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- Convenors:
-
Zainab Mai-Bornu
(University of Leicester)
James Kewir Kiven (African Leadership Centre Trust, Nairobi, Kenya)
Gordon Crawford (Coventry University)
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- Formats:
- Papers Mixed
- Stream:
- Governance
- Sessions:
- Monday 28 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
This panel explores the contributions of civil society actors, notably women’s organisations, to conflict resolution and 'peacebuilding from below' in various contexts. It examines the difficulties encountered, including from ‘shrinking civic space’, and the strategic responses to such challenges.
Long Abstract:
A bottom-up or grassroots approach, often associated with John Paul Lederach (1997), has increasingly taken centre stage in peacebuilding discourses. It places emphasis on the “significance of local actors and of the non-governmental sector and the links with local knowledge and wisdom” (Ramsbotham et al. 2016: 274). Some analysts consider such ‘peacebuilding from below’ as essential to resolving conflicts, creating space for the needs, perspectives and practices of local communities to be included in conflict resolution processes (Pearson 2001). Especially important is the centrality of gender and recognition of the unique and crucial contribution of women to peacebuilding.
However, peacebuilding from below is not without its difficulties or complexities. Local communities are also “sites of power asymmetry, patriarchy and privilege” (Ramsbotham et al. 2016: 276). Additionally, a bottom-up approach to conflict resolution is unlikely to be sufficient in itself, given that resolution of conflict is likely to be formalised in national-level agreements. Therefore, an interplay between local and national levels is required, perhaps mediated by professionally staffed NGOs. The potential role of civil society is also influenced by the wider national context and the extent to which CSOs are affected by ‘shrinking civic space’.
This panel invites papers that look at the range of roles that women’s groups and different civil society actors play in conflict resolution and peacebuilding in various country contexts, how effective they are, the challenges faced, and the strategies adopted to counter constraints.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Monday 28 June, 2021, -James Kewir Kiven (African Leadership Centre Trust, Nairobi, Kenya) Gordon Crawford (Coventry University)
Paper short abstract:
The paper examines the challenges experienced by CSOs in Cameroon in their efforts to contribute to resolution of the 'Anglophone' conflict in a context of shrinking civic space.
Paper long abstract:
Civil society organisations (CSOs) in Cameroon have been making significant efforts towards resolution of the conflict in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon between armed separatist groups and state security forces. Yet such efforts are constrained in a context of ‘shrinking civic space’ that limits their activities. This paper situates the experiences of CSOs in English-speaking Cameroon within the shrinking civic space literature. It examines the constraints that they face, inclusive of government controls over movement; fragmented CSO-government relations; security threats from both warring parties; and lack of financial sustainability. Equally, the paper explores the range of strategies used by CSOs in attempts to mitigate and overcome such constraints, including: awareness-raising to improve the knowledge of local populations on conflict resolution initiatives; networking and coalition building with various local and international groups to garner solidarity; and training and sensitisation campaigns to develop critical consciousness around peacebuilding and human rights issues. The paper is based on primary data from a consultative dialogue workshop that brought together 15 CSOs from the two English-speaking regions to share and discuss their organisations’ experiences and challenges in the civil conflict situation, followed up with interviews with selected CSO leaders.
Yoon Young Lee (KOICA)
Paper short abstract:
This paper looks at the norm diffusion on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and how the survivors of “Comfort women” in South Korea have strategically engaged with it. Such process led to the recognition of the survivor’s agency which expanded the possibilities and opportunities for their activism.
Paper long abstract:
This study examines the global norm diffusion on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) focusing on the case of the survivor’s movement of “comfort women” in South Korea. “Comfort women” were exploited by the Japanese imperial army as sexual slaves during the Asia Pacific war and the failure to include these women’s voices during peace process has denied their right to justice and reparation. The paper traces the norm life cycle (Finnemore and Sikkink 1998) for CRSV and how “comfort women” themselves contributed to the discourse as norm entrepreneurs.
Furthermore, I analyse how this process at the global level affected norm diffusion in the domestic arena and changed the portrayal of the survivors in South Korea. The norm emergence offers the space for collectives to participate and engage in the discourse as norm entrepreneurs, allowing the norms to be diverse and inclusive of the various local context. When such a norm is adopted, it provides actors with more legitimacy that helps them to push for change in each of their domestic environments.
In this case, the survivors’ strategic engagement with both global and local arena, have shifted the domestic interest on “comfort women” from nationalistic agenda to women’s right and peacebuilding. Linking the literature on norm life cycle, agency, and recognition, I argue that the active participation of “comfort women” in global norm change process led to the recognition of the survivor’s agency which expanded the possibilities and opportunities for their activism, allowing the survivors to exist as a complex individual.
Maria Josep Cascant-Sempere (Jaume I University (Spain))
Paper short abstract:
This research documents how Afro-Colombian and indigenous Wounaan communities in the Valle del Cauca have experienced the changes brought by Colombia’s peace agreement. Their voices tell us that despite the agreement, peace is still not a reality for some of the Colombia’s most marginalised people.
Paper long abstract:
The rivers of Valle de Cauca have long been important routes for trafficking weapons and drugs. For decades, the territories around the rivers have been a battleground, both in the conflict between the government and its armed guerrilla opponents, and in the operations of paramilitary groups and armed drug traffickers. Corporate mining companies also have substantial interests in the region.
Some communities in the area have been under ‘cautionary measures’ from the Inter-American Court of Human rights. However, since peace agreement, these communities have witnessed an increase in human rights violations, with diverse armed groups now occupying areas that before the peace agreement were controlled by guerrilla opponents. More recently, COVID19 has aggravated certain aspects of that marginalisation, creating a “double lockdown”.
Two conclusions of Afro-Colombians and Indigenous people are the gap between the theory and practice of the peace agreement, and an overwhelming rejection of violence. Communities, organised in their own associations, have responded with their own understandings of peace, and resilience and advocacy strategies. Other national and international NGOs have helped in that effort of building peace from below.
This research was carried out by the Colombian organisation Justicia y Paz and its international partner the Research, Evidence and Learning team at Christian Aid UK. The research is part of a “Ten Years” study exploring changes in the lives of marginalised communities in Colombia and the role of NGOs in supporting that change. This is an ethnographic research, and some short films will be presented.
Christiana Abonge (University of Buea Cameroon)
Paper short abstract:
Issues about war and the army are masculine and characterized by patriarchal practices that perpetuate an exclusionary attitude and culture towards women in peace-building. By mainstreaming their participation and involvement in peace processes bring in women's voices and conflict experiences.
Paper long abstract:
Most political institutions in conflict societies including Cameroon tend to perpetuate an exclusionary attitude and culture towards women in peace-building. Given that issues about politics and the army are primarily masculine, they are by and large characterized by patriarchal practices and values. Thus, these processes tend to remain male-dominated with women excluded and underrepresented at all levels. Also, the social construction of gender has often identified women as “mothers of the nation”; thus women’s practical involvement and expectations about the sphere of their actions is centered on motherhood, responsibility for children, and protection of the family. Meanwhile, there is evidence that increased female representation within peace processes increases the likelihood that a conflict terminates in a negotiated settlement. Given that the international community through the UNSCR 1325 have shown increased interest in promoting women's participation in peace-building, the study seeks to examine the role and representation of women in peace processes in Cameroon in the context of the crisis and conflict plaguing the North West and South West regions of the country. The study examines peace-building efforts and approaches of the Southwest Northwest Women's Task force (SNWOT) and factors challenging their participation in the peace process. Through the use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches to data collection, the findings indicate that the participation of women in peace-building is extremely vital as they are likely to make a unique contribution to the peace process and tend to be the sole voices speaking out for women’s rights and concerns.