Women important in peace-making, but are ignored – ICG

June 28 (NAIROBI) — Women play a central role in solving some of Africa’s deadliest conflicts, but remain marginalised from the government and peace processes, an influential think tank said on Wednesday.

Highlighting conflicts in Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said it found that peace processes and reconstruction do better when women are involved.

“Women make a difference, in part because they adopt a more inclusive approach toward security and address key social and economic issues that would otherwise be ignored,” ICG said.

Tens of thousands of women and girls have been raped in conflicts spanning the continent. Sexual violence including rape, sexual slavery and mutilation have been used as a weapon of war in Darfur, eastern Congo and northern Uganda.

Women and children make up the majority of people displaced from their homes during conflicts.

“Against a backdrop of persistent violence, exclusion and decaying social services, many see improving the status of women as an issue to be addressed further down the road, in a time of peace,” the 32-page report said.

ICG added that the international community had not done enough to include women.

“The international community speaks a great deal about including women in formal peace-making processes and recognising their peacebuilding contributions, but fails to do so in a systematic, meaningful way,” it said.

(Reuters)