AFRICAN WOMEN'S REPORT 1998
Post-conflict Reconstruction in Africa: A Gender Perspective
© 1999 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Introduction
I. Conflict, Reconstruction and GenderA. The nature of conflict in Africa
B. The major causes of conflict in Africa
1. The Cold War era and its aftermath
2. Ethno-political conflicts and the failure of post-independence nation building
3. Poverty, unemployment and economic crisisC. Consequences of African conflicts
1. "Missing lives"
2. Anti-personnel landmines
3. Displacement
4. Differential displacement impact on men and women
5. Economic losses
6. High social costs
7. Conflict-induced changes in women's gender rolesA. Immediate post-conflict reconstruction
B. Political reconstruction
C. Economic reconstruction
D. Social reconstruction
E. Relief vs. development in gender-aware reconstructionIII. Gender, Governance and the Law in Political Reconstruction
A. Peace accords and disarmament
B. Democratization and the law
C. Women in decision-making structuresIV. Gender and Economic Reconstruction
A. Increasing women's productivity
B. Allocating resources
C. Securing land rights for women
D. Science and technology and energy policies
E. Information and communication technologies (ICTs)
F. Regional integrationV. Gender Equality and Social Reconstruction
A. Popular participation
B. Promoting inter-agency collaboration
C. Violence against women: a human rights abuse
D. Reintegration of displaced women
E. Reintegration of child victims of conflict
F. Extending education's reach
G. Peace and civil society
H. Information and communication strategiesVI Conclusions
VII. BibliographyTable 1: Wars, low intensity and serious conflicts in Africa (1994-95)
Table 2: Number of victims resulting from conflicts in Africa since 1980
Table 3: Largest groups of refugees and internally displaced persons in Africa, 1998
Table 4. Conflict-induced internal displacement in selected African countries 1997-1998
Table 5: Education indicators in selected sub-Saharan African countries
Table 6: Health indicators in selected sub- Saharan African countries
Table 7: Women in Parliament
Frames
Conflict over resources and religion in Nigeria
Chronology of a conflict: The case of Sierra Leone
Impact of development-oriented NGO projects on Mozambican refugee survival in Malawi
Why do people flee to become homeless and displaced?
Collapse of the State in Somalia
Women's role at the grassroots level
Women's land rights in Mozambique
Operational aspects of aid agency and NGO activity in post-conflict situations
Reconstruction in Rwanda : A Case Study
PREFACE
The African Women’s Report 1998 has focused on “Post-Conflict Reconstruction” from a gender perspective. The in- tention is to examine post-conflict recon- struction with its differing gender roles and impact and derive best practices for fostering gender-balanced, sustainable development, on platforms that mobilize both men and women to play their parts. The full formal and informal participa- tion of both sexes is very important to sustainable peace and to the efficient use of all available human resources for re- building a war-torn society. Despite the tragedy, trauma and waste of conflict, out of the ashes and debris and broken lives can emerge a positive opportunity to re- construct a more functional, flexible and inclusive society with enhanced political, economic and social roles, values and structures changed for the better by the bitter experience.
The Report begins by introducing defi- nitions and concepts of conflict, reconstruc- tion and gender. It then examines the causes and nature of African conflicts, because an understanding of sources and origins is a vital precondition to finding solutions and relevant compromises that can build and maintain peace. It then ex- amines the changing nature of gender roles in political, economic and social recon- struction, identifying effective strategies and practices that could be replicated as “innovative experiences”. It concludes with delineation of practical areas of focus for ensuring gender-balanced reconstruction.
By its nature, it could not cover each and every conflict on the continent in an in-depth way, nor was this desirable. Ref- erences are made both to civil wars and to cross-border conflicts, with illustrative ex- amples from selected countries, that women in post-conflict situations are not mere passive sufferers and aid-dependent beneficiaries specially vulnerable to abuse, but have been and should be very much part of the solution. They have shown themselves to be resilient, able to orga- nize and mobilize and to negotiate and advocate for ways and means to peaceful reconciliation and reconstruction. In charge of household management as they are, women think immediately about the details of day-to-day survival needs, es- pecially for their immediate and extended family and communities. Their approaches to reconciliation have been creative and courageous, and where given the chance in reconstruction programmes, prove them- selves up to the task.
Reference is made to women’s re- construction strategies and initiatives in various countries, including long-stand- ing conflict situations in Angola, Ethio- pia, Mozambique, Liberia, Somalia, the Sudan and Rwanda and more recent ones in Guinea-Bissau, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
INTRODUCTION
Women’s coping mechanisms during and after conflicts are resourceful and innovative, with necessity, not tradition, being the mother of invention. Their contribution is both dif- ferent and complementary to the efforts of men.Both women and men face daunting structural and situational factors in post-conflict reconstruction, within the pa- rameters of given resources and opportu- nities to meet their basic needs and con- cerns. However, post-war rehabilitation and recon- struction can change and i n f l u e n c e the nature of gender roles and the po- sitioning of the sexes in the society. In the Afri- can context of relatively rigid, traditional gender roles, the degree to which African women are being involved in largely male-dominated post-conflict recon- struction activities tells a great deal about the readiness and commitment of that soci- ety to maximize its use of resources in pur- suing reconciliation, rehabilitation, recon- struction and development. The framework of a successful post-conflict reconstruction programme has to be able to bring combat- ant sides and stakeholders together, build common ground and gradually heal the mas- sive breaches and wounds in the society. Only then is it possible to pursue a new future in equality and justice. Gender bal- ance and equality in the way forward is very much a crosscutting issue in all sectors of development and in the policies and insti- tutions of good governance.
Women not only constitute the major- ity of pre- and especially post-conflict so- cieties, but they are often the first to start calling for peace. They initiate informal survival and advocacy networks in their unstable and insecure communities, even in camps for the displaced. Although it may be mostly men on the battlefronts, women, children and the elderly are greatly affected by the destructiveness of war, even as in- nocent bystanders. Strong women’s peace movements have evolved in most conflict- torn countries in Africa and they have not only advocated and lobbied for peace but have set up formal and informal systems to supply basic needs, generate income and manage households and communi- ties. Their zeal for peace and develop- ment has influenced “warlords” in many situations and kept a form of economy alive and ticking.
Women experience conflict in various ways. Many women and children are drawn into direct participation in the fight- ing, in intelligence gathering and in sup- plying fighters with food and basic neces- sities. Some willingly join combatant forces and risk their lives alongside the men. Oth- ers fully participate in committing atroci- ties, as was the case during the genocide in Rwanda. In that situation, it was noted that women too drew up lists of people to be killed and sometimes encouraged their children to assist in the killing. In addi- tion, many communities in wartime be- come military targets, especially when suspected of supporting or supplying rebel or government factions. In many situaIn many situations, women and girls have been forcibly inducted into armies on the move, to carry supplies, cook, and provide sexual services. It has been reported in the media that the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda has abducted some 10,000 children for unknown purposes.
It is evident in many post- conflict societies such as Ethiopia, Liberia, South Af- rica and Uganda, that the af- termath of conflicts has helped to crystallize the po- litical and economic agendas of both men and women.
Despite the ad hoc nature of their initial involve- ment, many women orga- nizations and community- based initia- tives have emerged to witness and assist in gaining women’s participation in the formal mainstream structures control- ling politics and the economies of societ- ies trying to rebuild and move on. At the level of civil society, many organizations have grown out of the conflicts and have been actively involved in reconstruction ef- forts. NGOs for peace activities have sprung up around the continent in re- sponse to the crises, at all levels.
Regardless of reasons or methods of participation, women’s political conscious- ness of the uses and abuses of power, re- sources and of their own political and eco- nomic powerlessness and vulnerability, in- crease significantly as a result of surviving conflict. Experience of the brutality and inhumanity of war changes people irrevo- cably, some towards breaking point, most to greater resilience and resourcefulness. In either case, expectations of the State, society and the self change accordingly. Women’s expectations and actions at this crucial time in a country’s history have proven ability to affect the post-war soci- etal conceptions and structures.
The data in this Report suggest that some post-conflict societies are experienc- ing an enhanced and expanded role for women at all levels of society, from the formal structures of parliament and local government, to private sector and civil so- ciety initiatives and grassroots and infor- mal networks. The determining factor therefore seems to be the extent to which there is social and political will to enhance the welfare of the nation and not only that of a particular interest or ethnic group. The costs of conflicts in Africa are staggering and daunting both for Africans and for the international community at large. However, once reconstruction gets a chance to set in, the emergent societies changed by vio- lence and bloodshed, get a second chance to establish policies and institutions ac- ceptable to all their citizens, despite dif- ferences of class and income, education, ethnicity, politics or religion.
African women are being in- creasingly recognized as de- velopment agents and as promoters of a culture of peace and good governance.
This period offers government, civil so- ciety and the private sector, a chance to institutionalize a gender-responsive policy that can actively tap the contribution of both men and women. Such a policy leads to the mainstreaming of gender-based planning and analysis, which in the Afri- can context, cannot avoid special action programmes to enhance women’s involvement This implies institutionalization of a larger role for women in various sectors of reconstruction and development.
The consensus at the 1997 Addis Ababa Inter-Agency Workshop for Documenting Best Practices in Peace Build- ing and Non-Violent Conflict Resolution was that, despite their efforts, women were still not adequately represented in the public mainstream policy and institutional frameworks and structures of peace build- ing. It was recommended that information and commu- nication media and linkages were needed to adequately promote women’s good prac- tices in peace resolution and reconstruction
The United Nations and the interna- tional aid community have been highly in- volved with peacekeeping and reconstruc- tion efforts in many conflict-torn African countries. At this level, most actors tend to be gender-sensi- tized to the necessity of women’s par- ticipation at all levels, and many aid policies actu- ally “force” the inclusion of women and a gender perspective in programmes and projects requiring ex- ternal financ- ing. Govern- ments too have become more aware in recent de- cades of the need to include women in governance and other decision-making structures beyond mere tokenism. African countries are signatories to various inter- national and African conventions and dec- larations that recognize gender-balanced development as the most just and sustain- able approach in the long run.
On 25 September 1997, the United Nations Security Council held an open meeting on African conflicts and asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to develop a comprehensive response to the continent’s conflicts and their aftermath. He was asked to focus on how to identify sources of conflict in Africa better, how to prevent or resolve them and how, once they are over, to lay the foundation for peace and economic growth. In his re- sponse to the Security Council, Mr. Annan acknowledged the consensus that the so- lution to Africa’s problems rests ‘with Afri- cans themselves’. Nevertheless, he also challenged the international community “to think precisely how best we can accom- pany the Africans on their path to lasting peace, stability, justice and sustainable de- velopment.” A comprehensive report on these issues has since been prepared and published as a report of the Secretary-Gen- eral to the Security Council.
Several international agencies, in col- laboration with national institutions, have initiated programmes that focus on the causes, prevention and management of post-conflict reconstruction. Among these programmes are the Continuum Project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); the Oxford Univer- sity ‘Project on Social and Economic Costs of Conflict in Developing Countries’; the African Women in Crisis (AFWIC) umbrella programme initiated by the United Na- tions Fund for Women (UNIFEM); the re- cently launched Action Programme on Skills and Entrepreneurship Development for Countries Emerging from Armed Con- flict of the International Labour Organiza- tion (ILO); the War-Torn Societies Project of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development and the Programme for Strategic and International Security Studies (UNRISD, PSIS). The lat- ter project provides a number of very useful entry points for gender analysis, in- cluding the importance of taking a more integrated approach to peace building, re- construction and development. The UNRISD War-Torn Societies Project report usefully discusses integrated reconstruc- tion from political, economic and social points of view.
The literature, projects and programmes on conflict and post-conflict societies have largely perpetuated a gender-neutral approach in their analysis, design and targeting of reconstruction activities. This situation is slowly changing, as the United Nations secretariat and specialized agencies and other international develop- ment organizations now have overt, explicit policies integrating gender as a crosscutting theme in sustain- able, equitable human development.
Since the United Nations Women’s De- cade of 1975-1985 and the First World Con- ference on Women in 1975, there has emerged an avalanche of literature on women and development, which carry ma- jor underlying messages about the ‘invis- ibility’ of women in the development pro- cess. Given the growing demand of women’s groups to be part of the peace-making and peace-building process, failure of mainstream re- construction programmes to reflect women’s concerns and invite and promote their participation means the loss of an extremely im- portant opportunity for meaningful change in the society’s foundations and aspirations. This report speaks to this issue.
I. CONFLICT, RECONSTRUCTION AND GENDER
In recent decades, armed conflict and civil unrest in Africa have been increasing instead of de- creasing. The intensity and dura- tion of these conflicts have left, and con- tinue to leave people’s lives, economies and social structures devastated, even after the conflicts are resolved. Psychological trauma and in- ability to trust neighbours and social institu- tions become the order of the day. The un- speakable hor- rors and breathtaking speed of the genocide in Rwanda, the continuing an- archy in Somalia, and the civil wars in Angola, Liberia and Sierra Leone are but a few stark examples. In many other countries also, conflict and rebellion add to the image of Africa as a place of wide- spread, irreconcilable differences.
The idea is not to polarize gender relationships be- tween men, women and government, but to under- stand, identify and utilize all the available knowledge, skills and positioning for efficient, speedy advance- ment of the country.
Gender in development literature re- fers to the societal relationships bound by the various traditional roles of men and women in a given household, work- place or community. Cultural and social patterns shape women’s and men’s in- volvement in production, reproduction and resource use and distribution. Conflict situations change some of these cul- tural and social constructs, but on the whole, women do not have the same ac- cess to, control of, or ability to move pro- ductive resources between differing sec- tors of economic activity as do men. In conflicts involving civilian populations, for example in Rwanda, it is said that many women were also involved in agi- tating for violence and that some actu- ally participated in the genocidal slaugh- ter. Although such examples rule out the noble, ideal image of all women as peace-loving in all situations, in the ma- jority of cases, women do not have the decision-making powers nor the arma- ments and military skills and capacity to initiate and wage war and decide the outcomes. Anne-Marie Goetz empha- sizes the importance of understanding “not just the role of public administra- tions in producing gendered outcomes, but the role of gender in structuring power and opportunity within adminis- tration, and the link between these two processes” [1].
Where there is an integrated nation, then gender principles apply also to a na- tional level that promotes equal opportu- nity for women and girls. In this survey, gender analysis and planning are sup- ported, to urge rational and just use of the differentiated but supportive and comple- mentary roles of men and women, par- ticularly in pro-change reconstruction situations.
A. The nature of conflict in Africa
The term “conflict” is used in this con- text to cover forms of violent protest and rebellion. It applies particularly in coun- tries that have experienced full-scale civil or cross-border wars. Conflicts differ in their scale, duration, reach and level of destruction. Since the era of African inde- pendence in the late 1950s, only a hand- ful of the 53 countries has not experienced large-scale conflict, civil unrest or military coup d’etats.
Currently, the literature classifies African conflicts into four categories:
Conflicts that have been resolved and have been followed by a sustained pe- riod of relative peace;
Since 1970, more than 30 wars have been fought in Africa, most of them intra-state in origin. In 1996, 14 of the 53 African countries were experiencing armed conflicts that accounted for more than half of all war-related deaths globally. Increasingly, United Nations peacekeeping, originally aimed at inter-state conflict, is being asked to deal with intra- state warfare, the main objective of which is destruction not only of armies but also civilians and even specific ethnic groups.
Source: Report of the United Nations Secretary-General to the Security Council. The Causes of Conflict and Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa, United Nations, New York, April 1998.
The fragmented peace and persistent violence in many post-conflict situations also make it difficult to distinguish clearly between conflict and post-conflict periods. In reality, the phases overlap and often truces, cease-fires and peace accords are mere lulls in a storm that keeps breaking out and deluging the country, as is cur- rently the case in Angola, Democratic Re- public of the Congo and Sierra Leone, to name a few from different subregions.
Post-conflict societies tend to be frag- ile even after disarmament exercises and attempts to hold elections. The economic, ethnic, class, religious, territorial or politi- cal differences that caused the conflict persist unless significant changes in gov- ernance and human welfare occur. Com- munities and neighbourhoods are usually deeply divided, although new survival net- works, friendships and alliances may have also developed
Conflict is destructive and afflicts all citi- zens with losses. Reconstruction implies that what needs to be rebuilt existed once before, so reference to reconstruction im- plies regaining of achievement and status levels previously reached but now destroyed or damaged. These levels have to be surpassed before new or additional develop- ment can take place. Given the gendered life roles of men and women, conflict af- fects them differently and so do solutions. When the men are killing each other, some women die too, but many survive, as displaced, refu- gees, widows heading their h o u s e h o l d s , d e s t i t u t e s , cripples, mental cases, and those traumatized psy- chologically by human and mate- rial losses, want and deprivation, rape and sexual abuses and mutilations.
Rape and sexual torture are systematically used as weapons of war. Psycho- logical trauma, sexually transmitted diseases, un- wanted pregnancies and reproductive health prob- lems are some of the con- sequences faced by the women victims of conflict- induced violence and genocide.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is one of the agencies now applying a gen- der approach to health in post-conflict sitiuations that does not focus only on women’s health in isolation, but on analy- sis of the differences between men and women’s health needs in such areas as differential exposure to risk and access to specialized health care. Men’s roles and beliefs with regard to women’s health con- cerns, and vice versa, are also examined. Health for everyone, throughout the stages of their lives, is now seen as a cumulative matter, with women particularly affected by familial, social, economic, cultural and environmental factors [2]. Of those highly involved in relief and reconstruction, the World Food Programme (WFP) is another agency that has made substantial progress within country programmes in directly involving women as managers, administra- tors and beneficiaries, and in using gen- der analysis of needs, skills, and conse- quences in distribution of food aid and other resources.
Many women who have survived con- flicts, often with their fathers, brothers and husbands dead or away fighting, impris- oned or exiled, take on larger roles in com- munity and family leadership, in agricul- ture and marketing, in industry, in armies and militias. Relief operations often find that they must target women especially, because of their strong roles in the family and in the community networks of supply and demand. Relief aid distributed through women tends to have a large multiplier effect in a community, given the extended nature of women’s networking.
Many women evolve new leadership roles and skills under reconstruction programmes, more from necessity than choice. Such tasks are additional to their usual activities and can fall heavily on women determined to survive but carry- ing strong feelings of guilt, sorrow, and loss. Some women emerge as activists dedicated to preventing such suffering from recurring. Others learn to drive trac- tors and other vehicles, and perform other tasks once controlled by men. Especially in cases where their men do not return from war or have fled, women in new modes of survival cannot easily relinquish their new independence and positioning in society, as has been the case in many communities in Somalia.
The gendered economic conse- quences of conflict in Africa are seen readily in the agricultural sector, both at micro and macro levels. In Africa, the rural, agriculture-based economy pre- dominates. Agriculture contributes a much higher share of GDP than in other regions of the world and the great major- ity of men and women are economically active in this sector and its related activi- ties. In most African countries, including those that have undergone major conflicts, women play significant roles in growing food and cash crops themselves and in providing agricultural labour for the cash crops grown by men farmers. They per- form some 90 per cent of the work of food processing, 80 per cent of food stor- age tasks, 90 per cent of hoeing and weeding and 60 per cent of harvesting and marketing, besides load carrying and transport services [3]. The efficiency, hard work and vulnerability of African women farmers and farm managers have also been noted on the ground and in various studies, despite their unequal access to land, capital, extension services, im- proved seeds, tools and other inputs, and education and information [4].
When this sector collapses in impor- tant parts of a country due to prolonged war and insecurity, women are both di- rectly and indirectly affected and lose their major occupation and source of food and income. If fields cannot be planted and harvested in peace, without threat of at- tack, kidnapping and forced conscription or exploding landmines, the consequences for both married and unmarried women can become dire. Most cannot easily shift into other formal economic activity, and many end up displaced and landless for long periods of time. Inability to perform their agricultural tasks freely, or even to stay on the land, crushes the whole social and economic fabric, besides adding to food shortages, food insecurity and decline in trading activities at local and national levels.
Conflicts in Africa affect even those stable countries that are not at war or ex- periencing civil disturbances. They may have to take sides in the conflict, or may get involved with mediation and peace- keeping efforts. They may also have to host hundreds of thousands of refugees, a situ- ation that often causes problems of inte- gration with local populations, environ- mental degradation and internal security. Fighting, and the consequent decline in preventative and curative health care, can give rise to various epidemics, even small- pox and bubonic plague, long considered eradicated globally. Diseases that get out of control know no borders. There are re- ports of an ebola-type disease breaking out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said to have originated in a remote rebel- held area near the Uganda border. Angola is reported to be suffering from a polio epidemic and Mozambique is experienc- ing a virulent outbreak of malaria.
Table 1 lists the different conflicts in Africa and attempts to compare intensity. Table 2 estimates the number of war-dead in selected countries. However, compara- tive data in this area are practically non- existent and where they do exist may not be totally accurate, given the difficulties in gathering information during conflicts.
There are still on-going conflicts in Africa as well as conflicts in the making if measures are not taken by responsible governments and by regional and inter- national organizations with mediation mandates, such as the OAU and the UN Security Council, or special commissions of eminent persons. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is once more fac- ing widespread civil war as a rebel move- ment started to challenge President Laurent Kabila’s government so recently installed since the overthrow of President Mobutu with the help of Rwandese and Congolese Tutsis. Rebels control eastern and northwest parts of the country, sup- ported by Rwanda and Uganda, and President Kabila has persuaded several other nations, including Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe, to send troops to assist his government to retain control. A tar- get for the rebels is the southern diamond area of Mbuji-Mayi. This particular con- flict is destabilizing the whole region, de- spite the return of over a million refu- gees to Rwanda in 1996-1997 and an estimated 161,000 to Burundi.
In parts of the Sudan, Somalia and Uganda fighting continues. The year 1997 -1998 also saw war in Guinea-Bissau and intervention in Lesotho by South Africa and Botswana. In Sierra Leone the civil war has escalated and shows signs of brutal atrocities aimed at women and children of particular ethnic groups or who just get in the way. A fierce struggle for power has disrupted the country and caused an exo- dus of refugees and internally displaced. The Sierra Leone conflict, like that in the Congo, has involved other African nations, not only in peace-keeping commitments, but also as their territories are sometimes used by rebels as safe areas and as jump- off points for attacks.
Guinea, for example, is facing mount- ing pressure from rebels in Sierra Leone’s conflict. The Nigerian-led West African ECOMOG force, itself suffering casualties, is involved in the United Nations regional peacekeeping efforts. It contains Guinean troops and Guinea shares a border and border towns with Sierra Leone. The situ- ation is demanding heightened Guinean military presence, as rebels move to con- trol much of Sierra Leone’s western border district. Thousands of civilians have also fled into Guinean territory to escape the fighting. Ethno-political and land issues have also sparked recent disturbances in Kenya, and Zambia experienced an at- tempted overthrow of its elected govern- ment. Officially, South Africa, Liberia and
In the wake of the genocide in Rwanda, attempts are being made to restore a semblance of governance for all, although the seething prob- lems of ethnicity, land and socioeconomic issues simmer still. Local elec- tions are planned for March 1999 and how these proceed will demon- strate the level of democratic power-sharing and administrative growth and the durability of the peace. Accountability for socio-economic progress tends to be more expected of those legitimately voted into power, both by their electorate and by the international community.
Uganda have resolved their conflicts and are in reconstruction, but violence and crime still plague various parts of these countries.
Border fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea broke out in 1997 and is expected to continue unsettled until the two formerly friendly neighbours accept arbitration for clear border demarcation. Since Eritrea’s independence, the two countries had mostly enjoyed good relations but conflict flared up over a number of issues includ- ing ownership of border lands and admin- istration of Asseb Port. With Eritrean in- dependence, Ethiopia became a land- locked country.
In Somalia, the situation remains un- settled. The country has been at war since clan leaders came together in 1991 to oust President Mohamed Siad Barre. They then started to fight among themselves, con- trolling parts of the country, but leaving it with no viable, central government and a divided capital city. Women now control most market places when the sporadic fighting allows.
An International Panel of Eminent Personalities has been formed to investi- gate the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. After the conflict subsided, Rwandese women found themselves to be the 70 per cent majority of the population. With the men dead, imprisoned, exiled or away fighting or working, the women have had to cope with all walks and sectors of life that were traditionally the men’s spheres of influence. The situation with orphaned and unaccom- panied children after the genocide com- pounded the problems of social reconstruc- tion.
In Angola, when civil war re-ignited in December 1998, the United Nations decided to withdraw its peacekeeping forces. WFP has been feeding hundreds of thousands of refugees. It has been air- lifting maize, beans, cooking oil and other supplies into selected areas, due to im- passability and insecurity of roads, and torrential rainfall. With the outbreak of fresh fighting, the population of Kuito, for ex- ample, a few hundred kilometres from Luanda, doubled to 400,000 as people fled the fighting between government and rebels for the countryside, putting great strain on local resources and further en- dangering food and personal security in the area.
The media in recent years has been noting the power politics with regard to use and development of the waters and basin of the River Nile, with Egypt, Ethio- pia and Sudan as the major potential ri- parian contenders. Existing agreements, many signed between the colonial pow- ers that formerly controlled Egypt and Sudan, or between newly independent States, are said to give almost monopoly control to Egypt, a situation now being increasingly challenged by upstream countries, particularly Ethiopia, a major source of the Nile. Egypt, a country ex- tremely dependent on Nile waters, does not want any upstream dams constructed that would reduce flow. The rumblings from the countries involved should be taken as an early warning of potential geo- political conflict and efforts should be made to bring about a basin-wide agree- ment acceptable to upstream and down- stream countries. At the Fifth Nile 2002 Conference in Addis Ababa in February 1997, the conclusion was that fair and equitable Nile water utilization was lack- ing and the status quo favouring Egypt needed to be changed for all basin countries to benefit. Fresh negotiations and agreements were called for, to promote peaceful and sustainable use of Nile wa- ters for irrigaton and other development needs of the riparian States. All ten Nile States want rights to make use of the wa- ters of the Nile and its tributaries, within their borders. Regional cooperation and mediation is clearly needed.
B. The major causes of conflict in Africa
The causes of armed conflict in Africa are as diverse as the continent itself. They have included wars of liberation and inde- pendence, border disputes, authoritarian, dictatorial rule, superpower Cold War inter-
ference in local conflicts, poverty and unemploy- ment, uneven, poorly distributed development, ethno-political movements, reli- gious intoler- ance, economic and financial cri- sis, land and en- v i r o n m e n t a l stress and cultural self-assertion. These causes are all closely interrelated and con- flicts rarely have one simple explanation. Since the 1970s, but even more so in the 1990s, while the causes of conflict are usu- ally country-specific, the conflicts themselves take on a regional dimension. This was evi- dent in Southern Africa during the struggle against white supremacy and apartheid, in the Horn of Africa in the 1980s, in the im- pact of the conflict in Liberia on the rest of West Africa and, even more dramatically, in the recent crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
When human development is suppressed or neglected and when human rights are persistently abused or ig- nored, armed conflict to in- duce change becomes stra- tegic to specific interest groups.
The April 1998 Report of the United Nations Secretary-General to the Security Council on the causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustain- able development in Africa has contrib- uted greatly to understanding of the prob- lems plaguing many African societies. It has also appropriately challenged devel- opment and aid organizations to do better by Africa. Sources of conflict are traced to historical legacies, internal and external factors, economic motives and particular situations.
1. The Cold War era and its aftermath
During the era of the post-World War II period, from around 1950 to 1990, the global conflict called the “Cold War” be- tween Western capitalist and Eastern com- munist superpowers destabilized many smaller countries. Many internal conflicts in Africa and in other developing countries were easily aggravated and used for exter- nal political and economic interests. Angola, Chad, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Somalia, and the Sudan were some of the countries that fell victim to external inter- vention and became veritable battlefields. The whole non-aligned movement grew out of the need to evade the intolerable idealogical pressure placed on developing nations to choose sides. The rewards for choosing sides usually included economic and military assistance, depending on how strategically necessary a particular African country was, or how much its vote was needed in various international forums. With the end of the Cold War, overt and covert external intervention diminished but also changed forms and methods, largely for economic and professional mercenary motives.
Some experts feel that with the disin- tegration of the former Soviet Union, com- munism as a superpower force is no longer seen by the Western industrialized nations as a major threat. In the current balance- of-power, the United States of America and its allies now exercise more of a unipolar hegemony. Yet, in recent years, there have been clashes between proponents of western finance capitalism and eastern fundamentalist religions. Some analysts blame religion for the conflict between Christian and Muslim groups in former Yugoslavia, but larger historical, economic, territorial and ethnicity issues were also at stake. Earlier conflict between the United States and Libya led to bombing of targets in Libya. An air embargo against flights to Libya was also instituted partly as a result of the Government’s refusal to hand over suspects in the Lockerbie air disaster incident. In another example, as a result of the bombing of United States Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, the United States carried out retaliatory air strikes against targets in the Sudan and in Afghanistan.
As with any of the other factors caus- ing invasions, bombings, coups, war and conflict, it is rare to find religious and idealogical differences the only factors. Po- litical, cultural and/or territorial and economic dimensions or human rights abuses are usually intertwined with superpower and other external balance-of-power positioning.
In the competition for oil, diamonds and other precious resources in Africa, ex- ternal interests continue to play a decisive role both in sustaining and suppressing conflicts. Neighbouring States within Af- rica have also used these conflicts for their own interests. African governments have supported and even instigated armed con- flicts in neighbouring countries. Interna- tional arms merchants and mercenary sol- diers also fuel and profit from these wars. Economic interests are also internal to con- flicts as seen in Liberia and in Angola.
Conflict over resources and religion in Nigeria
In Nigeria, people have been forced from their homes due to ethnic conflict over the past thirty years. The ethno-political conflicts go as far back as the Nigerian- Biafran War from 1967 to 1970, in which an estimated two million people died, with 10 million displaced. More recently, the conflicts centre around environmental pollution and poverty in oil-produc- ing areas.
The strategy of rural transformation used by successive Nigerian Governments, emphasized large-scale, mechanized agriculture which caused land hunger among peasants and higher land prices. Land has become scarce and speculative land deals have become a lucrative source of income involving individually appropriated communal land. This has been the case in the southeastern states where population densities are high. In the north of the country, this type of land conflict has also caused the displacement of thousands of farmers and pastoralists.
The worsening social situation in Nigeria is also linked to religion. The north of the country is mostly Muslim. There have been major religious conflicts between Muslims and Chris- tians in northern cities.
Source: Janie Hampton, ed. Internally Displaced Persons, Earthscan Publications, pp.49-52
In Liberia , the warring factions battled for control and exploitation of diamonds, tim- ber and other raw materials. Angola’s dia- mond fields offer great motivation and in Sierra Leone also control of territory rich in natural resources was a prime factor. In fact, during the 1997 coup, the Central Bank’s reserves were looted [5].
2. Ethno-political conflicts and the failure of post-independence nation building
Hundreds of years ago, European colonialists encountered a largely tribally organized Africa. Even where empires had formed, they tended to be dominated by a major tribe and culture, as is usually the case historically. The partitioning of Africa among European powers grabbing as much territory as they could, meant that “national” areas belonging to foreign met- ropolitan powers were forcibly carved out of tribal territories which had not yet built up identities as part of a multi-ethnic na- tion. The very systems of administration and infrastructure creation, law and edu- cation were foreign to most Africans. Afri- can political and economic elites formed, but popular participation remained limited. In other words, post-colonial nation build- ing was heavily top-down, with little popu- lar participation or preparation and little or no indigenous infrastructure and admin- istration. Nation building historically, as seen for example in Europe, proceeded over many centuries, across changing bor- ders, through numerous wars, and through many technological revolutions. With fewer resources and little technology, African countries have been expected to build na- tions in decades.
With African independence, this process of welding together disparate, multi-lingual, multi-religious, even traditionally hostile eth- nic groups was continued, with varying de- grees of success. With the advent of the liberation movements, the period of stability following independence, for example in Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, was short-lived. Demands for more equitable sharing of power and national wealth had not been adequately handled, but these in- ternal conflicts were worsened by the desta- bilizing effect of apartheid in South Africa. A major underlying cause of most ethno-po- litical conflicts was the failure of the top- down nation-building plans and inability to fulfill the promises made by these young in- dependent African governments. In addition to being top down, state power tended to be dominated by one major ethnic group, which led to a sense of discrimination and violent oppression among the minority groups. Lack of democratization, tribalism, favouritism, nepotism, and state partisanship towards its supporters on the basis of ethnicity tend to fuel such conflicts.
In Senegal, people have been fleeing conflict in the Casamance region while a considerable number of people fled from the northern region of Ghana in 1994 over ethnic land rights issues that ended with 2000 dead and many villages and a large area of cropland destroyed. In 1995, land rights again sparked off conflict in north- eastern Ghana. In Liberia and in Rwanda, the civil wars have officially ended but seri- ous human rights issues have remained. A culture of violent ethnic tension and sus- picion has developed in both countries, and this has to be replaced with opportunities to build inter-ethnic trust through dialogue and community development activities.
In Mali, ethnic unrest emerged in mid-1990 when the Tuaregs, claiming marginalization, clashed with the govern- ment. Fighting was sporadic and, flared up again in 1994, having by then grown to include interfactional clashes among different rebel groups. The Government has been using dialogue and appease- ment to solve the situation, and are tar- geting agricultural development, employ- ment and the environment in the conflict areas. Cultural assertion is sometimes of- fered as an explanation for the conflict in Algeria, seen as a multifaceted response to a series of structural changes and state- directed policies, not just the religious issues. There are usually additional and interconnected factors in conflicts caused by religious differences.
In many post-independent African countries, given that some tribal, ethnic, religious or economic group dominated political and public affairs, the policy en- vironment soon led to the abandonment of political pluralism and resulted in single party or military rule. Quite frequently, authoritarian rule rested on a narrow eth- nic base and systems of patronage and privilege, discrimination and inequality that excluded other ethnic and religious groups making up the society. The Tutsi/Hutu genocidal conflict, the conflict in Northern Ghana and the intensification of the Tuareg rebellion in Niger are also examples of such conflict. Akwetey stresses that violence breaks out as a result of failure to “de- velop an adequate institutional political framework for the peaceful management of conflicts” [6].
In the 1990s, internally displaced persons and refugees emerged from a new set of countries that had not had much displacement in the past, Djibouti, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo. Further, countries such as Burundi, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of the Congo that previously only reported refu- gees are now also producing internally displaced estimates [7].
Authoritarian, dictatorial, non-inclu- sive rule does not fit well with modern ideas of good governance and is out of place in this global age of democratiza- tion, popular participation for develop- ment and encouragement of private and civil sector growth. Systems of patronage and privilege, discrimination and inequal- ity that exclude other ethnic and religious groups making up a society breed con- flict inevitably. Although political liberal- ization and economic globalization have triggered change in many societies, mov- ing them towards more inclusive and democratic systems of governance, vio- lent outbreaks of ethno-political conflicts have marred progress in many areas and revived hostilities. In many countries, one party or military rule led to a dispropor- tionately large allocation of the GNP on military and security activities and a de- crease in government expenditure on es- sential basic services, such as health and education. Even during the worst famines of the mid- 1980s, the level of military expenditure did not decrease.
3. Poverty, unemployment and economic crisis
Chronology of a conflict: The case of Sierra Leone
The struggle for political control in Sierra Leone began in 1991 when rebels crossed the border from Liberia and took over control in the southern and eastern parts of the country. Support for the rebels grew, and a military coup overthrew the government of President Momoh in 1992. The successor government of Captain Valentine Strasser continued to fight the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in both the cities and rural provinces. but by 1994, RUF was operating throughout the country, and might have taken Freetown if the Govern- ment had not resorted to the use of foreign mercenaries. President Strasser was overthrown by his Deputy, Brigadier Bio and elections were held in 1996, in which Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) was victorious. Despite a cease fire and a peace agreement, the fighting continued and President Kabbah was overthrown in a coup led by Major Koroma and an Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). Since May 1997, hundreds have died in fighting between various factions. The eastern diamond towns such as Segbwema, Koidu and Tongofield. are considered strategic by both rebel and govern- ment forces.
The conflict has been extremely destructive, even at the village level. There have been extra- judicial killings, use of torture and other human rights abuses and large-scale migration of refugees and of internally displaced, some of whom were able to return to their homes during a lull in the fighting in 1996. Some 10,000 people have been killed, thousands more maimed and disfugured, and 2.1 million displaced, about 275, 000 of whom are refugees. Women have undergone rape, sexual abuses and mutilations reminiscent of the gender-based sexual violence that was rampant in Rwanda. Children have suffered the most, comprising about half of the dead. At the height of the displacement, some 700,000 chil- dren were among the displaced, including 9,500 unaccompanied minors. By March 1998, an estimated 200,000 internally displaced required humanitarian assistance.
Source: Janie Hampton ed., Internally Displaced People, Earthscan Publications, 1998, pp. 53-55;
Even when per capita income rises and growth rates show increase, poverty is not only on the rise in Africa but the gap between African developing countries and wealthy industrialized nations is wid- ening instead of diminishing. Evidently, governments, international development aid agencies and financial institutions, Africa’s middle classes and private sectors, and civil society have not yet been able to come to grips with the causes of poverty in Africa.More than one billion people in the world live in abject poverty, without even enough to eat. A large proportion, the majority of whom are women, have very limited access to income, resources, edu- cation, health care or adequate nutrition, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries. Recent studies on poverty in Africa show that poverty has increased over the recent past. Ravallion and Chen report results for a sample of 19 sub-Sa- haran African countries representing 65.9 per cent of the 1993 population of the re- gion. An international poverty line of $US1.00 a day per person was used and was kept constant at the relevant initial sur- vey date. According to these results, be- tween 1987 and 1993, poverty increased in sub-Saharan Africa for two poverty mea- sures used. The head count ratio increased from 38.5 per cent in 1987 to 39.1 per cent in 1993, while the poverty-gap index increased from 14.4 per cent in 1987 to 15.3 per cent in 1993 [8].
Uneven development and op- portunity exacerbates pov- erty. Interest groups can react violently in the absence of social, political and eco- nomic opportunities for ensuring human security and human development.Intensified poverty, unemployment and social disintegration have helped to cause con- flict. They also accom- pany conflicts and the rapid processes of change and adjustment. Threats to hu- man well be- ing, such as environmen- tal risks, have also been globalized. The insecurity that many vulnerable people face about the future is intensifying. Poverty, unemploy- ment and social disintegration too often result in isolation, marginalization and vio- lence. Within many societies, both in de- veloped and developing countries, the gap between rich and poor has increased.
One of the profound challenges facing African countries today is the need to cre- ate sufficient employment opportunities for the increasing labour force. Most African countries report urban unemployment rates in the range of 20-30 per cent, underem- ployment rates in the 25-40 per cent range, youth unemployment rates in 25-40 per cent range, and women’s unemployment range at twice the national average.
There are large areas of Africa devoid of any modern self-generating economic and social development. War-induced food insecurity and environmental distress such as drought and famine compound the ex- treme poverty and deeply felt frustration that this generates. Many of the conflicts that occurred in the Sahel in the 1980s can be linked to such environmental dis- tress and pre-existing poverty. Although religious intolerance was a factor, it was not a new phenomenon.
Control of national resources, through political and economic systems, is a high stake for ruling elites who often accept their wealth, power and influence as a right, and wish the status quo to continue. Con- flicts have a way of proving to them that change is inevitable and that the new sys- tems developed have to share the power and distribute the benefits from national resource use more equitably. Otherwise, frustrations and tensions build up and can spill over into coups, full-scale war, armed rebellion or civil unrest.
C. Consequences of African conflicts
The immediate, short- and long-term consequences of conflict have been dis- cussed extensively, both in the popular media and other publications. The situa- tion implies lack of social stability and threat to human, economic and institu- tional development. Efforts to estimate the costs of conflict usually focus on human, political, material and economic, ecologi- cal, social, cultural, psychological and spiritual costs.
1. “Missing lives”The human cost refers to the num- ber of dead and wounded, displaced and war-induced famine victims. There are codes of conduct governing military behaviour, the most widely respected of which should be the Geneva Conventions regarding the ‘protection’ of civilians and war prisoners’. At present, however, this is not the case. The vast majority of vic- tims of conflicts in Africa, both those that have recently ended and those still rag- ing are unarmed civilians, children, women and the elderly. For its part, the African Development Bank (ADB) arrived at an estimate of a higher magnitude af- ter taking into account factors such as the “murderous phase of the Angolan War”, the slow rehabilitation of health and drought relief in Mozambique, and fam- ine-induced deaths in the Sudan and Ethiopia. For the period 1980-1993, the total death toll for the same set of coun- tries is estimated at seven million by ADB, to which was added 1.5 million for Rwanda and Burundi alone, in 1994 [9]. However unreliable the data may be, it is safe to say that the number of people who have died in Africa as a result of conflict has been devastating to the continent, to countries and subregions, to cities and to communities.
The overwhelming majority of casu- alties are presumed to be unarmed civil- ians, particularly infants and children un- der five years old and at least ten per cent of the elderly population (people over fifty years old.) These two groups are particu- larly vulnerable to the interaction of mal- nutrition, absence of basic medical care and to displacement. In addition to the collapse of health services, the major cause of death has been lack of capacity to im- port and transport food during droughts and crises, as in the Sudan and Angola. Direct combatant casualties accounted for less than 5 per cent. In Rwanda and Burundi, 95 per cent of the victims who lost their lives were civilians [10].
A new and contributing feature of this conflict is the easy availability and increas- ing use of light weapons, including anti- personnel mines. Even when the interna- tional community announces a ban on the sale of armaments to potential conflict ar- eas, the flow of arms continues and many external companies and mercenary orga- nizations reap profits. All States have the right and responsibility to defend them- selves by force of arms if necessary, but should not become stooges in the global proliferation of arms, while profiteering, immoral individuals and companies reap financial benefit from Africa’s suffering and destruction. It has been suggested that African countries, to reduce military ex- penditure and armed aggression in the region, should sign non-aggression pacts and security cooperation agreements, par- ticipate in joint military training exercises and patrols and harmonize policies against illegal trafficking of arms and munitions. Arms exporting countries also have a re- sponsibility to monitor the exportation of arms to areas of conflict and tension.
In addition, the growth of paramilitary forces in Africa is not bound by a military code of conduct, and the conscription and forced abduction of children, both boys and girls, as fighters and sexual slaves is an affront to human dignity and human rights. In the war in Liberia, it is estimated that 70 per cent of former combatants were children of 15 years and under. Such factors and elements of conflicts wreak havoc during wars and perpetuate vio- lence long after the peace process has begun. The large number of victims of anti-personnel mines in numerous coun- tries, the growing incidence of rape, as- sault and other forms of violence against women and girls, and the overall alarm- ing spiral of violence and criminality in post-conflict societies are but a few cases in point.
2. Anti-personnel landmines
In many of these countries, one of the vestiges of war is hidden land mines. They maim or kill many people including girls and women and are designed to ex- plode with the weight of a three-year old child. Mines were often laid with the in- tention of disrupting the social and eco- nomic life, including production, and were laid in paths used mainly by girls and women to fetch fuelwood and water and in land farmed by women. Angola is the most mined country in the world, after thirty years of conflict. With an estimated 6 million mines to worry about, mines continue to be laid as the civil war flares up again. It is estimated that more than 60 per cent of territory in a third of the country is mined and 30 per cent of the territory in at least three other provinces. In this context, pursuing agricultural pro- duction and fetching fuelwood and water are fraught with danger. There are an es- timated 32,000 maimed and crippled sur- vivors in the country. In Mozambique the problem is on a smaller scale but is nev- ertheless immense, with an estimated one million unexploded mines [11]. Expensive mine clearance projects have to be a major part of reconstruction in these coun- tries. Mining of roads has implied unnec- essary detours, increased the cost of time and fuel and increased the price of goods. The cost of land mines is not only the war-induced environmental destruction and the maimed and the dead during the conflict, but even when the conflict has been resolved their presence remains as a terrible risk in peacetime, particularly to farmers, many of whom are women and girls.
Princess Diana of the United King- dom visited Angola to publicize the landmine problem and raise funds to demine territory and to aid the maimed and crippled survivors. Pledges were made but government programmes and NGO activity to demine and assist vic- tims are currently little funded, due to donor fatigue and to preferred investment in broader health and other social sector programmes. Her death in August 1997 was a blow to the international campaign to raise funds and to ban the use of landmines by all nations. The Ottawa Convention has since been signed by 127 nations but there is inertia to implement it. Domestic politics and squabbling among the NGOs meant to facilitate the work have also delayed action.
3. Displacement
Conflicts have triggered massive dis- placement of populations throughout the African continent. It has been observed that “parallel to death though less per- manently and irrevocably devastating, is displacement, internally and (second- arily) as international refugees” [12]. More than 28 African countries are either producers or recipients of refugees and in most cases they are both. In 1995, more than half of the population of Liberia and more than one quarter of the population of Rwanda and Sierra Leone were either internally displaced persons (IDPs) or were refugees in other countries. Table 3 provides a profile of the magnitude of displacement in some of the most affected countries.
The Sudan is home to more internally displaced persons than any other country, with an estimated 4 million or one seventh of its total population [13]. Other African coun- tries have large numbers of internally dis- placed populations with varying estimates.
They include the Democratic Republic of the Congo with 225 000, Kenya with 210,000, Ghana with 150,000 and Mali with 10,000 [14]. The 1998 Global IDP Sur- vey funded by the Norwegian Refugee Coun- cil provides estimates, shown in table 4.
Displacement creates huge problems of protection and assistance. Resources have to be mobilized, camps established and managed, information systems set up, field support, local support, technical co- operation projects, harmonization of na- tional law with international humanitarian human rights standards, and strengthen- ing civil society and NGO action. Although NGOs do a great deal to promote self-suf- ficiency and minimize aid dependency, since displacement is treated as a tempo- rary phenomenon, there is little investment in the transient structures of camps for the displaced.Human rights field officers play an integral role in the establishment of con- fidence necessary for voluntary return and act as a deterrent to human rights abuses. They have to be sufficiently deployed in areas with large concentrations of IDPs, to gather information on the IDP situa- tion, analyze trends and broker available assistance. There are concerns that UN and aid agency staff need more training in human rights norms and IDP concerns to be able to raise protection issues and to better integrate protection concerns with the provision of relief. Camp admin- istrative systems should involve the dis- placed in planning and administration and encourage refugee autonomy and self-sufficiency. Activities include regis- tration of the population, recording births, deaths, new arrivals, maintenance and sanitation, dispute resolution, transport, medical crises and epidemics, health care, camp security and aid distribution, particularly food aid. There is need for non-intrusive programmes, educational assistance, and clothing. No permanent expatriate presence is recommended. Camp committees are organized but the larger the camp the greater the social problems.
The experience of camps set up for Rwandese refugees in Zaire and Tanzania from 1994 to 1996 showed that interna- tional agencies were not very effective in identifying individuals for ensuring ac- countable distribution of aid. Some camps were “no-go” areas for international agen- cies beyond the distribution point for food delivery. They tended to function as zones in which those responsible for the Rwandan genocide were able to continue to intimidate camp populations and divert aid to military and paramilitary personnel.
Women and girls tend to do best in smaller camps, with access to adequate plots of land, but camps are usually large and located in barren areas of the host country [15]. The lamentable conditions in most camps force refugees to go to urban centres, where they are harassed by po- lice and usually exploited by employers.
4. Differential displacement impact on men and women
It is estimated that African women and their children make up the majority of the refugees and displaced, with estimates rang- ing between 65 and 85 per cent [16]. In 1996, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) stated that women and their de- pendents, including children and the eld- erly comprised 80 per cent of refugee popu- lations. A camp study done in Ghana re- ported that over 70 per cent of a total refu- gee population of 13,500 people were women and children [17]. Since 1993, UNHCR has provided annual year-end es- timates of the sex and age composition of the refugee population and these vary widely year by year, even in a single country.
In her study of post-conflict Mozambique, Baden notes that “no source was identified to establish overall sex ratios for the refugee and displaced population, although most accounts state, often with- out substantiation, that women and women and children were the majority in the refu- gee and displaced population” [18]. Despite their majority, early planning for the dis- placed did not take women and gender into account. Another factor that has been frequently ignored in project development was the greater frequency of female-headed households in refugee populations [19]. One explanation offered was that women tended to stay in the camps while men sought work elsewhere. Official statistics on the displaced in 20 districts in Mozambique showed that there was a high-proportion of female- headed households among the displaced, due to male deaths, migration, and high levels of divorce and separation.
For most displaced women in Mozambique, their own survival strategies were developed before project assistance could be mobilized. No refugees were in- volved in any of the overall decision-mak- ing and management committees, thus rendering them, both men and women, powerless to shape policy or affect choice of activities. Where women were involved, their skills were not correctly evaluated. Traditional labour roles were accepted in an emergency situation that demanded far more innovative ways and means. Instead women and girls were limited to homecraft and cake-baking activities, with more of a social and recreational purpose than train- ing or income-generation. Where men’s incomes were marginal, those of women were barely measurable. It was found that women’s participation and roles increased and expanded when both formal and in- formal activity and the household division of labour were taken into account. When valued only for domestic labour, such as time-consuming fetching of water and fire- wood, food preparation, and childcare, women had little time and received little encouragement for project commitments.
Impact of development-oriented NGO projects
on Mozambican refugee survival in Malawi
NGO management limitations have been unresponsive to local economic conditions and skills; inadequate methods of recruitment; production, unsustainable business planning and marketing constraints; limited refugee participation and the imposition of foreign manage- ment ideologies; gender inequalities and inadequate gender-related policies. Analysis of these shortcomings offers guidance to the mobilization of relief and development projects in large-scale refugee resettlement and repatriation.Source: Community Development Journal, “Refugee Survival and NGO Project Assistance: Mozambican Refugees in Malawi|”, Vol. 31, No. 3, July 1996, pp. 214-229.
In spite of the shortcomings, UNHCR, the agency in charge of implementing refu- gee law, and some international NGOs, provide protection for those who are rec- ognized as refugees, unlike the situation for the internally displaced. Progress has also been made in taking measures which address gender biases embedded in exist- ing international instruments. The 1979 UNHCR Handbook on Procedures utilized gender-neutral language and failed to dif- ferentiate the needs of male and female refugees. As of 1985, however, the agency began to identify the ‘special problems’ of refugee women and girls particularly those related to issues of physical safety and sexual exploitation.
Recent war atrocities against women and girls in Rwanda and in Sierra Leone have underscored the need to address the specific problems faced by refugee women. Existing international and regional instru- ments appear not to recognize the nature of gender-based violation and persecution or the specific needs of women refugees. The main refugee instruments do not refer to women or sex at all. Moreover, neither the content of a ‘well-founded fear of per- secution’ which is the basis on which a grant of refugee status is made, nor the five elements on which a claim for refugee status can be entertained (race, religion, political opinion, membership in a social group) include sex as grounds upon which refugee status may be determined. By uti- lizing such restricted criteria, the existing international instruments fail to accord equal importance to economic and social rights. Hence, women’s ‘persecution’ and their need for ‘protection’ arise from the violation of these economic, social and cultural rights [20].
The most pervasive and widespread abuse of women and girls during conflict situations are rape, sexual slavery, abuse, and extortion. In addition, they experi- enced physical insecurity during flight and in places of refuge. According to Beyani, “Women seeking refugee status in their own right and not in association with their husbands, fathers, brothers or uncles are often subject to sexual demands in return for refugee status. Women who breach refugee camp regulations in certain circum- stances are often asked for sex by male camp officials, in lieu of punishment. The administrative regime of refugee camps is heavily male-oriented and excludes the participation of women in decision-mak- ing and in the areas of interest to them and their families, such as their physical security, and the mechanics of food distri- bution. In some cases, refugee women have had to submit to sexual extortion in order to obtain food to feed their families.” [21]
The study concluded that, refugee as- sistance failed to improve women’s ability to generate income significantly or to re- duce women’s work burden. It also noted that the programme failed to enhance women’s role in decision-making structures and that food relief policy and structures for refugee representation reflected and fre- quently exacerbated existing gender in- equalities. In spite of women’s being re- sponsible for the provision of food prior to displacement, in this and other refugee settings, women were rendered as passive recipients at distribution.
These findings are confirmed by an- other study on the plight of Mozambican women refugees in Zimbabwe. Although women were the majority in the camps because the men moved more freely into the towns and local communities in search of work, women had little say in how food was administrated and other camp deci- sions made. As for training programmes ‘women were left out in the cold ... even in areas often considered female domains”. In one camp when pre-school teachers were being trained, out of 22 teachers trained since 1994, only three were fe- male. And of the 18 literacy instructors trained only one was female. [22]
There are also considerations to do with the reduced abilities of women dis- placed to generate income and obtain eco- nomic assistance, care for the children and the elderly, and play their role in ensuring food security. They also have reduced op- portunity for training, education and employment.
In response to the growing incidence and reported cases of sexual violence, and the use of rape as a political weapon in a large number of conflict situations particu- larly Somalia, Rwanda and Bosnia, the UNHCR has issued its new Guidelines on the Prevention of and Response to Sexual Violence Against Refugees which contains elements with broad implications. These include an emphasis on the linkage be- tween gender violence and domestic leg- islation on rape, physical attack, and sexual discrimination and its condemna- tion of persecution through sexual violence that it considered as a “gross violation of human rights”. Another important measure is the inclusion of a broader defini- tion of violence that includes practices such as female genital mutilation.
In another move in this area, the United Nations International Criminal Tri- bunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has added to international law and morality, by includ- ing rape as a war crime. The genocidal situation in Rwanda has forced the atten- tion of the world community to the country’s plight and the need to punish the crimes committed, and to deter repeti- tion of what happened. ICTR is currently bringing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against scores of accused in the international court in Arusha, Tanzania. Not only the Rwandan Government but also countries which had peace-keeping soldiers killed in the struggle, and who support the de- velopment of an international system of justice, wanted the establishment of ICTR, or a chance to try specific suspects them- selves. Belgium for example, has been seeking the arrest and conviction of those who killed Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and the ten Belgian peace- keeping soldiers assigned to protect her.
With regard to refugees and internally displaced people, there is increasing opin- ion that camps are a poor solution for refu- gees. For social, economic, environmental and health reasons, putting refugees in camps have negative consequences, not only for the refugees but also for the na- tional population and governments. How- ever, host governments and the international aid organizations seem to prefer the camp mode for ease of administration. Camps have practical advantages from the point of view of service delivery, accountability, iden- tification of individuals, physical access, cost-effectiveness of operations, efficiency and transparency of aid and delivery.
“Camps” describe both small open settlements where a village atmosphere is more possible and the larger crowded camps where they are more dependent on assistance. Camps imply size, den- sity, dependence on external aid and a high level of control over the inhabitants by national and international authorities.
Camps have their own inter- nal power struc- tures. In the former eastern Zaire, for ex- ample, they have been con- trolled by armed Interhamwe or Far and often humanitarian assistance in- cluding food was channeled through them, adding to their power and con- trol over others – women in par- ticular – who had to resort to sexual favours in order to obtain necessities for survival. Quite frequently, official forces within camps have abused their power over oth- ers. In this way, camp populations can in effect be held hostage. Camps also tend to imply adverse consequences on human health and the human psyche. Even where the idea of “agricultural settle- ments” has been tried in order to reduce dependence and increase self-reliance, they tend to be just as constraining and overcrowded in relation to numbers versus land, water, food, shelter and other resources. Such settlements can be just as cut off from the “normal” life of local, surrounding population, with whom there is little mixing or integration [23]. A mentality of “encampment”, temporary mea- sures, short-term solutions becomes en- trenched, and others wield the major decisions about life.
Why do people flee to become homeless and displaced?People flee to escape death, muti- lation, rape, terrorism, eviction from their homes, looting, forced labour, forced induction into the army, forced relocation and, largely, to get out of the way of advancing military offenses. Mili- tary operations all over the world tend to be associated with wide- spread abuse of civilians, includ- ing summary execution, torture, rape, looting and destruction of property. Whole villages may be destroyed and their inhabitants killed or forcibly relocated, to cut support for opposition groups.
Camp life for women and girls, with their special social and hygiene needs, family nurturing responsibilities and daily household chores, can be very demand- ing and demeaning. Generally, refugees are separated from the locals, and are some- times further marginalized by placement on poor quality land that is not easily ac- cessible or cultivated. Some prefer spon- taneous settlement outside camps, pos- sible for the few with contacts and skills. Most prefer smaller camps with access to land for growing food or a chance for per- manent resettlement. In some countries, refugees have been able to negotiate dis- persed settlement with local authorities and by international organizations playing a supportive and facilitating role, from Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire to Senegal, Uganda, the Sudan and Malawi.Despite all these factors, reports indi- cate that there can be an amazing spirit of solidarity among refugees and the inter- nally displaced, despite the shock and trauma of having to abandon their homes and turn to others for help. For example, older camp members try to help the new arrivals with food and basics, remember- ing their own dismal arrivals.
No international legal norm exists ex- plicitly protecting people against individual or mass transfer from one region to an- other within their own country. The norm must be inferred from the right to freedom of residence and movement.
Humanitarian assistance organiza- tions working on planning, implementa- tion and evaluation of psychological programmes try to develop interactive teaching materials and exercises that are relevant to different cultural settings. The Andrew Mellon Foundation has started working on a psychological training mod- ule. Such assistance is sometimes, though not always, best initiated by trained indi- viduals from outside the society, who have no ethnic or political involvement. The initiation of communication and dialogue between the Tutsis and the Hutus in Rwanda and in countries of refuge was a challenging example. As in Bosnia Herzegovina, reconstruction had to go on among those responsible for the genocide as well as among the victims.
5. Economic losses
Both the countries directly engaged in conflict and the regions in which they are located are affected. In Mozambique, between 1980 and 1994, GDP per capita fell by 50 per cent. It was estimated that by 1988 - in just four years, the civil war cost in excess of $15 billion or four times GDP. During 1980-1988, the total cost of the Mozambican conflict to Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries was estimated to be at least $US60 billion [24]. For the period 1980-1993, the total GDP loss for the Horn of Africa as a result of conflict in Ethio- pia, Eritrea, the Sudan and Somalia was estimated at about $25 million [25].
In West Africa, in the short period between 1989 and 1993, the civil war in Liberia reduced the country’s GDP by more than 75 per cent, while the GDP declined by half between 1991 and 1993 [26]. The recent crisis in the Great Lakes Region has been equally devas- tating. The per capita GDP of Burundi, Rwanda and Zaire together declined by a cumulative 63 per cent from 1990 to l996, that is an average annual rate of 9 per cent. In Burundi, the economy is estimated to have contracted by more than 20 per cent over the last four years [27]. These costs also have an inter- national dimension. Excluding the cost of refugee resettlement, in 1987-1991, UNHCR spent $126 million on refugee programmes while the United States spent $97.6 million for humanitarian aid destined for Operational Lifeline Sudan during 1989-1993 [28]. The loss of hu- man and institutional resources, decline in production, the move from a formal to an informal economy, disruption of trans- port and marketing systems and wide- spread destruction of infrastructure all have very long-term consequences.
6. High social costs
In some countries, the crisis has trig- gered the collapse of essential social ser- vices, such as primary health care, schools and water schemes. In Mozambique, be- tween 1983 and 1994 almost half of the schools were destroyed or closed. In South- ern Sudan, production, social systems, health and educational services have col- lapsed and life expectancy at birth has fallen to 36 years. The end of conflict often does not translate into quick recovery, especially where the human, institutional and infra- structure losses have been substantial.
For women, war and the end of war, lack of employment and housing and the breakdown of social norms and family ties have led to a great increase in prostitution as well as the proliferation of other sexual survival strategies of various kinds, even among very young girls [29]. Dislocation has also led to a substantive increase in beg- ging, street boys and girls, petty crime and illegal trade. Alarming too has been the rapid increase of HIV/AIDS and other sexu- ally transmitted diseases (STDs) in refugee camps, areas occupied by the internally displaced, in host countries as well as in the countries and areas of origin to which many displaced persons return.
Until recently, humanitarian agencies have neglected the treatment of STDs in refugee situations. For example, in the Great Lakes Region of East Africa, only two out of eight refugee camps provided com- prehensive treatment at separate STD clin- ics and even this limited service was pro- vided mostly to men. Nor did they include treatment of partners, health education or follow up and counseling. In the case of women, STDs and HIV/AIDS were only identified during pregnancy and childbirth.
Extremely poor human development indicators prevail in war-torn countries in Africa. Tables 5 and 6 present education and health indicators respectively, in se- lected African countries that have experienced conflict. In turn, such low indica- tors slow down the speed of post-conflict recovery. Lack of investment in health and education over time shows up starkly in the medium- to long term-development of these countries.
Women’s health involves the entire range of issues that touch on sickness, dis- ease, wellness, and well being as well as those activities of prevention, diagnosing, healing, caring and curing. Health in this sense is a way of total wellbeing which is not only determined by biological factors and reproduction, but also by the effects of workload, nutrition, stress, war and mi- gration, among others [30]. Many people’s pre-flight health condition is exacerbated by displacement, often characterized by social instability, extreme forms of depri- vation, poor sanitation, overcrowded liv- ing conditions and powerlessness—espe- cially among women and adolescents. Refugee camps and areas inhabited by in- ternally displaced persons are constantly faced with major epidemics of communi- cable diseases such as cholera, measles, dysentery and meningitis. Malaria is also a constant threat. Along with malnutri- tion and disruptions of childcare practices these situations have been lethal for chil- dren. Consequently, child and maternal mortality and morbidity are excessively high in camps.
The specific health needs of women and girls in situations of war and conflict in Africa were the major concern of a joint UNIFEM and UNICEF publication cover- ing case studies from Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Southern Sudan, Liberia and Kenya. The overall environment described by these studies is that of dislocation, physical danger, minimal food, inadequate shelter and sanitation, heavy workload, cultural practices such as female genital mutilation and early marriage, frequent pregnancies and lack of access to basic health services. The resultant health prob- lems include high rates of maternal mor- bidity and mortality, high-risk pregnancies, unsafe abortions, miscarriages, stillbirths and low-weight births, lack of information and protection against STDs and HIV/AIDS, psycho-social traumas resulting from rape, guilt, loss and death of spouses and chil- dren, and widespread wife battering. While all these gender-specific health problems also exist in developing countries not af- fected by complex humanitarian emergen- cies, the magnitude of the disabling health environment increases dramatically in con- flicts, particularly in the situation of dis- placement.
7. Conflict-induced c lict-induced changes in women’s gender roles
Conflict, especially displacement and refugee experiences, change people’s po- litical views. One of the major results of the conflict in Rwanda was widowhood, requiring increased women participation in income-generating activities and com- munity affairs. Another major result was the increase in the proportion of women in the population from just over half to about 70 per cent, higher in areas hardest hit by the massacres.
For both men and women, whether a conflict situation opens up disadvantage or opportunity in economic, educational or political activities depends on how dis- tressed is their situation, their level of com- munity organization, extent of assistance from aid agencies, and the individual’s own determination to succeed. The ways in which women respond are largely a factor of their pre-war positioning in the society and the economy. The coping mechanisms of professional women without jobs differ from those of the ru- ral women who intensify sub- sistence agri- culture and livestock rais- ing. Many rural and urban women go into petty trading.
Power relations are reformu- lated through both the fight and the flight. Disruption of societal relations involves personal and societal losses but can function positively in the long run by disman- tling the existing power and decision-making structures, leaving room and opportu- nity for reconstructing more functional ones.
One of the most visible impacts of war has been women’s heightened role in the productive economy. In Angola, the war intensified a parallel economy in which women are said to have controlled nearly 80 per cent of the distribution. In Ethiopia, large numbers of women were employed in the construction industry as unskilled day labourers while others with more assets engaged in the growing im- port trade by bringing goods mostly from Middle Eastern and Asian countries. They used the country’s strategic location to gain heightened mobility and international business experience. Many Ethiopian women went to live and work in the Middle East, Europe and the United States from where they sent regular remittances to their families in Ethiopia. In a society steeped in patriarchal clan structures, many Somali women have had to take on new roles, often as sole providers for their families. Some have been the beneficia- ries of microcredit loans and, in many cases, women are the ones largely respon- sible for what reconstruction has been tak- ing place in communities.
Collapse of the State in Somalia
Somalia represents a special case due to the complete collapse of the State prior to the civil war. The country has been at war since clan leaders came together in 1991 to oust President Mohamed Siad Barre and then started to fight among themselves. Anarchy ensued. The clan leaders or “warlords” controlled only parts of the country, leaving it with no viable, central government, a divided capital city and an almost total breakdown of civil institutions, law and order and social services, with severe consequences for the health and education sectors. Removable public and private property was looted down to win- dows and doors in most cities, largely by young people. The capital Mogadishu has been devastated, becoming a place of daily gunbattles and merciless looting. The United Na- tions Mission in Somalia was not successful in its intervention to restore peace and had to be withdrawn. Some reports blamed unequal aid distribution and clan favouritism as un- derlying causes of the war, compounded by accusations of theft and corruption of public and aid resources by individuals before, during and after the conflict.
Muslim fundamentalists tried to fill the power void. The most fertile part of the country, which has only 2 per cent arable land, is in the south. The area became very unstable and violent, severely afflicting agricultural production and preventing food distribution. In the northwest, an independent state of Somaliland has been declared but is not yet recognized by the United Nations. A succession of self-appointed transitional administrations have not been able to build large enough constituencies to govern effectively, or even keep the peace. After the collapse of the socialist state economy, the private sector has been expanding and is run almost entirely by mothers, wives and daughters. In the cities and in the rural areas, the men are largely unemployed or serve in militias. Women run not just their homes but also the market places.
In the absence of a central government to lead the reconstruction effort and serve as a leader and partner for the international community, aid workers are achieving results by going directly to small communities on a regular basis. The needs of those villages that have absorbed hundreds and thousands of displaced people tended to get the most atten- tion. Villages where clan structures were supportive of community development and where there were fewer guns, were more accessible to relief and development assistance.
Certain cities such as Bossaso on the Gulf of Aden have found their populations multiplied many times over by displaced people, many from Mogadishu. The homeless settled into empty banks and government buildings. With the port at Mogadishu closed, Bossaso has become a main point of entry for food and other imports. UNDP and the European Union have emphasized rehabilitation and development of this port city by working through the clan-based administration of the area.
Source: UNDP: “Somalia after the collapse” in Choices, October 1997
[ Next ] : II. Phases of Reconstruction
