INTERNATIONAL: Few Women Involved in Post Conflict Recovery - UN

Fewer women are taking part in post-conflict recovery even though they bear the biggest brunt of war, the country representative for the UN Population Fund has said.

Speaking at the launch of the State of the World and Uganda Population annual reports on Wednesday, Ms Janet Jackson said there is much at stake for societies when there is continued exclusion of women in the process of the post-conflict rebuilding and recovery of their communities.

“Women's participation is central to understanding post-conflict trauma as well as the determination and will to move on. It is critical for efforts to prevent war, build peace and restore devastated societies,” Ms Jackson said.

This year's World Population report produced by the United Nations Population Fund, has been published under the theme; “From conflict and crisis to renewal: generations of change”.

It focuses on the effect of conflict on women and the role they can play in preventing such conflicts and rebuilding after conflict.
It is based on first hand experiences of women caught in conflict and natural disaster regions like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haiti, Jordan, Liberia, Timor-Leste, Uganda, and the West Bank.

In Uganda, it focuses largely on the conflict in northern Uganda which displaced at least 1.7 million people over the 20-year period of the war.

In the course of the war, gross human rights abuses including raping of women, brutally mutilating innocent civilians and forcefully conscripting children into rebel ranks was experienced.

The 10-year UN Security Council resolution on women, peace and security recognises that women are rarely involved in decisions to wage war even though they bear the brunt of atrocities committed in conflict situations.

Ms Jackson said addressing violence against women during conflict should not only focus on responding to the needs of gender based-violence survivors but should also address deeply rooted attitudes and practices that become more defined during conflict.

“Clearly the reports demonstrates that conflict does not cause gender based violence but that it exacerbates it or allows it to strike with greater frequency due to the broken systems for protection,” Ms Jackson said.