Government programmes

Young women in African wars

Upphovspersoner:	Coulter, Chris | Persson, Mariam | Utas, Mats
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2007
Ämnesord:	War, conflicts, youth, Women’s participation, Women’s role, Social conditions, Government programmes, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Young women are combatants in contemporary African wars. They also participate in a whole array of different roles. However, by and large, they remain invisible to us. In fact, our “northern” hackneyed views on women’s innate non-participation in war prevent us from seeing specific needs for young women during and in the aftermath of wars. For instance, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes often fail to address appropriate needs for young women and in a variety of ways “prevent” them from partaking. Issues of stigma, safe demobilisation, individual concerns for post-war marriage, health and education, need to be addresed in both a more gendered way, but also with an apposite understanding of young women’s agency in both peace and war. In this Policy note it is argued that to improve policy and programming efforts it is necessary to broaden the understanding of young women’s roles and participation in armed conflict in Africa historically and today.

Young female fighters in African wars : conflict and its consequences

Upphovspersoner:	Utas, Mats | Persson, Mariam | Coulter, Chris
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2008
Ämnesord:	Civil war, Armed forces, Guerrillas, Females, women's participation, gender roles, Government programmes, Disarmament, Social implications, Survival strategies, Demobilization, Post-conflict reconstruction, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

In the numerous armed conflicts that are tearing the African continent apart, young women are participants and carry guns alongside their male comrades-in-arms. Challenging the stereotype of women in African wars as victims only, this issue of the Nordic Africa Institute Policy Dialogues shows how in modern African wars women have often been as active as men. Female fighters are victimized, yet they are not mere victims. Girls and young women who volunteer to fight often possess quite considerable strength and independence. Programmes for disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating former fighters must be based on better understanding of the range of women's roles and experiences in war and post-war settings in order to act in a gender-sensitive way and to empower this group of women in the aftermath of war.