AFRICAN WOMEN'S REPORT 1998
Post-conflict Reconstruction in Africa: A Gender Perspective
© 1999 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
IV. GENDER AND ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION
Post-conflict societies that have themselves seriously identified peace-building goals and targets and initi- ated transitional support structures and mechanisms, as was the case in Liberia, have more chance of internal reconcilia- tion and regeneration and of mobilizing international support for relief and de- velopment activities. Given the great dis- ruptions and losses experienced, post- conflict countries have special needs that bilateral and multilateral agen- cies should recog- nize and help to address. Post- conflict govern- ments should aim at mobilizing and coordinating inter- nal and external assistance for “peace-friendly” activities, such as rapid re-establish- ment of income- generating oppor- tunities. A gendered approach is vital, since so many of the needy and vulnerable are women. Their recognition and involvement is vi- tal to stabilizing the peace at community level.
Quick-impact micro- credit and micro-enter- prise projects have proven effectiveness, especially when training and other capacity-building ele- ments are in-built. Such assistance helps in the re- integration of ex-combat- ants, refugees and the in- ternally displaced.
Countries that have been handicapped by conflict also need financing for larger rehabilitation and development projects. Special terms and conditionalities are needed from “peace-friendly’ lending in- stitutions, including special components for women, or mechanisms ensuring shared access with male counterparts.
A. Increasing women’s productivity
Increasing women’s productivity in Africa needs planned attention to the ar- eas and the sectors in which the majority are most active. There are expanding num- bers of formally educated women active in professions such as law, medicine, edu- cation and training, the civil service bu- reaucracy, and in formal businesses in pro- duction and services. However, the ma- jority of economically active women in Af- rica are in agriculture and livestock rais- ing, in household subsistence economies including handicraft production and food processing and storage, and in trading and commerce. The latter largely informal, and in post-conflict societies suddenly ex- panded. In light of women’s pivotal role not only in production, but also in the re- productive economy, “gendered’ rehabili- tation and reconstruction should increase women’s access to:
Productive resources: land, input sup- plies, credit and markets;
The initial phase of post-conflict re-construction largely involves facilitating and rehabilitating the livelihoods of displaced persons and combatants. This is a critical phase both for articulating the principles of gender equality in public policy and as protecting women returnees from the type of violence to which they were subjected during flight. As most returnees come home with few re- sources, this phase often entails food and seed dis- tribution until the next har- vest. To avoid the type of discrimination that existed in some refugee camps, it is critical for both men and women to be involved in the process of food distribu- tion, accord- ing to need.
In the larger picture of food insecurity in post-conflict so- cieties particularly and in Af- rica generally, women’s en- hanced agricultural and mar- keting activities can help to turn the tide against hunger in many societies. To assist them in this goal, govern- ments and development part- ners should increase their level of coordination and re- source allocation to maximize women’s productive and re- productive roles in both old and new areas of activity in which they excel.
Old as- s u m p t i o n s about women’s productive role can be chal- lenged during this initial post-conflict phase. There is now ample evidence to show that women in most African coun- tries make up the majority of the agricul- tural labour force and are Africa’s greatest producers of food. Ensuring that both male and female producers have equal access to seeds, tools, animals, small stock and productivity enhancing inputs is essential to set the stage for equitable and sustain- able agricultural development and growth.
In tandem with ensuring access to these vital resources, it will be necessary to:
Most training to improve agricultural planning, design and implementation skills tends to exclude women. This often oc- curs inadvertently, because the planning of non-formal rural education and training fail to take into consideration the numer- ous constraints facing women. These con- straints include time availability, lack of transportation and limited mobility as well as limited literacy training and basic edu- cation. The type of training offered to women has tended instead to focus on building a limited number of ‘appropriate feminine’ skills that, unfortunately, com- mand only negligible income. Providing women with a range of technical skills has the potential to increase women’s on-farm productivity and off-farm income with posi- tive outcome for household welfare.
Development partners are highly in- volved in financing public investment in Africa and can do a great deal in rein- forcing gender equality in inputs and benefits from programmes and projects that build infrastruc- ture and sys- tems. Project mangers, both local and expatri- ate, should avoid gender-blind so- lutions and avoid gender-biased conditions that effectively exclude the participation of women farmers.
It is also important to plan the transition from short- term action to cope with food emergencies through handouts and “food for work” projects to long-term action for sustainable food security.
National and sectoral development policies need early guidelines so that short-term activities can support and es- tablish long-term goals [37]. Governance and its outreach and penetration into people’s lives and economies are likely to be weak in the early years of post- conflict reconstruction in Africa. Tradi- tional exchange and survival systems predominate, based on the internal soli- darity within the social groups.
However, with political will and so- cial comittment, remedies can be found in each society for establishing enabling, incentive-based, macroeconomic agricul- tural policies. “People-friendly” tax and regulatory and marketing frameworks are needed. Land reform and land distribution programmes are also needed to pro- vide access to small producers includ- ing women. Physical infrastructure, tar- geted production and agro-processing goals, rural credit and extension schemes, competitive marketing, distri- bution and storage systems are crucial as are strong public and private sector partnerships, and fostered, gender-sen- sitive respect between men and women over their agricultural and trading skills.
Real food security means that house- holds have access to nutritious food and safe drinking water locally, without a chronic need for food aid or constant fear of famine and drought. The availability of products at the market or of food from outside does not necessarily mean food security. The flow has to be sustainable, sufficiently nutritious, and acceptable to local diets and pockets. Urban consum- ers seem to have increasingly less purchas- ing power in many societies and black market prices in post-conflict societies for even basis supplies can soar amazingly high. Households, especially the women, need the confidence of knowing that they can buy or acquire enough food easily and affordably for the family, when they need to do so.
Even within food-rich areas there may be food-insecure households. Some suc- cess stories emerge through recent trends towards decentralization in many coun- tries, where, community-based efforts can solve many local production and distribu- tion obstacles. However, much depends on macro-level governance with regard to issues of policy and planning, pricing, structural deficits, administrative block- ages, entry into global and regional markets, farm information, education and ex- tension, farm entrepreneurship, and intro- duction of appropriate technical and eco- nomic innovations. Government’s prag- matic support to the factors and the op- erators in food security needs to be seen and felt locally and nationally. It is a chal- lenging turning point in post-conflict societies for the State to move on from manag- ing welfare food hand- outs to fos- tering the d e v e l o pment of ef- fective food production and distribution circuits and systems.
The intensity of conflict can create intensity of purpose and in the period of legitimate change during reconstruction, beneficiaries grasp such op- portunities for securing and stabilizing their positions.
Income generation programmes and projects need to involve women directly or use target groups which include women, such as the poorest, or those most vulner- able to risk. A regional programme for the promotion of Employment for Portuguese- Speaking African countries is under plan- ning to benefit some 3000 persons in southern and northern Mozambique. The programme is to be managed by the Na- tional Institute for Employment and Pro- fessional Training and will be co-financed by the ILO and the Portuguese Govern- ment. The aim is too improve job oppor- tunities and job placements and income- generating activities among the poorest population groups. Gender-sensitive man- agement of such programmes is crucial.
A major problem constraining women’s manufacturing and industrial ca- pabilities all over Africa but especially in post-conflict situations, is their lack of access to and control of land and capital, two critical productive resources in Africa, which in turn prevent them from access- ing credit. Even when credit schemes such as the Rural Credit Scheme managed by the Commercial Bank of Uganda specifi- cally targets women, they are unable to provide the resources to women directly. As a form of collateral, the programme re- quests the affirmation of the borrower’s ‘good character’ by the local village offi- cials. However, the village officials are usually male and insist on having the ap- plication either in the joint names of the husband and wife or a written consent from the husband.
Since 1996, the ILO Action Programme on Skills and Entrepreneurship Development for Countries Emerging from Armed Conflict has contributed to aware- ness of the particular need for a surge for- ward in skills and entrepreneurship devel- opment in affected countries. Other UN agencies and multilateral financial institu- tions such as the World Bank should also acknowledge the specific, concentrated assistance needed in post-conflict societ ies.
B. Allocating resources
A major challenge in reconstruction is to manage the resources of the economy and of the nation in a gender-sensitive way that maximizes the responsibilities and benefits for both men and women. Prom- ising methods use planning guidelines for valuing women’s “invisible contributions” in the national accounts and in the na- tional budget. Others go further and de- mand a “women’s budget” that ties women’s empowerment to economic growth, resource allocation and human de- velopment. Traditionally, national budgeting is gender neutral, but gender-sensitized supporters point to women’s unacknowl- edged and unvalued economic contribu- tions in such areas as household and farm labour and management, informal sector income-generation, care for children and the elderly and community development activities. Women make contributions to the macroeconomy also by carrying out unpaid productive and reproductive work without which the paid economy could not function. Another consideration is the impact of the parameters of aggregate pro- duction, sav- ings, invest- ments, imports and exports in the paid economy on different pat- terns of gender relations and distribution of resources [38].
Gender equity in national ac- counts and budgets is not necessarily in-built, even in Africa’s wealthiest societies. It takes social awareness and political will. It is not enough to measure progress by the number of success- ful women candidates in elections or on lists of gov- ernment appointments. More important is their alert positioning and ability to promote gender equality in the use of national and lo- cal resources for economic and social development.
The type of f r a m e w o r k known as the women’s bud- get is being used creatively in South Africa. Its aim is to ex- amine the gen- der impact of the South African budget by reviewing the impact on women of each line item, a task carried out by the Women’s Budget Committee [39]. Its members examine the deci- sion-making structures and the policy-making procedures in each sector of the economy and the resources allocated and also disaggregated the human resources of each sector by gender. They were then able to make concrete recommendations regarding necessary changes in budget pri- orities.
For women’s activities to get a larger “piece of the cake”, there has to be a cake to be divided. Conflict-prone countries need to be able to fund and carry out recon- struction in the face of financial con- straints, heavy debt burdens, and the trickle of FDI that can be expected. Tour- ism also suffers, and multilateral financial institutions prove reluctant to invest in what could be a lost cause. Even humanitarian agencies develop “donor fatigue”. For post- conflict reconstruction to take off, espe- cially after the relief-type operations end, governments, civil society and the private sector should endeavour as much as pos- sible to find their own financial resources nationally, regionally, from loyal develop- ment partners and from United Nations and international NGO programmes tar- geted at conflict-torn areas. Nationals abroad should also be mobilized to assist and invest. Domestic resources mobili- zation offers more long-term potential than does aid dpendency.
C. Securing land rights for women
The gender gap in the ownership and control of property is easily the single great- est contributor to the gender gap in eco- nomic wellbeing, social status, and em- powerment [40]. In Africa, land is the most valuable form of property and livelihood-sustaining asset. Although most working females are engaged in agriculture and work more hours than do their male coun- terparts, they have significantly less ac- cess to productive resources. All the avail- able data indicate significant inequalities in women’s and men’s access to the pro- ductive resources in rural economies, that is, agricultural land and productive tech- nology. In the majority of cases, women have had customary rights to land, mostly usufruct rights. However, since Indepen- dence, land shortages and various types of tenure reform, civil/religious inheritance and property laws have tended to privi- lege male farmers. At present, women’s already limited access to land is exacer- bated by the rapid growth of a land mar- ket.
Exclusion from land rights has also deprived women of other productive re- sources, such as access to credit and membership in cooperatives. Further- more, women are excluded from the mainstream of agricultural delivery ser- vices. Extension curricula sometimes omit activities in which women farmers play a substantive role such as food crop production, harvesting, processing and storage. This form of inequity in service delivery is particularly limiting to female- headed households although it also affects women in male-headed households. Women farmers should be targetted spe- cifically and speedily in reconstruction programmes and projects all at the level of macro-policy.
In Rwanda where there is an estimate of over 500,000 widows, the majority are said to have difficulty in retaining their property, since women cannot legally in- herit land. In Mozambique, providing land rights to women is a highly contested terrain. Evidently, while promulgating legal land rights for women is a necessary first step, it is not sufficient if enforcement is not pursued and without related support programmes. The level of commitment to gender equality in war-torn societies should be measured by:
D. Science and technology and energy policies
African women are even more con- strained by lack of a culture of science and technology and energy planning than are the men. This situation is com- pounded in post-conflict situations. The changes brought about during post-con- flict reconstruction can help to remedy the situation, if gender analysis is used in plans for technology transfer, promotion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and in programmes for enhancing the en- rollment of women and girls in technical and scientific courses of study and train- ing. Sub-Saharan Africa’s low manufac- turing value added on its products has been a challenge for some time. It is also evident that African governments do not invest enough in science and technology, or in research to promote or improve ap- plication. This could be due partly to lack of demand, as there are inadequate num- bers of scientists, engineers, technicians and industrialists in most African coun- tries and few are women.
Post-conflict reconstruc- tion offers opportunities to plan investments that are either universal or which pay particular at- tention to the needs of women and girls.
Experts believe that energy infrastruc- ture can help to propel African countries into the twenty-first century on a more competitive basis. Even though African women are chief suppli- ers, managers and pri- mary users of household energy, women’s needs and interests have been mostly disregarded in energy policy and plan- ning. In reconstruction phases, both gov- ernment and NGOs should pay attention to these areas, in order to establish an appropriate foundation for growth. The few pilot projects that exist have tended to con- centrate on the provision of fuel stoves. The wider range of women’s energy needs for agriculture, transport, income genera- tion as well as women’s own human en- ergy input into a heavy workload are rarely addressed.
It is said that if South Africa is ex- cluded, all of Africa with its 700 million people does not consume as much elec- tricity as does New York City with 12 mil- lion. African countries, use of fuelwood including those under reconstruction un- der current environmental protection norms, may want to expand away from the fossil fuels, oil, gas and coal, and from which denudes landscapes and forests and degrades the environment, to alternative, innovative uses of solar, wind and geo- thermal energy. Attention should be made to lay the foundation in this area.
Reconstruction efforts cannot afford to ignore women’s needs for affordable and reliable energy sources and for ap- propriate technology for household and income-generating activities. Even at the village level, women and girls cannot read and study at night with- out electricity in the home. Gender-sensitive science and technology and energy policies should address gender aspects of planning and programming with a view to productivity en- hancement, reducing women’s time and en- ergy expenditure and promoting sustainable environment and human resource development.
E. Information and communication technologies (ICTs)
Especially in post-conflict societies, but in most African countries, information and communication technology (ICT) policy-making is still at an elementary stage. Connectivity is still low in the whole region; yet, ICTs are very much part and parcel of the globalization trends that are revolutionizing the traditional rules of trade and information access. Women’s train- ing in this area is a fundamental issue, because ICT policies and systems provide effective linkages to widening networks of both urban and rural women. They should identify any gender-related problems that have an impact on the production, use and acquisition of ICTs.
Information channels such as tele- phone lines, fax machines and email and Internet access, far from being luxuries, can become tools for development in all sectors. Information access and informa- tion sharing can open up and accelerate new markets and trading opportunities through electronic commerce. In addi- tion, cross-border information access and exchange helps to lay the ground for re- gional cooperation and integration. In this respect, the lack of ICT infrastructure in Africa, especially in conflict-prone soci- eties, offers opportunity to invest in the newest ICT technology for entering the new millenium, at decreasing costs.
Many of the political and connectivity problems in Africa are slowly being solved, especially as private investment in tele- communications expands, and as more Africans find out the global reach of elec- tronic commerce on the Internet. Accord- ing to an August 1998 survey by Media Matrix, Amazon.com, a virtual bookseller, is the most visited retail shopping site on the web. Since its birth in 1995, it has sold three million books, CDs and com- puter games in 160 countries. Such use of the Internet should be promoted in de- veloping countries. Working from simple homes and offices, women can also join in the global economy because many of their products are suitable for sale over the Internet. Scanned photographs and prod- uct information on the Internet can pro- mote such products as African garments, textiles, jewellery and other accessories, art, cosmetics, herbal remedies, handi- crafts and processed food items including spices. Joint ventures are sometimes first begun through electronic contacts and Internet banking. Even small NGOs and cottage industries can sell products on the Internet if they have access.
F. Regional integration
Women traders would greatly benefit from easier, simpler passport, and border controls. Encouraging signs of revived subregional groupings auger well for the future. There are moves afoot to revive the Arab Maghreb Union between Mo- rocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Mauritania. There are also moves afoot to revive the East Africa Cooperation (EAC) between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, with talk of possible expansion to include Zambia and some Central African coun- tries. The Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC) is one of the largest subregional economic groups, and could be one of the cornerstones of larger re- gional integration. An East African pass- port to be issued by 1999 is meant to fa- cilitate free cross-border movement of people, goods and capital, with the full cooperation of customs and immigration authorities. This would be a boost to fre- quent travelers in and outside the region, many of who are women traders. Cross- border trade is not only an area in which African women excel against great odds, but regional integration tends to promote larger production bases and markets, joint investments, information and cultural ex- changes, as well as recreational travel. De- liberate efforts need to be made to accel- erate the process of subregional and even- tually, regional, political and economic in- tegration in Africa, according to the Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community. The full integration expected in the next millenium can be well sup- ported by women’s activities, and may play a role in defusing African conflicts.
V. GENDER EQUALITY AND SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION
Social development has to be based on human dignity, human rights, equality, respect, peace, democracy, mutual re- sponsibility and cooperation, and full re- spect for the various religious and ethical values and cultural backgrounds of people. It was recognition of the significance of the social di- mension in sustainable development globally that prompted the United Na- tions General Assembly to adopt resolu- tion 47/92 of 16 December 1992. It called for the convening of a World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) at the level of Heads of State and Government to tackle the criti- cal problems of poverty, unemployment and social disintegration.
The challenge in post-con- flict situations is to establish a people-centred framework for social development to guide and build a culture of cooperation and partnership, and to respond to the imme- diate needs of those who are most distressed.
The Declaration and Programme of Ac- tion of the WSSD represented a new global consensus on the need to put people at the centre of the fight against poverty, unem- ployment and underemployment. It recom- mended poverty eradication target dates and urged an economic, political, social, cul- tural and legal environment that enables people to achieve social development. With social development producing the required human resources, political and economic dimensions can become self-sustaining. The Social Summit urged governments to increase resources allocated to social de- velopment, in order to attain universal and equitable access to education and primary health care; and to ensure that structural adjustment programmes include social de- velopment goals. Since the issue of pov- erty is related to the lack of productive em- ployment, the Social Summit has commit- ted countries to implementation of policies and strategies for the expansion of produc- tive employment and the reduction of un- employment. This is particularly vital in post-conflict societies.
A. Popular participation
Popular participation in social, politi- cal and economic processes needs a ba- sis of respect for the human rights of all peoples. It both accompanies and leads opening up of a society to its people. De- mocratization relies on popular participa- tion, on the principles of government by the people and for the people, personal liberties and a free market. Where the elec- toral process is used, accountability for socio-economic progress is usually ex- pected by the electorate of those voted into power, whether or not the process is fully mature and well established in the soci- ety. With more women in parliaments and other policy-making organs of government, women’s concerns may get more focus, but much depends on their positioning to affect legal reforms, agricultural and busi- ness incentives and resource allocations.
In its effort to promote good gover- nance based on popular participation in the region, the Economic Commission for Africa established the African Centre for Civil Society in 1997. Its objectives are to enhance cooperation between govern- ments and civil society organizations (CSOs), strengthen the organizational, managerial and programming capacity of CSOs and build CSO capacity for devel- oping innovative techniques for prevent- ing conflicts and encouraging peaceful, pluralistic democracy. In launching the Centre, the ECA Executive Secretary stressed that “good governance is not a luxury; it is a vital necessity for development” [41]
B. Promoting inter-agency collaboration
In some cases, in the aftermath of con- flict, when government is trying to get es- tablished and solve security problems, in- ternational aid and development agencies have also had problems with organizing and coordinating relief and rehabilitation efforts on the ground. There is frequently diversity in priorities and in approach among themselves and between agency and the government, with lack of planning and leadership all around. There is in- creasing awareness and criticism of this situation however, and institutional and at- titudinal reforms among the United Na- tions and other international agencies have led to increased inter-agency collaboration and joint projects to meet targeted goals.
In the 1990s, there is a promising trend, for example, towards a comprehen- sive approach to women’s wellbeing through deliberate, concerted inter-agency collaboration in addressing critical health and gender issues. One outcome is evi- denced by the joint statement against fe- male genital mutilation that has been made by UNAIDS, WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA. Another example is the work of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Gender. It is also encouraging to note that following the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, there has emerged a Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium and an Inter-agency Working Group on Reproduc- tive Health. The latter is composed of rep- resentatives from UNHCR, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO, the Consortium and about 50 NGOs and academic institutions.
The Field Manual on Reproductive Health which has resulted from this joint effort is being field tested in the Great Lakes region focusing on the estimated 220,000 displaced women of reproductive age. The pilot project provides a comprehensive re- productive health service consisting of fam- ily planning (including contraception); as- sisted child birth; treatment of complica- tions connected to unsafe abortion; sexual violence including rape; and sexually trans- mitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. The project also includes care and post-coital contraception for sexually violated women.
There is also planning afoot for a new cross-border AIDS initiative in the Great Lakes region. A broad-based regional re- sponse is needed in this battle and a simi- lar initiative seems needed to tackle ma- laria. A regional effort is being promoted by UNAIDS, to involve Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, which to- gether host some 4.5 million people liv- ing with HIV/AIDS, most between the ages of 15 and 49, the most productive years. The virus has cut a wide path through the region, in and around ports along trucking routes, and in conflict-prone areas. Eco- nomic hardship ensures the presence of women working as prostitutes, especially where political instability has led to mass movements of refugee populations in re- cent years. A system for joint resource mobilization and information exchange be- comes possible with peaceful, cross-bor- der collaboration, especially when led by an United Nations Agency.
C. Violence against women: a human rights abuse
The Declaration on Violence against Women, adopted by the UN General As- sembly in 1993, defines violence as gen- der-based physical, sexual or psychologi- cal harm or suffering to women, including threats, coercion, arbitrary arrest and de- tention, abduction, rape, sexual slavery, etc, Prostitution, and the circumstances which force women into it as an occupa- tion, also constitute violence. Thus, vio- lence against women is not restricted to just rape and assault or murder. Harass- ment and intimidation in the home, school or workplace also constitute violence against women and girls, as too are early marriages, nutritional taboos and mutila- tions including female genital mutilation. Attention to abuses against women in conflic-prone societies can do much to build women constituencies committed to peaceful change and progress.
From 25 November to 10 December 1998, the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Gender focused on public awareness of human rights abuses related to gender. This coincided with the International Day to end Violence against Women on 6 November 1998 and the United Nations Human Rights Day on 10 December. Governments, urged by external partners and activist civil society groups, have been putting human rights abuses, especially against women and children, on their agendas. Most African governments have signed CEDAW and the convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). What now remains is alignment of national laws with international legal standards and their institutionalized ac- ceptance and enforcement, especially as part of peace building.
D. Reintagration of displaced women
The return and reintegration of dis- placed persons, both refugees and inter- nally displaced, usually take place in suc- cessive waves in the early years of recon- struction efforts, through the varying efforts of host governments, home governments, relief agencies and the displaced groups themselves. A great deal depends on whether the peace at home is durable af- ter return. Pre-war positioning and pre- existing inequalities affect reintegration. In some cases, new skills have been acquired that improve opportunity; in other cases, there is an increased level of disadvantage and disenfranchisement as seen in the land rights struggle of Rwandan widows. In many cases, homes and businesses have been destroyed or looted, or may be al- ready occupied by others. Health and psy- chological problems tend to persist for a long time among returnees. Security and safety problems also tend to persist for some time.
Access to land, food, safe drinking water and housing become crucial, especially for mothers with young children, pregnant women, widows and the dis- abled. In some cases, hostels for women are a temporary solution. Resettlement villages have also sprung up in some cases. Low-income housing projects are sometimes hastily constructed with pub- lic and aid funds.
Income generation, from an entry point of destitution or aid dependency, after years of absence, is difficult to say the least. The situation at home is changed and social and economic net- works and circuits have to be re-estab- lished. The returnees themselves have been changed by the experiences and new alignments with the emerging soci- ety are necessary.
E. Reintagration of child victims of conflict
Post-trauma counseling and rehabilitation programmes and centres are far from enough in African post-con- flict societies, even though public and civil society ef- forts in this area would reap great social dividends in terms of individual and group mental health and rec- onciliation and productivity.
If a society does not cater for its chil- dren, the adults, parents and leaders of tomorrow, it may be a dys- functional so- ciety in need of fundamen- tal social and economic re- form. The fu- ture genera- tion is a na- tional resource to be pro- tected with an eye to the fu- ture, yet chil- dren are the most vulner- able victims of conflict and displacement. They will carry their memories into the future. In many cases, they have also been responsible for perpetuating vio- lence and terror. There were tens of thou- sands of unaccompanied children in post- conflict Rwanda, for example, facing des- titution and life on the streets or in the bush. Orphanages were set up, with the usual disadvantages of institutional care, not the best when children have endured and seen great atrocities, even against close family members, friends and neighbours. The preferred strategy has been to seek family reunification or fam- ily-based foster care. This approach was not straightforward in Rwanda as killing took place within extended families, and a child placed in the wrong family could be injured or exploited.
F. Extending education's reach
In most war-torn societies, the edu- cational system is near total collapse as a result of physical damages, insecurity, lack of teaching materials, demoralized staff and people’s loss of interest in edu- cation. Table 5 shows a decline in en- rolment overall but both the enrolment and the retention rates of girls are par- ticularly low. It has now become appar- ent that increasing girls’ enrolment, re- tention and performance in school re- quires a variety of measures, both within and outside the school itself. Measures to reduce female time burdens and to in- crease income are likely to have a ben- eficial impact on girls’ education, as would change in parental attitudes re- garding early marriage for their daugh- ters. A number of innovative approaches are being used to increase girls’ educa- tion all over the world. Short-course train- ing with follow-up job placement com- ponents is sometimes used to increase women’s wage employment in non-traditional and relatively well-paying jobs. Deliberate effort should also be made to encourage both on-the-job and other forms of training in supervisory and technical skills.
Just as gender-biased formal educa- tion has discouraged girls from entering scientific and technical fields, gender-bi- ased vocational training and non-formal education programmes have discouraged women from acquiring non-traditional skills such as technical trades in industrial work, construction, transport and manufacturing, all pivotal areas in the process of recon- struction. The few female students who do participate in vocational training programmes tend to be concentrated in ‘appropriately’ feminine skills training classes which, in the rapidly changing labour market, command very low pay, either as low-skilled employees or self-em- ployed workers. Concerted effort and al- location of resources are needed to encour- age female trainees to take up non-tradi- tional skills for which there is a strong market demand and greater potential to generate a living wage. In Liberia, the AFWIC-initiated skills training for women focused on surveying and construction skills vital for rebuilding the country.
G. Peace and civil society
In the recent past, there have been a growing number of initiatives to mobilize the talents and resources of civil society and NGOs in Africa toward management of in- ternal conflict. There is growing understand- ing that a strong civil society functions in partnership with government to promote de- velopment. Increasingly, it is acknowledged that without peace there can be no good governance or sustainable development. Al- though governments are the national au- thorities that sign peace agreements, citi- zens are the ones who make the society function and who will supply the brains and the muscle to carry out the policies and implement the development programme. In peace building in Africa, NGOs, both lo- cal and international, have been carrying out very useful work in providing relief and development assistance to victims.
Operational aspects of aid agency and NGO activity in post-conflict situations
United Nations agencies, international agencies, including foreign-based NGOs and inter- governmental agencies had a massive presence and influence in post-genocide Rwanda. However, there was “often lack of coordination and cooperation”. This seriously undermined the sustainability of measures taken and strained relations with the authorities, who often work with fewer resources than an international NGO or UN agency. Tension between the Rwandan authorities and NGOs was vividly illustrated by the Government’s expulsion of 38 organizations in late 1995. The whole situation has been complicated by the role of donors, who sometimes insist on financing activities that do not relate to government policy or priori- ties, or to the expressed needs of the recipients.
Source: UNICEF. Starting from Zero: The Promotion and Protection of Children’s Rights in Post-Genocide Rwanda, July 1994-December 1996.
The need for special civil society in- stitutions to deal with the trauma of the conflict and with peace and civic educa- tion for changed attitudes and mentalities has become increasingly evident. Burundi, since 1993, has been witnessing massa- cres, high-level assassinations, destruction of social and economic infrastructure and displacement of large numbers of people. UNESCO and the Government, in 1994, set up the Centre for a Culture of Peace. The women were called on to play their traditional role of uniting neighbours and the community. Burundi’s NGO umbrella organization. CAFOB, was urged to strengthen its umbrella role in peace and reconciliation. Women were mobilized to go out and ask and find out about the best methods to resolve the conflict, and to communicate and share these with friends and neighbours and local leaders.
Mali’s Women’s National Movement for Peacekeeping and National Unity was triggered by the 1990 Tuareg War, an in- ternal conflict in Northern Mali. It sought to restore peace, help the displaced to re- turn and support women’s development initiatives. The Movement organized hu- manitarian aid to victims on a basis of neu- trality, civilians as well as soldiers and other war-affected groups, and assisted with the return of the displaced. The organization became a target for violence but their plat- form of neutrality and their willing work gained them the respect of the people and the Government, as well as of the fight- ers. One strategy used was to encourage women to marry outside their community on the grounds that it was harder for rela- tives to fight with one another.
Through peace promotion centres and projects, women can impact on civic edu- cation and the gender-neutral way in which it is being carried out currently in schools and colleges across Africa, with no specific reference to women or women’s rights. At the level of the classroom and the tea- room, much can be achieved in moulding new ideals and attitudes. Seminars, work- shops, discussions on radio and TV and in print media, can all help to popularize peace and civil society norms.
In November 1993, at the initiative of Uganda’s Ministry of Women in Devel- opment, Culture and Youth, a Regional Conference on Women and Peace was held in Kampala. This conference was part of the preparatory process of the Fifth Re- gional Conference in Dakar in 1994 and of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. At all these confer- ences and in their follow-up in the subre- gions, the African NGO and civil society sector made large showings and received consensus endorsement of their role in African development.
The Kampala Peace Conference em- phasized the belief that peace is not just the absence of violent hostilities, but a situ- ation in which all people have equal ac- cess to economic and social justice and to the entire range of human rights and fun- damental freedoms. Having noted that the consequences of conflict affect all people in society but that women bear a dispro- portionate burden, the deliberations called attention to the fact that women are hardly involved in decisions that lead to war, or in matters of security and peace. How- ever, a sustainable peace, it was argued, needs the empowerment of women which in itself is a prerequisite for development.
To give substance to the call for the political and economic empowerment of women, the Conference adopted an Ac- tion Plan which focused on the following four areas of action:
The Conference also recom- mended the strengthening of women’s machin- eries and more particularly, the creation of an Afri- can Committee of Women Ministers/ Plenipotentiaries to:
Since then, the high-level, presti- gious African Women’s Committee for Peace and Development (AWCPD) was established. It can call on African First Ladies, women ministers of government and other eminent women leaders for support, advocacy, influence and orga- nizational skills. It was established with the support of OAU and ECA in a joint gesture of solidarity with the women’s quest for peace and development. The AWCPD is headquartered in the African Centre for Women (ACW), at ECA. It re- cently issued a communiqué condemn- ing the conflict in Sierra Leone and pro- moting a peaceful settlement.
A Workshop for Documenting Best Practices in Peacebuilding and Non-Violent Conflict Resolution was held in November 1997 in Addis Ababa, jointly organized by UNHCR. UNESCO, UNDP, UNIFEM, UNICEF, UNFPA, with the support of OAU and ECA. In addition to providing a forum for experience sharing on best practices, the inter-agency workshop produced a Plan of Action which delineated activities, sources of finance, executing body and a time frame for implementation.
H. Information and communication strategies
Information has power. It can turn the tide of battle and is also a peacetime tool for change in atti- tudes and activities. Its presence can promote change and its absence can stifle change. With- out equal access to infor- mation, there can be little equality of opportunity.
To countries in transition from conflict, the use of information technology and net- works can be strategic in inviting and shap- ing citizen participation in political and eco- nomic activities. Environmental issues can also become rallying points. Groups and individuals can use e-mail to lobby gov- ernment ministries, present position pa- pers on websites and generally mobilize support for causes. Information technol- ogy offers a chance to reshape communi- cation and advocacy strategies for socio- political change and for commercial ex- pansion. Organizations such as the Cen- tre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) have been trying to use the infor- mation revolution to push democractic principles, respect for human rights, and free-market philosophies.
Popular education techniques for peace and democracy have been identi- fied as particularly needed in conflict pre- vention and reconstruction, as a means to rebuilding solidarity and partnership net- works. Workshops that challenge prejudice and allow people to speak out about their grievances as well as hear the grievances of others, are means of introducing gen- der analysis and awareness of gender bias. Popular education frameworks create situ- ations in which guided participatory tech- niques are used, to help participants “make sense of the world together. This happens from sharing their own experiences. Once they have new understandings, they can decide what actions they will take to chal- lenge whatever is causing them prob- lems” [42].
A major issue discussed at the ECA For- tieth Anniversary Conference in April 1997, on African Women and Economic Develop- ment: Investing in our Future”, was the need to set up information centres for women, and telecentres even in rural areas, to which women’s access can be promoted. Dialogue between women and between women and men, whether inter-personal or electronic can change perceptions. ICTs promote two- way information access, in reduced times and over great distances, at increasingly lower costs. Voice media techniques utiliz- ing women’s strong oral traditions have been found to be creatively user-friendly for women and girls. Special efforts to estab- lish continuing dialogue between women parliamentarians and local councilors also have proven effectiveness. UNDP efforts in recent years to target women parliamentar- ians and ministers for leadership training workshops have already established some precedence in this area.
Information and communication sec- tors are considered a matter of State secu- rity in many countries. Especially in con- flict-prone countries subject to coups and frequent instances of civil unrest, informa- tion access and information dissemination can seem like a threat. However, given the global trends, it is increasingly understood that democratization includes freedom of speech and free access to information in the public domain. Information is needed for free-market functioning and enhances both public sector information systems, and private sector opportunities. Where con- nectivity is non-existent, translating data into local languages for dissemination by radio and/or television can be organized.
ICT systems and programmes can en- able women to understand the conse- quences of globalization and regional in- tegration, as well as reasons for local level disturbances and concerns, besides acquir- ing tips and know-how about agricultural and environmental techniques. ICTs hold the potential for expanding the markets to which women already have access and ap- propriate training would offer many oppor- tunities, to share real-life experiences far beyond the part of world in which they live. In addition, ICTs provide young women with the means of access to non- traditional occupations.
Unfortunately, the telecommunica- tions infrastructure is not well developed in Africa, and connectivity tends to be poor or non-existent in conflict-prone areas. However, reconstruction efforts in these times, cannot afford to ignore the need for public and private investment in informa- tion and communications infrastructure. Africa presently has the lowest teledensity, and the smallest number of computers, technicians and us- ers, of all the regions of the world.
Access to infor- mation technology is affected by several factors, among them the socio-political environment and the political will for arm- ing the people with information instead of guns; the extent of Internet connectivity in the country and the level of computer skills among the populace. Needless to say, lack of politi- cal support and stability can make con- nectivity dangerous, because it soon be- comes apparent that information access can bring challenges to the status quo.
The development of world wide, national and provincial databases and information systems on conflicts and the damage they cause can help to prevent them and promote reconstruction.
Where access to the Internet does ex- ist, users often face problems with serv- ers, poor telephone lines, low bandwidth, unresponsive, even backward telecommu- nications monopolies and high user rates. Pioneering developing countries are using the Internet to influence governments, at- tack censorship, support freedom of speech, share research and best practices, and to reach the grassroots. Where gov- ernments are slow to catch on or political leaders do not have the computer skills, private individuals, professional groups, community-based organizations, local and international NGOs and development agen- cies can do a great deal to spread the in- formation technology culture and set up multimedia offices and centres. The Internet can also strengthen civil society’s ability to share information, issue invita- tions to meetings, set up roundtable dia- logues and discussions and construct home pages. Newsletters, bulletins, com- muniques, magazines and newspapers can be put on-line, to extend the reach of print media. Where access to electronic mail and the Internet is not yet available, efforts should be made to keep in touch by telephone, fax, telex or post and to arrange roundtable and radio dialogues, workshops and seminars, and even house- to-house visits.
Appropriate use of radio and televi- sion can also promote peace and devel- opment. News programmes, peace mes- sages, talk shows and even paid adver- tisements are part of the strategy. Radio is an especially effective medium in Africa, for reaching the majority of both urban, rural and grassroots people. Radio can be widely used to foster reconciliation and get information to the people in various local dialects. Even within the same country and region various players for sustainable peace are often unaware of each other’s existence and activities. Most combatant groups in conflicts, both government and opposition, tend to listen to the radio, and some even set up their own radio programmes of music and news bulletins. This habit can be built upon in reconstruc- tion to spread desired information. News- papers, magazines, newsletters, bulletins, posters, and flyers can also be used to reach people. In rural areas, simply staged dramas are frequently quite effective, as are films, slides and overhead projectors, if the shows are timed conveniently for both men and women and promoted before- hand to ensure an audience.
ICTs promote communication and networking, even across great distances, and peace building and reconstruction need this type of information promotion. One such system aimed at enhanced aid targeting in crisis situations is the Inte- grated Regional Information Network (IRIN). It is an information unit within the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which tries to improve the nature and speediness of the response of the non-commercial, in- ternational emergency relief community to humanitarian crises. IRIN operates on the principle that when crisis or disaster hits a country, communications are often one of the first casualties. Reliable sources dry up. government agencies collapse and media and relief eyewitnesses often can- not sift and tell the whole story impartially. IRIN strives to provide an accurate picture of events on the ground from various sources, so that aid is not misdirected, with the wrong type of assistance going to the wrong people, in the wrong place [43].
ICTs are still scarce and scattered in Africa but deliberate efforts could be made to ensure connectivity among those groups struggling to build peace. Individual women leaders may own computers. Groups may decide to invest in one or more. They could be located in peace centres and in multimedia centres in ur- ban areas. Accurate information and da- tabases can be developed for each coun- try and programme, tracking progress with programme activities, refugees and dis- placed, orphans and unaccompanied chil- dren, food security situations in parts of the country, among many other public and private uses.
ICTs are also at home in a classroom or seminar room and can be used in both formal and informal education and train- ing. CD-ROM technology can also be used to develop modules for training and edu- cation in appropriate instititutions, centres and programmes that are working for peace.
Where ICTs are not accessible, then information and communication tech- niques and activities have to evolve to fill the gap as possible. Especially in cities, but also in towns and villages with a strong peace and development movement, sim- pler, more affordable information and com- munication facilities and techniques can be used in a planned way They can be used to persuade and influence interac- tion and dialogue between groups, cus- tomized to suit the target communities.
In Sierra Leone where strong women’s peace movements have had impact, Cre- ole was the main language used to ensure that information reached grassroots women. Choice of language indicated that the information was not only for the edu- cated elite. Media reports were promoted especially via radio. Women journalists became very assertive with news cover- age and actively pursued gender-sensitive reporting. Rallies were frequently orga- nized by all groups in various parts of the country, but when women saw the reluc- tance of many to turn out, prayer meet- ings were used in many areas, so that believers could pray together for peace and start to build partnership relations.
In Ethiopia, women have been asso- ciated with formulation of the new consti- tution. The Ethiopian Women Lawyers As- sociation has mounted a campaign on a number of constitutional and Civil Code issues, using media reports, symposia, panel discussions, meetings and dramas. One drama depicted the plight of a twelve- year old girl sexually abused by her step- father.
In the Republic of the Congo, Congo- lese women formed the National Women’s Committee for Peace which called Brazzaville residents at the Bacongo Sta- dium through radio and issued a declara- tion on alternative solutions to the con- flict. President Lissouba signed the peace accord in September 1997, after meeting with women leaders. A woman minister of Culture and Human Rights was ap- pointed in the move to appease the women and keep their political support. Two other women ministers and ten women have been appointed to the National Council on transition since the conflict ended. .. ..
The Malian women used traditional mediation techniques of impartiality and neutrality in their strategy, including oral narratives and music and stress on family ties. They visited war zones, prisoners and refugees in Mauritania and Burkina Faso and supplied humanitarian aid to victims, regardless of ethnicity or class. They held peace marches and prayer meetings and promoted disarmament and the burning of weapons - the Flame of Peace in March 1996. The plan in inter-ethnic encoun- ters was to “listen compassionately” as would a mother or a sister. Their influence spread among the women, and eventu- ally touched the traditional chiefs and the politicians. In Burundi, CAFOB used let- ters to signal their opposition to the fight- ing and their desire to lift the economic embargo.
The Liberian Women’s Initiative and Women United for Peace and Democracy (WOUPAD) sent letters to warlords advo- cating peace. Through a traditional play, “Bricks and Sticks”, peace activists met with warlords. Women threatened to boy- cott all state and public functions. They organized peace rallies in the capital and when opposed threatened to march naked. When women wanted, markets closed [44]. Names of qualified women candidates for political office and office in public corpora- tions were published and when women were denied access to the 1994 Accra Clari- fication on the grounds that they were not direct participants” six women forced their way in and got official observer status. WOUPAD delegates made it their business to observe elections all over the country. Large numbers of fighters were persuaded to voluntarily disarm and all armed factions were dissolved. WOUPAD was also instru- mental in return of refugees and displaced persons. Elections were held in July 1997 which marked the end of the war and the beginning of reconstruction. .. ..
In Somalia, a peace movement for women began around Hargesia and spread throughout the country. The four main groups were DULMAR (DDAP) from Hargesia in northwest Somalia, the Na- tional Organization for Women and Chil- dren (NOW), Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC) and the Women’s Development Organization (WDA). The women used songs and dramas and poems to mobilize women with peace messages.
In Rwanda, the organization, Pro Femme/Hamwe Twese, took up a consid- erable amount of reconstruction work af- ter the 1994 genocide. It comprised 32 women’s groups whose objective was to work for peace and justice and rehabilita- tion. The women’s focus was to address gender problems as political problems, a question of control of power and resources.
Pro Femme built “peace villages” for wid- ows and orphans of all ethnic groups. They established micro-credit and production schemes so women could get food and some incomes. The women also ex- pressed concern about the 1000 or so chil- dren imprisoned under charges of geno- cide. Pro Femme has been able to pull together women of various ethnic groups for peace-building activities. It won the UNESCO’s Madanjeet Singh Prize in 1996 for promoting tolerance and non-violence.
Reconstruction in Rwanda : A Case Study
Four years after the genocide and a year after massive repatriation of refugees, Rwanda is still trying to find a stable equilibrium. Reintegrating and resettling millions of refugees and internally displaced people was difficult. A rebel offensive from western Zaire, now the Demo- cratic Republic of the Congo, interrupted reconstruction in 1996. Since November 1996, 1.2 million Rwandese have returned home and since 1994, 118,322 children have been registered in and outside Rwanda as unaccompanied. By the end of November 1997, 51,047 had been reunited with their families or placed in foster care. Orphanages got crowded. Camps got empty.
There are over 127,000 genocide suspects detained in Rwandan prisons. Arrests increased after the repatriation took place. Some 240 accused have already appeared before the International Tribunal in Arusha. Suspects tend to be safer in custody, to prevent mobs from carrying out lynchings. The Government has not had the resources to rebuild its judicial system. It is also constrained by insufficient trained staff and statistical systems, uncertainity regarding means of payment and enormous needs for peace consolidation and reconstruc- tion. The design of economic, fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies and institutions is still underway. Reconstruction and development needs money, and the Government is cash- strapped. Investment by government and private sector, and international aid organizations is also seriously constrained by doubts about the durability of peace. Efforts are being made to restore communications services, and where postal links have been reestablished, public morale and confidence in reconstruction increase.
Reconciliation and reconstruction is taking place at the grassroots, unevenly, with less progress in the north due to persistent security problems. The north has to be rehabilitated to solve the food crisis, because it is the country’s bread basket. Heavy rains have also affected crops and there is a food deficit in 1998.
More is possible now that aid agencies are not so busy with displacement camps in and outside of Rwanda. There have been criticisms that housing projects are too impersonal, and built too close together. It has been recommended that there should be a shift in spending to use of aid funds to build infrastructure and social services in designated areas, and allowing the people some freedom to build their homes to their own style.
There is a clear lack of confidence-building programmes and creative projects for advancing national reconciliation, and the country is still not safe from further outbreaks of civil war. Women’s self-help groups and NGOS have been most active in this area, though not on the national scale needed.
Sources "Return to Rwanda” in Red Cross Crescent magazine, issue 1, 1998;
United Nations: An Inventory of Post-Conflict Peace-building Activities, Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, New York, 1996.
[ Next ] : VI. Conclusion