Women and Peace Processes in IGAD

November 01, 2004 - (African Women Journal) Women involved in the Intergovernmental Agency on Development (IGAD) meetings urge their governments to put an end to civil conflicts in the Horn of Africa. They also call for greater involvement of women in the peace processes, as this will enhance economic development.

Hafifu Hamsa from Somalia is hopeful that one day peace will come to the Horn of Africa and that the current civil strife will be a thing of the past.
Like her fellow women in the region, the Somali lady is concerned that as a result of persisting civil conflicts in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (IGAD member states), women hardly participate in the economic development of their countries.

The women cabinet ministers in charge of gender affairs in the IGAD region called on their governments to end the current civil conflicts, observing that until this was achieved women in the region will hardly participate in the development of their countries.

They further observed that it was disappointing that at least three quarters of the countries within the IGAD region were in the depth of civil conflicts.

Such would include Sudan, which has not experienced peace in the last twenty years and its neighbour Uganda; Somalia, which has had no central government for more than a decade and Ethiopia and Eritrea, which have yet to settle border disputes.

At the official opening, Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori, condemned lack of peace in the region, observing, “With civil conflicts still persisting, any kind of development would be least expected in the region.”

But was hopeful that current IGAD-sponsored peace initiatives for Sudan and Somalia as well as the Ethiopia-Eritrea border disputes would usher in a bright future.

Mr. Awori said all IGAD member countries must embrace gender main-streaming strategies and address women’s exclusion, structural subordination and discrimination. The Kenyan VP said that such gender-sensitive strategy would help create networks for effective implementation of gender policies.

He also called on the IGAD member countries to embrace the resolutions of the recently concluded Third Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa, where African leaders resolved to accelerate the implementation of gender-specific economic, social and legal measures to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Feminized Poverty and Untold Suffering
The regional representative of the UN Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Ms Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda observed that the region faced high levels of poverty and food insecurity. Poverty hit women more, especially those living in the rural and urban poor communities.

Women’s limited access to education, employment opportunities, income, land and property creates a complex set of factors which inhibit their opportunities, choices and capacity for economic empowerment. Consequently, there is noticeable increase in feminized poverty in our midst.

Observing that both women, men and children lived in conflict and violent environments, she pointed out that conflicts in Northern Uganda, Darfur in Sudan, and the community conflicts in Kenya resulted in continued suffering especially for women.

Sexual violence as weapon of war
The use of sexual violence especially rape and abductions as weapons of war in Africa is alarming and shocking noted the UNIFEM Representative.
“In the face of HIV/AIDS, sexual violence is robbing women and girls in this region of a future and a possibility of enjoying a happy family life with the dawn of peace emerging through the various peace processes”.

But all is not lost. The African Union, for example, has adopted The African Protocol on Women’s Rights in Africa during its recent Addis Ababa Assembly, stressing that the declaration on gender is indeed a profound policy framework for addressing the triple threats of feminized poverty, HIV/AIDS and the impact of conflict.

From: http://newpeoplemedia.org/Feature%20Service/AWJ/awj_octnov2004-Somalia-Kenya.htm