A single cotton tree stands in the dusty schoolyard, its branches reaching towards the sky. Underneath these branches, a small group huddles, their voices merging in the wind.i They are a mothers' group, and these Sierra Leonean women have gathered to discuss their lives in the face of the shambles of post-conflict reform.ii “They call our children rebel children,” the women say. “[They tell me] You and your child are eating all our food . . . but sometimes I go to bed for two days without food.”iii Their lives are hard, but their sense of community is strong thanks to women's groups like this one, a common scene in Sierra Leone. In neighboring Liberia, women have also learned to foster a sense of community and cohesion through the grassroots-level Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace. As one male member of the Justice and Peace Commission in Sierra Leone explains, “Women build peace among themselves. They mediate and solve disputes at the community level. Most men solve conflicts at the chief level.”iv In a world where patriarchal conflict is so pervasive, peacebuilding processes need women to act and be empowered in the community if positive change for all citizens is to occur.
Specifically defining positive change in any post-conflict environment is no easy task, but peace is always the desired end result. However, men and women in the same community often define peace differently. Men tend to take a more structured look at peace, and focus on the absence of formalized conflict. Women, on the other hand, define peace broadly and deeply, applying it to all levels and stages of society, not just infrastructures and armed forces. “Peace means different things to women and men because of their unique experiences as a result of...
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...http://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/january-2010/security- reform-key-protecting-women> Hayner, Priscilla. "Negotiating Peace in Liberia: Preserving the Possibility for Justice`."Centre for
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Pray the Devil Back to Hell. Dir. Gini Reticker. Perf. Leymah Gbowee, Asatu Bah Kenneth.
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However, it wasn’t an effortless process for these women to gain respect. These women experienced sexism and were often discredited for their work. During the El Salvadoran Civil War, sexism was prominent. The women working in groups such as the FMLN were trying to change these perceptions, and create a more equal life for the women in El Salvador. Although sexism was still very common, the FMLN and the women involved were working very hard and their contributions were beginning to be noticed.
"Peacekeeping and Peacemaking." Reading and Remembrance . N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. . (tags: none | edit tags)
War-ravaged Sierra Leone had trouble maintaining order, many still unclear what type of government they were living by. For years, the government of Sierra Leone had “made repeated commitments to...
However, the problem with wars claiming to “save” women is that the majority of the time women are just becoming victims of western misogyny as opposed to eastern misogyny (Viner, 2). Just because some women choose to wear head coverings doesn’t make them repressed, “liberation for [Afghani women] does not encompass destroying their identity, religion, or culture and many of them want to retain the veil” (Viner, 2). Therefore, using women to justify war is counterproductive because it still represses women and ignores what the women actually
What would you say if I asked you to tell me what you think is causing the death of so many people in the horn of Africa? AIDS? Starvation? War? Would it surprise you if I told you that it all boils down to the women of Africa? Kofi Annan attempts to do just this in his essay “In Africa, Aids Has a Woman's Face.” Annan uses his work to tell us that women make up the “economic foundation of rural Africa” and the greatest way for Africa to thrive is through the women of Africa's freedom, power, and knowledge.
Thinking about peace requires understanding peace itself as thought, as knowledge, and as a critique of its others, its opposites: violence, terror, and war. Peace is encyclopedic in terms of the knowledge that it generates as well as the knowledge upon which it draws. This essay is a brief attempt to explore what the circumstances are for peace as thinking and what goes into that thinking. What I'm saying here rests on three important assumptions: first, we cannot simply point outward to terror and "hit" the right target; second, to have peace one must extend peace; and third, the necessary counter to notions of a "just war" is a "just peace."
For centuries, educated and talented women were restricted to household and motherhood. It was only after a century of dissatisfaction and turmoil that women got access to freedom and equality. In the early 1960’s, women of diverse backgrounds dedicated tremendous efforts to the political movements of the country, which includes the Civil Rights movement, anti-poverty, Black power and many others (Hayden & King, 1965). The Africa...
During the author’s life in New York and Oberlin College, he understood that people who have not experienced being in a war do not understand what the chaos of a war does to a human being. And once the western media started sensationalizing the violence in Sierra Leone without any human context, people started relating Sierra Leone to civil war, madness and amputations only as that was all that was spoken about. So he wrote this book out o...
In the developing world women are the most influential to change. Historically women have been the catalyst for change, they are the most influential because they hold the most respect in their communities. Women are able to invoke the most change because historically they are held at such a high esteem in their communities, this can be seen most obviously in African communities. Women’s desire and determination has enabled them to make the most change in their communities. The woman of Liberia, are the most recognized and praised for their part in the removal of their Dictator Charles Taylor. Their attempt and success of the removal of Charles Taylor is documented in the documentary “Pray The Devil Back to Hell”. Their actions in this movement
Despite the many obstacles that Uganda’s people must overcome, this extraordinary country has a rich history filled with remarkable traditions and devastating conflicts that give it the distinct character it has developed over time.
Because African women were primarily responsible for agriculture and household subsistence in the countryside, they could identify with guerrilla claims that they were fighting for lost lands and an end to economic hardship(p.
...action with others… especially men. This supplies final substantiation of the authors' argument, that women continue to be oppressed by their male-dominated societies. It is a bold undertaking for women to ally and promote a world movement to abandon sexist traditions. Although I have never lived in a third world or non-Westernized country, I have studied the conditions women suffer as "inferior" to men. In National Geographic and various courses I have taken, these terrible conditions are depicted in full color. Gender inequality is a terrible trait of our global society, and unfortunately, a trait that might not be ready to change. In America we see gender bias towards women in voters' unwillingness to elect more females into high office, and while this is not nearly as severe as the rest of the world, it indicates the lingering practice of gender inequality.
“Such an approach helps focus attention on current and emerging threats to the security and well-being of individuals and communities” (UN 2014). Moreover, women are important when it comes to negotiating peace agreements, planning refugee camps, and peacekeeping operations, as well as reconstructing war-torn societies (UNIFEM 2004). A Feminist’s perspective in security studies challenges the focus on military solutions and pushes attention towards addressing structural problems, additionally, they believe in prevention rather than intervention; e.g. civilian solutions rather than military solutions. Feminist’s goals are to resolve issues within the state first. They try to identify the collective needs of the human kind. Human security helps one understand how gender and violence relate. The indication of human security allowed UNIFEM and UN women to work in post-conflict situations which brought people to work together in humanitarian affairs, development, and unquestionably security. Involving more women in International Relations could be a better influence for the world and have positive results but only if both genders
It is true of Africa that women constitute a treasure that remains largely hidden. (Moleketi 10) African women grow 90% of all African produce, and contribute about 70% of Africa’s agricultural labor every year. (Salmon 16) Both the labor and food that are provided by African women go towards the increase in Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). (Moleketi 10) Although African women are feeding the majority of Africa’s inhabitants, the constricting ropes of gender inequality are still holding them back from being appreciated and living up to their full potential. Outstandingly, women such as President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, of Liberia, have gladly accepted the challenge of breaking free of these ropes. The history of women’s rights in Africa, the glass ceiling, and the modern aspects of women’s rights, all play prominent roles in the overall condition of women’s rights in Africa. Until the day arrives that these discriminatory injustices are corrected, individuals in African nations will continue to struggle.
Throughout history, there have been constant power struggles between men and women, placing the male population at a higher position than the female. Therefore, in this patriarchal system women have always been discriminated against simply due to the fact that they are women. Their rights to vote, to be educated and essentially being treated equally with men was taken away from them and they were viewed as weak members of society whose successes depend on men. However, this has not prevented them from fighting for what they believe in and the rights they are entitled to. On the contrary, it has motivated them to try even harder and gain these basic societal rights through determination and unity.