History of Peace Operations
Colonel Emmanuel Kotia, PhD
Visiting Professor, Kennesaw State University, USA
Introduction
History of
Peace
Operations
Aims and Objectives
• Discuss the evolution of the concept of
international security evolved after the collapse of
the League of Nations leading to the formation of
the UN after the second world war
• Examine the security dynamics and security
provisions of UN peacekeeping operations
• Assess the merits and challenges of UN peace
operations from the traditional era to present day
operations
• Draw conclusions
The League of Nations
Pre-Peacekeeping Era: Overview
• World War I:
• Pause for thought about
‘global governance’
• The League of Nations
(LON) was conceived
during WWI
• Established under Treaty
of Versailles (1919)
• First permanent global,
international security
organization
• LON Covenant emphasized preventing
war through:
• Collective security
• Disarmament
• Settlement of international disputes
through negotiation and arbitration
• Main purpose of LON:
…to promote international
cooperation and to achieve peace and
security.
Organs: Assembly, Council, Permanent
Secretariat (Geneva, Gen-Sec)
Wings: Permanent Court of International
Justice and ILO
UN Charter: Imperatives for Security
Provisions
Key Purpose: Maintenance of International Peace and Security
• Although the League of Nations (1919-1939…) dealt with a number of
issues and conflicts
• Its key failure was its inability to prevent WWII
• Security remains a key imperative of success of the UN
• Consequently, UN pre-occupation with matters of security – major
international armed conflict
• However, the UN lack of substantive provisions for other forms of
armed conflict with ramifications for regional and international peace
and security
• Explanation lies in the Preamble to UN Charter (Preamble):
“We the Peoples of the United Nations Determined…’to save succeeding
generations form the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold
UN Charter: Key Purpose
• Key purpose (and Principles) of the
UN:
• Save succeeding generations from
the scourge of war…
• Reaffirm faith in fundamental
human rights
• Establish conditions for the
maintenance of justice and respite
for obligations of treaties and other
sources of international law
• Promote social progress and better
living standards in large freedom
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY(192)
ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL COUNCIL
(54)
TRUSTEESHIP
COUNCIL (P-5)
SECRETARY
COUNCIL (5-10)
SECRETARIAT
INERNATIONAL
COURT OF JUSTICE
(15)
UN Charter: Security Provisions
• Security Framework:
 A vision of collective security (Art
48,49,51: collective security, selfdefence) …aggression against
one member met by action by all
 Engagement in broad spectrum
of conflict resolution:




Preventive
Management
Resolution
Post-conflict measures
Employment of range of tools (Art
42)
General Assembly (UNGASR 377
(V)(3 Nov 1950)
• Original composition of 11member UNSC:
• P5: Republic of China/People’s
Republic of China?
• First elected rotational
members:
 Australia
 Brazil
 Egypt
 Mexico
 Netherlands and
 Poland
UN Charter: Early Security Test
Cases and Triggers for ‘Peacekeeping’
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Soviet occupation of Iran (1946):
Albanian-led anti-Greek violence (1946-52):
Indonesia-Netherlands conflict (1947-48):
Issue of Palestine (1947-49) to date:
Issue of Kashmir (1947-1950) to date
Issue of Korea (1950-53)
Suez Crisis (1956-57)
Congo Crisis (1960-64)
UN Charter: 7+1 early security test
cases and triggers for ‘peacekeeping’
•
Soviet occupation of Iran:
 Non-Soviet withdrawal by March
1946
 Soviet Pledged withdrawal by May
1946
 Albanian-led anti-Greek violence:
 Issue raised by Soviet-Ukraine Aug
1946
 US proposal for investigative
commission vetoed by Soviet Union
 Greek complaint to UNSC
(involvement of Albania, Yugoslavia,
Bulgaria)
 UNSC deploy commission early 1947
 Soviet disagreed with Commission’s
report and vetoed resolutions
 US refer case to UNGAS
•
•
•
•
•
•
UNGAS decision (Oct 1947) to establish
UN Special Commission on the Balkans
(UNSCOB)
UNSCOB to be composed of all 11 UNSC
members
Soviet, Polish non-participation
Decline in support to Greek communists
after greater Yugoslav independence
(1946)
UNSCOB terminated in 1951
Replaced (Jan 1952) by Balkan SubCommission of the standing Peace
Observation Commisson
UN Charter: 7+1 early security test
cases and triggers for ‘peacekeeping’
 Indonesia-Netherlands conflict:
 Indonesian independence Aug 1947 (after
Japanese surrender)
 Dutch attempt to regain control
 UNSC called on parties to cease hostilities and
accept arbitration
 Consular Commission (Australia, Belgium,
France, UK, US) deployed to observe ceasefire
 Resumption of hostilities (late 1948);
UNSC request to Consular Commission to
deploy Milobs
 Up to 63 Milobs established CFLs, supervised
troop withdrawals, infiltrations, investigations
of violations and damage to rubber plantations
UN Charter: 7+1 early security test
cases and triggers for ‘peacekeeping’
•
Issue of Palestine:
 British referral of LON mandate over
Palestine to UN (Apr 1947)
 UNGAS appointed Special Committee
propose partition
 Rejection by Palestinians and Arab
States
 With increasing violence from 1947-48,
UNSC establish UN Truce Commission
for Palestine (Belgium, France, US) to
supervise requested ceasefire
 UNGAS terminates Palestine
Commission, appoints Un Mediator (14
May 1948)
 UK relinquishes mandate (15 May
1948); Jewish Agency proclaim state of
Israel
 Arabs invade in wake of British withdrawal
 UNSC call for ceasefire within 36 hrs ignore,
Establish 572-strong UNTSO (29 May 1948)
 Resumption of fighting as Arab states (9 Jul)
refuse to extend a 4-week truce
 Compliance with UNSC order of ceasefire
and threat of Chap VII action
 UN Mediator (Count Bernadotee, and Senior
French Observer) assassinated Sep 1948;
Ralph Bunch appointed as acting Mediator
 UNSC armistice (Nov 1948) accepted by all
(Egypt Jan 1949)
 Israeli bilateral agreements (Egypt, Lebanon,
Jordan, Syria) early 1949 on partition
 Admission of Israel to UN (11 May 1949)
UN Charter: 7+1 early security test
cases and triggers for ‘peacekeeping’

Issues of Kashmir:








India and Pakistan indece (Aug
1947)
Status of Kashmir undetermined
Pakistani Muslims invade (Oct
1947)
Kashmir request for Indian
assistance, joins India
India accuse Pakistan of
threatening international peace (1
Jan 1948)
Pakistan argues illegality of
Kashmiri accession to India: calls
for UN-supervised plebiscite
Indian agreement conditional upon
restoration of peace
UNSC establish UN Commission on
India and Pakistan (UNCIP)(Jan
1948)
 UNCIP deployment delayed for 6
months
 UNCIP propose ceasefire (Aug 1948)
and new proposals (Dec 1948)
 Indo-Pakistani agreement to ceasefire
(Jan 1949)
 UNMOGIP implemented (Feb 1949)
 Karachi Agreement (Jul 1949)
establish CFL; disputes to be decided
by the UNCIP Military Adviser
 UNCIP terminated (1950)
 UNMOGIP still in existence amidst
resumption of hostilities (1965) and
sporadic violence
UN Charter: 7+1 early security test
cases and triggers for ‘peacekeeping’

Issues of Kashmir:








India and Pakistan indece (Aug
1947)
Status of Kashmir undetermined
Pakistani Muslims invade (Oct
1947)
Kashmir request for Indian
assistance, joins India
India accuse Pakistan of
threatening international peace (1
Jan 1948)
Pakistan argues illegality of
Kashmiri accession to India: calls
for UN-supervised plebiscite
Indian agreement conditional upon
restoration of peace
UNSC establish UN Commission on
India and Pakistan (UNCIP)(Jan
1948)
 UNCIP deployment delayed for 6
months
 UNCIP propose ceasefire (Aug 1948)
and new proposals (Dec 1948)
 Indo-Pakistani agreement to ceasefire
(Jan 1949)
 UNMOGIP implemented (Feb 1949)
 Karachi Agreement (Jul 1949)
establish CFL; disputes to be decided
by the UNCIP Military Adviser
 UNCIP terminated (1950)
 UNMOGIP still in existence amidst
resumption of hostilities (1965) and
sporadic violence
UN Charter: 7+1 early security test
cases and triggers for ‘peacekeeping’
 Suez Crisis:
 US announces non financing for Egypt’s
Aswan Dam (Jul 1956)
 Egypt (Abdel Nasser) nationalizes Suez
Canal Company
 France, UK takes case to UNSC (Sep 1956)
 Egypt accuse France, Britain of
endangering peace
 Britain order Anglo-French invasion during
process of UNSG mediation on 6-point
agreement
 Use of force rejected by US (Eisenhower)
 Israel invades (parachutes) into Sinai (Oct
1956)
 US request UNSC meeting
 France and Britain threaten use of force,
unless Egypt, Israeli 10-mile withdrawal
from Canal
 Egypt rejects ultimatum on sovereignty
grounds
 Anglo-French air force attack on Egyptian
air bases (1 Nov 1949)
 UNGASR (Dulles proposal) on withdrawal
to 1949 Armistice boundaries, CFL
 UNGAS establish UNEF I (5 Nov 1956),
calls for British, French withdrawal
 Israel pressured by US
 UNEF (10 CCs, 3-6,000) withdrawal 1967
Hypothetical Periods
o 1945-47:
Pre-Origins
o 1948-88:
Origins, Evolution 1st Generation
o 1989-1991:
Transition
Framework Origins(Pre-Cold War)
(Cold War)
sub:2nd Generation (Post-Cold War)
o 1992-1994/95: Failures
o
o
o
1996-1998: Caution, Decline sub: 3rd Generation (Post Cold War
UN Reforms)
1999-2010 R2P/PoC
2011 future R2P/Peace
Enforcement;
sub:4th Generation (Post Cold War
Extra PoC)
2nd Generation?
UN Charter: Security Dynamics
Key Purpose
Maintenance of International Peace and Security…
 Main Challenges
 Security Dynamics: Early Post-WWII:
 Mixed effects of factors of demise of League of Nations: 1945-39(46)
 Cold War tensions (1945-1960) and mutual Super Power suspicions
 Aversion to use of military forces
 Failure to establish collective security force by 1947
 Increasing arms race and incidence of proxy conflicts
 Post-WWII decolonization (ME, Asia, Africa)
 Compounding political, economic and social issues
Peacekeeping Theory: Broad Outline
 UN created as an instrument for
maintaining international peace and
security
 UN Charter establishes the framework for
collective security for conflict resolution
 UN Charter vest this power in the UNSC,
with a P5 lead, cooperative role (Art 1, 24,
39, 48)
 Security functions of the UN system
within the framework of Chap VI, Chap
VII, Chap V III
 Exercise of UNSC primary power affected
by doctrine of ‘Great Power Unanimity’
(Veto)
 P5 dynamics inhibited doctrine of
collective security
 Cold War rivalries and political stalemate
inhabited creation of a UN force (Art 43,
45, 46)
•
•
•
•
•
•
P5 interests/stalemate balanced by
UNGAS decision (Suez Crisis UNEF 11956-67; Congo Crisis: ONUC –
1960-64)
Notable exception: UN action in
Korea ( by default of absence of
USSR over China)
Consequential emergence, growth
of military alliances: NATO (1949) &
Warsaw Pact (1955-92)
Geopolitical circumstances
culminated in imperative for policy
doctrine to contain small-scale
armed, proxy conflicts
A practical response mechanism to
global security problems requiring
active action
Mechanism evolved form practice,
improvisations and precedence
Peacekeeping Theory: Broad Outline
 Main idea to ‘keep the peace’ (by
•
managing conflict dynamics within a
dynamic international system),
maintaining fragile ceasefires,
stabilizing proxy conflict, preventing
another world war (nuclear)
 Silence of UN Charter on specific
provisions raised political ambiguity
 This called for functional adaptation,
consistent with UN purpose and
principles in a milieu of evolving
realities of international system
 Chap VII collective security
‘enforcement’ powers undermined by
P5 veto powers
 Charter :
 Chap VI: Pacific Settlement of Disputes
 Chap VII: Coercive measures
(Enforcement/Peace Enforcement)
 Chap VIII: Regional Arrangements.
Silence on a specific legal provision for
(armed) conflict in the grey area: Chap 6.5
Peace
Enforcement
Peacekeeping
Chap VI
Consent
UN Force
No provision of
Peacekeeping,
Peace
enforcement
Chap VII
No
Consent
Regional
Organization
Peacekeeping Theory: Broad Outline
 A catalyst or dynamic for multi-track development of differentiated intervention:
 Chap VI: an adaptive doctrine of military operations to ‘keep the peace’ founded on
acceptable principles to Super Powers (consensus and non enforcement)
 Chap VII: an adaptive doctrine of military operations to ‘enforce the peace’
founded on the use of lead nations and regional organizations (coalitions)
 Chap VI and a half: a middle ground adaptive doctrine of military operations to
‘keep the peace’ founded on acceptable principles to Super Powers (consensus and
non enforcement), but employing robust measures
PEACEKEEPING
(MULTI-DIRECTIONAL)
CHAP VI
‘PEACEKEEPING ‘
(CONSENT BASED)
CHAP VI AND A HALF
ROBUST PEACEKEEPING
(CONSENT BASED)
CHAP VIII
‘PEACE ENFORCEMENT ‘
(NON CONSENT BASED)
UN Peacekeeping Missions
•
•
•
•
•
•
Completed Missions – 55
Africa – 21
Americas – 9
Asia – 10
Europe – 8
Middle East - 7
UN Peacekeeping Missions
Size of UN Peacekeeping Forces
1947 - 2009
UN Peacekeeping Operations
•
•
•
•
•
•
Current Missions – 16
Africa – 8
America – 1
Asia – 2
Middle East – 3
Europe - 2
Current UN Peacekeeping Operations
Cost Per UN Peace Operations
UN Peacekeeping Budget 1971 - 2005
UN Peacekeeping Budget 2011/2012
Top UN Contributors
Merits of Post-Cold War Peace Operations
• Intensity of armed conflicts reduced since early
1990s by 40% (KAIPTC Conflict Data)
• Number of battle deaths are falling
• Most conflicts ended through negotiated
settlements rather than military actions
• Where peacekeepers are deployed, likelihood of
war reigniting falls by 75% to 85% compared to
cases where no peacekeepers are deployed (Fortna:
2008)
• Traditional PKOs reduced likelihood of war
reigniting by 86% (Fortna:2008)
Merits of Post-Cold War Peace Operations
• Peace operations prevented or ended genocide and
mass killing by directly challenging perpetrators
(Krain:2005)
• Well equipped PKOs have saved lives than ill
equipped and ill conceived operations – However
poor examples of Rwanda, Lebanon and DRC
• Peace Operations have helped to build stable
democratic peace in medium to long term
Challenges of Post-Cold War Peace Operations
• Failure to prevent genocide whilst peacekeepers
were deployed
• Peacekeepers sometimes commit crimes against the
people they are to protect – physical abuse of
prisoners including children (Somalia)
• Corrupt and criminal peacekeepers endangered and
abused people (Razack:2004) – rape cases, sexually
exploitation of women and girls, trading arms with
warlords
• Failure to resolve protracted disputes due to
ineffective PKOs– Middle East, Cyprus, Western
Sahara
@EW Kotia
Conclusion
References
• Alex Bellamy and Paul Williams, (2010) Understanding
Peacekeeping, Second Edition, (Cambridge, Polity Press)
• http://www.un.org/en/hq/dm/pdfs/oppba/Peacekeeping.
• Williams Paul., (2011), War and Conflict in Africa, (Cambridge,
Polity Press).
• Kofi Annan, (2012), Interventions, (New York,The Penguim Press)
• Kwesi Aning & Festus Aubyn., (2013) ‘Ghana in Alex Bellamy & Paul
Williams, Eds., Providing Peacekeepers: The Politics Challenges and
Future of United Nations Contributions (Oxford: OUP)
• UN Website on Peacekeeping Operations
• Emmanuel Wekem Kotia. 2012. "Liberia: History of the Origins of
War and Profiles of Actors" The Selected Works of Emmanuel
Wekem Kotia
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/emmanuel_kotia/2
• Kotia, Emmanuel W.(2013) "Understanding the Geopolitics of the
War in Southern Lebanon." KAIPTC Occasional Paper No. 35.
(Accra, Ghana: Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training
Centre).
Types of Peace
Operations
Colonel Emmanuel Kotia, PhD
Visiting Professor, Kennesaw State University, USA
Introduction
Aims and Objectives
• Examine the concept of peace operations and
the various levels of UN peace operations
• Discuss the various doctrines and approaches
to peace operation from the immediate post
cold world era to present day
• Assess the challenges confronting multidimensional or wider peace operations
• Draw conclusions
What is Peace Operations?
• Peace Operations involve the expeditionary
use of uniformed personnel (Military and/or
Police) with or without UN authorization, with
a mandate or program to:
– assist in the prevention of armed conflict by
supporting a peace process
– serve as an instrument to observe or assist in the
implementation of ceasefire or peace
agreements
– enforce ceasefires, peace agreements or the will
of the UNSC in order to build stable peace
Levels of Peace Operations
Local
National
Regional
Global
Macro/Structural
Levels of Peace Operations
• Both general phenomena of peace operations and
individual missions can be studied at 5 levels:
• Macro or Structural Level – explains the deep
structural factors that shape the way peace operations
are understood and practiced (global culture, gender
discrimination)
• Global Level – explains decision-making in global
organization like the UN (legitimacy, norms and power
politics in shaping political decisions)
• Regional Level – explains how states in given regions
reach shared understandings about the role of peace
operations which may be different from other regions
Levels of Peace Operations
• National Level
– peace operations have typically operated at the national
level
– attention is placed on individual missions or the policies of
individual states
• Local Level
– peace operations is meant to build on sustainable peace in
war-torn societies
– this level highlights the ways in which masculinized peace
operations have made segments local population more
insecure eg SEA
– what local population think about peacekeepers
– inclusion of local actors in decision-making in peace process
Approaches to Peace Operations
• Westphalian Approach – Notion of
sovereignty that grants states protection
from interference by outsiders
• Post Westphalian Concept – Notion of
sovereignty and responsibility. States
enjoy non-interference so far as they
protect the fundamental rights of citizens
(Maintaining a world order based on
liberal democracy)
Westphalian Approah
• Sovereign Responsibility - Limited to relations with
other states
• Non-Interference - Absolute (more or less) right of
sovereigns
• Peace Operations (inter-state) -Most frequent.
Consensual activity designed to facilitate peaceful
settlement of disputes between states
• Peace Operations (intra-state) Less frequent.
Usually designed to facilitate peaceful settlement of
disputes between states
• Key Advocates - China, India, Cuba, NAM
Post Westphalian Concept
• Sovereign Responsibility - Relations with other
states and for treatment of citizens
• Non-Interference – Dependent on fulfillment of
responsibilities to citizens - example R2P
• Peace Operations (inter-state) - Less frequent.
Usually designed to facilitate peaceful settlement of
disputes between states
• Peace Operations (intra-state) - Most frequent.
Extensive engagement to facilitate or sometimes
impose liberal democratic polities and economies
• Key Advocates - Western Europe, UN SecretaryGeneral
Tony Blair’s ‘Post Westphalian Doctrine
• “We live in a world where isolationism has ceased to have a reason
to exist. By necessity we have to co-operate with each other across
nations. Many of our domestic problems are caused on the other
side of the world . . . We are all internationalists now, whether we
like it or not. We cannot refuse to participate in global markets if
we want to prosper. We cannot ignore new political ideas in other
countries if we want to innovate. We cannot turn our backs on
conflicts and the violation of human rights within other countries if
we want still to be secure . . .
• The most pressing foreign policy problem we face is to identify the
circumstances in which we should get actively involved in other
people’s conflicts. Non-interference has long been considered an
important principle of international order. And it is not one we
would want to jettison too readily . . . But the principle of noninterference must be qualified in important respects. Acts of
genocide can never be a purely internal matter.” (Blair 1999)
Types of Peace Operations
Prevention Deployment
• Prevention Deployment is usually conducted with
the consent of the host state
• Peacekeepers are deplyed in order to prevent either
violent conflict from emerging in the first place or a
specific threat to a civilian population from
materializing
• Preventive Deployments:
– Preventing war in Macedonia (UNPREDEP) – deter Serbia
forces crossing Macedonia, 1992
– EU Force in Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006 –to
support elections and escalation of violence
Traditional Peacekeeping Operations
• These operations are intended to support
peacemaking between states by creating the
political space necessary for the belligerent states
to negotiate a political settlement.
• Traditional peacekeeping takes place in the space
between a ceasefire agreement and the conclusion
of a political settlement
• Traditional peacekeepers do not propose or enforce
particular solutions; rather, they work with the
consent of the belligerents and try to build
confidence in order to facilitate political dialogue
Traditional Peacekeeping – The Dynamics
• Transitional period of demise of the League of Nations: 1945-46
• Cold War rivalries and political stalemate
• Primarily to ‘keep the peace’ rather than to end the conflict, by
monitoring fault lines
• Originally, unarmed military observers and lightly armed troops to:
• Monitor fragile ceasefire, truce and armistice lines
• Supervise withdrawal (separation) of forces
• Establish and maintain buffer zones
• Verify compliance with peace accords
• Report violations
• Build confidence
• Prevent escalation
• Create space for mediation
Traditional Peace Operations in Lebanon
Wider Peacekeeping
• These operations are intended to fulfil the aims of
the traditional peacekeeping as well as certain
additional tasks on the context of ongoing conflict –
delivery of humanitarian relief
• Wider peacekeeping operations developed an ad
hoc response to the breakdown of ceasefire or
political agreements that enabled the original
deployment of a traditional or assisting transition
operation
Peace Enforcement Operations
• These operations aim to impose the will of the UNSC
upon the parties to a particular conflict (UN Charter
Chapter VII)
• Peace Enforcement operations are the closest
manifestation of the collective security role originally
envisaged for the UN by the authors of its Charter
• Challenges:
• Lack of clarity of the use of enforcement – use of all
means available
• UN cannot conduct large scale operations – funding,
equipment
• Discriminatory usage – Liberia ignore, Rwanda
genocide
Peace Enforcement Operations
Assisting Transition Operations
• These multi-dimensional operations involve the
deployment of military, police and /or civilian
personnel to assist the parties to a conflict in the
implementation of a political settlement or transition
from a peace heavily supported by international
agencies to one that is self-sustaining
• They tend to take place after both a ceasefire and
political settlement have been reached
• External actors play mediatory or peacemaking roles
that pave the way for a political settlement, but
peacekeepers are not deployed until the settlement has
been concluded
• The mandate of transitional operations usually revolves
around the implementation of the peace settlement
Transitional Authority
• These are also multi-dimensional operations deployed
after a peace agreement, but they distinguished by
their assumption of sovereign authority over a
particular territory
• Transitional Authorities have the following tasks:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Protection of Civilians
Peace Enforcement
Making and enforcement of laws
Exercising control over all aspects of state’s economy
Presiding over territory’s borders
Regulation of the media
Management of property law
Running of schools, hospitals, sanitation system, electricity
grid, roads
– Administering the Judicial system
Transitional Authority: A New Dynamic
 A UN multi-dimensional peacekeeping operation that temporarily
assumes legislative and administrative functions of the State
 Pending resolution of sovereignty questions, such as supporting
transfer of authority
 During transitional administrations, to establish administrative
structures that may not have existed
 Authorised by UNSC
 Pending resolution of sovereignty questions
• Examples: UNTAC (1992-93), UNTAET (1999-2002), UNMIK
Peace Support Operations
• These are designed to help establish post
Westphalian peace – Blair’s doctrine (1999)
• They aim to establish liberal democracy political
systems and societies within states
• They combine robust military forces capable of
limited peace enforcement tasks if a ceasefire
breaks down – Bosnia, Kosovo, DRC
• It has a strong civilian component that includes civil
administration, humanitarian agencies; and police
and justice officers – Liberia, Cambodia
• Peace Support Operations attempt the impartial
enforcement of political settlement
Merits of Post-Cold War Peace Operations
• Peace operations helped to reduce intensity of armed
conflicts since early 1990s by 40% (Uppsala Conflict
Data program)
• Traditional peacekeeping operations reduced likelihood
of war reigniting by 86%
• Where peacekeepers were deployed the likelihood of
war reigniting fell by 75% to 85% compared to cases
where no peacekeepers are deployed (Fortna: 2008)
• Number of deaths in conflicts fell since the introduction
of peace operations (Humans Security Centre: 2005,
Mack: 2007)
• Peace Operations has made vital contribution to
reducing the frequency and lethality of war in the
world
Merits of Post-Cold War Peace Operations
• Peace operations prevented or ended genocide
and mass killing by directly challenging
perpetrators (Krain:2005)
• Well equipped PKOs have saved lives than ill
equipped and ill conceived operations
• Peace Operations have helped to build stable
democratic peace in medium to long term
Challenges of Post-Cold War Peace Operations
• Failure to prevent genocide whilst peacekeepers
were deployed
• Peacekeepers sometimes commit crimes against the
people they are to protect – physical abuse of
prisoners including children (Somalia)
• Corrupt and criminal peacekeepers endangered and
abused people (Razack:2004) – rape cases, sexually
exploitation of women and girls, trading arms with
warlords
• Failure to resolve protracted disputes due to
ineffective PKOs– Middle East, Cyprus, Western
Sahara
Conclusion
References
• Alex Bellamy and Paul Williams, (2010) Understanding Peacekeeping, Second
Edition, (Cambridge, Polity Press)
• Kotia, Emmanuel W.(2013) "Understanding the Geopolitics of the War in Southern
Lebanon." KAIPTC Occasional Paper No. 35. (Accra, Ghana: Kofi Annan International
Peacekeeping Training Centre).
• Williams Paul., (2011), War and Conflict in Africa, (Cambridge, Polity Press).
• Kofi Annan, (2012), Interventions, (New York,The Penguim Press)
• Kwesi Aning & Festus Aubyn., (2013) ‘Ghana in Alex Bellamy & Paul Williams, Eds.,
Providing Peacekeepers: The Politics Challenges and Future of United Nations
Contributions (Oxford: OUP)
• UN Website on Peacekeeping Operations (www.un.org)
• Fortna, V.P. (2008a) ‘Peacekeeping and Democratization’, in A.K. Jarstad and T.D.
Sisk (eds), From War to Democracy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
• Fortna, V.P. (2008b) Does peacekeeping Work? Shaping Beligerents’ Choices after
Civil War (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press
• Human Security Centre (2005) Human Security Report 2005, (Oxford, Oxford
University Press
• Mack, A. (2007) Global Political Violence: Explaining the Post Cold War Decline
(Coping with Crisis Working Paper, New York: International Peace Academy)
• Emmanuel Wekem Kotia. 2012. "Liberia: History of the Origins of War and Profiles
of Actors" The Selected Works of Emmanuel Wekem Kotia
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/emmanuel_kotia/2
Contemporary Challenges
to Peace Operations in
Africa
Colonel Emmanuel Kotia, PhD
Visiting Professor, Kennesaw State University (USA)
Introduction
Aims and Objectives
• Discuss some initial thoughts of the
characteristic of peace operations
• Outline in brief some of the types of peace
operations conducted or authorized by the
UN in Africa
• Assess the structural challenges of peace
operations in Africa in relation to economic,
political, gender, protection of civilians and
capacity challenges
• Draw some conclusions
What is Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is a technique designed to preserve
the peace, however fragile, where fighting has been
halted, and to assist in implementing agreements
achieved by the peacemakers.
Over the years, peacekeeping has evolved from a
primarily military model of observing ceasefires and
the separation of forces after inter-state wars, to
incorporate a complex model of many elements –
military, police and civilian – working together to
help lay the foundations for sustainable peace
(UN Capstone Doctrine: 18)
Some Thoughts on Peacekeeping….
• General usage of Peacekeeping “refers to any
international effort involving an operational component
to promote termination of armed conflict or resolution
of longstanding disputes” (Diehl 1993:4)
• UN use of the term ‘peacekeeping’ refers generally to
such international efforts, sometimes differentiated
from term of ‘peace support operations’
• To avoid confusion with limited meaning of term as
applied to ‘peacekeeping’
• Use of UN ‘peace operations’. Brahimi Panel suggests
both may be interchangeable
Traditional Peacekeeping Operations
• These operations are intended to support
peacemaking between states by creating the
political space necessary for the belligerent states
to negotiate a political settlement.
• Traditional peacekeeping takes place in the space
between a ceasefire agreement and the conclusion
of a political settlement
• Traditional peacekeepers do not propose or enforce
particular solutions; rather, they work with the
consent of the belligerents and try to build
confidence in order to facilitate political dialogue
Multi-Dimensional Peacekeeping
Multi-dimensional UN
peacekeeping
operations are
peacekeeping
operations comprising
a mix of military,
police and civilian
components working
together to lay the
foundations of a
sustainable peace
Capstone Doctrine:97
Wider Peacekeeping
• These operations are intended to fulfill the aims of the
traditional peacekeeping as well as certain additional
tasks on the context of ongoing conflict – delivery of
humanitarian relief
• Wider peacekeeping operations developed an ad hoc
response to the breakdown of ceasefire or political
agreements that enabled the original deployment of a
traditional or assisting transition operation
Peace Enforcement Operations
• These operations aim to impose the will of the UNSC
upon the parties to a particular conflict (UN Charter
Chapter VII)
• Peace Enforcement operations are the closest
manifestation of the collective security role originally
envisaged for the UN by the authors of its Charter
• Challenges:
• Lack of clarity of the use of enforcement – use of all
means available
• UN cannot conduct large scale operations – funding,
equipment
• Discriminatory usage – Liberia conflict was ignored in
1990, Rwanda genocide
Transitional Authority
• These are also multi-dimensional operations deployed
after a peace agreement, but they distinguished by
their assumption of sovereign authority over a
particular territory
• Transitional Authorities have the following tasks:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Protection of civilians
Peace enforcement
Make and enforce laws
Exercise control over all aspects of state’s economy
Preside over territory’s borders
Regulate the media
Manage property law
Run schools, hospitals, sanitation system, electricity grid,
roads
– Administer judicial system
Peace Support Operations
• These are designed to help establish post
Westphalian peace – Blair’s doctrine (1999)
• They aim to establish liberal democracy political
systems and societies within states
• They combine robust military forces capable of
limited peace enforcement tasks if a ceasefire
breaks down – Bosnia, Kosovo, DRC
• It has a strong civilian component that includes civil
administration, humanitarian agencies; and police
and justice officers – Liberia, Cambodia
• Peace Support Operations attempt the impartial
enforcement of political settlement
Peace Support Operations in Liberia
Modern Peacekeeping:
Characteristics
• Vast majority of internal armed conflicts: internecine, fratricidal
• Non-state actors, proliferation of factions
• Lack of clearly defined (no) frontlines
• Cross-border involvement of state and non-state actors (borderless
conflicts)/Proliferation of small arms
• Affinity with natural resources
• Impunity
• State collapse, destruction, failure, decay…
• Insufficient consent, Partial ceasefires
• Lack of faith with comprehensive agreements
Peacekeeping Theory: A Broad Outline
• Silence on a specific legal provision for
 Main idea to ‘keep the peace’ (by
(armed) conflict in the grey area: Chap 6.5
managing conflict dynamics within a
dynamic international system),
maintaining fragile ceasefires, stabilizing
proxy conflict, preventing another world
war (nuclear)
Peace
Peacekeeping
 Silence of UN Charter on specific
Enforcement
provisions raised political ambiguity
 This called for functional adaptation,
No provision of
Chap VI
Chap VII
Peacekeeping,
consistent with UN purpose and
Peace
principles in a milieu of evolving realities
enforcement
No
Consent
of international system
Consent
 Chap VII collective security
UN Force
‘enforcement’ powers undermined by
Regional
P5 veto powers
Organization
 Charter lacunae:
 Chap VI: Pacific Settlement of Disputes
 Chap VII: Coercive measures
(Enforcement/Peace Enforcement)
 Chap VIII: Regional Arrangements.
Peacekeeping Theory: A Broad Outline
 A catalyst or dynamic for multi-track development of differentiated intervention:
 Chap VI: an adaptive doctrine of military operations to ‘keep the peace’ founded on
acceptable principles to Supper Powers (consensus and non enforcement)
 Chap VII: an adaptive doctrine of military operations to ‘enforce the peace’
founded on the use of lead nations and regional organizations (coalitions)
 Chap VI and a half: a middle ground adaptive doctrine of military operations to
‘keep the peace’ founded on acceptable le principles to Super Powers (consensus
and non enforcement), but employing robust measures
PEACEKEEPING
(MULTI-DIRECTIONAL)
CHAPTER VI
‘PEACEKEEPING ‘
(CONSENT BASED)
CHAPTER VI AND A HALF
ROBUST PEACEKEEPING
(CONSENT BASED)
CHAPTER VIII
‘PEACE ENFORCEMENT ‘
(NON CONSENT BASED)
Structural Challenges of
Peacekeeping Operations in Africa
Economic Challenges of Peace Operations
in Africa
• Disparities of wealth among potential partners
• Africa partners are poor as compare to European
and other regions in providing financial
contributions for peacekeeping
• Non payment of dues by African countries to the
African Union and peacekeeping contributions
• The Africa Union Peace Fund had less than $70
million between 1993 and 2005 - $45 million was
provided by non African actors
• Peace fund had negative balance by 2009
Lack of Technical Capacity for Peace
Operations
• Africa Peace Operations Lack the Following:
• Well-trained troops, police and civilian personnel
• Good leaders – Head of Missions, Force
Commanders
• Appropriate materials and equipment – APCs,
Helicopters, Strategic airlift capabilities
• Well equipped hospital facilities
• Logistic Bases and Hubs
• Training facilities
• Management structures and qualified staff to
sustain peacekeeping missions
Political Challenges to Peace Operations
• Lack of consensus in partnership between the Africa Union
and the UN in peace operations
• Regular clash of philosophies, priorities, and practical
approaches between the two councils
• UN peacekeeping doctrine makes the Africa Union unable to
deploy a peace mission
• UN PK Doctrine: peacekeeping is unlikely to succeed where
one or more of the following conditions are not in place:
• 1) a peace to keep, where the signing of a ceasefire or peace
agreement is one (but not the only) important indicator that
parties are genuinely seeking peace;
• 2) positive regional engagement;
• 3) full backing of a united Security Council; and
• 4) a clear and achievable mandate with resources to match
(Paul Williams)
Political Challenges to Peace Operations
• The AU argues that the UN’s peacekeeping doctrine renders it unable
to ‘deploy a peace mission in a situation like Somalia even though
significant advances have been made on the ground
• The AU has developed a different peacekeeping doctrine; instead of
waiting for a peace to keep, the AU views peacekeeping as an
opportunity to establish peace before keeping it
• Africa Union Concerns
• Undesirable trend that appears to be selective on the part of the UN
Security Council and that seems to disregard full consideration of the
position and/or recommendations of the AU or its organs
• The practice that the United Nations can only engage where there is
peace to keep translates into the United Nations abandonment of
some of the most challenging crisis situations in Africa
• The notion that the UN can only engage in a crisis when there is a
peace to keep is unacceptable to Africa
Introduction of Privatization of Peace
Operations
• Use of private organization for peace operations is not
compatible to the responsibility of the UN for the
maintenance of International peace and security
• Private contractors have a mixed track record of
accountability and transparency – Blackwater in Iraq
• Private contractors have profit driving motive in their
activities
• Private companies sometimes abandon contracts and
flee theatre of operations when things get tough –
Gurkha Security Guards left Sierra Leone operations
• Private contractors both contribute to and reflect the
growing erosion of state monopoly on the legitimate
instruments of military force
Challenges to Protection of Civilians
• Protection of Civilians (PoC) is a core function of
contemporary peacekeeping operations
• Platform for PoC are: sexual violence against women,
violence against IDPs and refugee camps, limited
access, targeting of humanitarian staff, impunity – local
capacity for rule of law, participate in political negotiations,
prosecution of individuals
• Lack of coordination between actors and humanitarian
agencies
– Scope of humanitarian agencies
– Conflicting issues
– Neutrality and independence of humanitarian agencies
• Overall responsibility for PoC not clear – who plays
lead role is not clear
Gender Challenges of Peace Operations
• Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) and peace
operations
– Peacekeepers versus local population
– UN DPKO report (2005) – 45% sex cases against minors, 31%
prostitution with adult women, 15% rape or sexual assault
• HIV/AIDS and peace operations
– Spread through Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
– Prevalence rate in national militaries after peace operations
– Number of prostitutes in Cambodia rose for 6,000 in 1992
to 25,000 at the height of peace mission (Whitworth
2004:67)
– Rise of HIV cases since deployment of UN decline from 1997
• Women as peacekeepers – cultural dimensions, key
local parties fail to include women in peace
negotiations
Female Military Peacekeepers
Policing Challenges in Peace Operations
• Inadequate numbers in Africa to support operations
– shortfall of experience police personnel
– Low strength at national levels
• Lack of common interpretation of laws
– Lack of joint training
– Absence of standard operating procedures
• Recruitment of individual Police personnel for missions
instead of Formed Units
• Poor skills of Africa Police personnel for rule of law,
prosecuting and some expertise
• Absence of a Police Commissioner/Adviser at the Africa
Union
Police Peacekeepers
Other Challenges to Peace Operations
in Africa
• Partnership between UN and the Africa
Union in peace operations lack
coordination – Hybrid operations in
Darfur, Liberia, Somalia, Mali
• Ineffective Africa Union organization for
Peace Operations
• Introduction of Wet Lease System
Effects of
War and
Conflicts
Peace Operations
Liaison Visits
Pictures of Peace Operations
Medal Day
Challenges of Peace Operations in Africa
@EW Kotia
Conclusion
References
• Alex Bellamy and Paul Williams, (2010) Understanding Peacekeeping, Second
Edition, (Cambridge, Polity Press)
• Kotia, Emmanuel W.(2013) "Understanding the Geopolitics of the War in Southern
Lebanon." KAIPTC Occasional Paper No. 35. (Accra, Ghana: Kofi Annan International
Peacekeeping Training Centre).
• Williams Paul., (2011), War and Conflict in Africa, (Cambridge, Polity Press).
• Kofi Annan, (2012), Interventions, (New York, The Penguin Press)
• Kwesi Aning & Festus Aubyn., (2013) ‘Ghana in Alex Bellamy & Paul Williams, Eds.,
Providing Peacekeepers: The Politics Challenges and Future of United Nations
Contributions (Oxford: OUP)
• UN Website on Peacekeeping Operations (www.un.org)
• Fortna, V.P. (2008a) ‘Peacekeeping and Democratization’, in A.K. Jarstad and T.D.
Sisk (eds), From War to Democracy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
• Fortna, V.P. (2008b) Does peacekeeping Work? Shaping Belligerents’ Choices after
Civil War (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press
• Human Security Centre (2005) Human Security Report 2005, (Oxford, Oxford
University Press
• Mack, A. (2007) Global Political Violence: Explaining the Post Cold War Decline
(Coping with Crisis Working Paper, New York: International Peace Academy)
• Emmanuel Wekem Kotia. 2012. "Liberia: History of the Origins of War and Profiles
of Actors" The Selected Works of Emmanuel Wekem Kotia
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/emmanuel_kotia/2
Gender, War and Conflict
Colonel Emmanuel Kotia, PhD
Visiting Professor, Kennesaw State University, USA
Introduction
• Conflict usually occurs primarily as a result of a clash of
interests in the relationship between parties, groups or states,
either because they pursuing opposing or incompatible goals
• Although the term war is sometimes used as a synonym for
conflict, war is referred to violent conflict, involving armed
forces
• But like war, conflict is and has been throughout history a
normal way of conducting disputes between political groups
within human society
• As David Weeks puts it, “conflict is an inevitable outcome of
human diversity and a world without conflict is not
desirable, because it would mean a world without diversity”
• Africa is a diverse continent – diverse in ethnic, religious and
socio-cultural terms
Aims and Objectives
• Discuss in detail the types, sources and causes of
conflicts/war in Africa and address its effects on the
people in Africa
• Examine issues related to Gender, Governance and
conflicts in Africa
• Assess the role of women in conflict prevention,
conflict management and conflict resolution as part of
peace operations in Africa
• Reflect on the perspectives on Gender and conflict
transformation in Africa
• Discuss sexual violence against women in conflict
situations in Africa
• Draw conclusions
Some initial thoughts.....
• The 1990s saw no diminution in the number of conflicts
in Africa, and most forecasts predicted further increase
• The majority of Africa’s conflicts were internal, and
these internal conflicts appear to be increasing
• A tragic factor in this is that the civilian populations
bear the brunt of the casualties in such conflicts,
estimated at some 80-90 per cent of total casualties
across Africa
• These conflicts cause not only casualties and refugees
but contribute vastly to the spread of disease,
malnutrition and starvation, social and economic
decline and moral deterioration
Types, Sources and Causes of
Conflicts and War in Africa
Types of Conflicts in Africa
• Elite Conflicts : Conflicts within the political
leadership. This conflict is normally of a low
intensity but has significantly impact on the polity
• Factional Conflicts: As contending elites mobilized
their constituents to vie with other groups for
scarce state-controlled resources, factional disputes
and conflicts emerge
• Communal and Mass Conflicts: challenge the
legitimacy of specific regimes, essentials of state
power, protest on existing distribution of power
Types of Conflicts in Africa
• Revolutionary Conflicts: Caused by high graduate
unemployment, poor standard of living,
marginalization of the peasants, emasculation of
labor and many other unresolved social ills.
• Foreign Intervention:
• Use of respective proxies during the cold war era by
superpowers carved out spheres of influence
• the level of interventions tended to prolong and
intensify the conflicts
• introduction of well-equipped troops of an external
power usually increased the level of firepower and
escalated the conflict
Sources of Conflicts in Africa
• Boundary Conflicts: African states’ frontiers are more fluid than at
independence as thousands of economic and political refugees
moved around the continent
• Conflict of Governance: State dictatorships tried to shore up
ethnic autocracies and are therefore under attack by increasingly
militant opposition groups encouraged by both external and
internal pro-democracy and human rights organizations
• Conflict of Economic Development: The economic sovereignty of
African states is never strong . This is undermined by pressures to
join regional trading blocs and the growth of cross-border trading
networks. This conflict also includes the crisis of production and
distribution of resources and the competition arising
• Conflict resulting from foreign intervention: Foreign intervention
and withdrawal during and after the Cold War
• Conflict arising from the militarization of the Society: Abundance
of weaponry and trained soldiers and untrained volunteers
available to any would-be warlord with resources and
determination
Causes of Conflict in Africa (1)
• Inter-State Borders
• Unsatisfactory nature of inter-state borders. Nearly all these
borders were inherited from colonial times, and were the
product of negotiations and treaties between the colonial
powers, decided in Europe with the aid of poor maps and
with scant attention to African peoples
• At independence, the African governments shied away from
making adjustments. This was difficult as they did not all
reach independence at the same time.
• The existing state structures do not satisfy variously the
aspirations for cultural identity, autonomy, economic
democracy and self-determination of different nationalities
co-existing with the contemporary states
• Thus, the ease with which dissidents of a state are harbored
in neighboring countries and guerrillas armed and trained
there, is itself a cause of both internal and inter-state
conflicts.
Causes of Conflict in Africa (2)
• Ethnicity
• A major cause of African conflicts has been
ethnicity, and it has continued
• The creation of new nation-states at the time of
independence was accompanied by urgent calls for
nation-building by the new African leaders who
were well aware of the difficulty in transcending
African ethnic and regional loyalties
• The European concept of a nation was exported to
Africa (Stephen McCarthy)
Causes of Conflicts in Africa (3)
• Political / Domestic
• Power struggles, hostile groups,
• Over-population – youth explosion,
unemployment
• Economic or religious disparities
• Oppression, and demands for democracy
• Communal or ethnic violence related to
economic, social, religious, cultural or ethnic
issues
Causes of Conflicts in Africa (4)
• Bad Governance
• It connotes violations of human rights
• Arbitrary arrest and freedom of association and
movement
• Lack of free, vibrant and open press
• Judiciary is not independent
• Mass movements of refugees
• Poverty or instability caused by the
mismanagement or ineptitude of the government,
including evident of corruption by the government
Causes of Conflicts in Africa (5)
• Religion:
• Christian versus Islam conflicts – dominance and
who dominates political elite – Boko Haram in
Nigeria
• Muslims versus Government conflicts
– Mali Tuaregs Nomads fight against government 1990
– Algeria 1988
• Muslims versus Native Religious conflicts – Sudan
1983
• Muslims versus Coptic Christians conflict – Issue of
Egypt ( the Muslim Brotherhood)
Effects of Conflicts in Africa
• Destruction of physical capital and infrastructure –
transportation, energy, telecommunications,
hospitals
• Reduce levels of human capital – deaths, diseases,
displacements
• Lost employment opportunities
• Weakened institutions and decline of social capital
• Changes in the structure of the economy of the
state
• Negative effect on women and children
Gender, Governance and
Conflict in Africa
Some thoughts …….
• Women’s contribution to war and peace have long
been underestimated
• Women often contribute to the outbreak of violence
and hostilities – inciting men to defend group interest
and collective livelihoods
• Women also play a key role in preserving order and
normalcy in the midst of chaos and destruction
• Women are often left with the burden of ensuring
family livelihood when the men are killed, disappear or
take refugee
• Women struggle to protect families health and safety
• Women can therefore be a driving force for peace
Some thoughts …….
• Women under-representation or non involvement
in efforts at resolving internal state conflicts has ben
under-estimated
• “Women bear the brunt of the war brutalities in
Africa and involved in combat activities yet they
are not part of inner circles of peace negotiations,
peace accords or policies at the formal level to
resolve conflicts” – Boyd: 1994
Women Role in Conflict Prevention,
Management and Resolution
• Women are given special attention because the
represent vital source of conflict prevention and
sustaining peace efforts at the grassroots
• Women face new challenges and inherit additional
responsibilities in the post conflict period – widows,
care for children
• Social transformation in post conflict context opens up
opportunities which women can used to empower
themselves
• Transformation in post conflict era should be used to
strengthen and enhance women contributions to
democratic governance
Role of Women in Political DecisionMaking on War and Peace
• Women are well positioned to play critical role in
peacemaking because:
– they custodians of family and community values
– they nurturers, care givers and mediators within families
• Women participate in various aspects of war, but
when peace negotiations they not involved
• Women are relegated to their traditional role of
service providers when decisions on the
consolidation of peace and rebuilding of the
country are made
• Male leaders assume the mantle of strategic
decision-making after war/conflict
Role of Women in Political Decision-Making on
War and Peace
• Women are often among the first to call for an end to
conflict and to strive for order and rebuilding
• In postwar situations women probably contribute more
than government authorities or international aid
agencies to reconciliation, reviving local economies and
rebuilding social networks – using groups or individuals
• Women's organizations have also made remarkable
contributions in many African countries towards the
post 1990 democratization efforts by organizing civic
education and legal counseling program aimed at:
– empowering fellow women to participate in electoral
politics
– lobbying for legal and constitutional reforms that provide
for gender equality
– access to resources and opportunities for self advancement
Role of Women in Political DecisionMaking on War and Peace
• From the 1990s African women emerge as major
contenders to male dominated political power
– In Kenya and Liberia, women were major contenders for
the presidency in the national elections of the late 1990s
– In South Africa women's presence in the legislature is
significant , with one serving as the Speaker of the
National Assembly; and in Uganda, where women played
an active and effective role in the constitution making
process
– By January 2001, the only African country with a woman
vice- president and Liberia as first woman President of
Africa in 2007
Women Role During Conflicts –
Combatants or Service providers
• History of liberation and other forms of internal wars provides
us with evidence of African women's active involvement as
combatants, in Angola, Eritrea, Uganda, Liberia
• In general, most women, perceive armed conflict as
something entirely outside their control -a struggle for power
beyond their reach
• Women may not identify with the objectives of the war for its
destructive consequences, and hence the desire for its
immediate termination and a return to stability (Bennett et
al., 1995: 16)
• Traditional methods of conflict resolution employed by
women for conflict resolution include:
– The traditional paraphernalia, with cultural connotations and
believed to have mystical powers of imposing discipline
– certain taboo acts of protest by women, for example, stripping
naked
Women Role During Conflicts – Combatants or
Service Providers
• The Case of Rwanda
• The genocide of the Tutsi and the killing of the Hutu political
opponents which took place in Rwanda highlighted women's
role in sustaining conflict and their potential for inflicting
extraordinary cruelty, with some women participating in the
slaughter of others
• Hundreds of educated women used their education,
experience and standing in the community to urge other
women to commit genocide
• The case of Rwanda is a reminder that war, especially of the
genocide kind, is not a normal situation and those involved,
may behave abnormally and irrationally, regardless of the
gender
• There is need to refrain from gender stereotyping, and
idealizing women, by pegging higher moral standards on
them than men
Political Participation – Women as Actors in
Conflict and Post Conflict (1)
• Political reconstruction involves formal peace
negotiations between representatives of the warring
parties and reaching an agreement regarding power
sharing and political priorities
• During postwar political reconstruction women share
many interests and problems with their fellow male
citizens, but they also differ on a number of issues
• In post-war Uganda, the National Resistance
Movement(NRM) government, recognized the role
women had played in the liberation struggle – seats in
Legislature/woman Veep (Boyd,1994)
• Women play a significant role in reshaping politics in
Uganda and assisting in the resolution of violent
political conflicts
Political Participation – Women as Actors
in Conflict and Post Conflict (2)
• In Somalia, women formed NGOs which, among other
activities, organize peace education activities, that focus on
alternative forms of behavior that stress equity and social
justice and nonviolent ways of dealing with tensions and
conflicts (Jama, 1996; Warsame, 1996)
• In Sierra Leone women have demonstrated the positive
impact of networking and political mobilization. Women
organizations have also worked hard to promote sustainable
family life
• The Sudanese Women's Association[SWAN] based in Nairobi,
Kenya, has been seeking to build an enabling environment in
which Sudanese women can work together across ethnic,
cultural, political and religious differences, to promote peace,
human rights, women's empowerment and development
Women and Constitutional Reforms
• The importance of constitutions lie in their definition of
people's political, economic and social rights, as citizens
of a country and thus play a central role in
empowerment
• Access to and control over resources is a critical issue
for women because opportunities to improve their
overall status within postwar societies hinges on their
economic empowerment
• The loss of entitlement or restrictions on women's
rights and access to resources rather than an actual
lack of resources, may constitute the main constraint
women face as they try to recover from a damaging
war
Women and Constitutional Reforms
• There should be adequate representation of women in
governing bodies, but also for a national constitution
that is gender responsive and with concrete guarantees
for gender equality
• Women have been actively involved in wars and post
war activities at many levels; and this experience has
sharpened their political awareness and raised their
expectations of state and society
• This has contributed to the mobilization of women in
peace building processes - organizing and sensitizing
the society on important issues like human rights,
gender equality, and accountability
• Women continue to be underrepresented in decisionmaking bodies at all levels, and for various reasons,
they often cannot exercise even established rights
Post-Conflict Economic Reconstruction
• Economic reconstruction of a country emerging from war is
crucial and complex, and directly or indirectly shapes
women's postwar livelihoods
• Post-war phase witnessed state economic failure and rising
male unemployment rates, which then put increasing
pressure on women to secure income generating activities
• New developments have included the involvement of women
in petty trade and even wholesaling
• Some women have managed to enter the public or private
sector and put the skills they have gained to an advantage
• In Eritrea, six female ex-combatants formed the Eritrean
Veteran Women Fighters‘ Trading and Investment Share
Company, which by 1995, had 600 female fighters and exfighters who owned shares worth a total of around I million
Birr, some of which they intended to invest in a hotel project
in Eritrea (Klingebiel et al., 1995)
Gender and Conflict
Transformation in Africa
Some Initial thoughts…….
• Women have been particularly hit during wars in Africa
and subsequent humanitarian crisis. They constitute
70% of the productive forces in the rural subsistence
economy and are the main food producers in Africa
• War and general insecurity and violence in Africa have
driven many women away from their communities
• The majority of refugees and internally displaced
persons in Africa are women and their children
• War has produced a large number of widows and
female-headed households. Widows are particularly
vulnerable
Some Initial thoughts…….
• In the DRC for example widows make up 9% of the
population (compared to 1.4% of male widowed) and
43,9% of the female-headed households
• The percentages of female-headed households are of
34% in Rwanda and 26% in Burundi
• This has put more responsibilities on women and
forced them to take up new roles for which they were
not necessarily prepared
• War and the crisis have been a catalyst for the
emergence of numerous women’s organizations at all
levels of society
• In many cases women have been the first ones to cross
the ethnic and political divide, and come together to
build bridges between divided communities
Challenges to Conflict Transformation
and Peacebuilding in Africa
Sexual Violence against Women and Girls
• Sexual violence against women is one of the main
features of the conflicts in Africa
• SV are integral part of the war and has been used as a
weapon by all sides of the conflict : rebels groups and
national armies
• Sexual violence is also committed by UN peacekeepers
who are sent to Africa to protect the civilian population
• Cases of “survival prostitution” have been increasing,
with women and girls trading sex for food and shelter
• Sexual violence has been committed at a massive scale
and has affected thousands of women and girls, with
devastating consequences on women and their
communities
Sexual Violence against Women and Girls
• An estimated 250,000 women were raped during the
war and genocide in Rwanda, 40,000 to 60,000 women
raped between 1996 and2002, in Eastern DRC alone
• A high number of rape victims are infected with
HIV/AIDS
• According to Human Rights Watch 60% of combatants
involved in the war in the Eastern part of DRC, are HIVpositive, which means that there is a high risk of
infection
• Sexual violence also contributes to the erosion of the
economic and social foundations of rural communities,
which depend for their survival on the productive and
reproductive work of women
Sexual Violence against Women and Girls
• Sexual violence and the general situation of insecurity, have
driven many women away from their communities
• Violence is used to control women’s sexuality as well as their
productive and reproductive roles, in order to ensure the day
to day survival of the armed forces. Girls and young women
who are abducted and kept confined in the fighters’ camps
• Rape and sexual violence play an important part in the
construction of masculinity in Africa
• Women were also raped as part of the process of
construction of a model of powerful male combatant who is
invincible on the battlefield
• There is a wide-spread belief in the among some combatants,
that raping a certain category of women such as young
virgins, pregnant and breastfeeding women confers magical
power and invincibility on the battlefield (Eastern DRC)
Women’s Security
• The wide circulation of weapons and civilian possession
of small arms and lights weapons, is a major threat to
women’s security
• Small arms and light weapons ownership is highly
genderized and the bulk of the weapons are kept by
men
• DDR processes and the reforms do not take into
account women’s needs as combatants, or supporters
of armed groups, and their enormous potential as
peace-builders in the immediate aftermath of war
• The prevention of sexual violence and rape is closely
linked to a successful DDR process
Women’s Security
• In most cases, girl soldiers are not part of the
beneficiaries of the DDR process
• Armed groups are more willing to hand over boys to be
demobilized than girls, who play a vital role in providing
domestic and sexual services to the combatants
• Some women organizations are able to negotiate with
leaders of armed groups, the release of girl soldiers –
example DRC
• These organizations have developed programs aimed at
the smooth reinsertion of girls within their
communities
• Concerns of SSR to form security forms using former
combatants who have been involved in sexual violence
Lack of Access to Productive Land after Conflict
• Land is a very complex issue and one of the root causes of
conflict in Africa
• The right to inherit land is still mainly regulated by customary
law, which transfers land ownership from father to son – Girls
and widows are excluded
• Women farmers who are the main producers, cultivate land
which belongs to either their partner or another male
member of the family
• Land fragmentation is often used nowadays, as an argument
to justify the continuous exclusion of women from
inheritance rights
• A significant portion of the female population are now head
of households - especially among the returnees and internally
displaced people
• Reports of women who have been persecuted for claiming
their rights to access land in rural Africa
Participation of Women in Politics and
Public Life
• One of the significant development for women, has
been their increased participation in political
decision-making
• Women are benefiting from the political
transformation taking place in Africa and making
significant gains in political participation
• There are now increasing number of women at all
levels of decision making, in cabinet as well as in
central and local administration – Rwanda
• Woman President in post-war Liberia – 1st Female
President in Africa
Cooperation and Support by External
Actors for Gender Transformation in Africa
Mainstreaming Gender
• Three Steps to Mainstream Gender in Peacebuilding
• Gender analysis in planning, implementation and
evaluation of conflict prevention and peace-building
programs
– Integrating conflict analysis and gender
– Analysis, how conflict and violence affect women and men
differently
• Promote gender equality as a core value for all peacebuilding intervention and as a cross cutting issue
• Promote gender representation by including women
and women’s organizations in every stage and activity
of peacebuilding
Support for National Gender Policies
• Introducing and Implementing National Gender
Policy
• Lack of political will and genuine commitment to
gender issues
• Plans to mainstream National Gender policy into
the other national policies
• Building of capacity for gender analysis and
advocacy for :
– Staff members in the different Ministries
– Members of the Legislature parliament
– Armed Forces and other Security Services
– Civil Society Organizations
Link with Regional Instruments
• The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and
People’s Rights Relating to the Rights of Women:
adopted by the African Head of States in Maputo
in 2003 and took effect in 2005
• The Solemn Declaration on equality between men
and women in Africa: adopted by the African Head
of States in July 2004
• AU/NEPAD post-conflict reconstruction policy emphasizes the link that exist between the peace,
security, humanitarian and development
dimensions of post-conflict reconstruction and
peace-building
Promote UNSC Resolution 1325
• There is very little knowledge of Resolution 1325 in the region
and women’s organization do not use it in their work
• The resolution is not taken seriously by civil society
organizations and governments
• There is a general view that the Resolution is of limited
usefulness as it is not incorporated into national legislations
• Women’s rights organizations have also identified gaps in the
Resolution - the lack of a strong and clear position on the
issue of impunity in Africa
• Resolution 1325 does not function as a common reference for
decision-makers, international actors and civil society
organizations
• There should be a debate among researchers, donors, policy
makers internal organizations and national actors around the
potential of Resolution 1325 - aim of introducing another
international instrument of women’s rights
Merits of Gender in Governance
• Assist to economic governance and poverty
• Integrate gender considerations into institutional
reforms so as to ensure greater responsiveness and
effectiveness to ensure good governance
Gender and Post-Conflict Governance
• Strategic Priorities
• Constitutional Revisions and Processes
• Political System – Executive, Legislature and
Judiciary
• Electoral System – Electoral Violence, Revision of
Voters Register
• Political Parties
• Administration, Governance and Processes –
Decentralization, Local Governance, Planning and
Budgeting
Conclusion
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