Examining the Role of Women in Peace Processes in Mali and South Sudan

Although global and regional commitments are made to promote the participation of women in peace processes, little progress is made in including women in peace processes and peace negotiations and peace agreements continue to be dominated by males within the context of Africa. Conflicts and wars disproportionally affect women and girls more than men and often they are subjects of physical and psychological violence. Nonetheless, women are not included as needed in the decision-making process such as in peace talks and mediation efforts while they suffer the most from the consequences of violent conflicts. More importantly, women are underrepresented in formal peace processes (highest level of decision-making) and have difficulty accessing formal peace talks. Equally, counting the number of women in peace and mediation processes does not guarantee gender-sensitive mediation and the inclusion of gender sensitive provisions in peace agreements to protect the rights of women. Thus, a quest for meaningful participation of women and the level of influence that can be exerted by represented women is necessary. This has to embody the needs of the poor and marginalized communities apart from the women in the elite communities. With this in view, FES AU Cooperation office has conducted two researches in Mali and South Sudan which were presented to the FemWise members by Dr. Mady Ibrahim Kante and Ms. Lucy Awate Abe, researchers of the study in South Sudan and Mali. The studies focus on women’s participation in peace mediation and conflict resolution processes, as well as inclusion strategies, challenges, lessons learned and best practices based on the perceptions of women mediators and members of women’s groups and networks in Mali and South Sudan. The new FemWise members were very well interested in the research findings and discussed them intensively.