Women, Peace and Security Resources: Angola

Girls in Fighting Forces: Moving Beyond Victimhood
Myriam Denov, Canadian International Development Agency, 2007
Girls within armed groups have generally been neglected by scholars, governments and policymakers. This Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) paper traces the experiences of girls in armed conflict in Angola, Sierra Leone, Mozambique and Uganda. It finds that girls in fighting forces are rendered invisible and marginalised during and after conflict, although they are fundamentally important to armed groups. They experience victimisation, perpetration and insecurity, but are also active agents and resisters.

Failing to Empower Women Peacebuilders: A Cautionary Tale from Angola
Donald Steiinburg, International Crisis Group
"It took me only a few weeks after my arrival in Luanda to realize that a peace agreement that is "gender-neutral" is, by definition, discriminatory against women and thus far less likely to be successful. The exclusion of women and gender considerations from the peace process proved to be a key factor in our inability to implement the Lusaka Protocol and in Angola’s return to conflict in late 1998."

Global Internally Displaced Persons Database: Angola Profile
IDP Project of the Norweigan Refugee Council, October 2004 (updated)

Literacy for Peace & Hope: Angola Women in a Huambo Literacy Class
Angolan Council of Christian Churches, Conselho de Igrejas Crisãs em Angola (CICA), 13 September 2004
Today, in post-conflict Angola there remain distinct demands on women regarding their role in caring for their families and extended family members. Additionally, women are being called to actively participate in the rebuilding of Angola, the consolidation of peace, and the reform of democratic and economic structures. The key to a woman’s full participation in this reconstruction and the economic provision for her family depends upon her receiving the education and training that she has for so many years gone without.

The Role of Women in Peace Building and Reconstruction: More Than Victims
Donald K. Steinberg, Deputy Director, Policy Planning Staff, United States government, Remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations, New York City, 6 March 2003
One area where we need to do better is insisting on full accountability for actions against women during conflict. We welcome the spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness after peace comes, but too often, amnesty means that men forgive men for atrocities committed against women. In Angola, for example, the Government and the UNITA rebels provided 13 separate amnesties for each other.

Disarmament, Demobilisation & Reintegration: The case of Angola
African Center for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), Conflict Trends, Issue 1, 2004

Women in Angola Need Peace
Soraya Keshavjee, FEMNET
Keshavjee, a professional counsellor, reviews the situation in the country. She calls on the international community to revisit the situation in Angola because of the women of the country. The surface calm and vivaciousness of the people can be deceptive.The happiness of the Angolan citizens masks a deep rooted sadness from knowing the effects the war is having on the economic state of the country as well as on the lives of the Angolan people, particularly the women.

Angola: Women’s Access to Demobilization and Reintegration Program Funding Essential
Refugees International, 7 March 2003
Refugees International met Teresa at a therapeutic feeding center in Huambo province. She was determined to save the lives of her two young children, whose bodies had swollen from acute malnutrition. She walked a day and a half to reach the feeding center. Teresa lived in areas controlled by UNITA since she was abducted from her home at the age of 12. "If I had said no, they would have killed me." She spent the next few years carrying supplies for the army, cooking and cleaning for the soldiers. "The soldiers would steal food and I would carry it to the next place." At age 17 she married one of the soldiers. "I did not want to be a UNITA wife, but it was obligatory. Life was very bad," Teresa says of her 12 years living in the bush where she bore six children. "We had no salt, clothes, blankets, or soap and no medicines when we were sick. We often had to run from one front line to the next. Sometimes we did not even have homes."