RWANDAN FEMALE EX-COMBATANTS CAN PLAY IMPORTANT ROLE IN PEACEKEEPING

September 1, 2004 - (UNIFEM) Women ex-combatants from Rwanda have asked for a role in regional peacekeeping missions in Africa. Pointing specifically to the recent Rwandan government's commitment to support regional peacekeeping missions by sending soldiers to help protect African Union cease-fire monitors, they are urging that ex-combatant women be included in such missions, because of their experience of warfare and its particular impact on women, and their interest in assisting women caught in conflict.

The women were speaking at a meeting organized in Kigali last week by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), to discuss the challenges faced by female ex-combatants reintegrating into society, and the role they are playing as peace-builders in their communities.

The meeting, which brought together over 200 women from an association of female ex-combatants called Ndabaga, was also attended by Rwandan Minister for Gender, The Hon. Valerie Nyirahabineza, who said that peacekeeping missions must have a gender perspective, and that Ndabaga members could lend valuable contributions. "Since wars and conflicts affect children and women in a special way, and since women tend to confide in their fellow women more that they do men, peace missions should have a big representation of women to attend to the special needs of women suffering the consequences of war," she said, citing the recent mission from Rwanda to Darfur, Sudan, as an example of where Rwandan women ex-combatants should have been included.

Rwanda has no tradition of female conscription. During its conflict, however, hundreds of Rwandan women voluntarily took up arms alongside men to assume military responsibilities and fight for the liberation of the country. Ndabaga was established in 2001 as the first association of female ex-combatants in the Great Lakes Region, and includes women from all twelve of Rwanda's provinces, and from both sides of the conflict.

The UNIFEM/CIDA meeting was organized in recognition of the fact that women ex-combatants, despite the essential roles they can play in post-conflict disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) processes, are frequently excluded from these processes. Because of a strong focus on male ex-combatants, the needs of women ex-combatants are often inadequately addressed in demobilization phases, resulting in often untenable situations of deteriorating health and poverty.

Ndabaga members are deeply committed to Rwanda's national reconstruction and reconciliation process. Many are already active leaders in grassroots organizations, called upon to assist their communities with conflict resolution. One woman, who had been elected at the district level spoke of her experience as a leader and urged others to step forward. "I am in charge of gender and law. Society believes, as I believe, that we have potential in conflict prevention, management and resolution. I urge each of you to participate in these structures, Gacaca jurisdiction, community policing and others. We know what conflict is and how it has affected our country, and we must be a part of the solution," she said.

Despite the respect they receive from their communities as leaders and peacemakers, however, the women described numerous obstacles that created anxiety and humiliation for them. Most female ex-combatants are among the poorest and least educated in their community and dependent on the goodwill of neighbours to survive, not only because they left school to fight, but because having given anywhere from six to ten years of their lives to their cause, they are far behind their contemporaries in terms of social progress. Lack of access to basic housing, health care, education and vocational training exacerbate the difficulties they face in reassimilating into society, and deprive them of opportunities to obtain formal employment and create sustainable livelihoods. The women specifically named HIV/AIDS as a serious concern, asking for urgent access to testing and treatment.

Rwanda's Ministry of Gender has committed 2 million Rwandese francs to Ndabaga to access the resources it needs and carry out its activities, while the Minister of Labour, Vocational Training and Public Service, The Hon. Angeline Muganza, pledged to sponsor Ndabaga members between 20 and 25 years of age for vocational training for three years. She also promised to work closely with the association to increase the women's access to employment opportunities.

From: http://www.unifem.org/pressreleases.php?f_page_pid=6&f_pritem_pid=172