West Africa

Citation:

Higate, Paul. 2004. “Peacekeepers and Gender: DRC and Sierra Leone.” Pambazuka News, no. 164, 4.

Author: Paul Higate

Abstract:

While sexual exploitation and violence has become a common feature in peacekeeping contexts among state and non-state actors, this monograph focuses on peacekeepers and the alleged abuse of power that they exert over the local population. Many of the findings are anecdotal and based on short visits in mission areas. Recommendations are based on extant UN policies and do not comprehensively reflect the views of civil society organisations, the host governments or local women leaders. The monograph does, nevertheless, represent an insight into the challenges faced by women in conflict and post-conflict environments, and highlights best practices aimed at stemming the on-going exploitation and abuse being committed by those with the responsibility to protect. (AfricaPortal)

Topics: Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Humanitarian Assistance, Justice, Peacekeeping, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, SV against Women Regions: Africa, Central Africa, West Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone

Year: 2004

Citation:

Sommers, Marc. 2010. “Urban Youth in Africa.” Environment and Urbanization 22 (2): 317–32.

Author: Marc Sommers

Abstract:

It is widely assumed that most Africans reside in rural areas, that African cities make little economic sense and are unusually violent because so many unemployed young men live there, and that urban migrant youth can be drawn back to their former rural homes. This paper challenges all of these assumptions. In the process, it reviews dominant trends in Africa’s rapid urban expansion and examines what life is like for urban youth. I will argue that African cities are underserved and fiercely competitive economic environments that are negatively impacted by neoliberal development policies. Urban youth life tends to take place in worlds that are largely separate from the rest of society. The pressures and dangers facing male and female youth can be extreme, yet at the same time African cities are exceptionally stimulating places that provide opportunities for re-invention for many urban youth. The paper ends with recommendations for addressing the needs of the marginalized majority of Africa’s urban youth more effectively. Its primary focus is urban areas in the region of sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: Africa, conflict, employment, exclusion, Gender, neoliberal, urban, youth

Topics: Age, Youth, Displacement & Migration, Migration, Urban Displacement, Development, Economies, Gender, Girls, Boys, Violence Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa

Year: 2010

Citation:

Jennings, Kathleen M., and Vesna Nikolić-Ristanović. 2009. “UN Peacekeeping Economies and Local Sex Industries: Connections and Implications.” MICROCON Working Paper 17, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton.

Authors: Kathleen M. Jennings, Vesna Nikolić-Ristanović

Abstract:

“Peacekeeping economies” have not been subject to much analysis of either their economic or socio-cultural and political impacts. This paper uses a gendered lens to explore some ramifications and lasting implications of peacekeeping economies, drawing on examples from four post-conflict countries with past or ongoing United Nations peacekeeping missions: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Liberia, and Haiti. The paper is particularly concerned with the interplay between the peacekeeping economy and the sex industry. It examines some of the characteristics and impacts of peacekeeping economies, arguing that these are highly gendered – but that the “normalization” of peacekeeping economies allows these effects to be overlooked or obscured. It also contends that these gendered characteristics and impacts have (or are likely have) broad and lasting consequences. Finally, the paper considers the initial impacts of UN efforts to tackle negative impacts of peacekeeping economies, particularly the zero-tolerance policy against sexual exploitation and the effort to “mainstream” gender and promote gender equality in and through peacekeeping. The paper suggests that the existence and potential long- term perpetuation of a highly gendered peacekeeping economy threatens to undermine the gender goals and objectives that are a component of most peace operations. 

Topics: Economies, Gender, Gender Mainstreaming, International Organizations, Peacekeeping, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Africa, West Africa, Americas, Caribbean countries, Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Haiti, Kosovo, Liberia

Year: 2009

Citation:

Compaoré, Nestorine. 2005. “Burkina Faso: Recruiting Women for Legislative Elections.” In Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, edited by Julie Ballington and Azza Karam, 132-138. Stockholm: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

Author: Nestorine Compaoré

Abstract:

As in the other countries of francophone Africa, women are under-represented in the power structures of Burkina Faso. This case study addresses the issue of women’s political participation in Burkina Faso, and in particular their access to the national legislature and the recruitment of women candidates by political parties when elections to the legislature are approaching. It emphasizes the impact of the electoral system and quotas on women’s representation, the stages of the recruitment process, and the constraints women face in being elected to the legislature.

Topics: Democracy / Democratization, Gender, Women, Governance, Quotas, Elections, Political Participation Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Burkina Faso

Year: 2005

Citation:

Ballington, Julie, ed. 2004. The Implementation of Quotas: African Experiences. Stockholm: The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

Author: Julie Ballington

Abstract:

This report examines women’s political representation on the African continent, and shows how quotas have contributed to increasing women’s access to political power. Gender quotas are now increasingly viewed as an important policy measure for boosting women’s access to decision-making bodies throughout the world. Experience from Africa is very encouraging: over 20 countries on the continent either have legislated quotas or political parties that have adopted them voluntarily. This report illustrates the different quota types that are being implemented in different political contexts.

The report includes 17 regional and country case studies. The country case studies include Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. (IDEA)

Topics: Gender, Women, Governance, Quotas, Political Participation Regions: Africa, MENA, Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda

Year: 2004

Citation:

Allen, Judith van. 1972. “‘Sitting on a Man’: Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo Women.” Canadian Journal of African Studies/Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines 6 (2): 165–81.

Author: Judith van Allen

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Political Participation, Tribe Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 1972

Citation:

Ackerman, Ruthie. 2009. “Rebuilding Liberia, One Brick at a Time.” World Policy Journal 26 (2): 83–92.

Author: Ruthie Ackerman

Abstract:

The article discusses Liberia, examining the steps necessary to help the country recover from its civil war. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been the president of Liberia from 2006-2009, the article states, becoming the first elected female head of state in Africa. Topics of discussion include civil wars in Liberia that occurred almost without ceasing from 1989-2003, violence visited upon the civilian population by child soldiers, and more than 850,000 Liberians forced into refugee camps in neighboring countries. (EBSCO)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Child Soldiers, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Violence Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2009

Citation:

El-Bushra, Judy, and Ibrahim M.G. Sahl. 2005. Cycles of Violence: Gender Relations and Armed Conflict. Nairobi: ACORD - Agency for Co-Operation and Research in Development.

Authors: Judy El-Bushra, Ibrahim M.G. Sahl

Abstract:

This book describes ACORD's research 'Gender-sensitive Design and Planning in Conflict-Affected Situations', carried out during 2000 and 2001 in five communities living in the shadow of violent conflict in Juba (Sudan), Gulu (Uganda), Luanda (Angola), Timbuktu (Mali) and the Lower Shabelle region (Somalia). It also includes analysis of data collected earlier in Eritrea and Rwanda. Two main questions are examined in this book: What is the impact of war on gender relations? And can gender relations contribute to conflict?

The analysis in this book explores the term 'gender relations' and unravels it into gender 'roles', 'identities', 'ideologies' and 'institutions/power structures', examining how each of these changes as a result of war. It finds that, while gender is a factor in perpetuating violence, it is also a factor in rebuilding social relations and peace.

This book also addresses the challenges in methodologies and tools for research in turbulence. The aim is to develop flexible and sensitive research methods that go beyond information collection into engaging in joint reflection with communities about issues confronting them. Agencies should no longer continue to work only 'in' conflict rendering practical services, but also jointly work 'on' it with communities to analyse and address the factors which perpetuate it.

Keywords: gender relations, armed conflict, violence, oral testimony, Uganda, Sudan, Mali, Angola, Somalia

Annotation:

Table of Contents:

Working 'in' and working 'on' violent conflict
The evolution of gender policy
Development research and its place in operational development practice
Aims and structure of the present volume

Section 1: EXPERIENCES OF WAR IN FIVE COMMUNITIES

UGANDA
The historical background to the war in Uganda
Gender and ethnic identity in Acholiland
The impact of the war on the Acholi community
Ethnic and gender norms as contributory factors in the dynamics of conflict
Conclusions

SUDAN
The historical background to the war in the Sudan
Impact of conflict on Juba and the surrounding area
Impacts on individual men and women
Impact of the war on gender relations
Gender identity and its contribution to conflict
Conclusions

SOMALIA
The historical background to the conflict in Somalia
The impact of the war on the Lower Shabelle region
The impact on individual men and women
Impact on different clan groups
Impact on gender relations
Conclusions

ANGOLA
Historical background to the conflict in Angola
A sketch of the research area
The impact of the war on Km 9
The impact of the conflict on gender relations in Km 9
Gender identity and its contributions to the conflict situation
Conclusions

MALI
Historical background to the rebellion in northern Mali
Impact of conflict on the Timbuktu area
The impact of the rebellion on gender relations
Conclusions

Postscript

Section 2: THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF WAR ON POOR COMMUNITIES: A GENDERED VIEW

Economic impacts: livelihoods and the division of labour
The personal dimensions of social change in war: marriage and sexuality
Discussion on war and the nature of social change: Do gender relations change?
Gender roles
Gender identities
Gender institutions/power structures
Gender ideologies
Analysing gender relations: a framework
Lessons and challenges
Livelihoods, vulnerability and autonomy
Gender and social justice
Rebuilding institutions
Conclusions

Section 3: MEN AND WOMEN, WAR AND PEACE - DO CITIZENS HOLD THE BALANCE?

Power and patriarchy: conceptual resources for conflict analysis
Complexity and conflict
Gender, power, identity and violence
Patriarchy and the structures of oppressive power
Evidence from the case studies
Patriarchy and violent struggles for identity and control
Gender identity and its impact on cycles of violence
Gender impact flowchart: 'how gender identity can contribute to cycles of violence'
The complexity of conflict causes and impacts
Ways out: strategies for conflict transformation
Conclusions

Section 4: METHODS AND TOOLS FOR RESEARCH IN TURBULENT CONTEXTS

The research process
The strengths and weaknesses of oral testimony as a research method
Open-ended and participatory research as a tool for development

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ANNEXES
Annex 1: Social exclusion analysis
Annex 2: Summary of conflict impacts in northern Mali
Annex 3: Timbuktu Guidelines on Oral Testimony

Full Report: http://www.acordinternational.org/silo/files/cycles-of-violence-gender-relationa-and-armed-conflict.pdf

Book Reviews of Cycles of Violence:

By Susan McKay: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20461148

Topics: Armed Conflict, Economies, Gender, Gender Roles, Gender Analysis, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa Countries: Angola, Mali, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda

Year: 2005

Citation:

Moosa, Zohra, Maryam Rahmani, and Lee Webster. 2013. "From the Private to the Public Sphere: New Research on Women's Participation in Peace-Building." Gender & Development 21 (3): 453--72. doi:10.1080/13552074.2013.846585.

Authors: Zohra Moosa, Maryam Rahmani, Lee Webster

Abstract:

Despite the United Nation’s landmark Security Council Resolution on women, peace and security in 2000 which highlighted the importance of women’s participation in peace-building, only one in 40 peace treaty signatories over the last 25 years has been a woman. Yet evidence from non-government organisations and women’s rights organisations shows that women are active agents of peace, resolving conflicts at all levels of society with little or no recognition. This article discusses new research which tracks women’s roles in building peace at local levels in five conflict-affected contexts: Afghanistan, Liberia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sierra Leone. The article highlights the significance of violence against women as a barrier to peace-building, and explores how and why women’s exclusion and marginalisation from peace processes tends to increase the more formal the processes become. The article uses two case studies of women’s rights organisations in Afghanistan and Nepal to illustrate the research findings and demonstrate how communities can mobilise to promote gender equality and fulfill women’s rights.

Keywords: peace, women, security, peace-building, Afghanistan, Nepal, women's rights organisations, women human rights defenders

Topics: Development, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, International Organizations, NGOs, Peacebuilding, Peace Processes, Post-Conflict, Rights, Women's Rights, Security, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS Regions: Africa, West Africa, Asia, South Asia Countries: Afghanistan, Liberia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sierra Leone

Year: 2013

Citation:

Ogunlela, Yemisi I., and Aisha A. Mukhtar. 2009. “Gender Issues in Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria: The Role of Women.” Humanity & Social Sciences Journal 4 (1): 19–30.

Authors: Yemisi I. Ogunlela, Aisha A. Mukhtar

Abstract:

Most farmers in Nigeria operate at the subsistence, smallholder level in an extensive agricultural system; hence in their hands lies the country’s food security and agricultural development. Particularly striking, however, is the fact that rural women, more than their male counterparts, take the lead in agricultural activities, making up to 60-80 percent of labour force. It is ironical that their contributions to agriculture and rural development are seldom noticed. Furthermore, they have either no or minimal part in the decision-making process regarding agricultural development. Gender inequality is therefore dominant in the sector and this constitutes a bottleneck to development, calling for a review of government policies on agriculture to all the elements that place rural women farmers at a disadvantage. The women-in-agriculture programme in Nigeria, which was established in cognizance of this and the shortcoming in extension services for women farmers, has been a huge success. Women’s groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil societies have empowered and given rural women farmers a voice and effectively championed their cause. Women farmers now have better access to farm inputs and credits although many barriers remain and would have to be addressed to further enhance their role. Rural women farmers deserve better recognition and greater appreciation of their tangible contributions to agriculture and rural development and food security. Other aspects of gender issues in Nigerian agriculture are discussed.

Keywords: agriculture, food security, gender inequality, household economy, Nigeria, women farmers

Annotation:

Quotes:

“The role that women play and their position in meeting the challenges of agricultural production and development are quite dominant and prominent. Their relevance and significance, therefore, cannot be overemphasized [7, 8]. Findings from a study financed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) revealed that women make up some 60-80 percent of agricultural labour force in Nigeria [9], depending on the region and they produce two-thirds of the food crops. Yet, in spite of these, widespread assumption that men – and not women—make the key farm management decisions has prevailed. Sadly, female farmers in the country are among the voiceless, especially with respect to influencing agricultural policies. Such policies, which are aimed at increasing food security and food production, tend to either under- estimate and totally ignore women’s role in both production and the general decision-making process within the household.” (20)

“Ironically, women are known to be more involved in agricultural activities than men in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, Nigeria inclusive. As much as 73 % were involved in cash crops, arable and vegetable gardening, while post- harvest activities had 16 % and agroforestry, 15 percent [14].” (20)

“A series of studies covering African villages showed that generally, more women than men in cultivator families did agricultural work and that women were usually working more hours than the men. Furthermore, it has been noticed that female labour in production tends to be less important in societies where intensive agricultural systems are more dominant than the extensive systems.” (21)

“The role of national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in reaching the rural population in Africa is being increasingly documented. The importance of NGOs to rural women varies from country to country, as does their focus on rural issues. In most of the countries examined, the growth in recent years of NGOs and women’s associations which pay attention to gender issues has benefited rural women immensely.” (23)

“It is common knowledge that gender inequality is one of the most pervasive forms of inequality, particularly because it cuts across other forms of inequality [37]. Different rules, norms and values govern the gender division of labour and the gender distribution of resources, responsibilities, agency and power. These are critical elements for understanding the nature of gender inequality in different societies." (25)

Topics: Civil Society, Agriculture, Development, Food Security, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households, Livelihoods, NGOs, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2009