but to a larger regional and national context. This state of disorder reduces politics to armed politics; hence, producing new opportunities for those who had no access controlling economic resources (Raymond, 1994).

African countries that are richer in natural resources are more likely to encounter civil war. This is evident in countries like Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d' Ivoire,

Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Nigeria, and Sudan, they have all been caught in the midst of civil wars (Patey, 2007). In addition, oil development in Africa represents

a crisis of opportunity because it leads to the tragedy of civil war, corruption, and poverty

32 among the marginalized groups. It has been used as a source of wealth, power and an object of conflict in countries like Nigeria, Angola, and Sudan. For example, in 1958,

Nigeria underwent an inter-ethnic relation conflict over the control of oil, and at the same time, oil was used in post-conflict reconstruction, reconciliation, and in bringing about national unity (Migdal, 1994). Another example of an oil crisis is found in Sudan, where oil is becoming a feature of the Sudanese civil war because of the problem with the issue of national control, and the international political economy of the oil (Beissinger &

Young, 2002).

War also stems from the prevalence of poverty. Many African countries which are experiencing war have high poverty rates. Some of these countries are rich in resources, though large numbers of their populations are living below the poverty line (Migdal,

1994). As a result of poverty, marginalized youth are now joining militias in order to get new opportunities to escape further alienation and some people see the militia as an escape from their negative circumstances. Many rebel groups are now fighting without any concrete ideology although their main aim is to survive or get access to resources in order to make a profit. Examples of such countries are Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the

Democratic Republic of Congo (Collier, 1998).

Another important factor that has led to prolonged wars in Africa is the access to weapons and military interventions. Easy access to weapons is encouraging and prolonging Africa's wars. Many countries experiencing wars in Africa get foreign assistance through military aid. This is usually given in the form of foreign aid assistance to the participants of Africa's wars (Beissinger & Young, 2002). As a result, foreign aid has been used in order to help one group defend itself against the "enemy". For instance,

33 during the civil war in Mozambique, Zimbabwe's intervention in Mozambique was to send troops across the border to help the neighboring government control the supplies.

This form of intervention not only gave Zimbabwe control some of Mozambique's resources, but also made the war worse than expected (Beissinger &Young, 2002).

Another cause of civil wars in Africa is religion. Within and outside the African continent, religion has been used for uniting people and for creating disunity among people. Many countries like Sudan, Nigeria, and Algeria, have experienced religious war between Christians and Muslims, or between fundamentalists and the state. However, religion is not always used as a tool for conflict; it can actually be used to bring democracy to a country. For example, the Roman Catholic Church was used in Latin

America in the 1980s and 1990s to bring political and social stability in the region. Also within the African continent, religion has been used as a tool for bringing political and social stability in many regions (Burnell & Randall, 2005). However, some countries like

Algeria have encountered a decade of civil war between Islamic fundamentalists and the state. Islamists are becoming popular in many countries in Africa and this is creating unrest in some African countries. For example, Nigeria is polarized politically between

Muslim and Christians forces and Sudan is faced with the same problem, and this tension has made Sudan's war become the longest civil war in the history of the African continent (Burnell & Randall, 2005).

Effect of Conflicts on Africa and its Development

Throughout its post-independence period, Africa has been plagued by war. In the

1960s, major conflicts took place in Congo, Nigeria, and Sudan, and in the 1970s,

34 Ethiopia, Angola and Mozambique also experienced major conflicts. Many countries like

Sudan and Uganda have continued to renew conflicts. The costs of war for Africa's people, its cultures, societies, and its economics have been intense. This has also resulted in high numbers of internally displaced persons, refugees, lost economic opportunities, lost ecosystems, and many orphans (Raymond, 1994).

War in other parts of the world has been able to liberate people and forced governments to reform and to rationalize their behavior. War has also led to the growth of industries and technological progresses; however, with the case of Africa, there has been more destruction than construction and few new industries or technologies have been put in place during the war. Africa's economic declined in the 1970s, worsening problems in governance and widening the scale of wars has shifted the attention away from capacities of African states to its incapacities (Pronk, 1996).

Most modern war has significant impacts on civilians. This is usually seen through the destruction of homes, agricultural systems, water systems, air pollution, and the destructions of land. Civil war not only destroys the existing communities, but also leads to injuries, the separation of families and the death of men, women, and children (Ware,

2005). During war, many women are raped, tortured, imprisoned, and starved. The trauma of war is often felt throughout the war period and even after war because of the brutal conditions that people are subjected to during the conflict (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002).

Recruitments of boys and girls as child soldiers are one of the characteristics of wars in Africa (Raymond, 1994).The harm being done to large numbers of children by African wars has been a matter of concern both from a humanitarian point of view and because of

35 its implications for Africa's future. During war, children lack proper schooling, nutrition, and health care. In addition, primary school enrollment often declines. Many schools in war torn areas have been closed down due to lack of resources and teachers. This has had huge implications for the human development aspect of the African continent. As a result, the ability of children who have suffered from war to realize their potential or to contribute fully in a peacetime society is questionable (Grant, 2000).

War has led to the rise of many internally displaced persons and refugees throughout the regions experiencing wars and other parts of the world. There have been many numbers of internally displaced persons and refugee people scattered all over the African continent and in other parts of the world. Many Africa refugees have migrated to Canada, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway and many other

Western countries (Collier, 1998). For example, there are more than 263,000 refugees and 5,000, 000 internally displaced Sudanese today. Liberia similarly, has 599, 200 refugees and 600, 000 internally displaced persons (US Committee for Refugees, 1993).

These numbers are very high and the implications for development are huge. If over a million people are displaced within a country, how can development take place?

A high number of casualties in Africa have also been attributed to these conflicts.

About 24 million people have died in Africa as a result of war since the 1980s to the middle of this decade, without counting the present wars and casualties in Darfur and other regions of Africa (Human Security Report, 2005).

War also leads to famine which is a major contributor to the high rate of mortality in

Africa. Often, food producers, agriculturalists, and nomadic herders are the primary

36 victims of war. War has resulted in food shortages because many food producers relocate to other areas for safety. This happened with the herders of Southern Sudan who gave up their daily activities and crowded into small cities and refugee camps for safety; depending on food aid rather than producing food themselves. This has had implications on Sudan because many people have died not from war directly, but also from food shortages or medical conditions. With the rise of drought and war in Africa, it is often hard to penetrate certain places in the continent in order to deliver food aid to the people, and this has led to high mortality rates in many countries experiencing civil wars

(Raymond, 1994).

Furthermore, civil war reverses development and the consequences of this are usually suffered by civilians the most. During civil wars, societies divert some of their resources away from productive activities to violence, leading to a loss of rent seeking. In some countries in Africa, a remarkable amount of resources are often taken by African governments from the budget to finance the war because of the high cost of military expenditure (Collier & Hoeffler, 1998). Since many governments do not always have the means to maintain war, especially if they happen to have no natural resources, they usually borrow money from other countries, and this leads economic and political interferences for some of these donor countries (Raymond, 1994). As a result, this weakens the state that is already at war and leads to low rates of economic growth and loss of sovereignty within the international arena. Lack of economic strength also increases dependency and reduces bargaining capacity in international negotiations with

institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and foreign

governments. For example, Sudan had massive debts in the 1980s that were worth $12

37 billion, becoming the highest debtor among the then non-oil producers, although it is now an oil producing country (Collier & Hoeffler, 1998).

War has other serious consequences on countries undergoing violent conflicts.

The costs of maintaining armies and weapons from developed countries are very high.

Countries like Sudan, Namibia, and Western Sahara spent $lmillion per day on their wars, and without war, these countries could have spent this amount of money on development in order to improve the living standards of their citizens (Raymond, 1994).

If this amount of money is put towards war per year, the result represents a substantial burden on developing countries. Governments often face challenges with the cost of running war and the consequent disruptions in agriculture, transportation, mining, and industry have declined national economies. As a result, there has been a lack of opportunities for growth and development (Collier & Hoeffler, 1998).

Further, during conflicts, vast development projects have been lost because of discouraged investors, while foreign donors may choose to divert their relief aid to peaceful countries. Donors and investors are less likely to be interested in major projects while a country is undergoing war. While relief from other countries might come to war zone areas, this might not be used for economic reasons or for development purposes

(Ginifer, 1997).

How much of a defense budget is attributed to war? Civil wars affect development through the shifts from productive activities to destructive activities, and this leads to the reduction of public expenditures such as in infrastructures and health services. As a result, this affects social indicators that also affect the overall income of the country, region and the continent. Furthermore, during times of war, rebel groups

38 often target physical infrastructure as part of their strategies. Communication and support lines such as telecommunications, airports, ports, roads, and railways are often destroyed and this tends to further drag development behind (Collier, 2003).

During wars, major government facilities that were previously used to generate income are often closed down. For instance, some railways in Mozambique that were used to bring minerals to Southern Congo and Zambia were closed down during the long civil conflict in the country. Some of these facilities cannot be restored during the war and many trucks and vehicles such as tractors are destroyed, leading to the fall of export earnings (Collier & Hoeffler, 1998).

Civil wars not only affect countries that are undergoing the conflicts, but also affect peaceful countries that are on the borders or in the region. Peaceful countries that are adjacent to countries engaged in civil wars suffer from direct and long-term effects.

Neighboring countries have to accommodate refugees; resulting in more burdens on some of the poor African countries by creating burdens on regional economy spillover. Some of the neighboring countries also try to increase their military budgets and expenditure because of the fear of the tension escalating in other countries (US Committee for

Refugees, 1993).

Many African countries today are facing the problems of tensions across borders.

For example, within the North-Eastern, East, and Central-Eastern African communities,

countries like Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo,

and Uganda, are all undergoing civil wars or tensions. The only two fairly peaceful

countries in the region are Kenya and Tanzania, though Kenya is no longer peaceful as it

39 used to be, following the post-election violence of December 2007, between the ruling government and the opposition party. South Africa is also undergoing similar tensions where local people are uprising against foreigners (Africans from other parts of Africa) for taking their opportunities. This is really affecting the economy of these other countries because they have to tolerate the influx of refugees from the region. This has become very complicated when looking at the nature of civil wars in Africa (Collier,

2003).

Also, having a neighboring war reduces the annual growth rate by 0.5% and it also affects the growth of that particular region (Collier, 2003). Trade is usually disrupted and this was witnessed during the civil war in Mozambique, where it affected Malawi's international airport costs and economic decline due to the nature of Malawi as a landlocked country (Collier, 2003).

Conflict need not be a bad thing; however, it can quickly spin out of control. With so much violence in the world, there is a need to look at some of the causes of conflict. It is also important to look at the causes of conflicts within the African continent and ways to deal with them. Participating in a resistance movement does at times provide the opportunities for recognition, promotion, and material gain for leaders.

Women, Gender and Conflict

Conflict can be defined as "a struggle between individuals or collectivities over values, status, power, and scarce resources in which the aims of the conflicting parties is to assert their values" (Goodland, 1999, pl2). Conflict becomes a problem when a society cannot represent, manage or resolve its different interests in a productive manner, thus

40 initiating a destructive cycle of physical violence. Conflict management theory came into the international arena at the end of the Cold War. This was during the time that the

United Nations started its first major peacebuilding mission in Namibia after the country went through a decade of civil conflict (Roland, 2004).

Conflict is related to women because "every war is a war on women" (Ahooja-

Patel, 2007: p343). Women's experiences of armed conflicts are different from men's.

Women are not only victims of war, but also survivors of war. Using their unique strategies as community leaderships, women facilitate and play different roles during armed conflicts. Women are involved in war behind the scenes, where they support their families by providing basic needs. They also voice their opinions through different strategies of resistance. Furthermore, women form different grassroots organizations advocate and mediate talks at the local and national levels (Thompson et al, 2007).

For many years, the roles of women in war and other types of violent conflicts have remained almost invisible throughout the world. Also, during armed conflicts, the media gives less attention to women's roles, instead, depicting women as victims who are desperate for help because of the patriarchy that exists within the field of journalism

(Thomson et al, 2007). Although some women have intervened in battles to force peace while calling for values, codes, this is often associated with their gender roles. Women encountered many challenges during the conflict. As victims of war, three out of four

fatalities in armed conflicts are women and children, and eighty percent of the world refugees and displaced persons are women (Rehn & Sirleaf, 2002).

41 Women's participation often helps during the time of war because a war situation creates a sense of equality and lessens gender differences since both men and women tend to play different roles from traditional societal roles. When women are not present in direct combat, they continue to play important roles in supporting the cause; they operate within traditional frameworks by providing the men with vital support and back-up.

Nevertheless, women become the backbone of their societies and take care of the households, agriculture, the sick, the wounded and the children. However, in the post-war era, women find it harder to maintain their positions because their societies often neglect their roles without taking into account women's important contributions during civil war when some men were away from their communities (Schirch et al, 2005).

From 1960 to 1980, women started getting recognized in economic and political activities though they were still not rewarded for their activities. Today, the number of women involved in political activities has increased, especially with the introduction of quotas in many countries around the world. Even though the overall number of women has increased, it is important to note that not every woman around the world has felt the impact of this progress on women. This is because the underlying issues that continue to affect women today in many societies where patriarchy heavily exists have not been tackled. This situation does not only prevail during war, but also during peace, where women feel its effects through their marginalization in peace processes and in peacebuilding activities (Rehn & Sirleaf, 2002).

Women in Africa have been recruited into armies willingly and unwillingly. For example, there are fourteen countries in Africa where women got involved during conflicts. This was either through supporting government forces, paramilitaries, militias,

42 or as armed opposition Schirch et al, 2005). These countries are Angola, Burundi,

Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Liberia, Libya, Mozambique, Rwanda,

Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan and Uganda. Women entered these forces for different reasons that were based on their particular countries and regions. Women entered the force through recruitment, abduction (and transported through the borders), voluntarily, or were born to mothers within these forces (Schirch et al, 2005). It is also evident that some women joined these groups as a way of escaping harsh conditions and poverty that prevailed within the societies from which they came. Furthermore, many women fight as combatants for different reasons. For instance, some women fought as a way of liberating and escaping from armed conflict zones (Schirch et al, 2005).

Women recruited into forces play different roles and these responsibilities are often based on factors such as age and status. Some women fetch water; provide food, cook, and wash clothes while others became sex slaves or wives of high ranked soldiers

(Schirch et al, 2005). Also, some women are used as fighters where they loot and sometime are forced to commit atrocities against civilians (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002).

t Also, those who are porters are involved in looting, suicide bombing missions, sweeping mines, doing child care and child rearing. Women who work as spies become informants', messengers, and intelligence officers and work in communication (McKay and Mazurana, 2004). Other groups of women either become first aid workers, nurses, or holding high ranks within their groups (Sweetman, 2005). However, these categories do not apply to all armed groups in Africa, and it varies depending on region and culture.

43 In societies undergoing war, conflict affects everyone; however, women and children feel its effects the most. Women and girls tend to experience conflict differently than men and boys though they are usually connected to the whole situation through families, friends and communities. Women are not homogenous and therefore might have contradictory interests and priorities during conflicts and this might be based on economic, social, and political condition. However, this extreme condition that women suffer during conflicts does not arise solely out of the conditions of war, but as a result of the violence that exists in women's lives during peacetime and wartime. Much violence against women goes on during conflicts as women become commodities that are traded, fought over, and owned by many (Mazurana & McKay 2004).

Women encounter gender violence both during conflicts and in post-conflicts. It is also important to note that not a lot is known about the physical, emotional and spiritual long-term effects of women's experience during conflicts and many policies put in place are not well informed. Furthermore, during times of armed conflicts, women and girls experience all physical, emotional and sexual forms of violence. Many of them are subjected to torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced stimulation, forced termination of pregnancies, and mutilation. In addition, many women during armed conflicts become ill and even die. They also walk for long distance, sleep in bushes, forced into sexual relationship, forced to take contraceptives, and forced to abort without proper instruments and proper trained personnel (Sweetman, 2005). As a result, it is important to include women and girls in both formal and informal peace processes and peacebuilding for the crucial establishment of sustainable peace. Peace requires the

44 existence of basic services like food, clean water, educational institutions, and health care systems.

The provision of social services in post-conflicts countries in Africa has not been very smooth. With the introduction of new liberal polices through the structural adjustment programs (SAPs), women are finding it harder to cope with economic conditions. These policies advocate for cuts in social services like health care, education and the adjustment of markets. The money that is used to cater for these services is now deviated to repaying loans. This is not only affecting the reconstruction of war-torn countries, but also leading to an increased burden on women to provide basic needs for their children and to rebuild their societies (Thomson et al, 2007).

Peacebuilding

International organization and collective action in pursuit of peace and security began during the 19th Century. It was in the era of the Post-Napoleonic period when there was the need for member states to take collective action to preserve peace among states

(Barnett, 2002).The United Nations is the largest international organization working in peacebuilding. It emphasizes post-conflict peacebuilding from a gender perspective because the United Nations recognizes that conflict affects both women and men. It also acknowledges that emotional and psychological effects of wars are sometimes more painful than the physical effects of violent conflicts (McKay & Mazurana, 1999).

Peacebuilding, according to the United Nations, was formed to "create the conditions necessary for a sustainable peace in war-torn societies" (Roland, 2004, p4). It involves identifying and alleviating sources of conflict within a war-threatened area

45 where local people are put at the centre of these processes. Peacebuilding means that there are elections, the rewriting of constitutions, and the availability of law enforcement like police, judges, and lawyers. Peacebuilding can be referred to as "an action undertaken at the end of a civil conflict to consolidate peace and prevent the recurrence of fighting" (Roland, 2004, p4). The mission involves the deployment of military and civilian personnel from several international agencies, with a mandate of conducting peacebuilding in a country that is just emerging from a civil war. It includes both military and non-military approaches to post-conflict reconstructions. Peacebuilding is necessary because it helps in implementing a peaceful settlement that brings an end to a prolonged period of pervasive violence and brutality (McKay & Mazurana, 1999).

Similarly, peacebuilding at a broad scale can be defined as "involving the needs for partnerships with recipient states to address the multitude of tasks of rebuilding and sustaining development in conflict torn states" (Keatings & Knight, 2004, pi20). This partnership can only be effective based on factors like flexibility, coordination, cooperation and a peaceful environment. Post-conflict reconstruction includes reintegration, and infrastructure rehabilitation of social and economic infrastructures. It also involves mine-action, capacity building, and rule of law, conflict prevention and peacebuilding programmes. These are usually encouraged through dialogues with inter related communities. Some of the agents of peacebuilding are: the World Bank,

International Monetary Fund, European Union, and the North American Treaty

Organization. There are also other development agencies like Canadian International

Development Agency (CTD A) and the United States Aid for International Development

(USAID) (Roland, 2004).

46 Women and Peacebuilding

The meaning of peacebuilding from a gender perspective is not yet known to many women doing post-conflict reconstruction in their societies. Peacebuilding means that there is a good relationship between not only conflicting societies, but also those who are not on good terms with one another. Women are known for being the tool to prevent and stop armed conflicts through their various activities. Women are now taking risks in every community. They are putting communities and families back together, providing healing and recovery services and organizing solidarity networks across ethnic, class and cultural gaps (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002). Peacebuilding from a gender aspect is defined by

McKay (2001) as:

Any activities that include gender-aware and women-empowering political, social, and economic and human rights. It involves personal and group accountability and reconciliation processes which contribute to the reduction or prevention of violence. It fosters the ability of women, men, girls, and boys in their own cultures to promote conditions of non-violence, equality, justice, and human rights of all people to build democratic institutions and to sustain the environment (P30).

The 1995 Beijing conference in China called for the building of a culture of peace, the involvement of women in conflict resolutions, prevention of violence against women, and reducing human rights abuses during armed conflicts (McKay, 2001). In addition, in October 2000, the United Nations Security Council came up with Resolution

1325. This resolution acknowledged the effect of war on women and called for their equal participation in peacebuilding and peace processes. It called for all those involved during peace processes to use gender perspectives, and bring both men and women to the table to come up with solutions that will affect them all (McKay & Mazurana, 2004).

47 During some of the violent conflicts, especially within Africa, many women took on the roles of men who were at the frontline fighting. Some women played important roles on the frontline as administrators, nurses, and fighters. At the time of peace, some of these women used their positions to advocate for other women during the post-conflict environment. It should be noted that not every woman received the privilege of maintaining their position which they occupied during conflicts; many women were forced to take back their traditional roles as a result of patriarchal societies (Sirleaf &

Rehn, 2002). This was not done by force, but by not having opportunities and structures in place that could help women during peacetime. This is referred to as "gendered peace".

It is called gendered peace because governments form structures that marginalize women based on the existence of patriarchy and this restricts the rights of women. Women also

suffer due to their subordinate positions in their societies (McKay, 2002).

Patriarchy is a prominent ideology in many African societies. The modern African

state has made patriarchy legal where there is a mixture of capitalist and traditional ideology (Abwunza, 1997). As a result, men dominate economically, socially, and politically. This system has worked to the disadvantage of women, who are isolated and

exposed to all kinds of violence (Abwunza, 1997). African women are the main

contributors to the welfare of their families. They contribute resources to their families,

the community and to the nation. Unofficial sexism is part of the everyday practice of

many African states. It has failed to represent poor and working women both in urban and

rural areas (Mutangadura et al, 1999).

Women's roles in contributing to peacebuilding have been undermined from all

aspects at community, national and international levels. Women are known to be the

48 social cement of every society. "Right from birth, they are taught to be peaceful, and their position as mothers in their societies is important for building peaceful societies" (McKay

& Mazurana, 1999). During conflicts, women often develop formal or informal groups to bring solutions at all levels. They are peacebuilders because of their roles within their communities. Women's peacebuilding activities are centered on the goal of building a culture of peace. Women's peacebuilding approaches in response to violence are key elements to the attainments of human security and sustainable peace. Women are considered crucial in preventing conflicts and reconstructing post-conflict communities.

It is important to note that referring to women as 'victims' and 'vulnerable' group does not help improve the condition of women and their perspective because it does not acknowledge women being agent of change, who also have the potential to contribute towards peace (McKay & Mazurana, 1999).

Women are a minority in peacebuilding; hence, they receive less attention. For many decades, women's role in wars was invisible. The only thing that was always talked about was the role of men, and how men became heroes and were brave to face their

"enemies'. However, for the past few decades, women's roles in conflict and post- conflicts have been noticed. Women are now known to be the fighters, community leaders, social organizers, workers, farmers, traders, welfare workers and heads of many households. Some of these roles are used to minimize violence in communities. All these experiences are determined by factors such as age, class, race, religion, ethnic background and the environment in which these women live (Pankhurst, 2000).

The concept of gender is socially constructed. Gender identity is defined by social norms of masculinity and femininity. This can be in terms of how a society defines roles

49 for men and women, which can be in the form of behavior and how one accesses power and resources. Femininity is usually associated with motherhood, nurturing, and non violence (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002). Also, men and women have different needs in different societies. What men might consider peaceful is not necessarily peaceful for women.

Gender analysis is absent in peacebuilding, hence, women are faced with inequality in post-conflict reconstruction.

Women are active in community peacebuilding; however, they are almost absent from political parties during peace process and peacebuilding. They are affected by conflict and by the effects of the peace agreement. With the absence of women during peace processes, this makes a difference to the sorts of issues brought to formal processes. Many African women are affected during peacebuilding because of their

subordinate position within their societies. Women can be involved in peacebuilding through protecting human rights, poverty reduction, economic activities and providing

services. Feminist perspective brings women into peacebuilding so that they can share

their experiences and their views. It encourages participations and it is an action oriented

and geared towards the participation of both men and women (McKay & Mazurara,

1999).

Gender relationships during peacetime tend to reinforce traditional patterns rather

than enforcing new roles that women may have acquired at the time of conflict. During

peace, many women return to their homes with memories of horror, and children who

might have been born of rape. These women tend to be illiterate and lack job skills. They

have no access to health care, clear water, proper sanitation; all these things pose

challenges for peacebuilding (Sweetman, 2005).

50 In order to address gender relations during peacetime, some regions in Sub-

Saharan Africa came up with a quota system called Southern Africa Development

Community8 (SADC). This Declaration on Gender and Development was signed by

SADC member states and governments in 1997 in order to increase women's participation in decision-making (Ballington, 2004). SADC addresses the problem of women's participation in politics and in decision-making through the application of quota system. The target was that by 2005, most member states could have 30% of women participating at all levels of decision-making (SADC Gender Unit, 2003). This system is now being applied in most countries in Africa, though many feminist groups have criticized its agenda. They argue that increasing the number of women in sectors does not necessarily create solutions to women's problems, though it does increase women's participation (Ballington, 2004).

Cultural stereotypes remain the major problem with lack of gender equality and this affects the role of women in decision-making. Not only does war oppress women but

it also gives women new opportunities and new knowledge. For instance, some women

during wars have managed to acquire new skills like training skills and new positions. As

soon as peace is attained, women often find themselves going back to their traditional

role as a result of the existence of patriarchy in their societies that defines gender roles

(McKay & Mazurana, 2004).

8 SADC- Southern Africa Development Community

51 Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration9 (DDR) have further marginalized women from participating in the peacebuilding processes. DDR has been applied in post-conflict reconstruction to armed groups who took part in violent conflicts.

However, DDR as peacebuilding strategy has a gender-discrimination approach in its

framework where women are not considered as beneficiaries of the programme. Many women are often not aware of these existing programmes. Also, in order for one to qualify for the program, they have to show their weapons (Sweetman, 2005). What happens to women who were involved in armed conflicts and provided services to the military without necessarily having weapons?

The role of women in peacebuilding is multidimensional; it requires the participation of both men and women where women have to be made central because of

their different experiences during violent conflicts. However, including women in

peacebuilding is not an ultimate solution to solving gender inequality in societies. It will

require the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned

action including legislations, and policies at all levels. Gender equality in post-conflict

societies will depend on reforms at the structural base of power relations based on class,

power, and international support of gender mainstreaming in peacebuilding. There is a

need to establish law during post-conflict in order to ensure that those who commit

violence against women are brought to justice.

Schools should be used to educate peace to young children and the whole society

about the importance of peace. Teachers have the potential in conflict and post-conflict

9 DDR- Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration

52 situation to make an important contribution to the peace processes in terms of peacebuilding and reconstruction. During post-conflict, schools become important because of the curriculum that are designed and this can be useful in targeting peacebuilding in order to help children to participate actively in development and reconstruction processes (Kirk, 2004).

Female teachers are well known for contributing to the future of the country's democratic education system, and by encouraging more women in the process, this will eventually lead to gender equality in the post-conflict situation in Sudan and other

African countries (Kirk, 2004). Female teachers are known for their important role in educating about peace and they should be used as instruments for peace. They have to be provided with proper training and this could lead to increased in the enrolment of girls in many schools because girls and women will see female teachers as role models. There is also a need to develop curriculums that will emphasize on peace and the importance of living in harmony.

In order to make more progress towards peacebuilding, peacebuilding must deeply involve women and women's approaches. There is the need to recognize and incorporate women's experiences in building peace, in particular at the local level, into peacebuilding policies. Knowing more about the gendering of peacebuilding policies and projects, as well as women's capacities, will help in developing alternative approaches that can be used as a basis for policy making and in training programs. For women's full participation in peacebuilding to be enhanced, there needs to be specific focus upon peacebuilding; women's capacities and gender must be included as an explicit aspect of peacebuilding initiatives (Mazurua & McKay, 1999).

53 There is also a need to develop policies and programs that can help protect and empower girls and women in situations of armed conflict and post-conflict reconstruction. Gender analysis argues that the social construction of gender, which affects girls, boys, women and men during armed conflicts, continue to affect people in their ability to access resources, economic benefits, education, and health care. Gender inequality during conflict is visible because of sexism that exists within societies. This can be proved through gender and sexual violence after civil conflicts from men. Women work longer hours and have higher illiteracy rates, and die from diseases that could easily be treated if only their needs were put as priorities in their societies (McKay & Mazurana,

2004).

Women's Organization for Peace

There are many organizations involved in peacebuilding and these organizations play different roles. These groups are the United Nations, national development agencies, international development agencies, the International Monetary Funds, World Bank, and some international organizations that are involved in relief and development work

(Sirleaf&Rehn,2002).

Grassroots Non-governmental organizations advocate the enhancement of women's peacebuilding capacities as an essential goal. Some of these grassroots NGOs also keep women at the centre of peacebuilding agenda in their programmes, and policies. Local grassroots organizations do acknowledge and know the kinds of experiences that women go through during conflicts; hence, they work together to bring conflict resolution and rebuild their communities (Sweetman, 2005).

54 Women's grassroots organizations such as women's self-help groups are often marginalized by international non-governmental organizations even when they know that peacebuilding requires local people to seek solutions through approaches that work in their communities, regions and nations. The challenge for local grassroots organizations is that most of their work at the local level is hardly recorded. As a result, there is little data collected about their activities. When they are asked about their activities in peace process and peacebuilding they often argue that they are involved in these activities because they want peace for their families. Women want their children to be able to attend school and to live in harmony (McKay & Mazurana, 1999). As a result, international NGOs need to listen to the voice of local people and work with them.

These grassroots women are also well aware that when conflict starts in an area, women are always the prime targets; hence, their activities in peacebuilding are seen as crucial for their survival and the survival of their families. Grassroots women often see themselves as doers but not experts and they do not always wait for national reconciliation, but often start with local reconciliation. Some women's grassroots organizations have been able to destroy military toys as an initiative to work against the distribution and the availability of weapons in their communities (McKay & Mazurana,

1999). This has led to the reduction of the number of arms in different communities especially in Southern Sudan. Many of these grassroots organizations are religious based; churches are used to mediate peace among communities. However, some of the roles that these local churches play can be criticized for encouraging patriarchy rather than equality for all (McKay & Mazurana, 1999).

55 Many grassroots organizations in Africa have been having workshops and conferences where they bring together local women to talk about personal experiences in relation to the conflict. This has helped women to identify themselves and to strengthen

each other in order to deal with these problems. As a result, organization members come up with ways they can act and advocate for peace in their communities. This networking

has led to a coalition of women, which has led to more communities joining together to make local and global connections where they are trying to analyze their problems, learn

from each other, expand their information, and increase their solidarity. They meet with the goal of pushing for possibilities of peace between groups that are fighting. These women's groups do at times call for different conferences that can advocate for

forgiveness and reconciliation, which is another type of peacebuilding. As well, these

groups have been able to involve young people in the process where they move from

village to village to mediate peace in Sudan (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002). A good example of

these activities is what happened during the civil war in Southern Sudan. When all the

international actors left, local women had to take over the role of mediating for peace.

For instance, Sirleaf & Rehn (2002) argued that:

In conflict situations, political activists and their organizations frequently face security threats; many have been killed and many more abducted, beaten and tortured. Women are particularly vulnerable, first because they are subject to sexual attacks in addition to the other dangers, and second because they are seen as stepping outside their traditional role-which can lead to cultural justification to the idea that they need to be a lesson (p85).

Sudanese Women's Voice for Peace10 (SWVP) was founded in 1994 and the main

purpose of its formation was to address the conflict in Sudan. This organization supports

10 SWVP- Sudanese Women's Voice for Peace

56 and encourages the rights of Southern Sudanese women to have a choice and freedom in the country. It also networks with other organizations and promotes peaceful negotiation.

SWVP encourages women by offering funding for small projects that can enhance the capacity to produce food and to become self-sufficient. They also organize women's

leadership training as a way for including them in the process of peace (Snyder, 2003).

Women's organizations are playing an increasingly important role in non-violent

conflict resolutions. For instance, the Sudanese Women's voice for peace (SWVP) is a

good example of the role community-based women's organizations play in the peaceful resolution of armed conflicts. Sudanese Women's Voice for Peace is another important

grassroots organization that existed during the conflict and in the post-conflict

reconstruction of Sudan. This group looks for traditional spiritual methods for resolving

and managing conflict. This is often done through the involvement of elders as mediators.

This spiritual method does have its shortcomings. Since they do trade women at times as

part of ritual for reconciliation, they are often criticized for taking advantage of women

by trading their bodies and reproductive services. Rituals should bring harmony, not harm

to communities already undergoing many obstacles (Sirleaf & Rehn, 2002).

This organization transforms Sudanese society through peacebuilding and human

rights advocacy. They teach conflict resolution in villages by helping people think with

this mindset. For example, these women always tell their communities that: "I am not

interested in revenge, will revenge bring back my loved ones?" (Anderson, 2000: pl4).

They also teach women on how to promote traditional peace-making. The Sudanese

conflicts have provided some women an opportunity to explore public space and power

negotiations with men in a way that peace time society did not.

57 CHAPTER THREE: BACKGROUND OF SUDAN'S CONFLICTS

Background

An ancient Arab geographer and historian called Ibn Battuta gave the name El bilad El Sudan to the vast lands beyond the Great African Desert during his massive and numerous travels. That was because the colour of the people in those lands was black.

Sudan, therefore, means the land of the black people (Oduho, & Deng, 1963).

Consequently, on the colonization of the lands, there emerged two colonies known as the

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, (now The Republic of the Sudan), and French Sudan (now The

Republic of Mali). Modern Sudan, with its present state boundaries, therefore, only came into existence at the beginning of this century (Oduho, & Deng, 1963).

Sudan is the largest country in Africa and it measures about l,000,000sq.miles, which constitutes 8.3% of the land area of Africa. It is situated almost at the centre of the continent between longitudes 22 and 38 east, and latitudes 4 and 22 north. Sudan shares borders with nine African countries (Chapin, 1992). Egypt and Libya lie on the north and north western part of the Sudan, while Ethiopia, Eritrea are on its eastern side. Kenya and

Uganda lie on the south and south eastern parts respectively; while the Democratic

Republic of Congo lies on the south western part. Finally, The Central Africa Republic

and Chad lie on the western part of Sudan. Consequently, The Sudan became a zone of

interaction between the Hamitic Arab tribes, and the Negroid African groups. This has

resulted in Sudan's many different ethnic groups and unique cultures (Wai, 1973).

Sudan was governed by Egypt as part of the Ottoman Empire in the early 19

century. Arab Northerners and Black Southern Sudanese were on opposing sides of the

slave trade; with the former, either acting as agents for European slave dealers, or directly

58 enslaving the latter. The involvement of Europeans in the Turkish administration in the

Sudan, which culminated in 1879 with General Charles Gordon's governorship, was first, and foremost, part of the effort to end the slave trade; and second, to direct the Egyptian

Treasury towards honouring its debts owed to various European powers in general, and

Britain in particular (Oduho, & Deng, 1963). General Charles was murdered in 1885 during the revolt which was led by Muhammad Ahmad al Mahdi who was trying to enforce Islam in Sudan. Khalifa Abdullahi el Taishi became the successor of the Mahdi after the latter's death, soon after General Gordon was assassinated. Khalifa brutally tried to enforce his rule over the northern Muslim tribes. He was from a small western tribe known as the Baqqara, and went to the extreme of acting as a 'restorer of the faith'. Until later days, religion found itself at the core of Sudan's quest for independence from both the colonial and the Egyptian rule, and has played a divisive role in the quest for power by every political leader (Batali, 2008).

The Mahdist Revolt frustrated Queen Victoria's design of a peaceful acquisition

of the Sudan as an alternative route to India and the Far East, because the colonizers had to pay attention to the revolt and this led to great confusion (Glickman, 2000). Uganda was already in the hands of the missionaries and the British East African Company

(BEAC). Kenya had been quietly possessed as a colony. Egyptian independence was only

in name. She was a Turkish possession that fell under the control of Europeans, headed

by the British.

To save the Egyptian army from total destruction, Lord Kitchener arrived with the

British force which defeated Kalifa under the Mahdist state in 1898. Upon the defeat of

the Khalifa's forces, some re-thinking led to a change of mind from the mere creation of

59 a safe passage for the Egyptian army, to the establishment of the "Anglo-Egyptian

Condominium", which lasted until January, 1956, when the Sudan became independent

(Harvey Glickman, 2000). British influence in Egypt, which gradually shaped Egypt as an independent entity from Turkey, did equally shape the future of Sudan as an independent country. The colonizers were more interested in Sudanese nationalism in order to oppose the spread of Egyptian influence, and protect their interest in the Suez

Canal (Glickman, 2000). That further guaranteed the overland route to India.

On the 19th of December, 1955 the Sudanese National Assembly voted for independence, and on 1st January, 1956 the Republic of Sudan came into existence. With this occasion, the office of the Governor-General ceased to exist, and it was replaced by a

Five-Man Supreme Commission, which acted as the Head of State. It had a rotating chairman as the presidency, over the Government of the Sudan, comprising the Prime

Minister, and a cabinet from the day of independence (Edgar, 1977).

The coming of independence for the Sudan in 1956 was a definite change for the then World Order; because, having joined India and Pakistan, which became independent in 1948, Sudan had signaled the end of the British Empire. Many countries soon followed the examples of those early pioneers of independence. Pakistan separated from India to have its independence separately. This was avoided in the Sudan because of the pathetic state of development in the Southern Sudan. It was not even possible to think of an internal self rule for the Southern Sudan, given its lack of elite personnel. This led to a long period of North South internal conflicts, which has created very bitter relations.

When we look at the basis of politics in the North (which is religious), it is clear that the

60 Sudan is bound to go through a prolonged period of international isolation (Oduho, &

Deng, 1963).

The Sudan shares nine borders with different countries. That means it needed to develop good relations with its neighbours after its independence. The politics that the

Sudan should have hoped to achieve with the neighbouring countries should have

included shaping strategies for joint development, helping other African countries who were still under colonial rule to achieve their independence, and having agreements with

its nine neighbours on the issues of refugees; triggered by any instability in the country.

That these neighbouring countries were able to accommodate many Sudanese refugees

was partly due to the fact that many of them were from the same ethnic groups, and also

as a result of United Nations commitments (Batali, 2008).

In the post-independence of Sudan, the Sudanese government had to respond to

the rise of nationalism in various forms. The imperial legacy had a variety of impacts in

the minds of people in the newly independent states. Independence of the Sudan did bring

some changes to the relationship between the government (state) and society.

Unfortunately, it has to be conceded that society in the Sudan is far from uniform. Due to

the issue of many Sudanese identifying themselves with tribe, ethnicity, class or religious

affiliation, there have been some of the political interactions between the state and the

society, causing conflicts all around (Oduho, & Deng, 1963).

While the first Northern political leaders after independence were cautious about

their approach to their relations with the South, radicalism has invaded Islam so much

that current leadership is sort throughyY/zaJ. In Islam, "Jihad, the Absent Precept or the

Hidden Imperative (al- farida al ghaiba), is the essence in this process. Since man is the

61 agent of God in accomplishing His Will, he must reject quietism aloofness from politics."11 Apart from the common usage of the term, 'jihad' to mean Holy War, the

closest one can come to its meaning is through its Kiswahili derivative, majhudi, meaning the invocation of a spirit of determination.

Although religion has done some good in the world, its influence on the world has

sometimes been problematic. P.J. Vatikiotis puts it very appropriately as follows: "for with historical hindsight, it may be asserted that religious faith (any religious faith) is both the foundation of society and the rock on which it can be shipwrecked, and the nation perish..."12 Northern Sudan has always identified itself as Arab and Islamic, while

Southern Sudan has been associated with Negroid Africans and Christianity. The

associations of these two areas have created religious intolerance (the politicization of

religion not the religion itself). It has also led to the destruction of life and property as a

result of civil conflicts in the region (Edgar, 1977).

It seems like fear and hatred are linked to religious beliefs and perceptions in

Sudan, and make up part of the ongoing conflicts. While conflicts are linked to ethnicity

and nationality sense of belonging, religious disagreement is especially difficult to

compromise. A negative culture of Ethno-Religious nationalism has been created, and

experienced by many states in the present world, especially in connection with people in

the civil wars of the Sudan. In the case of Southern Sudan, the conflict has lasted for over

"Vatikiotis, P.J. Islam and the State: Frank Cass & Company Ltd. (UK) -1998

12Vatikiotis, P.J. Islam and the State: P. 5

62 four decades. It has been going on since the eve of independence (Warburg, 1978). The

Sudanese government has supported Islamization through military means, while resorting to electoral authoritarianism. Here, the hope clearly is that any Islamist victory in Sudan will create pressure on other Islamic minorities in East Africa and other conservatives

Muslim groups in other parts of the world to establish Islam as the religion of the state.

Islam has had an overwhelming impact on the Sudanese society and politics from the year of the Sudanese political community despite an abortive communist coup in 1971

(Warburg, 1978).

Northern Sudan

Islam was mostly introduced to Northern Sudan in the 17 Century by traders who were descendants from groups from Arabia and who traced their roots to the Prophet

Mohammed. Northern Sudanese's identification with the Middle East started at the time of Egyptian and Arabian expansion southward in search of slaves, ivory gold and trading items (Deng, 2001). Introduction of Islam in Sudan led to the decline of Christianity mostly in the Northern part of Sudan. Northern Sudan's perspective on the Southern part of the country has always been that the South is the legitimate domain for Arab-Islamic influence. Even with the help of the missionaries and the alliance of British post-colonial authority to help keep South Sudan from Islamic rule, this help can easily be overcome by Islam and Arabian cultures in Northern Sudan (Deng, 2003).

Sharia law in Sudan is a direct imposition of Islamic laws over non-Muslim societies. The British themselves did recognize the need to introduce the civil aspects of sharia laws, while introducing a comprehensive penal code, derived from the Indian and

German systems. Traditional and family systems were developed for civil matters among

63 non-Muslims. When President Numeiri publicized the sharia as a penal code inl983, he

clearly alienated non-Muslims in the country (Deng, 2003). The introduction of sharia

law led to a revival of the civil war which had only been stopped in 1972 at Addis Ababa

between the Southerners and the Northerners. The Southern Sudanese were not pleased

with the Sharia law because they were mostly Christians and it was though unfair to

impose rules that did not apply to their religious faith (Fluehr-Lobban, 1994).

Southern Sudan

Christianity started in Southern Sudan in the 16 century, and became the major

religion in the area. Christianity has become an established element of South Sudanese

identities. Southern Sudan has revived Christianity as an element of identity and as a

significant factor in the legacy of Sudanese claims of cultural configurations of the

historic and modern Sudan. Christianity in Southern Sudan is not only a religion but a

political weapon against Islamization and Arabization (Deng, 2001).

South Sudanese are mostly traced with the African descent and they have African

cultures. There are three main ethnic groups in Southern Sudan, which includes the

Miotics, Nilo-Hamitic and the Sudanic. There are a hundred and fourteen languages in

Southern Sudan with five hundred and seventy two tribes (Batali, 2008). The Sudanese

government has always wished to impose Islamic rules on Southern Sudanese, though

they have always been faced with resistance from the people of Southern Sudan.

Missionaries were not allowed to spread the gospel in many parts of Sudan. They were

restricted to some areas and had limited places where they could build mission centres

and build schools. They were more effective in Southern Sudan where they built schools

64 and taught in English and restricted the teaching of the Arabic language in the area

(Deng, 2003).

In 1845, the Roman Catholics and the Protestants began to enter the country and started to establish their missions. Other missionaries were: American Presbyterians, the

Church Mission Society, Australian United Church, New Zealand United Church, Verona

Fathers, Anglican Greek Orthodox, and Coptic Cathedrals. The missionaries taught in

English and other local languages though the official language at the time was English.

Teachers were brought from Uganda and Kenya and the official day for rest was Sunday, instead of Friday which is an Islamic official day of rest (Edgar, 1977).

Those Southern Sudanese who did not accept Christianity were put at a disadvantage by missionary groups. Help and all the benefits were restricted and given to the Sudanese who accepted and were willing to abandon their traditional practices. This category motivated a lot of people to become Christians since Christianity came with a lot of benefits. They had no option but to take Christianity as "theirs" in order to get the basics and to go to mission schools to be able to get free education, which was provided by the missionaries in the mission centers. The missionaries connected a link between the

Southern Sudanese and other British colonies. The British restricted the interference of the North with the South because they had the fear of the integration of Islam into the

area. They advocated for separate development of the South as part of their indirect rules

and they also wanted South Sudan to be independent and free from Egyptian rules

(Edgar, 1977). It is important to note that even though many people from Southern Sudan

and other parts of Africa accepted Christianity, they still maintained their African

tradition by mixing religion with their culture. For example, the missionaries in Africa

65 did not support the idea of Africans using drums in their churches. However, the Africans were still able to use drums and other instruments during their church service regardless

of what the missionaries preached (Sharkey, 2002).

The People and the War in Darfur The Sudanese regions of Darfur and the Nuba mountains geographically fall

under the western Sudanese territories. The indigenous people of these areas are mostly

African descendants like those in the south of the country (Deng, 2003). Despite their

similar physical traits to the southern Sudanese, they, like the northern Sudanese, are

Muslims and thus they share cultural and Islamic religion with the northern Sudanese.

When the 1983 war started between the North and South of the country, each of these

two groups had to choose whether to support their Muslim religious groups in the North

or to side with those in the south (Deng, 2003).

Since the 1983 War started as a direct protest against the imposition of Sharia law

in Sudan, the Darfur people saw it as a war against their religion, thus, they did not find a

reason to join the south in fighting the government. Unlike the people of Darfur, those in

Abyei and Nuba Mountains had different perspectives of the war and joined the

southerners in the fight they saw as a war that was more about inequality and less about

religion. Even so, the people of Darfur had their own grievances to address with the

government of Sudan (ICG, 2004).

Since the 1970s, Northern Sudan has been experiencing persistent drought and

desertification. As a result, the government has continued to push all the nomadic Arab

tribes of the north into the agricultural fertile central belt of Darfur in search of grazing

land and water. The later group depends on subsistence farming while the Arabs

66 specialize in cattle herding. The presence of these nomads in Darfur has created conflict in the region (ICG, 2004). It has also led into the environmental degradation of the cultivatable land on which the non-Arab groups depended for subsistence. These reasons combined with government's marginalization of the region have created the existing conflict in Darfur (ICG, 2004).

Civil Conflict in Sudan: 20th-21st Centuries

Could Sudanese destructive conflicts have had any benefits that can be weighed against the cost? The civil war between Northern and Southern Sudan resumed in 1983. It was a revival of the 1955-1972 conflict. The Northern based government failed to provide economic development. Political and economic marginalization, as well as cultural domination, frustrated any hope among well-meaning Southerners to catch up with the North. In September, 1983, the then president, Jaafar Mohammed al-Numeiry, announced that the criminal code would be replaced by Sharia law; which is basically an

Islamic Law. There was no exception for the non-Islamic South (Willis, 2003). It was to be applied to the whole country. When he was scared into introducing exemptions for non-Muslims, those exemptions appeared to exclude them from participation in the political process. That means being a Southerner, one would either have to be a Muslim if one was a politician, or one would have to be a non politician to retain one's non-Islamic faith. With General Omar Hassan al-Bashir coming to power in 1989, people thought the ideology was going to change. However, the regime was characterized by dictatorship and more atrocities against the people (Raymond, 1994).

The Revolutionary guerrilla warfare pattern had started in 1955, due to the struggle between Southern and Northern Sudan. The government of Sudan tried hard to

67 make these struggles remain secret, in order to cover their failure to maintain a stable, peaceful homogenous country. A lot of Southerners died as a direct result of the conflict.

With the government's failure to maintain the meagre colonial infrastructures, famine and

diseases, took their toll, with no outsiders being aware of what was going on in Sudan at

that time. The Southern Sudanese stood up to fight the Arabs in the North, hoping to re-

enact the situation which gave birth to Pakistan from India. The Southerners where tired

of being treated like slaves by the Arabs, and genuinely wanted to be free from a possible

harsh rule by the Muslim, Arab Northerners (Willis, 2003).

The war was disadvantageous to the Southerners. They lacked money, weapons,

and external support. The association between Sudan, religion and violence cannot be

avoided when one is describing the nature of the country. The civil war in Sudan has

been associated with religion, though many people disagree that the war was provoked by

religion alone, citing political factors as well. The conflict is not simply between

Christians and Muslims, South and North, but rather between those who occupy the

country and political centre of the post-colonial state and those who are marginalized

(Willis, 2003).

The Sudanese Arabs in the North have dominated the country and controlled the

resources of the country through Islamic religion. Some critics, especially from the

North, believe that the civil conflict in Sudan was as a result of the British policies of

"divide and rule" and what they believe to be the interference of Christian missionaries in

the spread of Christianity in the South (Willis, 2003). The only thing that is true is that

the intention of colonialism was to stop slavery. Christian Missionaries were first denied

proselytisation in the South. It was only at a later stage that the colonial administration

68 realized their value of pacifying the hitherto hostile tribes, who had been hardened by

Arab slave-raids. The conflict in Sudan was also fueled by narrow ethnic nationalism and inclusive territorial nationalism. The policy of Separate Administration for the South was only necessary because it kept the two, mutually antagonistic races apart (Raymond,

1994).

What is being denied by Northern critics of colonial administration is that the

Sudan has been ruled by their own political elites, who pursue the ideal of a nation as an

Arab and Islamic one; ignoring the presence of the overwhelming non-Arab people. They have tried to impose the Islamic religion, which is politically viewed as an Arab religion.

The alienation of Sudanese who do not claim to be members of the Arab race from the political process has resulted in the mushrooming conflicts all around the country.

Political leadership in Sudan is presumed to emanate from the Islamic religion; this led to the creation of religious sects, chief among which are the Ansar and the Khatmia sects, which sponsor the Umma Party and the Democratic Unionist Party respectively (DUP)

(Wallis, 2003).

The impact of the civil conflicts in Sudan has led to the rapid growth of

Christianity during the war period through evangelistic organizations that combined relief with their work of spreading the gospel (Wallis, 2003). The civil war in Sudan led to the

displacement of millions of people, famine, delayed development, separation of families,

loss of properties, and increase in refugees in other countries, international migration and

above all, the loss of lives.

In order to solve religious conflict in Sudan, many religious leaders across the

world have visited Sudan. The late Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, and the Archbishop

69 of Canterbury brought the hope and comfort to the Christians in Sudan, hence leading to more of an influence and the spread of Christianity in Southern Sudan (Wallis, 2003).

Also, Religious intolerance in Sudan, more especially in Southern part, has led to

sympathy among the western countries, thereby providing basic aid for the country to

support those affected by the civil war (Rogers, 2000).

Signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement

January 9th, 2005 brought an end to the Sudanese second civil conflict that lasted

for 21 long years. The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the

Government of the Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement was a historic

moment and a great opportunity for the country; one which all its people should strive to

uphold in order to ensure solid and long-lasting peace. The 9th January Agreement had

ushered in a new era in the history of the Sudan, the region and Africa as a whole. It was

a truly Sudanese product facilitated through a regional effort by the Intergovernmental

1 3

Authority on Development (IGAD) and the international community, particularly the

United States, the United Kingdom, and Norway. The signing of the peace agreement has

left the hope that there is finally going to be religious tolerance, political equality and

equal rights in Sudan.

The agreement granted southern Sudan autonomy and the chance for legal

secession through a referendum in 2011. It also divided the oil revenue equally between

the Khartoum Government and the SPLM. The former rebel (SPLA) was required by the

terms of the agreement to withdraw its forces from the north within eight months. The

13 IGAD- Intergovernmental Authority on Development

70 northern forces were also told to withdraw from the south within two-and-a-half years

(Hogbladh & Wallesnsteen, 2006).

When the former rebel leader-Dr. John Garang de Mabior- was made the first vice president and the president of South Sudan, it was an historic moment because Southern

Sudan's leaders had never before been given such an opportunity. The Vice President was only in power for 21 days after inauguration. Dr. de Mabior died on a plane crash on his way to Southern Sudan and the moment was a big loss and tragic moment for both the

Sudanese and other international communities.

The situation in Sudan is fairly stable now, though there are still tensions going on

in the Darfur and the Abyei region. Sudan has been given six years of interim period before calling for a presidential election which will either leave Sudan as one country or

separate the North from the South. The United Nations have sent their peacekeepers to

Sudan; however, the conflict going on at the moment in the Darfur region is capturing the

attention of the world while leaving the south with little or no attention.

71 CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH FINDINGS

Many internal conflicts in Africa are no longer only felt in regions but rather internationally among the activities of diaspora groups. Homeland conflicts directly

affect the lives of people in the diaspora despite the fact that they are away from their home countries and from conflict zones. Most diasporas are attached to their countries of

origin through lobbying for change in their host countries. They are also engaged in their

homeland affairs by sending remittances both individual and collective. Individual

remittances are those sent to families and relatives to meet subsistence needs like health

care, housing, food, and school fees. Collective remittances are remittances collected

from groups of people living in the diaspora to finance community activities back in the

country of origin (Mohamoud, 2006). These types of remittances can be good and also

can be one of the means of financing and prolonging civil wars in the diaspora's

countries of origin. Consequently, it is important to include diasporas in the

peacebuilding of their home countries because they are likely to contribute towards it

through the creation of new possibilities and opportunities. They may also want to return

home and this might impact host countries as well (Mohamoud, 2006).

After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Sudanese

government and the former rebel groups in January, 2005, many Sudanese thought that

the end of war had come and that there were going to be many changes that could bring

reforms and that could also lead to political, economic and social development. However,

that has not been the case as the poor are still getting poorer and only a handful of people

are benefiting from this process of peace in Sudan. Many Sudanese women have not been

included in decision-making and in policy formation (Stewards of Peace, 2004).

72 How did the Civil Wars in Sudan Affect Sudanese Women?

About 90 percent of the Sudanese women that I interviewed have experienced some or all of the conflicts that Sudan has undergone. Sudanese women have fled Sudan to live in different countries because of the unstable situation in Sudan. Most of them have lived in eastern, western, southern, northern and central Africa, as well as other countries outside Africa. Some have spent thirty to forty years between Sudan and exile. Those who are in their late twenties and younger and living in the diasporas, have little memories about Sudan though they know the history and certainly still remember the horror that they witnessed in Sudan prior to leaving the country. In general, many people that were interviewed lived in Sudan at one point of their lives before relocating to other countries or to other regions of Sudan as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Based on the interviews, ninety nine percent of Sudanese diaspora women are involved in peacebuilding because they want a country that they can call home, where they can go at anytime without being scared for their lives. They also want a country where children can play with toys instead of guns, and where women can walk freely without anybody harassing them. Sudanese women want a country where they can express their feelings without being prosecuted, where there will be tolerance towards religion, race, and ethnicity, and where men and women will work for the common good of the country.

The conflict in Sudan affected men, women, children, youth, boys and girls.

However, Sudanese women felt most of its impact because of the changing roles and responsibilities that they had to take in the absence of their husbands (who in these cases

73 were considered to be the breadwinners of the family), brothers, uncles and other father figures in the households. Sudanese women had suffered during the 22 years of civil war.

Many women and their families were displaced and lived in extreme poverty without access to clean water, energy, sanitation, and little access to livelihood and education.

Eighty percent of Sudanese women who were interviewed have suffered from bombs, rape, sicknesses, hunger, and other aggressions for a long time. During the conflicts, many women and girls were raped and/or disappeared, and have never been

seen again. Pregnant women were either killed by soldiers or forced to abort their babies.

Young women were also trained and taken from their parents as child soldiers. Women

faced many challenges that also cost them their lives and because there were hardly any males left to protect communities and families, it was easy for soldiers to take advantage

of the women. Thirty percent of participants lost their husbands to diseases and others watched as their husbands were shot before their eyes and the eyes of their children. With health care being just not available during the wars and before the wars, it was hard for

many people to survive since they could not get access to health facilities. As a result,

they ended up dying of diseases that could have easily been treated by simple medication

had they only had the means and the access to health facilities.

Fifty percent of participants also lost both parents due to war. Some of their

family members were beaten and forced to carry heavy weights, hence, they died from

fatigue and hunger. One participant explained the situation below:

Most of my relatives died in poverty and I lived in war for all my life and I was hoping for my daughter and family to have freedom, justice and human rights, but with the existence of the Lord's Resistance Army in Sudan, I am worried that they might take my family away who still live in Sudan. We the Sudanese women see

74 no hope in life. When shall we be free from poverty, war, illiteracy, diseases and lack of progress? When shall we sleep in our rooms without fear for our lives? When are we going to be able to educate our children and see them grow? When will our tears be wiped away? When will we ever be happy for being alive? (April 18,2008).

Civil wars in Sudan have led to family separation. Many people were separated from some or all of their family members. As a result, the love and unity of some families has been affected and their way of life had to change. Some of the family members were caught in locations that were not accessible due to the presence of rebels in those areas.

Many women lost the chance of interacting with relatives and getting to know them.

Some women were separated from their children for fifteen years and only saw them when most of them had grown up.

Eighty percent of diaspora women and women living in Sudan were affected by conflict through the lost of opportunity to study and to further their education. Those who managed to complete their studies did so later after many years of struggle. From 2000-

2004, 50% of Sudanese women were illiterate and the percentage is still the same in 2008

(UNESCO, 2005). Many women in Sudan are not educated and this has affected their roles in decision-making and policy formation. Also, many women were married early

and this did not Only make them miss their education but also their childhood.

As a result of war, seventy percent of Sudanese diaspora women are faced with the challenge of having a language barrier. Most of those who started school in Arabic, which is the national language of Sudan, had to start school from the beginning upon their arrival in western countries, and still find it hard to speak the language. However, war has given many Sudanese women the opportunity to travel outside of Sudan where

75 some of them have been able to pursue their education and are now taking part in the reconstruction of Sudan after civil conflicts.

Further, civil conflict in Sudan has led to trauma among many Sudanese women.

Some of those women who immigrated to Canada and other parts of the world still feel

the impact of conflict due to what they witnessed. Many witnessed people being killed in

front of them and bombs falling near them. For example, one participant described her

experience on how rainfall reminds her of the sound of bombs that used to fall from the

plane.

Any time it rains in Canada, I am always traumatized and hardly go out of the house. The sound is terrible; it reminds me of the planes and bombs that used to fall on us. I always feel like running to hide from the sound. Also, whenever I watch television and see people being killed, it reminds me of my own experience. This is hard for me. War is ugly and there is nothing good about it. It creates hatred among people and it creates destructions (April 7, 2008).

Ninety percent of women were displaced and were subjected to all sorts of

challenges. Women living as IDPs came with nothing from their home town and they had

to do what they could in order to survive. They trekked for many miles and young

women had to raise themselves by taking all of the responsibilities that their parents

should have taken. Some ate wild fruits and could only do so once a day since they were

under supervision by rebel groups. Before war, some people used to have enough food

and land that they could cultivate and grow their crops on. However, with the coming of

conflicts, people lacked food, and their land was destroyed. As a result, many farmers

fled to other towns abandoning their land and properties. Most people lost all of their

properties while they were in Sudan; hence, it became difficult to survive in exile. As a

76 result, many women continued to lose their husbands and their families in exile because of stress and hardship.

Furthermore, during the conflicts, not many women had guns and whenever there was an attack at the base where some women were kept while men were at the frontline, women died the most because they had no protection. At times when there were guns, women had little knowledge about guns or were scared to shoot them, resulting in death for the women and their children. As a result, many women ended up with mental sicknesses because of the killings that they witnessed. This also led to the decreased number of women who took part during peace talks since they were still trying to accept the reality and pull their lives together.

What Roles Did Sudanese Women Play During Civil Conflicts in Sudan?

Women played different roles during civil conflicts in Sudan depending on the location that they were caught in. Thirty percent of participants went through military training and became bodyguards to commanders. Other women volunteered or were forced to go to the frontlines where they had to protect themselves with dead bodies so that the bullet could not reach them. Some participants were in the army or simply got married to soldiers because there were no father figures in their families and the only way of protecting their families was by joining rebel groups or by marrying into them.

For those women who were not from Khartoum (the capital city of Sudan) and had no other means of surviving, brewing local beer was the only option to survive since many did not have formal education and were single parents who had no one to turn to for help. This kind of business was risky and considered illegal in an "Islamic Country".

77 About fifty percent of Sudanese women from the South were doing this business in order to provide basic needs for their children. Any time these women were caught by the police, they were arrested with all their children and taken to jail where they had to face the court and be prosecuted for going against Sharia law.

Ninety percent of women played the role of providing families and other people with food who had no access to food. Women left the house in the morning to sell tea along the road and others even went out of the city to look for food while facing many risks such as rape or death as a result of trying to find food for their children. Other women worked in the market in order to help the IDPs with basic needs like transportation, school fees, accommodation, and clothes for prisoners especially those who were from their hometowns.

About twenty percent of participants contributed during armed conflicts by servicing the affected communities in South Sudan as humanitarian workers in the area of child protection. They worked with different humanitarian organizations in which their major responsibilities were geared towards emergency relief management, rehabilitation, development, protection, human rights, administration and management, training and monitoring specific issues on children and women. However, only two percent of women had the opportunity to participate in the Review of the Sudanese Peoples Liberation

Movement of New Sudan laws of 2003 on Gender and Child Friendliness. Also, after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of Sudan in 2005, about one percent of women were hired to analyze policies for the interim period.

78 Ninety percent of women got involved during the war by supporting their spouses behind the scenes who were either in the movements or who were politicians. They

advised their spouses on different issues and accepted to be left behind with the children

as the men were away or busy planning the war. Also, five percent of women participated

in the war by refusing to go to other countries in order to take refuge because they felt

that their presence in war zones gave the men morale to fight and conquer their

'enemies'.

Women who went to exile played an important role in raising awareness among

their host countries by informing them about the war in Sudan. As activists, they talked

openly about the war by going to speak to school children and different people about the

war and why it was urgent for the world to get involved and solve the problem. Other

women participated during the war by sending messages through Red Cross to encourage

people not to give up and to assure them that everything was going to be fine.

Women's roles also involved that of logistics, where they transported ammunition

and food to the frontlines from the base. Some of these women cooked for soldiers,

became their wives, built houses, took care of children, took care of elderly and wounded

soldiers, and headed households, while others became translators for rebel groups or

government forces.

Finally, some women played roles during the conflict through offering

counselling for post-trauma and healing processes, which was done through church

organizations in refugee camps. Those who had the opportunity and connection were able

to attend many workshops and training sessions on peace processes and training for rural

development that could help refugee women in urban areas to gain skills. They were also

79 trained in leadership skills and other formal training where they represented women in different organizations as part of a Southern Sudanese women's organization working for peace.

What are the Priorities for Successful Peacebuilding in Sudan?

I asked the participants what they thought were the most important priorities for peacebuilding in Sudan. The answers varied depending on the kind of person that was asked this question. Sixty percent of women felt that the most important factor was healing and reconciliation. They believed that the war in Sudan caused a lot of hatred among people; people hardly trusted those who were not from their region or ethnic groups. Reconciliation could help with the issue of tribalism in Sudan where people only help those they know because of fear and stereotypes. This issue is said to be affecting peacebuilding in Sudan even after the signing of the peace agreement three years ago.

Gender equality was seen by Sudanese women to be an important factor that could bring equal participation of both men and women. One participant argued that:

If the government of Sudan gave the right of women, not only will peace be in Sudan but also women will be in peace. Islamic law in Sudan is not fair with women, women have no right. We need a clear separation of religion and culture. Let people practice their religion freely and we are tired of being harassed all the time. Whenever we walk with our brothers, we are always told to prove that those are our blood brothers with a piece of identity card (April 27,2008).

Education was another factor that was considered to be important for successful peacebuilding in Sudan. Eighty percent of women feel that since many people in Sudan . are illiterate, it is important that the government and other NGOs encourage both formal and informal types of education so that the population can understand the terms of peace.

80 Education was also seen as crucial in terms of helping in the improvement of living

standards. Many participants believed that the only possible way that they could eradicate

and address poverty was through getting formal education. They argued that it was

necessary for those involved in peacebuilding processes to build more schools in order to

boost the number of children attending schools so that they could educate people on why

peace is important. One interviewee stated that:

Education improves the livelihood of people through the improvement of the economy and provision of employment which help young people to be independent. It also gives young people vocational skills training that might lead to their participation in the decision- making process on issues concerning their lives (March 30,2008).

Another factor that might contribute to effective peacebuilding in Sudan,

according to the participants, is sustained and focused international attention. This was

seen to be pivotal in maintaining the momentum of the peace process since there was the

need to keep the country on course in response to events on the ground in non-linear

character of these transitions. They argued that in doing so, the international community

should not be seen as interfering too much in policy making and day-to-day activities.

The Sudanese themselves should take on major responsibilities for the coordination of

political initiatives and economic development including aid management in terms of

ownership. Also, regional conflict in the Horn of Africa has more often been the by

product of internal conflict. To sustain the framework for peace, other states in the region

should be convinced that peace in Sudan is a collective good that can reduce cross-border

problems and the flow of refugees.

Furthermore, in the current environment in Sudan, peace building is a key element

in ensuring there is a conducive environment for post-conflict recovery, reconstruction

81 and development. While almost everything is a priority, there are issues which stand out and call for urgent interventions. These include support to return, resettlement and reintegration of those who were displaced during the war so they can join their traditional communities and live normal and peaceful lives. This question of returnees must also be handled with care as it is bound to create another conflict in itself. The capacity of receiving communities to absorb individuals and families need to be assessed as even those who remained at home are probably just as needy.

Related is the question of promotion of traditional conflict management mechanisms, and setting up mechanisms to deal with emerging conflicts between returnees and local populations especially around competition for services, resources and

livelihoods. The question of disarmament and demobilization of ex-combatants and reintegrating them into the society is important just as is the question of use and proliferation of small arms, removal of landmines, and conduct of Mine Risk Education.

Also, long years of conflict come with their own challenges, especially the entrenchment

of "a military mentality" where military justice overrides all other justice mechanisms. It

appears as if solutions to all problems are military. This is a major challenge which

should also be addressed with urgency as part of peacebuilding efforts. Also, in a federal

state, the country absolutely requires some kind of power sharing agreement that

empowers the regions at the expense of the Khartoum and capital district. A federal state,

should it be immediately implemented, and might even dissuade the government of

Southern Sudan from voting in favour of secession in 2011.

Transparency is an important element for effective peacebuilding in Sudan. About

seventy percent of women argued that neither GOS nor GOSS have demonstrated a

82 commitment to showing the public where the increasing oil wealth is gone and that China and the countries whose national oil companies are heavily invested in the industry need to 'pressure' Sudan to make the necessary changes.

Further, there is a need for a firm separation between military and government.

The military should serve the civilian authorities and clear civil-military relations need to be established so as to prevent ambiguity as to the roles and responsibilities of the president and the military.

In addition, disarmament was regarded to be helpful with the peacebuilding process in Sudan. According to most of the participants, disarmament would help reduce the amount of illegal arms possessed by people within the communities and which are often used uncontrollably in social fighting, and during disagreement between young people or adults. This often creates general insecurity within communities and in the entire country. The absence of arms and other harmful weapons will help people resolve their differences in a peaceful manner by acknowledging and respecting the law. This is also important during inter-tribal fighting when people often breach the rule of the law.

As a result, people take the law into their own hands to do mob justice such as breaking into prisons, avoiding arrests, getting involved in domestic violence and imprisoning women due to adultery. Disarmament will mean that all those who used to carry guns among civilians have no access to them anymore and this is likely to reduce tension among people who used gun to exploit and harass others, hence civilians will no longer be scared to talk to ex-combatants. For instance, one participant explained that:

The presence of guns in societies that is just recovering from civil wars means that the war is still going on, and the absences of guns symbolize peace. The

83 availability of guns cause harm to people around them. For example, a simple misunderstanding or disagreement between a man and his wife for things that could have been solved without any problem, will make the man pull out his gun to threaten or sometimes kill his wife. This is because his strength is measured by his gun. Women are scared when there are guns in their houses, hence, gender violence in communities continue to rise. Long before civil wars in Sudan, people never used to see guns everywhere in their societies because at that time, guns were not meant to threaten and kill civilians (April 2, 2008).

However, not every woman that was interviewed felt so strongly about disarmament. Forty percent of participants argued that taking guns from ex-combatants was one way of helping the society but that even with the absence of guns, women were still being beaten and killed in many communities in Sudan. They thought that the best way was to have a law that could advocate for women and eliminate all sorts of gender violence. They also felt that guns were one of the weapons that could harm people; however, there were still knives and other harmful objects that could kill. As a result, there was a need for women's empowerment through economic development. Some women due to poverty still chose to stay in houses where they were being abused and by giving them other ways of surviving, this could help them escape the reality of their world.

In addition, the challenge of disarmament is that it has not worked well in Sudan yet. The process is very discriminatory. The government of Sudan and that of Southern

Sudan is said to only disarm communities that are not well represented in power sharing.

Many of those in politics have not disarmed their communities. As a result, those with guns are going into other communities without guns to threaten and attack people. In order for disarmament to take place, it has to be applied to all communities so as to prevent further outbreak of war in communities and in Sudan as a whole. There is also the need to look at the root causes of the conflict. However, the major challenges will be

84 to make peace as inclusive as possible and transform the CPA into a deal that can be

"owned" not only by the parties that signed the agreement, but also by those who did not take part in the talks, including civil society and the Sudanese population at large.

Further, rehabilitation is crucial for the peacebuilding purpose since this is a general therapy for both the victims and offenders. This will help clear the mental and sometimes physical effects of war. Rehabilitation will be based on the different types and approaches to rehabilitation in Sudan's context (e.g. traumatized children and adults, war wounded/disabled). Rehabilitation will also help reduce the rate of grudge and the desire for revenge that exists among the people. Transforming people through counselling will ease tension and allow people to start to build trust. Sending people who committed atrocities to other areas will help communities to overcome the memories of war and move past what they encountered during the conflict. Demobilized and war affected communities have to be rehabilitated so that the trauma of war can be overcome so as to channel their energies into productive nation building.

Reconstruction is a major prerequisite for peacebuilding in the sense that this will help speed the shift in the mindset of the people from conflict into more useful activities; which will occupy people's thinking and energy, in which the tangible results of reconstruction often carries a great weight as far as people's perceptions are concerned.

Also, reconstruction is very important as many of those who made sacrifices during the war and the communities expect peace dividends or else they will feel the war was not worth their sacrifice and may simmer rebellion. Building hospitals, schools, nice buildings, and other infrastructures in place will give the impression to people that there is a way to live other than fighting and destroying everything that was put in place. For

85 example, there is evidence showing that many conflicts in Africa happens in countries that have stagnant economic growth and high prevalence of poverty despite being rich in natural resources (Raymond, 1994). If there are no proper infrastructures put in place, and better living standard, people will continue to strive for scarce resources. As a result,

there is a great need for the construction of roads and other infrastructures that might

serve as a quick means of enhancing the economy and development of Sudan.

According to many participants, demobilization is important to peacebuilding

because it is likely to create a reduction in the number of soldiers and military personnel

within communities or in the country where militaries' presence often scares the

civilians. Turning the military into civilians is the beginning of real peace because there

will be no ex-rebel having the power of control and this will make everything normal for

civilians. Child soldiers in this case will have the opportunity to reintegrate into

communities and attend school. Also, many women during the interview argued that

some military people often misuse their role or profession by intimating civilians

unnecessarily while others use their profession as a source of power among civilians or

within communities. However, they felt that the process has to be done in the right

manner. If demobilization is not done properly, it may cause a risk to the peace process

because those who are demobilized may become unhappy and cause unrest within

communities. Also, they have to be given a sufficient package that can allow them to

reintegrate back into their communities with dignity and become productive citizens. This

is not going to be easy; therefore, the government needs to create ready opportunities

which will encourage ex-combatants to live normal civilian lives.

86 Overall, ninety two percent of women feel that peacebuilding is more than putting infrastructures in place. To them, it encompasses solving the underlining causes of conflict, rebuilding societies, encouraging healing and reconciliation, improving the lives of the poor, and putting laws in place that can protect women against all sorts of violence.

Peacebuilding will also only be successful when people are united in Sudan since division among Sudanese is still an obstacle to peace. Many participants feel that it is important for people in Sudan to know that despite their ethnic groups, they are all

Sudanese and that those who fought in the battle should not blame those who were away

(diasporas) and could not participate directly in the war.

What does Peacebuilding Mean to Sudanese Women and what is their State of Involvement?

In the second part of the interview, I asked participants why they wanted peace.

Almost every woman talked about peace being important for the wellbeing of their children. Do women want peace so that their children can live safely and grow up in a safe environment? Based on the interviews, there was a clear relation between peace and motherhood. Peacebuilding to many Sudanese women meant safety for their children, unity, understanding, access to basic human needs, solidarity, participation and representation of women at all levels.

Women in Sudan and in the diaspora see peacebuilding as a chance of equal opportunities, reconciliation and development. It is an end to war and the beginning of a good life. Peacebuilding also means that women can go ahead and move past their experiences during conflicts. Peace means happiness to many women who were interviewed. Eighty percent of women said that having a peaceful country was the only

87 way they could be free and see their children grow without fear of possible risks and threats. They want to be able to raise their children in harmony and want their children will be able go to school. Some of these women also stated that they fear war because their children might die or be taken to frontlines, and if it was not for war, these children could have become doctors, engineers, or politicians and been able to help their parents.

Besides, some women argued that peacebuilding is related to them because by nature they are more peaceful than men. Many Sudanese women during civil conflicts were able to move more easily between 'enemy' lines and cooperated more with other women for trading purposes, and for peace resolution as peace activists. As a result, having a peaceful country means that there will be more tolerance between ethnic communities. For instance, one participant argued that:

When you put two toys for little children, you will discover how a little girl will like to play with the peaceful toy while a boy will run for the one that describes raff games—I mean that women are born peaceful and behind every strong man, there is a woman. Peace is life, staying in a country without peace basically means that you have no life and you are dead inside and waiting for the physical part of the body to die. Peace is second nature to women (April 15, 2008).

Finally, peacebuilding to women means that there will be no violation of their rights, there will be availability of basic needs, and they will be able to participate in peacebuilding activities and also in decision-making. With peace, women will be seen as agents of change as opposed to victims of war. Some women feel that peacebuilding will bring freedom where they will be able to reunite with their families who are either living as IDPs or refugees in other countries. Peacebuilding will also mean that there will be more opportunities for women through access to health care, education, food, land and through initiatives that will alleviate poverty through micro finance projects. A culture of

88 peace will also mean that women will not have to encounter patriarchy that gives women less option to better their lives in Sudan.

Furthermore, the state of women's involvement in peacebuilding is still an area of debate. Most participants do not see their role in peacebuilding as being important. Based on the findings of this research, there are some basic initiatives being undertaken to increase the role of women in peacebuilding though there is still need for more participation, representation of women and commitment from those involved in the process. Sudanese women contribute prominently to peacebuilding through civil society; however they are largely excluded from both the North-South and Darfur peace negotiations. Neither the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement nor the May 2006

Darfur Peace Agreement provided guarantees for women's participation in the implementation processes. Women are under-represented at national and local levels, and even stated commitments to their participation in formal government structures have not been fulfilled.

Women are mostly involved in peace dialogue at the inter-tribal levels. For example, women from Jonglei state (found in Southern Sudan) held a conference on the problem of insecurity in the area on issues like inter-tribal fighting and abduction of children and young women. The women agreed that they were not going to support their men in some of the practices like abduction of children, by refusing to accept these abducted children in their communities. However, at the national level, women are not frequently involved in peace agendas.

The state of women's involvement in peacebuilding is not adequate, though it is

encouraging. For example, more and more women are involved in conflict resolutions.

89 Women, more than ever, are involved in governance, politics and civil society activities.

Many women in Sudan are still involved at grassroots levels where they organize themselves to explain the meaning of peace and peacebuilding and its importance to their communities. For example, one participant explained this situation below:

Women are now saying no to war, they are tired of suffering, and they want to live descent lives. Women want peace and this is happening because women are now talking to each other about their experiences of war saying that they have suffered enough and they do not want war any more. If the politicians want to fight, let them go to the field and fight among themselves. Women want those who sit at the table to solve all their problems through non-violent means (April 2, 2008).

Sudanese women do not always measure their outcomes and most of them are not

considering their involvement to be beneficial. Peacebuilding not being tangible or

quantitative can only be measured mostly by looking at the levels of the reduction in

conflicts. Sudanese women are devastated from nearly twenty years of war; from the

violence that destroys husband, children, and a total way of life. These women are open

to change, and they have a collective social capacity to effect change. When given in

marriage, women link families across communities and, sometimes, ethnic lines. Women

are at the center of Sudanese family-life. As the center and as a link, women acquire an

intimate knowledge of relationships in the broader community. In learning to use this

knowledge for the common good, as women have discovered, they can break the chain of

armed inter-ethnic violence link by link.

Also, during the war, most women did not know when the wars started. However,

they soon discovered that they had an underlying influence within the community that

was powerful enough to move entire groups toward creating an environment that would

90 encourage change. Measuring outcomes of such initiatives is difficult as they usually take a lot of time to realize.

Similarly, I asked my participants about the kinds of contributions they thought women make towards peacebuilding in Sudan. There were different answers given to this question. Seventy percent of women said that women can play a role in the economy through participation in business and playing major/leading roles in the finance sectors through their participation in all the planning forums, formation of women/community based organizations, and sensitization of communities for a peaceful co-existence.

Women can also play a role in educating the youth on life skills and by taking the lead in sensitization of the communities on hygiene and sanitation. To support this idea, one participant argued that:

Women can educate the society for the need of people to live in harmony with one another. They can use their distinctive characteristics and experiences that they acquired during conflicts to give ideas of how Sudan can remain peaceful. Women can work together with men to form policies and talk about issues that affect them. They can also join together to condemn bad vices like harassment, abuse, violence, and rape in their communities (May 4,2008).

Currently, Sudanese women within Sudan as well as those displaced in neighbouring countries are playing a significant role in strengthening civil society and in building local and community capacity to promote peace. The effort being made to promote girls education and adult education directed at women is also key in preparing women for leadership roles and participation in peace building initiatives. The recent effort by women in Southern Sudan to form women's groups and identify areas where they can make positive post-conflict reconstruction is all positive. Regardless of this

91 effort, there is still more that needs to be done to increase women's involvement in peacebuilding. Some participants stated that:

Women have to voice their opinion, and if they do not, who will do it for them? Women are mothers and without their involvement there will be no peace in Sudan. Men cannot head every aspect of the society, hence, women have to challenge this notion and move ahead in terms of development and they should talk about issues affecting them and making them lag behind their counterparts. They can also work hand in hand with men, and speak out (April 15,2008).

The other issue women talked about during the interview was unity. They believed that women need to unite among themselves so that they can voice their opinions on peacebuilding in Sudan. Women could lead the reconciliation and anti- corruption efforts, engage in inter-clan, inter-tribal community peace dialogues, and contribute to food security through cultivation. Women can also work in the professional spheres and help in delivery of services and policy formulation. However, not every participant felt that women could do much to contribute to peacebuilding because of past histories. They argued that some women were in positions where they could have helped others. However, they ended up excluding themselves from other women. For example, one woman during the interview illustrated:

I think the major contribution women can make is to constantly remind everyone of the horrors of war. By remembering how bad the civil war was, the fear of it resuming, rather than the establishment of positive peace, might keep the parties together. Beyond that, I doubt there is very much they can do. Remember that in some ways women in conflict in some African states have behaved similarly to men where they have served their own interest first without caring for the wider population (May 18,2008).

Women in the diaspora can play major roles in creating change from outside the country since many women living in Sudan are scared to talk about their lives and the bad experiences that they are having in Sudan. Diaspora women can also reach out to the

92 international community since many of those in Sudan are scared to talk about the situation because of fear for their lives. Women in the diaspora should encourage those in

Sudan since they cannot tell women in Sudan what to do because they might be rejected.

They can also involve themselves by giving advice to women living in Sudan and supporting them financially. This money can be used for schools where it will help in educating children and providing basic needs for the poor.

How do Sudanese Diaspora Women Contribute Towards the Post-Conflict Reconstruction of Sudan?

I asked participants about the kinds of contributions they were making towards the post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan. About ninety percent of those women that were interviewed were doing activities that could be considered peacebuilding activities.

However, they did not know that some of their activities were important and could contribute positively to Sudan. Those who sent money back to Sudan almost every month, still thought that they were not contributing.

The main contribution of diaspora women to the post-conflict reconstruction of

Sudan is through remittances. Eighty percent of these women work two to three jobs in order to help their families and communities back in Sudan and in other refugee camps.

These remittances are often sent for family Or community members for different reasons.

Those who sent money to their families help them through the provision of basic human needs. Money sent to communities is used to educate and facilitate workshops that help women get skills that can help them become independent.

93 Furthermore, diaspora women contribute towards peacebuilding through different forums and networks. They use these forums and different networks to challenge governments in Sudan so that they change their attitude and help the country move towards development. These forums and networks also encourage women discuss current issues happening in Sudan as a result for their quest for good governance and democracy.

These women's groups thus sometimes send people to Sudan to monitor the situation.

They also put pressure on leaders by writing letters to them in order to condemn their

actions against civilians in Sudan.

Thirty percent of diaspora women contribute to post-conflict Sudan through their

profession. They work in Sudan towards improving the livelihood of women and children

in Sudan; thus, contributing to the Millennium Development Goals14 which encompass

reconstruction. Those working for organizations such as the United Nations Children

Funds are committed to ensuring that children are all demobilized from the military; have

access to basic services such as education, health, clean drinking water and recreational

activities; and are protected from all sorts of abuse including sexual and any other kind of

abuse which can hamper the child's development both physically and mentally. They also

provide office support to the government both through capacity building initiative and the

provision of financial and material support.

In terms of advocacy on human rights, they support through enhancing

government capacity in development of systems, policies and legislations to protect child

and women's rights in particular. Most of their roles are within the category of women's

14 MDGs- Millennium Development Goals

94 empowerment through their activities in trying to help women achieve social, economic, and political development. They also advocate of human rights and support other women in the provision of social services. Diaspora women need to be engaged more in peacebuilding through the appreciation of their activities towards post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan.

Forty percent of women argued that their contributions are effective in the sense that it is changing the mindset of the people from violence to be more oriented towards peace. For example, negative treatment and abuse of children through early marriage, sexual abuse, imprisonment, child labour, among others is changing as a result of the constant advocacy carried out by grassroots women through awareness raising both among government officials and the communities.

Women's contributions towards peacebuilding have led to the creation of more forums and networks. Networking is creating a voice of solidarity where Sudanese women are now advocating for the common good of the country. Also, women's contributions towards peacebuilding through remittances is helping families and communities by providing basic needs like education, shelter, health care, and clean water.

In brief, women's contributions towards peacebuilding in Sudan might not be perceived by the Sudanese society as effective because of the underestimation of women's roles not only in Sudan, but also in other parts of the world. The government of

Sudan and all civil society organizations working in Sudan should find a way in which they could include women's activities through their grassroots organization so that this could help women appreciate their contributions towards peacebuilding. Most women's

95 activities are done individually or through community organizations. These activities help poor families in Sudan who have not yet yielded the fruits of the peace agreement because of little formal recognition of their activities through their grassroots organizations.

What kinds of Challenges Hinders Sudanese Women's Contributions and how do they Overcome them?

There are many challenges facing Sudanese women living in Sudan and in the diaspora in their effort to participate in the rebuilding of Sudan. These challenges include factors such as limited resources, incapacity of government officials and the communities to improve living standards of the poor. There is also the problem of limited technical knowledge among the partners and counterparts as a result of limited communication facilities to reach the entire population mainly the grassroots people who are the main stakeholders.

Also, living in the diaspora is very difficult to many Sudanese women. There are many challenges associated with it. Not every Sudanese who came to the diaspora had the manpower (knowledge, education and expertise) to live a better life. Life is a struggle for many and they have to work hard in order to pay their bills and to help their families in Sudan. The fact that they work, go to school and support families (nuclear and external family), while trying to be members of the community, is becoming a challenge to many women. They explained that sacrificing to send remittances to their families back in

Sudan means that one has to cut the budget. One participant explains the situation below:

I work so hard to help family back home and to help myself here while at the same time taking courses at school. I am a single mother and I spend less time with my own family because I have to work and send money home. I have been in

96 a position where I had nothing and nobody could help, hence I feel that if I do not help those people, who else will help them? (April 27,2008).

A language barrier is another challenge facing many women coming from Sudan especially those living in English speaking countries. Eighty percent of Sudanese women came to the diaspora without the language of the country in which they now live. As a result, this makes it hard for them to find jobs and to further their education. Some women described how they have lived in Canada for more than eight years and still cannot speak English fluently. This is due to the many responsibilities that they have, especially taking care of their families in Sudan. They hardly pay attention in centres for

Learning English a Second Language (ESL) because by the time they go to school, they are too tired to concentrate. Some use their school fees to help their families while putting their futures at stake. As a result, many women are finding it is very frustrating, and believe these difficulties slow their ability to participate in peacebuilding.

Poverty is another factor undermining women's efforts. Their families and community members keep getting poor because the government hardly creates opportunities in which these people can become independent and help themselves. They believe that it is hard to tell people back home that they do not have money since most people have the perception that if one lives in a western country, they are rich and capable of helping others. One participant happened to go to Sudan and she describes the situation below:

When you travel to many rural areas in Sudan, the first thing you see is poverty. When looking at women in poverty, the only thing that one does is to pity them. You can see poverty on the media but when you see it in person and in their eyes, it is discouraging and disturbing. So we have to keep helping them until the day our government will be able to provide and distribute resources to the poor (April 2, 2008).

97 Some women in some cases have taken money set aside for basic needs and sent it to their families. This is because they had experienced living in poverty when they were in Sudan and they know how it feels when one does not have anyone to turn to. They know that there are no food banks and government housing for low income families like what is found in many western countries where poor people can find help. As a result, some of them work for eight hours or more a day and get paid minimum wages which are divided to relatives in three or more countries, and the remaining money is left for basic needs. For many, this kind of life is frustrating and delays their settlement in their host countries. As a result, they end up with too many responsibilities and little progress for themselves.

For women working in the area of women and child protection, harmful traditional practices in Sudan undermines their efforts. These traditional practices do not promote the rights of the child where competing priorities in the government places children's issues at a lower agenda. Also, funding put aside for such programmes is largely used for emergency related activities and hardly for programs that deal with development of systems to protect children through policy and legislation. There is also the lack of support from present systems of governments whose priorities are bigger and inadequately has physical presence on the ground.

However, women in the diaspora have managed to find ways in which to deal with challenges that are affecting their ability to contribute to the reconstruction of

Sudan. Those from the diaspora, working in Sudan at the moment, deal with different challenges by making constant advocacy and frequent travels to affected areas. They also put up structure in place to help address these issues. They also get involved in active

98 advocacy to ensure that children's issues get attention from government and other civil society organization working in Sudan.

Furthermore, some women talk to their spouses about the situation where they encourage one another and find solutions. The fact that some women did not have the chance to go to school makes them feel that they have to help their relatives and their communities. In fact, dealing with these challenges and rinding solutions to them is entirely based on individual people and groups.

Were Sudanese Women involved in the Peace Processes?

Ninety percent of the Sudanese women that were interviewed did not participate during peace processes. Women were not involved in peace processes for different reasons. Firstly, many women were not invited and included and those who attended these processes had connections with high ranking soldiers or were those who were put there to make it seem that women were fully represented. Secondly, some women did not take part in peace processes because of other personal commitments. Some wanted to take time to reunite and take care of their children after a long period of separation. Still though, these women paid attention to what people were saying about Sudan and its peace processes. In addition, they kept talking about the agreement by telling people of their communities about the importance of peace and development. By advocating for girls' education, they also encouraged children to go to school and ensure a good future for themselves.

Even though not every woman participated in formal peace processes in Sudan,

sixty percent of those interviewed contributed ideas through forums. For example, some

99 Sudanese women participated in seminars/conference and provided recommendations during assessments/surveys. Some participated in demonstrations on the rights of the

Southern Sudanese people and their aspirations for peace. They organized different rallies, workshops, meetings, gatherings, demonstrations, and created awareness through media. They also made the world know how much the people of Sudan were suffering.

Twenty percent of women spoke about the peace process in Sudan by agreeing to be interviewed by different media on how many Sudanese women needed a peace that could last forever and not like the previous peace agreement that did not last in the past.

Some Sudanese women also were involved through women's groups that basically worked and advocated for peace in Kenya. These groups still make sure that the CP A is implemented by making the general masses aware of their duties and responsibilities during this interim period and what is expected of them.

Fifty percent of my participants were in Kenya at the time of the signing of the peace agreement and managed to attend peace talks even though not all of them were invited. Some of these women went to peace talk meetings either to cheer the leaders or to show that they were around and wanted good representation. Only one woman out of forty two women that I interviewed was fully involved from the beginning of the peace processes to the signing of the peace agreement. About three women out of those interviewed participated in the drafting of the first Interim Constitution of Southern

Sudan as members of the Southern Sudan Constitutional Drafting Committee.

With the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, eighty percent of women are still not involved directly though they do support most of the policies put in place on human rights and the rights of women in Sudan. Some women are involved

100 through their work as humanitarian workers in the provision of basic services to the women and children in South Sudan which contributes towards the achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the enhancement of the CPA dividend.

Women in Sudan are involved in peace processes for different objectives. Most of their goals are to have a developed and conflict-free Sudan. Some hope to provide a child friendly environment throughout the entire Sudan where children can be fully protected, enjoy their childhood and grow into healthy and responsible adults. They also participate in order to advocate and lobby on human rights and good governance so that communities can be empowered, know their rights and participate in good governance, which is at the cornerstone of the peace documents. Most of their involvement is periphery, where they get involved with communities inside Sudan in education and developmental programs in order to ensure that the peace process holds its dividends.

They were also involved in the peace processes in order to make sure that people

are sensitized to what is expected of them during this period, and that women and

children who suffered greatly during the war should have their voices heard by also

getting involved in the peace process. Many women got involved inthe peace process

hoping that an everlasting peace in Sudan could be realized and a peace that will bring

development to the people in Sudan as a whole.

Based on the interviews, ninety percent of Sudanese diaspora women are

committed to Sudan's peace processes. They are committed as citizens to Sudan's peace

process in the sense that they have keen interests on the improvement of the livelihood of

people through development and the reconstruction of Sudan in any possible way that

101 they can afford or perform best. For instance, for those who work with children, they are committed to ensuring that children are all demobilized from the military; have access to basic services such as education, health, clean drinking water and recreational activities; and are protected from all sorts of abuse including sexual and any other kind of abuse which can hamper the child's development both physically and mentally.

Sudanese Diasporas, Justice and Reconciliation

The question that guided these responses was the idea of Sudanese diasporas maintaining strong connections with their country of origin. Ninety nine percent of participants felt that it was necessary for people in the diaspora to take part in the social, economic and political affairs of Sudan even if they were not living there. They felt that the diaspora by maintaining connection with Sudan after emigrating will grant the continuity of their links with their homeland. Besides, this will build the spirit of nationalism as a result of frequent communication that will link them with events back in

Sudan and enhance their participation in bringing changes. One participant argued:

How do you know where you are going if you do not know where you are coming from? They are part of us and we have to keep in touch. Even if there is war in Sudan and there is no better story about it, it is still our home and we love it and we will never forget it. I believe refugees and immigrants have a strong role to play in supporting initiatives back home in building the social security network and developing small businesses (May 22, 2008).

Immigrants and refugees from Sudan basically flee their country because of war

and persecution and coming abroad does not mean that they have erased the history of

being part of the country. They might have left some close family or even distant

relatives and they cannot just forget about them and pretend that everything is fine.

Forgetting about Sudan will be ignoring the problems that they can create solutions to by

102 advocating for the country to use the right path to bring democracy and development.

Also, Sudan needs human resources. Every skill that they have acquired in the diaspora might help rebuild the country after conflict.

I also asked the participants whether people in the Sudanese diaspora should go through counselling upon their arrival from Sudan. This answers varied. Some agreed that refugees have encountered a lot of challenges and witnessed some of the violence at first hand, and that leaving them to settle into communities and live like any other normal person was not very safe for the communities in which they settled and also for themselves. They believed lack of counselling could increase the level of suicide given the demand and the pressure of Sudanese diaspora to live a normal live. Also, counselling was viewed as one of the good remedies to refugees. Some women argued that many of these people might be in need of talking to someone and this could help them build trust since many "of them lived through suspicion of the 'enemies'. However, this was said to be completely voluntary.

In many ways, refugees in other countries had more chances to undergo some form of healing although it was not very adequate due to limited finances and taboos around being seen to have psychological problems particularly for men. In addition, coming back to their own countries and engaging in nation building, returnees are perceived with suspicion by those who were left behind to fight the war. Therefore, the need for rehabilitation and adequate treatment for physical or psychological harm is crucial to many people. This is true because the refugees are unaware that they might have a problem or that such services are available.

103 In addition, eight percent of women that were interviewed felt that justice and reconciliation was important not only to people living in Sudan but also to those in the diasporas. This was seen to enhance their co-existence within their communities in which they have resettled. For those planning to return back home, this would help change their thinking and help them go home with a more positive mindset which could enhance the peacebuilding process in Sudan.

Sixty percent of participants also thought that it would be encouraging to have

Healing, Truth and Reconciliation Commission to Southern Sudan, Northern Sudan and

to Sudan as a whole so that people could move beyond their pasts. Justice could help in

educating people especially leaders to avoid committing atrocities against civilians in the

future. It would also serve as a major instrument towards peacebuilding because the

tension and grudge would reduce.

However, justice might not be an easy path especially where many communities

are still heavily armed. Justice might result in more violence as loyalties are tribally

aligned and prosecuting leaders from a certain tribe may result in tribes taking up arms

and fighting other communities. This could only work well if such leaders could rise up

and acknowledge their wrongdoing and ask for forgiveness. One participant stated that:

Justice should apply to Sudanese diaspora as it will serve as a rehabilitation measure and will hence reduce the rate of grudge that people still carry even while in the diaspora. The diaspora are reflections of what is inside Sudan; sometimes vise versa. Anyone who might have harmed someone when they were in their country should be brought to justice just like those in Sudan (May 16,2008).

Overall, justice and reconciliation is seen as an important element among the

Sudanese diaspora that could facilitate the peacebuilding process. About ninety percent of

those women who were interviewed and are living in Sudan, have started to move beyond

104 what they went through during the conflict. For example, many people from the south are now seeing people from the north regularly through businesses and sharing common goals of trying to make life better for their families. However, most Sudanese diaspora left Sudan when war was still going on, and with the coming of peace in Sudan, they have not witnessed and seen people from both sides mixing together. As a result, it is necessary that reconciliation be applied to Sudanese diaspora community so that they can start to contribute positively towards peacebuilding. On the other hand, the question of justice being applied on diaspora is still an area of debate because of fear of revenge. For example, someone might be persecuted in the diaspora for their wrongdoing; however, this might affect relatives of those who were involved in Sudan, especially where there is still tension and guns in the hands of ex-combatants.

Lessons that Sudanese Women have Learned from Sudan's Wars

Armed conflicts have influenced the lives of women in Sudan just like in many other parts of developing countries where conflicts have occurred. The influence of conflicts on women's lives in Sudan is wide ranging. The most obvious one is that these conflicts have tended to have greater impacts and influences on women than on men.

Firstly, mothers had become heads of households and taken responsibility for all aspects of the family since men joined the fighting forces. These responsibilities, coming in the wake of meagre resources for the home, created an immense pressure on women.

Moreover, many of such women found themselves in refugee camps where life itself was not easy at all.

105 Secondly, because of the added domestic responsibilities, while many women looked for jobs and engaged in other income generating activities such as petty trade, the level of earnings from such activities simply helped the family to minimally survive, without any savings at all. Moreover, men who were mostly engaged in the fighting only returned once in a while to claim share of such earnings in order to make ends meet. This made the financial situation even more difficult for women at home and the families the families they were trying to support.

Also, looking at war situation from a positive angle, it certainly helped Sudanese women to adopt an independent posture, an attribute that has led most to survive the harsh realities of the impact of the war. With most women having lost their husbands during the conflicts, the resilience developed by the Sudanese women to cope with the harsh realities of life is a matter that calls for more in depth analysis.

Furthermore, Sudanese women and women in other parts of Africa have responded to armed conflicts in different ways. Sudanese women who have borne the brunt of the conflict have responded to the challenges in various measures, depending on the circumstances they have found themselves in and the nature of the severity of the impact. For example, some women, where they could afford, have used the absence of the men to further their educational careers, something that would probably not have been possible if the men were not in the bush fighting.

Also, the war circumstances contributed to women shouldering the burden of taking care of the family. They were responsible for all aspects of bringing up children without the support of male members of the family. The positive side of this is that with

106 their experience, women in Sudan are now leading in various aspects of child care, and are taking the lead in advocating for the rights of children and youth. The challenge however, is to sustain this effort as men begin to take greater role in the society and enforce traditional male dominance.

External actors in post-conflict situations in Sudan have attempted to address women's concern through different means. Several external actors are aware of the important role women play in post-war situations, and also recognize the factors that impede their effective participation in post war reconstruction and recovery. In this regard, attempts have been made to form women's groups, support initiatives, including those related to income generation, and enhanced advocacy to ensure reach out to a greater number of women so that they can understand and appreciate their role in post war Sudan. Some of these activities are also aimed at enhancing women's participation in the political process. Other areas where efforts have been made include support to the resettlement of returning refugees, and recognition that war disrupted these people's lives and they now have to start life all over again.

There are indications that the emerging political system in Southern Sudan will to some degree recognize and protect women's rights. Firstly, the current political establishment has allocated on a proportional basis, a percentage of political positions at various levels which must be occupied by women. The challenge here however, is that while these positions exist, it may not be possible to get well qualified women to take them up. So, some of these affirmative action must be complemented by well designed training and orientation for women to ensure they have the necessary knowledge and skills to play their roles effectively.

107 Also, it is becoming apparent that the role of women in the Sudan and other

African political dispensation can no longer be over-looked. The long-term strategy here is to ensure education of girls is given priority. Political and other conflict related challenges in several parts of Africa cannot be ruled out, and as men most likely get sucked into direct participation in such conflicts, the role of women in managing the affairs of the society is increasing by the day.

Women's Self-Help Groups in Sudan

Women's self-help groups strengthen women's participation in the development of communities and the approaches to problem solving. They also help urban and rural grassroots women's groups identify and share their successful development approaches and methods globally. These women's groups increase opportunities for local women's groups and leaders to network directly across national boundaries. It can also be viewed as ways for groups to expand their range of activities in order to foster participation, grow, and learn. It links groups in providing housing, sanitation, water, transport, and other infrastructure. These different groups enhance community accountability, children and family support services, and strengthen women's direct involvement in local government's planning, implementation, and monitoring processes (GROOTS, 2007).

Women's self-help groups are also aimed at enabling women and youth to engage in micro-credit enterprises which will allow them to become self-sustainable in the long run.

The majority of women's groups in Sudan raise money by doing general work, which consists mainly of farm activities such as clearing bush, sowing, weeding, and

108 harvesting. Farm work is the most popular means for raising money for various projects.

Basket making and needlework are other activities done to raise money.

The groups undertake a wide variety of social and economic activities. Their secondary objectives include the expansion of education, health services, and natural resources. They also serve as a form of social insurance, often supporting members faced with unexpected hardship especially after the end of conflicts where many people find it hard to cope with changes.

These organizations in Sudan and in the diaspora are involved in promoting educational skills among Sudanese woman through adult education. They also involve in supportive roles in all aspects of Sudanese woman. They reach as many women as possible in rural Sudan, and they open branches in many areas to be able to get in involved in educational, health and economic activities of communities. They train women's leaders to sensitive Sudanese women of their rights and also involving the participation of the men in such activities as well. These groups help in unifying different tribes and groups inside and outside Sudan (May 3, 2008).

These groups usually form different committees who deal with different concerns

such as water, harvesting, food, schooling, health, investment, security, culture,

afforestation, and soil conservation. Each committee plans activities and share the plans

with the rest of the members for approval and implementation. Women are usually the

majority in these committees and in the daily operations of the group. The men do

participate in these groups but they at times acknowledge the leadership of women who

have been elected because of competence and leadership qualities. Women's self-help

groups have ambitious plans to further improve their social and economic circumstances.

However, women are caught in the contradiction of institutions that both protect

and oppress them and this is the kind of dilemma facing women in Africa today

(Mwaniki, 1990). The greatest threats to the sustainability of these self-help groups come

109 from external factors such as civil conflicts, droughts, resource scarcity, poverty, and political incitement, as well as internal factors such as unfavourable group dynamics and illiteracy.

Some of the challenges facing women in production include limited access to and control of land, which is one of the crucial production resources and labour and credit.

There is also the challenge of the lack of female extension staff, agricultural policies favouring male farmers, and male-dominated income-generating projects. As a result of male migration in search of jobs in other parts and continuous conflicts in Sudan, domestic and agricultural responsibilities are becoming a burden on women where it is

affecting their groups. This results in poor attendance at group activities, which might result in a cut back in income that could have improved the lives of these women. For

example, one woman explained some of the challenges affecting women's groups below:

Generally, things are very slow inside Sudan. We do not have enough presence on the ground inside Sudan. Also identifying other groups that we can work with is very difficult because of lack of communication and poor infrastructure to access people. We have a conference coming up in August, where we hope to identify groups that we can work together in Juba. Hopefully, we can reach as many women and lives as possible (May 8, 2008).

Food shortages, water scarcity, and inadequate nutrition are other serious

problems faced by women's groups. During long periods of drought, much time and

energy is expended on efforts to acquire food and water. Food shortages also cause

nutritional problems, especially among children, forcing mothers to spend time attending

health clinics with their children.

Also, another problem facing some women's groups is poor organization and

weak leadership, leading to internal squabbling, fights for leadership and allegations of

110 misappropriation of group funds. Some of the group leaders usually demand large amount of money for their allowance and this leads to conflict among the members between those who are educated and illiterate. In order to tackle these challenges, there is the need to enhance local resources where women can employ more human resources, expand the community resources, and increase productivity of local resources. There is also the need for radical change in the institutional structure of the dominant system and its neo-liberal model of macroeconomic policies.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Peacebuilding in Sudan

Having lived and seen the work that UNICEF15 was doing in Sudan and in other parts of Africa, I was eager to interview some people who were working with UNICEF.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was formed in 1946 to address the educational emergency needs of children in emergencies, from where it derived its original name (United Nations International Children Educational Fund). Over the years, it transformed itself into a major child protection, development and rights protection agency. UNICEF has a global mandate for children and women, premised on two major conventions. The first is the Rights of the Child (CRC) where UNICEF has the responsibility to assist host governments to promote protect and develop all the rights of children. These rights include among others, right to life, health, education and protection. The second convention is the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination

against Women (CEDAW) where UNICEF works with host governments, civil society

'5 UNICEF- United Nations Children's Fund

111 and donors to ensure women are given equal opportunity as men in all aspects of development (UNICEF, 2008).

UNICEF has been in Sudan since the start of the 1980s. In the North, it provides both development and emergency assistance. In the South, UNICEF works under the

"Operation Lifeline Sudan-OLS, which focused mainly on humanitarian assistance to the war-affected populations. With its Nairobi-based office, this kind of support continued until 2005 when UNICEF officially moved some of its Southern Sudan Operations to

Juba. In addition to its Juba office, UNICEF also maintains Zonal Offices in Rumbek,

Yambio, Wau and Malakal.

In Sudan, UNICEF assists the government on emphasizing on the Millennium

Development Goals of reducing infant mortality, and maternal mortality. The vision of

UNICEF focuses on access of children to school and the number of children who remain after their enrolment. It also focuses on the number of children who have been

immunized against the childhood killer diseases and those who have access to proper medical care and proper nutrition. In the recent past, HIV/AIDS has become one of the

major killer diseases for children. The pandemic has taken a centre stage in the UNICEF

vision, meaning it works with governments to address prevention, care and treatment of

children and women affected by HIV/AIDS. Protection and providing a protective

environment for children and women forms a major vision for UNICEF as well, because

without this, the rest of other interventions will only have limited impact. Some of these

protective issues, which are part of reconstruction, include working with governments to

remove children from armed groups, and ensuring children receive appropriate justice

when they commit crimes.

112 UNICEF's role in peacebuilding is linked to its work with other agencies based on the premise that development can only be possible when there is peace and security. In this respect, UNICEF works with government, other agencies and civil society to safeguard peace and security, ensuring that there is effective disarmament, demobilization and re-integration of ex-combatants. It also provides support to build a society that is inclusive, equitable and peaceful. UNICEF also ensures that programmes involving education are supported so where children can have the opportunity to participate in development programmes, and they get psychosocial support to eliminate the effect of war in their developmental process. Through social mobilization, UNICEF supports communities to identify barriers to peace, and it puts in place measures that

facilitate the peaceful co-existence of people.

UNICEF ensures that children have access to education, which means they must be enrolled in school. Once that happens, they are supposed to remain and not drop out.

UNICEF wants to create a child-friendly school environment that children can enjoy

learning. This means that the school facilities, including class rooms and education

materials, are available, water and sanitary facilities are in place, and teachers are trained

and available to offer effective, quality learning. Recognizing that the girl child is

disadvantaged in many ways both in school and the community, UNICEF ensures that

basic education supports the girl child to ensure that all barriers to her participation in

education are removed. Finally, UNICEF works with governments, civil society and

communities to ensure the costs of education are eliminated, or reduced in order to enable

children to realize their rights to basic education.

113 There are many strengths of UNICEF that have led to many achievements in the post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan. UNICEF's strengths lie in a number of areas.

Firstly, by virtue of its mandate, UNICEF is the only UN agency with direct responsibility for the promotion, protection and developments of the rights of the child.

This mandate is globally recognized, and UNICEF is respected for the role it has played in ensuring this noble mandate is promoted and respected by governments, donors and communities. Over the years, UNICEF has engaged governments to ensure they make the

appropriate reports to the CRC Committee in Geneva on a regular basis. This report is based on parameters that require governments to consistently detail what they are doing

to ensure the situation of children in their countries is improving.

In terms of achievements, UNICEF has zero tolerance for child abuse, and it has

taken governments and other groups to task where there are cases of child abuse. For

example, several fighting forces have been put on notice not to recruit children into their

ranks and to ensure those already recruited have been demobilized. In Sudan, the post-

CPA environment has produced several major achievements. For example, between 2006

and 2007,1.5 million children have been enrolled in school. Similarly, an additional 2

million children have been immunized since 2006. Over 500,000 people have access to

newly constructed or rehabilitated water sources. In addition, a number of schools have

been constructed with UNICEF support to accommodate the additional school intake.

Several children have also been demobilized from the fighting forces with UNICEF

support. Mine-risk education has been provided in several areas previously affected by

landmines. Finally, for the first time ever, UNICEF has assisted in conducting the Sudan

114 Household Health Survey, an action that has provided up to date reliable data on socio economic indicators for development planning.

However, UNICEF has several weaknesses that must be considered. It relies on donor funding, so, however much it plans, when funding does not come on time, its programs are affected. This sometimes creates a false expectation. Secondly, sometimes UNICEF does not come out clearly to condemn cases of child abuse, especially when this is committed by government. There are also cases where UNICEF does not adequately engage communities who are affected and know their problems better. In the area of emergency, sometimes UNICEF's response is late and this is viewed as a weakness (May

15,2008).

As a result of these weaknesses, UNICEF faces a number of challenges. Key among these is the lack of funding for its supported programs. While this is not a major problem in South Sudan, it affects its predictions of planned results. Capacity in Government remains another major challenge. Since UNICEF usually implements its programs through government, it assumes that the capacity in government is adequate; where the capacity is not adequate, it provides assistance. Unfortunately, in many cases, the capacity gap is simply too wide, and this affects programs implementation.

The organization deals with these challenges and weaknesses in number of ways.

UNICEF spends money in addressing capacity in order to improve the environment for programme delivery. It engages in advocacy with donors to ensure adequate funding is available to achieve that goal. UNICEF also lobbies both Sudanese governments for an

115 appropriate child-friendly budget so that service delivery for children's programmes is enhanced.

After finishing my interview, I asked the staff that I was interviewing about their vision for Sudan. They said that they envisage a Sudan which will be peaceful, where the rights of children will be protected and promoted. Children will be born healthy, and their mothers will remain alive after delivery and stay healthy to see them grow to their full potential. They also envisioned a Sudan where basic services like education, water and sanitation and health facilities will be available. All these visions will depend on how the

government of Sudan will respect the rights of all its citizens.

116 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION

The people of Sudan have suffered 21 years of civil wars. War affects boys, girls, men and women. However, women and children bear the cost the most. These wars have

created more burdens on women since women have to cope and accept new roles in the

absence of their husbands or fathers. During civil wars in Sudan, most of the important roles were played by Sudanese women. They looked after wounded soldiers by providing

them with food, shelter, and even hiding them from further recruitments.

Culturally, Sudanese women link and put families together, act as peacemakers

between communities and use their position as mothers, wives, and daughters in their

communities to advocate for peace. However, during peace processes and peacebuilding

in Sudan, women were not represented at the peace table. Their activities are still left out

and not given due credit due to male domination in the society. This gender

discrimination in Sudan is encountered through political discrimination and economic

marginalization. Discrimination is also seen through the sexual violence that persists in

most communities in Sudan.

Using qualitative methodology, this study investigated the role of diaspora women in

post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan. The findings provided insight into the relationship

between women and peacebuilding. Another important finding is that peacebuilding

activities occur mainly at individual and community levels. Based on the findings, one

can argue that women's peacebuilding activities in Sudan are underestimated. This is

supported by the lack of documented information about women's activities in the

statistics of Sudan.

117 The solutions to Sudanese problems lie in the hands of Sudanese themselves and their leaders. Peacebuilding and economic development can only come in the absence of corruption, economic and political inequality, and gender inequality. During the

aftermath of war, nations begin to rebuild through the provision of water, food, training,

education, access to land, and employment. Also, as part of peacebuilding, reconciliation

is often done by settling the past, acknowledging the wrongdoing, apologizing, forgiving,

building trust, integrating IDPs and refugees, creating jobs and training, and involving

women in politics and decision-making.

Many Sudanese women and other women in most parts of Africa, where conflicts

have occurred, have the will to rebuild their lives and their communities. However, they

are often faced with the challenge of finding a sustainable peace. For example, in Sudan,

women from the North and the South are taking initiatives to come together across ethnic

and religious divides to talk about building peace and to find ways in which they can

participate in order to bring sustainable peace.

Women are not given the opportunity to lead and to own peacebuilding and

development in Sudan. They are insufficiently represented on the oversight committees

of trust funds, and on all commissions overseeing the implementation of the CPA and the

peace negotiations in Darfur. As a result, there is a need to prioritize women's leadership

and access to all decision-making forums and processes regarding peacebuilding,

recovery, and development. This should be done through the endorsement and realization

of a 25% quota for women in public office, on commissions overseeing peacebuilding,

and in negotiating peace in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan. Sudanese women are the

main educators on peace.. Women are mothers, wives, sisters and they are found in

118 every aspect of men's lives, who also tend to be the main fighters or contributors of civil conflicts. These roles as can help foster an environment that will encourage peace

Sudan still has poor human development indications in relation to women and girls' literacy, maternal mortality, productive asset security, economic and political empowerment, and protections from gender-based violence in Sudan. There is a need to enhance cooperation between government and women's civil society organizations, particularly by engaging women's civil society groups to oversee resource allocation for peacebuilding and development.

Women make essential contributions to peacebuilding, recovery and development. It is important for both the government of Sudan and that of Southern

Sudan and women's civil society organizations to support women's rights through empowerment. They also need to meet women's priorities by advancing women's empowerment, and through engendering the peacebuilding process.

Signing a peace accord is not the end of the peace process but rather the beginning of a long-term process. There is a need to look at the demobilization of soldiers and insurgents and their reintegration into civilian life by providing more relief to regions that are still undergoing ethnic tensions. Peacebuilding should involve the establishment of political, social, economic, judicial and psychological foundations of sustainable development. In order to have sustainable peacebuilding in Sudan, Sudanese society must stimulate the process of integration, contribute to community development, improve community socialization, empower communities of trust, educate and make people aware of their rights in their communities.

119 The CPA created a new democratic political space and committed the government to good governance and the rule of law, justice, equity and respect for human rights.

Now, Sudanese women need to rise to the challenge of building a solid foundation for democracy by doing everything possible to increase their political participation and create an equal and level playing field for all citizens. The greatest hope now for women across Sudan is that they will be able to expand on the Bill of Rights in the Interim

National Constitution as well as effect change through the mid-term elections and effective mobilization.

Institutional barriers are serving as a major problem to women's participation in peace processes and peacebuilding in Sudan. There is a need for local, national and international networks among Sudanese women and other women from different parts of

Africa. This will bring solidarity where they can support each other through coordination and cooperation. Also, there is a need for the local and national government to support women's self-help group through small funding for microfinance projects that can help women become independent. Micro projects contribute to co-existence of people within their society. They lead to poverty reduction, promote gender equality, lead to social diversity, and are more sustainable. As a result, there is a need for micro projects that will contribute to the co-existence of women in Sudan.

It is important that women's organizations and individual women working inside and outside Sudan be strengthened so that these women can contribute to peace processes and to rebuilding communities. Also, there is a need for equal access, full participation of women in power structures, and their full involvement at all levels of prevention and resolutions of conflict. Women's social status should be used as a basis for organizing

120 self-help groups and for supporting women's networks. This can enhance solidarities for women advocating for change and peace in Sudan.

For women's full participation in peacebuilding to be enhanced, peacebuilding should also encourage more capacity building where gender must be included as an explicit aspect of peacebuilding initiatives. All peacebuilding initiatives should consider the gender impacts and incorporate women in their policies and projects. Peacebuilding should be approached from a local perspective and should also be culturally specific.

Also, within the parameters of working with locals, peacebuilding projects should be documented and evaluated.

There is urgent need for civic education for women in Sudan. Many Sudanese women are not well informed about their rights and have limited roles in decision making. This is due to law and culture that is not supportive of women's participation in decision-making. Many local people do not understand all the concepts of peace and available documents are not translated into local languages that the ordinary people can understand. Also, as a result of civil conflicts in Sudan, there were hardly schools and opportunities for many women resulting in high illiteracy among women. Consequently,

Sudanese women lag behind in terms of education compared to other African countries.

There is a need for the government and all the non-governmental organizations to encourage girl's education by giving more opportunities to women. There is also a need

for more female teachers in schools so that they can encourage girls and women to pursue their education further.

Based on the result of the interviews, many Sudanese women both living in Sudan

and in the diaspora want to see Sudan become a peaceful country. They also want to be

121 able to contribute equally in its development during post-conflict reconstruction. They believe that it is important for peace makers to address the root causes of Sudan's conflicts. Although Southern Sudan is getting ready for a referendum where they will decide to either stay as one country or become independent, most women feel that Sudan as a whole must first tackle its own internal issues such as corruption and ethnic favouritism. There is a need to address the problem of representation and the participation of not only women but also all the ethnic groups in Sudan.

As a result of continuous conflicts in Sudan, there is the challenge of language barriers between women in the South and those in the North. This makes it extremely hard for these women to communicate and cooperate in order to share ideas that can lead to long-term peace in Sudan. This has also resulted in prejudices among women in different parts of Sudan since they have not had the chance to talk and identify problems affecting all women in every part of Sudan. There is a need for creating a network that could help these women get together and appreciate one another through education, empowerment and frequent visits of women to different parts of Sudan. This cannot be possible without funding, therefore, the government and civil society organizations need to allocate some funds for women to cooperate and coordinate their peacebuilding activities. Also, there is a need for the improvement of communication and cooperation among various organizations working toward peacebuilding and the reconstruction of

Sudan at all levels. This will facilitate effective peacebuilding.

The way forward for women in post-war torn societies is to have strong women's civil societies which will be crucial for more leadership skills. Through the experience of war, many women have discovered new skills, capacities, and self-confidence from

122 having to make economic provision for their families. They also had to deal with officials, reconstruct homes, and were highly involved in decision-making in the absence of men during the war.

Organizations working for women in Sudan should train women so that they can acquire skills in order to participate in peacebuilding. The government has to include women's issues in the new constitution as a way of addressing issues such as gender bias and women's human rights in Sudan. There is a need for more training and opportunities for Sudanese women living in Sudan and those in the diaspora so that they can be able to work together for the betterment of their country.

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130 APPENDIX A: CONSENT FORM

DALHOUSIE Multidisciplinary Studies Centre University : : ; ^00IIS:3i9,:Ai&ABuUdlng . sHalliax^S^H^ • Canada;

FAX: 902.494.2105

Gender and Peacebuilding: The Role of Sudanese Diaspora Women in Sudan's Post-Conflict Reconstruction

Researcher: Research Supervisor:

Asha Arabi Dr. Shelly Whitman International Development Studies International Development Department, Dalhousie University Dalhousie University, 339 C, Henry Hicks Building, Halifax, NS, B3H 3P9, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4H6

Script for Oral consent

You are invited to take part in a research study conducted by Asha Arabi, who is a graduate student at Dalhousie University, as part of her Master of Arts in the International Development Studies program. Your participation in this study is voluntary and you may withdraw from the study at any time. The study is described below. This description tells you about the risks, inconvenience, or discomfort which you might experience. Participating in the study will not likely benefit you personally, but we might learn things that will benefit others and contribute to the production of knowledge. You should discuss any questions you might have about this study with Asha Arabi.

131 Introduction

The research questions are written in English given my limitation to read and write Arabic, which is the national language of Sudan.

Purpose of the Study

This study is about Sudanese diaspora women and their role in peacebuilding. It will be useful for me to find out the important roles that women are playing in Sudan and in the diaspora during the post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan.

Study Design

If you agree, you will spend about an hour of your time on a phone or e-mail interview. If you do not mind, I will write down notes. At any time you can request that the interview be stopped. If you decide you would like to take some specific part of the interview out, you can let me know and this part will be removed.

Who can participate in the Study?

You can participate in the study if you are a Sudanese female living either in Sudan or in the diaspora. You have to be over 18 years old in order to qualify to take part in this research.

Who will be conducting the Research?

I, Asha Arabi will perform this study. The information that you provide will be written up as a Masters thesis.

What vou will be asked to do

You will be asked to answer questions in the form of an interview. It is designed to last about an hour. I will ask you to talk about your experience during the civil war, about your life in Sudan or outside Sudan. I would also want to discuss with you some of the peacebuilding activities that you are taking part in, what they are, why they are important and what kinds of constraints you are faced with.

Possible Risk and Discomfort

You may experience minimal risk and discomfort by taking part in this study. The study will last about an hour and will only occur once. You will be asked to recall some information about your experiences in Sudan's post-conflict reconstruction, and this might make you feel emotional or uncomfortable. If you are not comfortable answering some of the questions, you can choose not to answer, and ask that we continue with the next question.

132 Possible benefits

While you may not personally gain significant benefits by being involved in the study, your responses can greatly help others to understand the roles that are being played by women, and some of the challenges faced. Involvement in this study will give you the opportunity to share your experiences and voice your opinions.

Compensation

No compensation will be provided to any of the participants. This is because I feel no expenses will be incurred by your participation.

Confidentiality and anonymity

Your responses will be completely anonymous and confidential. Only I will hear your responses. I have signed a confidentiality agreement and I will take extreme care to ensure your privacy is respected and that your personal information and your answers are confidential. Your name will not be used in the final publication. I will remove all information or responses that could potentially identify you. All information will be stored in a secure locked storage area for 5 years after publication and then destroyed. Nobody will have access to the information that you provide, except me.

Problems or Concerns

If you have any difficulties with any aspects of your participation in this study or if you wish to voice concerns about this study, you may contact Patricia Lindley, Director of Dalhousie University's Office of Human Research Ethics Administration, for assistance at (902) 494-1462, [email protected]

Return of Form

Please sign and return the consent form via e-mail to Asha Arabi at the International Development Studies program Dalhousie University at the e-mail address listed below ([email protected]

Signature

I have read the explanation about this study. I have been given the opportunity to discuss it and my questions have been answered to my satisfaction. I hereby consent to take part in this study. However, I realize that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw from the study at any time.

133 I consent to taking part in this study

Date Research participant's signature

Researcher's signature Date

Date I give permission to use direct quotes

134 APPENDIX B: RESEARCH INSTRUMENT- INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Directions: Listed below are a number of questions. Please answer the following questions

I. During the conflict

1. How long did you live in Sudan?

2. Were you in Sudan during the civil war?

3. Do you still have family members left in Sudan? Is this the reason why you are

involved in peacebuilding?

4. How were you affected by the conflict?

5. Did you leave Sudan or your home town at any point during the conflicts?

6. What kinds of roles did you play during the conflict?

II. During peace processes 7. Were you involved in any role during peace processes? If yes, what role did you play?

8. Are you involved at the moment with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CP A) process?

9. How would you classify your personal commitment to Sudan's peace processes?

10. What are your goals and objectives for your involvement in Sudan's peace processes?

III. Peacebuilding

11. What do you think are the most important priorities for successful peacebuilding in Sudan?

135 12. What does building peace mean to women in Sudan?

13. What's the state of women's involvement in peacebuilding?

14. What distinctive contributions do you think women can make towards post- conflict reconstruction of Sudan?

15. In what ways do women at various levels of involvement in peacebuilding measure outcomes of their peacebuilding processes?

16. To what extent do you believe the following might lead to peacebuilding

i. Disarmament ii. Demobilization iii. Rehabilitation iv. Reconstruction

17. Refugees and immigrants arriving from Sudan have left behind the violence and often do not get to participate in rehabilitation or receive adequate treatment for physical or psychological harm. Do you think this is true? If yes, why is this so?

18. Do you think that justice and reconciliation should be applied to the Sudanese diaspora?

19. Should leaders who were involved in committing atrocities be prosecuted in court?

20. Should militants be held responsible? If yes, in what ways?

21. Do you think the Sudanese diaspora should go through healings and reconciliations as part of the peacebuilding?

22. Do you feel that refugees and immigrants should maintain strong connections to Sudan after emigrating? If yes, why is this important?

23. Do you contribute towards post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan? If so, how?

136 a. How effective are these contributions?

b. What challenges do you or your organization face that undermines your efforts?

c. How are you overcoming these challenges?

The below section will be answered by NGOs only

IV. Non-governmental organization

1. What is the mandate and vision of your organization regarding the post-conflict reconstruction of Sudan? 2. How long has your organization been involved with Sudan? 3. Was your organization active in Sudan during the conflict and peace process? 4. What are the objectives of your organization in peacebuilding with regards to women's involvement? 5. What role does your organization play in providing basic education and gender equality? 6. What are the strengths and achievements of your organization? 7. What are the weaknesses of your organization? 8. Are there particular challenges undermining the efforts of your organization in rebuilding Sudan? 9. How does your organization tackle these obstacles? 10. How were you received by local people in Sudan? 11. What other organization did you or are collaborating with? 12. Where do you see your organization in the next ten years? 13. What is your vision for the future of Sudan?

137 APPENDIX C: MAP OF SUDAN

EGYPT

LIBYA

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Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2008

138