South Sudan’s 2015 Peace Agreement and Women’s Participation
Sabala, Kizito. African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review 7, no. 1 (2017): 80-93.
This article looks at the role of women in peace agreement negotiations, from which they have often been excluded or listened to without really hearing what they had to say – without implementing any of their suggestions. The author is trying to show the positive impact of having women recognised as key peace stakeholders, contributing valuable and otherwise-unheard opinions and ideas.
Using a case study of peace negotiations in 2015 in Sudan, this article seeks to reveal the real desire of women to participate in peace talks and negotiations, and for their ideas to be implemented, as their so doing might offer interesting new perspectives on building sustainable peace. These women bring forward cultural norms which are worth to be given the state’s attention. Hand in hand, international organisations and national governments are working towards enabling such voices to be heard.
I find this particularly important as, often, most of those sent to war are men. The women left behind are those who have to deal with everyday situations of war, and therefore should at the very least be considered in building the everyday peace that follows negotiations and peace agreements.
Sabala, Kizito. “South Sudan’s 2015 Peace Agreement and Women’s Participation.” African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review 7, no. 1 (2017): 80-93.