Women’s Participation in Peace Processes and Post-Conflict Governance through Economic Empowerment
Where: Cabot 703 – Fletcher School
When: Tuesday, November 19th, 2013 5:30-7:00pm
Speaker: Joy Ada Onyesoh, President of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in Nigeria
The importance of “women’s participation” in peace processes and post-conflict governance is often intoned in international discourse, but in practice the goal is rarely achieved. Women face economic and social barriers to participation, as well as stubbornly pervasive forms of political exclusion. Although the post-conflict moment creates a window of opportunity for redressing structural economic inequalities, the opportunity is often squandered. Only a multi-sectoral approach that closely links women’s economic empowerment to political and social empowerment can translate national and international policy frameworks into real change for women in conflict and post-conflict societies.