Women and Peacebuilding in Africa
Liv Tønnessen
The project looks at the cost of women’s exclusion and the possibilities for their inclusion in peace talks, peacebuilding, and politics in countries affected by war in Africa. The project also examines the struggle for women’s rights legal reform and political representation as one important arena for stemming the tide of extremism related to violence in Africa. Lessons from these experiences have policy implications for ongoing conflict elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East. We will conduct basic research in Somalia, Algeria, northern Nigeria, South Sudan, and Sudan. We also plan on using our findings and policy ecommendations to engage policy makers at the international and national level in these countries as well as to provide opportunities for women’s rights activists within civil society to interact with one another and with policymakers and academics. The three themes that make up the project include: 1) Inclusion and Exclusion in Postconflict Governance (Somalia and Algeria), 2) Women Activists’ Informal Peacebuilding Strategies (South Sudan and Northern Nigeria) and 3) Women’s Legal Rights as a Site of Contestation in North Africa (Sudan and Algeria).
