Mothers want a piece of the action

Dec 29, 2005 - (Kenya times) As I took my seat at the packed hall, I realized it was not just any other women’s forum, where we whimper about bad treatment bash at male leadership, then jot down a few furious resolutions. This group of women wanted to discuss the inclusion of women in conflict resolution in Africa.

At the rostrum was Dr Josephine Ojiambo, the national secretary of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), a political outfit that has been causing waves in governance circles. Unifem’s Ojiambo was addressing the regional consultation on women, peace and security in greater East and Horn of Africa, was clear and to the point.

“The healing and rehabilitation process for South Sudan is biased against women,” she ranted. The focus is on the soldiers. It must also include women and children.”

War is largely a male affair. So soldiers are predominantly men. And so are peace negotiators. But women suffer the brunt of violence, and are affected most severely by decisions made at peace meetings, or the lack of adherence to those descisions at those meetings. Ojiambo was telling the delegates that the magnitude of violence documented on the suffering of women before, during and after conflict in East Africa is overwhelming.

“For an understanding of the impact of conflict on women, their voices must be heard and their work on the ground recognized, valued and supported. Decisions on conflict management should be made with women, not for women.”Ojimabo’s contention is that women and children suffer more deeply during conflicts than men, yet they are conspicususly absent from recovery and peace negotiation forums. Women are both primary and secondary targets of conflict, she says. They suffer deeply and often in silence, the wounds of sexual, mental and physical violence.

Take South Sudan. The nation is just emerging from twenty one awful years of civil war, which has killed over two million people and left more than four million displaced.Several countries in Eastern Africa and the horn of Africa have experienced long running conflicts for decades, the most memorable of which was the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Kenya is said to be peaceful, even with its incidents of conflicts that have hurt women and children.

But Ojiambo says even for Kenyan women rape and domestic violence are ‘too common’. In refugee camps like Kakuma and Daadab, refugee children are often kidnapped or lured with promises of being rejoined with their families. But they are turned into sex slaves for soldiers or unwilling wives in other parts of the cuntry.During the war in Sudan, the Southern Sudanese men joined the rebel movement. Their wives became the vulnerable breadwinners and hapless victims of rape, suffering, starvation and death.

Dr. Ojiambo is fervent on issues like these. She says besides catering for families in difficulties, many women are forced to put up with all manner of danger including landmines and harassment.Even though they are not directly in the war, many women daily agonise when they hear that their husbands, brothers or sons are killed in battles. The huge number widows in South Sudan and elsewhere is testimony to this.The medic says the health impact of sexual violence can be disastrous, ranging from injuries, unwanted pregnancies, sexual dysfunction, sexually transmitted illnesses and HIV/Aids.

There are also mental effects like anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorders, depression and even suicide.Ojiambo feels that if women had a more active roles in dialogue and arbitration between warring sides, there would be a human face to conflict.
“Women have special gifts in constructing social harmony. We are more able to sacrifice personal ego for the greater good of the community,” she says.

At the Wagalla massacre site, recalls Ojiambo, there was the story of a courageous Catholic nun who carried the wounded and dying to a missionary centre in Wajir. She nursed the wounded and buried the dead, oblivious to the religious divide.Women can be more trusted to maintaining peace and promote harmony. Where women can be encouraged to rise above their own personal suffering. Their insight can provide a way forward for communities that are unable to reconcile their personal and communal conflicts.

These abilities, or what Ojiambo calls “special motherly gifts” translate, in her view, into a concrete justification to involve women in peace and reconciliation process.Women’s groups are the nerve centre of family focus and rural development. They are vital vehicles for community based rehabilitation at national and international level. Why are they not part of the international arbitration and peace building process?

We must support communities to overcome gender stereotyping and all forms of discrimination against women, especially in matters as vital as recosntruction.“Women must be invloved in all efforts to create awareness, training and development to help reduce the pain and torment they suffer during conflict. They must be equipped with coping skills for society to heal.

Ojimabo takes a swipe at the UN system. She says the world’s biggest organisation has failed to effectively manage conflict, by ignoring clashes.She argues that despite the effectiveness of female civilian police (CIVPOL) in dealing with rape, sexual assault, domestic violence and other crimes against women, the number of female CIVPOL is still too low for effective change.
In UN peacekeeping history, the involvement of women is still too low. Ojiambo says this amounts to discrimination and marginalization of women in the UN system.

Her sentiments flare up a round of applause from Rawandese MP Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira.Kaycira’s country has undergone the worst form of civil conflict on the continent. Over half the health workers were killed during the genocide, the health infrastructure was destroyed and administrative capacities were disrupted.Kaycira says women continue to suffer even long after the war is over.Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda of the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) says women have remained on the periphery even the ongoing peace negations in Abuja over the war in Darfur.

She notes that peace negotiations, advisors and special envoys are mostly men, with the exception of Betty Bigombe in Uganda and Caroline MacAskie in Burundi.The leaders now want women to stir up a momentum for advocacy for inclusion of all women in peace building efforts now and in the future.

From: http://www.timesnews.co.ke/30dec05/magazine/magazine1.html