Women and Peace

Sylvia Stoll: NOHA Masters Student in Humanitarian Action, University College Dublin, Universitas Gadjah Mada

The role of women in peace efforts is increasingly receiving attention in recent years. The UN Security Council stated in 2000 “Peace is inextricably linked with equality between men and women.” Some might attribute this trend to a general new awareness of gender issues in humanitarian and development initiatives by international organizations and NGOs. The World Bank for example has numerous publications on different aspects of gender equality. In collaboration with the Somaliland Women's Research and Action Group (SOWRAG), the Life and Peace Institute, Horn of Africa Program published a noteworthy study in 2004, called “Queens Without Crowns.” In this publication Anima Mohamoud Warsame investigated women’s changing roles and peace building in Somaliland.

Neighboring Kenia. Ethiopia and Djibouti, Somalia lays on the tip of the Horn of Africa on Africa’s Eastern Coastline. In 1990 Somalia becomes “the prototype for a new kind of war,”[1] a complicated civil war, where most of the victims are civilians, women and children in particular. In the light of this context, “Queens Without Crowns” evaluates women’s participation in the peace process and how the war changed the role of women in Somaliland. The study that this report is based on was designed by Somali women and incorporated the views of men and Islamic rights and values for women.

In a section titled “Women’s decision-making roles and their contribution to peace building”[2] the author determines that the majority of the individuals that were interviewed, thought that the decision-making powers of Somaliland women had changed. These changes were three-fold: first, Women’s increased income gave them more decision-making power. Second, Women organizations caused that women were making more decisions in a public context. Third, Women had now more influence on the decisions in their own families.

The collapse of the economic system that was caused by the war affected both men and women. Women however, started to involve in a variety of new economic activities in order to feed their families. Warsame writes that men have the tendency to select what economic activities to get involved in. “While a woman, for example, will not hesitate to trade in all kinds of items without fearing any loss of pride, a man will be reluctant to engage in economic activities he sees as ‘degrading’ or ‘unmanly’.”[3]

Many parallels can be found when comparing the situation in Aceh today and the experiences of Somaliland. While conducting research during July and August of this year, I had the chance to interview over twenty women from different locations along the Eastern side of Aceh. The women came from the districts Pidie, Bireun, Aceh Utara and Aceh Timur and had various backgrounds and. The questions were focused on the women’s economic situation during and after the conflict. As a result of the conflict many women became the major or sole breadwinner, either permanently or for a period of time. Many of theses Acehnese women, like the women in Somaliland, carry a double burden, because they still carry out their responsibilities in the home while they are providing income to their families. This double burden leaves little time for involvement in the public arena; even if women would have the desire to participate in public-decision making processes they might not have the time to do so. Most women in these situations however, are foremost concerned with feeding their children and improving their families’ economic situations.

The contributions these women make are not just important for their families’ welfare. Being the basic unit of society, the family’s welfare has a huge influence on a society’s welfare. One of the women I spoke with in the district Aceh Utara said that women were very important in making income during the conflict. After the conflict these women’s economic contributions are even more important because they help sustain the peace.

Unfortunately these women’s tremendous contributions are still on the bottom and not so apparent in a higher public level. Many factors need to be considered, specifically cultural and religious convictions, when trying to encourage Acehnese women and other women in similar contexts, to be more actively and publicly involved in the peace process; the first step in working towards this goal is to acknowledge, understand and optimize women’s economic contributions to the peace process. Working through women’s economic capacities can open doors to trauma healing, identity building and empowerment of women in decision-making processes that further support peace building.