Women in the peace process

Demonstration in Jerusalem at the International Women's day

Many conflicts in the world lead to war, and war quite often beaks out again after peace treaties have been signed. One way to achieve sustainable peace and stability is by involving parties other than just the warring parties in the peace process, the peace talks and the reconciliation work. In most cases, half the population, the women, are excluded from taking part in that work. When peace is negotiated, it is nearly always exclusively men who participate, often with the argument that it is the warring parties who should negotiate peace. What men forget is that a peace agreement is not only the end of hostilities but the beginning of the future. Without the knowledge and experience of women, vital parts are overlooked when rebuilding society after the war.

Societies, regardless of whether they are conflict-affected or not, are very often characterised by traditional and patriarchal values that insist that women are incapable of taking part in political power structures and decision-making bodies. Men, on the other hand, are not usually aware of their own oppressive methods, which have been fine-tuned for generations. The structural injustices are not made transparent.

Traditional role modelling gives women and men completely different roles even in war and conflict situations. Women are not peaceful by nature, but during war, women bear the main responsibility for society. It is the same pattern in all conflicts; when the men march off to the front, the women are left to maintain public functions. When peace comes, the women have to step aside.

As soon as there is a ceasefire, women are no longer regarded as participating actors in the war. But women do in fact greatly participate, and have completely different roles in the conflict. As well as those who maintain society, there are many women at the front.

The experience that women gain from war is ignored during the peace process through women not being invited to take part in the peace talks or discussions surrounding rebuilding. The ignorance shown by the warring parties and the international community prejudices the peace process and therewith the opportunity for sustainable peace.

In order to break this pattern of patriarchal values, women must be given the opportunity to participate in, and take responsibility for, the shaping of peace, and thus their futures. They should take part in the peace negotiations and all parts and levels of the peace process. Women are particularly vulnerable before and after armed conflict, but they have the unique opportunity of taking part in recreating the societies that emerge from the ruins of the old. Women possess valuable knowledge and experience of the needs that exist, which must be utilised if the effort to achieve justice and stability is to bear fruit. Men must be taught to understand the situation of women, learn to see and utilise women's expertise and acknowledge their right to participate in society. Sustainable development and lasting peace is not possible without cooperation between the sexes. In one way, women's participation is conflict-preventative as it can prevent the re-emergence of armed conflict.

The international community has acknowledged this problem in recent years. At the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, a Platform for Action was adopted requiring member states to take the appropriate measures and modify laws and praxis to eliminate all obstacles to gender equality.

As a consequence, on October 31, 2000 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. The resolution handles the issue of the effect of war on women and women's participation in conflict-resolution and the work for sustainable peace. Among other things, it established that the international community must observe, and take special consideration to, the vulnerable situation of women during war, and the UN member states must urge the involvement of women in the peacebuilding and conflict resolution process.