- Convenors:
-
Michael Osew
(International Peace Support Training Centre)
Gordon Ogutu (Dublin City University)
Send message to Convenors
- Format:
- Experimental format
- Stream:
- Gendered, generational & social justice
Short Abstract
Constitutional gains such as the two-thirds gender rule have translated into real power and policy influence for women in Africa and Middle East and explores how women’s political empowerment shape equitable peaceful and sustainable development trajectories in an uncertain global context
Description
Despite significant constitutional and policy gains advancing women’s representation in governance, the translation of these achievements into substantive influence and transformative leadership remains limited. This panel anchors discussions within the Women Peace and Security (WPS) framework as provided in the UNSCR 1325 (2000) to analyze how political, structural and socio-cultural barriers constrain women’s agency in shaping policy outcomes that advance peacebuilding, equality and inclusive development. The panel seeks to explore how gendered power relations influence policy priorities and governance practices. The panel poses the questions; How can women’s leadership move beyond representational politics to embody transformative leadership that redefines development values, governance ethics and social justice? What are the innovative leadership models and mentorship networks that are enabling women to navigate and challenge patriarchal institutions? By situating women’s leadership within the broader debates on power, agency and the future of governance in Africa and the Middle East, the panel underscores the need to reimagine development as a participatory and gender-responsive process. How then would a shift from tokenistic inclusion to a systemic transformation in leadership and policy frameworks for sustainable peacebuilding and equitable development be achieved?
Accepted contributions
Contribution short abstract
This paper examines ways women navigate structural, political and socio-cultural limitations to exercise agency for transformative leadership in peacebuilding and development contexts within the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) framework.
Contribution long abstract
The United Nations Security Resolution 1325 (2000) explicitly promotes women's representation in decision-making across all spheres of society in member states. Despite constitutional and policy advances like the UNSCR 1325 and National Action Plan promoting women's representation in Nigeria, the gap between formal inclusion and significant impact remains. This paper examines how women navigate structural, political and socio-cultural limitations to exercise agency for transformative leadership in peacebuilding and development contexts within the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) framework.
Drawing on decolonial feminist and conflict transformation theory and mixed methods research from Nigeria's Northern and Niger Delta regions, this study examines the contention between symbolic politics and transformative leadership. Though the UNSCR 1325 calls for women's equitable participation in peace processes, implementation remains performative in Nigeria, inhibited by patriarchal norms, gendered-power relations, and tokenistic approaches that limit women's capacity to shape policy outcomes.
The analysis illustrates that women's contributions to peacebuilding extend beyond official political environments to include community mediation, post-conflict economic reconstruction, and social restoration, albeit excluded within elite-focused frameworks. The paper identifies vital elements facilitating transformative leadership: mentorship networks and solidarity mechanisms; disruption of gender norms through grassroots organizing; access to decision-making spaces and resources; and supportive civil society ecosystems.
The research findings illustrate that transformation requires systemic-change beyond increasing women's numbers in leadership positions; essentially rethinking developmental priorities, ethical governance, and power relations. This research contributes to decolonial feminist reassessment of peacebuilding in Africa, providing actionable recommendations for policymakers and civil society organizations dedicated to accomplishing substantive transformation.
Contribution short abstract
The study seeks to contend that statistics by themselves do not ensure substantial shifts. It makes a distinction between leadership that drives change that really affects policy and peacebuilding results and tokenistic presence.
Contribution long abstract
Africa's 27.6% female parliamentary participation is cause for celebration, but it presents an unsettling question: when does presence equate to power or actual impact? This research will evaluate how women's political power converts into meaningful influence on development, peacebuilding, and security reform or does not. The study will create a paradigm of "operational restructuring" that separates symbolic inclusion from actual policy effect via comparative analysis across these governance typologies in Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen. The dichotomy is striking: authoritarian settings may sometimes provide aberrant substantive leadership, while democratic institutions, which are thought to be beneficial for women's progress, can produce exquisite tokenism. Leadership pipelines, decision-making frameworks, accountability systems that prevent violence, resource mobilization, and normative shifts that challenge patriarchal societies are the five institutional elements that stand out as being crucial. However, their effectiveness varies considerably depending on the governing setting. Under military or customary rule, strategies that work well in democracies may implode. Therefore, the proximate mechanism is still not entirely understood whether women's involvement in peace talks is correlated with less conflicts. By operationalizing the difference between substantive impact and representational presence, this study through desk research contributes to the debate of the divide and asking not whether women lead, but whether leadership translates into institutional change that endures.
Contribution long abstract
Recent political reforms across the Horn of Africa and Middle East region have seen an increase in the number of women leaders through the adoption of gender quotas. This has been informed by the international push for equity and inclusion, driven by a dream of a democratic society. However, the increased quotas are not a direct reflection of the substantive influence women have on decisions on the outcomes of peacebuilding and policies. The mandates provided by the constitutions do not sufficiently overcome the patriarchal power dynamics. The cases are an indicator of superficial quotas that only giving women minimal vocal input. An adoption of strong, solid factors is crucial for women’s voices in these matters. Well-structured legal frameworks, aggressive advocacy networks, and initiatives on leadership are critical. Affirmative action should be adopted to push beyond tokenism, heavily depending on gender responsive policies. To move from the existing fictional quotas brought by tokenism, strong and genuine political will, reforms and a shift in culture is crucial. From this, the paper gives insights on policy directions that stakeholders and partners have to design to yield a tangible result on women’s influence on peacebuilding and development outcomes. Further, an illustration of the translation of the mere descriptive women representation to substantive leadership geared towards equality and long-lasting peace.
Contribution short abstract
This study foregrounds a group whose role for peace has largely been sidelined in existing scholarship: displaced women. Drawing on research in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya and the theoretical lens of everyday peace, agency and situated knowledge, the findings position them as pivotal peace actors.
Contribution long abstract
With UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) the role of women in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and post-conflict reconstruction has received increasing recognition. However, despite notable progress achieved over the past decades, the global Women, Peace and Security agenda lacks attention to displaced women and their contributions to peace. This paper addresses this gap by exploring peacebuilding practices of displaced women living in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Employing a qualitative multi-method approach, this research centres displaced women’s agency and examines how they actively foster peace. Theoretically, the analysis is guided by displaced women’s everyday peace practices as conceptualized by Mac Ginty, which is complemented by Lister’s agency theory and Elorduy’s notion of situated bits of knowledge. The findings reveal that peace is not a fixed condition but a dynamic, ongoing practice for displaced women. They use their agency to manoeuvre violence, insecurities and structural constraints in the camp. They employ flight as a purposive strategy to seek peace in exile and engage in individual and collective practices to establish peaceful everyday lives for themselves, their families, friends and wider communities around them. Peace activism is also a field they get active in to advocate for more peaceful conditions in Kakuma and beyond. The richness of their peace practices places displaced women as significant peace actors whose perspectives and lived experiences are of key relevance for peacebuilding, sustainable development and more nuanced and effective humanitarian interventions.
Contribution long abstract
This paper examines the intersection of digital tools and women's leadership in the context of peacebuilding and development. We focus on Kenya and compare it with examples from other African countries and the Middle East.
Our research investigates whether digital platforms, often praised for enhancing democracy, actually afford women only a superficial role in politics. We ask if a female leader's increased online presence leads to real influence over peace and development policies, or if it is primarily a show of gender inclusion (Ali et al., 2024).
To understand this, our study uses a feminist political economy approach. This helps us uncover the hidden structures, economic limitations, and institutional impacts that shape how women engage with digital politics (Kasera et al., 2025).
We're specifically scrutinizing who holds power, how decisions are made, and the gender-specific work prevalent in digital political spaces. We also consider how donor and state-driven narratives of inclusion play a role. Further, we examine how various forms of inequality impact women's digital political participation, moving beyond simple success stories to highlight deeper, systemic obstacles.
In conclusion, while digital platforms give women more ways to join in politics, it often does not lead to real change in peace and development. Instead, it often results in "tokenism," where being seen online does not bring real influence or power (Ali et al., 2025; Genon, 2025). This shows the need to look closely at the digital opportunities women have, especially where there are large gaps in digital access and skills.