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The Role of Women in Conflict Resolution in Rwanda: Lessons for Peace

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The Role of Women in Conflict Resolution in Rwanda: Lessons for Peace

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 Iloh, Emeka C., PhD, Okafor, Uzodinma Chukwuemeka, PhD &Oghomitse, Reuben O.

THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN RWANDA:

LESSONS FOR PEACE BUILDING IN NIGERIA

Iloh, Emeka C., PhD

&
Okafor, Uzodinma Chukwuemeka, PhD
&
Oghomitse, Reuben O.

Abstract
It is becoming more established that women are always at the receiving end
of every conflict, especially in Africa. They are rarely the instigators of
conflicts, but they suffer the most as victims of these conflicts. However,
when it comes to conflict resolution and peace building processes, this
segment of the population that bears the brunt of conflicts more are excluded
from the process. According to statistics from the United Nations, between
1990 and 2017, women only constituted 2 percent of conflict mediators and 8
percent of peace negotiators globally. Thus, the role of women in conflict
resolution and peace building has been greatly underutilized. However, the
effectiveness of the contributions of women in this regard was evidenced in
the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide and civil war, where women showed
tremendous capacity to contribute to the process of conflict resolution and
peace building. In particular, Rwandese women were remarkable in peace
activism and advocacy during the war. They worked as peacekeepers and
relief aid workers; served as mediators; worked as policy makers and as
educators and led the womenfolk in socio-economic development. This
paper, therefore, argues that given the intractable ethno-religious conflicts
and mistrust that have bedeviled Nigeria in recent times, Nigerian women
have significant roles to play in peace building, taking a cue from their
counterparts in Rwanda. The paper relies mainly on documentary evidence
and data analysis was done using content analysis, rooted on systematic
logical deductions.

Keywords: Women, Conflict Resolution, Peace Building, Rwanda, Nigeria.

Introduction
Women and children constitute the most affected and vulnerable group whenever
there are conflicts, violence, genocides and wars in any society, even though they hardly
contribute to the events that lead to these conflicts. According to Mzvondiwa (2007), women
suffer the most from the consequences of conflict and social fragmentation in countries
ravaged by war devastations. In other words, they are always the major victims of a social
condition in which they play little or no role in creating. A typical case study is in Rwanda
where it is estimated that during the genocide, between 250,000 and 500,000 women were
exposed to some form of gender-based violence, mainly rape (Mutamba and Izabiliza,

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 Iloh, Emeka C., PhD, Okafor, Uzodinma Chukwuemeka, PhD &Oghomitse, Reuben O.

2005). However, despite being the major victims of conflicts, research has shown that
women are hardly recognized as stakeholders during peace negotiations for resolution of
conflicts. They hardly participate during peace talks as it is often seen as a male affair. This is
evidenced in a report by the United Nations which shows that from 1990 to 2017, women
only constituted 2 percent of conflict mediators and 8 percent of peace negotiators globally
(Sisulu, 2019), an indication that they are relegated to the background when solutions for
peaceful resolution of conflicts are being sought. In fact, according to Prentice (2012, p.25),
'women are disproportionately affected by conflict, and… they are disproportionately
excluded from processes to resolve it'. This stems from the belief that they have little or
nothing to contribute in the peace project.
Contrary to this belief, evidence has shown that women have proven their mettle in
conflict resolution and peace building whenever they are given an opportunity to make
contributions. Issifu (2015), has articulated few of the major contributions of women in post-
conflict peace building, especially in Africa. He noted that as part of peace building
measures after the 1991 violent conflicts in Wajir, Kenya, Wajir women established the Wajir
Peace and Development Committee (WPDC), which played a prominent role to ensure that
peace returned to Kenya. Also, the post-apartheid South Africa witnessed the formation of
the Harambe Women's Forum, which despite the poverty, trauma and violence its members
witnessed, helped in rebuilding and developing their devastated communities and got
involved in peace building. As part of their efforts towards peace building during the
Liberian conflict, Liberian women advocated for a ceasefire by embarking on 'Mass Action
for Peace' campaign. They went further to barricade the entrance to the venue of the peace
talks to prevent the participants from walking out of the peace talks in the event of the talks
getting heated up.
Sisulu (2019), also noted that during the Libyan conflict, women's contributions to
security, development and peace were very evident and were duly acknowledged by the
government and the United Nations. In Burundi, pressure from women's organizations
contributed to a culture of negotiation for national peace (Agbalajobi, 2009). Few of such
women organizations included the Women's Association for Peace and the Women's
Network for Peace and Non-Violence. They were involved in a wide range of activities,
including workshops on non-violent conflict resolution. In Rwanda also, evidence has
equally shown that women contributed immensely in post-conflict peace-building and
reconciliation by caring for genocide survivors, providing shelter for orphans, and helping
former combatants to reintegrate back into the society, amongst others (Issifu, 2015). In fact,
according to the Republic of Rwanda (2015), women represent 45 percent of the total
community mediators in Rwanda, where they have been playing visible roles in conflict
management structures and justice at the grassroots level.
The 1994 genocide and civil war in Rwanda brought to the fore the contributions of
women in conflict resolution and peace building. In that year, Rwanda experienced what
could be described as one of the most violent conflicts of the 20th century. It witnessed a
genocide that has been described as the worst in human history. This study will not be
saddled with the causes, the effects and all that transpired during the conflicts because these
have been adequately documented in extant literature. However, despite the devastating
effects of this crisis and the deep-seated mistrust that pervaded the country in the years

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preceding the genocide, the country has succeeded in launching itself on a solid path towards
reconciliation, reconstruction and development. It has consistently taken conscious steps
towards resolving all vestiges of the conflict, reconciling all aggrieved parties to the conflict,
especially the victims and perpetrators of the genocide, thereby sustaining the peace-
building process. This is remarkable given the fact that, as Herath (2018) has observed, most
intra-state conflicts usually tend to cease with a military defeat of one of the combatants by
the other, rather than through peaceful negotiations. But military victories are hardly
sustainable, since there is a tendency of the violence erupting again after a period of time,
especially when the grievances and the underlying root causes of the conflict have not been
addressed (Herath, 2018). Rwandan women have played significant roles not only in
resolving this conflict but also in sustaining the peace process.
Thus, in Rwanda, the resolution of the conflict was not just as a result of military
victory or defeat of one of the warring parties, but rather as a result of a conscious effort to
address the original and root causes of the conflict and grievances. This explains why after 25
years of the conflict, the post-conflict peace building process in the country has not failed,
and the risk of renewed violence is very remote. Several segments of the society –
government, civil society, development partners, friendly countries, men and women of the
country etc. – have played and continue to play prominent roles in ensuring this peace project
is sustained. In particular, the female gender in Rwanda stands out as active participants in
the resolution of the conflict, reconciliation and sustainable march towards peace building.
Thus, it is becoming increasingly obvious that women have important roles to play in
conflict resolution and peace building in societies ravaged by conflicts due to the unique
positions they occupy in society. In view of this, this study examines the contributions of
Rwandese women in conflict resolution and restoring peace to the Rwandan society with the
aim of extrapolating some useful lessons for Nigeria. Following this introductory part is the
methodology. Section three dwelt on the United Nations Security Council Resolution and
women participation in peace building while section four examined women participation in
conflict resolution in Rwanda. In section five, the lessons Nigeria could derive from the
Rwandan experience were discussed while the challenges to active women involvement in
peace processes in Nigeria were highlighted in section six. Section seven concluded the
study.

Methodology
The study relied on documentary evidence (secondary data). These were data
sourced by extracting relevant information from other sources and previous studies. These
documents were mainly publications on the role of women in conflict resolution and peace
building generally, and their roles in Rwanda particularly. Thus, secondary sources such as
text books, journal articles and other written works sourced from libraries were utilized. The
study also made use of internet materials that contained information on the Rwandan civil
war and genocide, and efforts at resolving the conflicts. These documents are already in the
public domain. What the authors did was to refine, interpret, evaluate and analyze them. To
analyze our data, we used content analysis, rooted on systematic logical deductions. This
meant that we organized and synthesized the large volumes of textual data we generated
from all the documents mentioned above, with a view to searching for patterns and

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discerning what was relevant from the documents. In other words, we systematically
reduced the documents to logical, meaningful and coherent interpretation, and on the basis of
that drew our inferences and conclusions.

United Nations Security Council Resolution and Women Participation in Peace

Building
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), on 31 October 2000, unanimously
adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. The UNSCR 1325 marked the first
time that the Council addressed the disproportionate impact of armed conflicts on women.
The resolution also recognized the undervalued and underutilized contributions of women in
conflict prevention, conflict resolution peacekeeping, and peace building. The resolution
further stressed the importance of women in their equal and full participation as active agents
in peace and security.
UNSCR 1325 is primarily concerned with international peace and security, and
recognizes the following long-neglected facts: that women and men (and girls and boys)
have a different experience of war, both as combatants and non-combatants, and thus
different roles, views and needs regarding arrangements to stop violent conflicts, recover
from them and prevent their recurrence. It recognizes that women have an equal right to
participate as agents in the resolution and prevention of conflicts; that gender relations (the
relationship between the sexes within a specific culture) within conflict-affected societies
may shift during, and after, conflicts; that the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war (or
side/after-effect of its ravages) is a neglected reality which must be responded to, stopped,
prevented and prosecuted; that peace processes and their implementation present a special
opportunity to promote gender equality in societies and should, in principle, be gender
mainstreamed (Prentice, 2012). It is noteworthy that before this resolution came into being,
Rwanda has been involving its women in conflict resolution and peace building processes.

Women Participation in Conflict Resolution in Rwanda

Immediately after the genocide in 1994, the key challenge that faced the new
government in Rwanda was to restore and maintain security, law and order, as well as to kick-
start the process of national reconciliation and healing. Achieving these objectives required
the inputs of every segment of the society, since neglecting any segment could derail or
undermine the process. In particular, achieving peace requires that all stakeholders to the
conflict (either as victims or as perpetrators) must be involved in the process. As Agbalajobi
(2009), has posited, building a lasting peace that sustains post-war economic, political, and
social development requires the full participation of all citizens. The government of Rwanda
realized this early in the day and made a conscious effort to integrate the womenfolk in the
post-conflict peace building and reconstruction process. Moreover, given the fact that many
of the men were killed during the genocide, some were imprisoned, many fled Rwanda to
become refugees in neighbouring countries while many others got involved in the rebellion
in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Nadjaldongar, 2008), the male
population became greatly reduced. This left the women with no option than to get massively
involved in not only reconstructing their country but also in finding lasting solutions to the
conflicts. They were, therefore, present at every level of the peace building and
reconstruction activities with strong support by the government.

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 Iloh, Emeka C., PhD, Okafor, Uzodinma Chukwuemeka, PhD &Oghomitse, Reuben O.

The government of Rwanda also realized that women were the backbone of the
rebellion and insurgency that erupted after the genocide was quelled. They provided
information to the rebels fighting against the government troops from the bushes and
trenches. Thus, as long as women participated in the insurgency, the war would continue
unabated. Therefore, it was clear to the government that efforts to end the war would not
succeed without persuading women to stop their supports to the rebels (Mutamba and
Izabiliza, 2005). Consequently, efforts were geared towards sensitizing women on the
dangers of their continued support to the rebels and the consequences of a protracted war,
especially on them and their children. On their part, women also realized that each time there
was a clash between government troops and the rebels, they (women) were the most affected
since they would be displaced from their homes and settlements. Gradually, women began to
switch their support from the rebels to the government, which guaranteed their protection
and safety. When they got convinced that this position was to ensure their own security and
that of their children, they helped in the early ending of the insurgency by starting a campaign
of convincing their husbands and relatives to disassociate themselves from the insurgency
and return peacefully to their families (Mutamba and Izabiliza, 2005). So, the earliest efforts
towards getting the women involved in resolving the conflict and building the peace process
in Rwanda was to get them on the side of government first. In fact, according to Mutamba
and Izabiliza(2005, pp. 29-30):

A rebel commander who was previously a school headmaster in one district

of Ruhengeri province was persuaded by his wife after many unsuccessful
attempts to abandon the rebellion. Finally, he surrendered with a strong force
of 4,000 fighters on a single day.

Convincing their husbands and relatives to leave the war and return home dealt a fatal
blow to the insurgency and quickened the peace process. This is probably the most important
contribution of women in resolving the conflict in Rwanda. They did this at great risk to
themselves as they too became a major target of the insurgents whose number was daily
being reduced as a result of men surrendering to government troops and returning to their
families. One of the methods used by women in achieving this was to collaborate with
government troops and negotiate a peaceful surrender on conditions that their husbands and
relatives who have surrendered would not be punished. Moreover, as women stopped
providing information on the movements of government troops to the rebels, it became very
difficult for the rebels to coordinate their operations. Women also turned around to start
providing information to government troops, appropriate community combatants and other
deployments so that they would know where and when to attack the insurgents. This greatly
facilitated the end of the conflicts.
Equally important is the fact that in the aftermath of the genocide, Rwandese women
assumed non-traditional roles including serving as judges in the local Gacacacourts
(traditional conflict resolution courts), which prior to the genocide was an entirely male
affair. These courts played significant roles in adjudicating cases of genocide suspects and
perpetrators and resolving conflicts among members of the communities. It is estimated that
by November 2005, about 15.7 percent of the judges of the Gacacacourts were women

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 Iloh, Emeka C., PhD, Okafor, Uzodinma Chukwuemeka, PhD &Oghomitse, Reuben O.

(Ingelaere, 2008). Probably, it is in recognition of the contributions of women to peace

building and conflict resolution in Rwanda, especially their exploits in the Gacaca courts
that led to the appointment of a woman -AloiseaInyumba - as the first Executive Secretary of
the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, established in March 1999 (Powley,
2003).
Additionally, Rwandese women contributed significantly in the rehabilitation and
reconstruction processes initiated and promoted by the government by participating in the
construction of houses in the newly established settlements locally known as imidugudu
(Mutamba and Izabiliza (2005). Thus, they helped in repatriating thousands of displaced
people and provided resettlement opportunities for the returnees (Issifu, 2015). Furthermore,
given that the civil war and genocide negatively affected agricultural production and food
security, women across the country revived numerous agricultural activities in Rwanda
through self-help initiatives. Thus, women provided food not only for their families but also
for the generality of the people under the Food for Work Programme or by simply producing
food from their farms, thereby ensuring food security. This helped in national healing, as
hunger would have been a potent danger to reconciliation and national cohesion.
Rwandese women also participated actively, alongside men, in programmes meant
to engender reconciliation and national healing. Such programmes included cooperatives
where people of a village work together for community development. These people are both
victims and perpetrators of the genocide who now commune and work together in order to
facilitate the healing and reconciliation process. Some of the programmes in question
include: a) the Ndiumunyarwanda (I am Rwandan) programme, in which people talk about
history, confess and repent on past crimes committed on the other ethnic group; b)Umuganda
programme, which is a day dedicated for collective community work such as cleaning
infrastructure, repairing roads and so on, once a month; c) Umugorobaw'ababyeyi (parents'
evening), where parents of the same village talk about various issues, from politics and
development to family issues; and d) Ijishoryúmuturanyi (eye of the neighbour), as well as
many other measures intended to foster social reconciliation (Herath, 2018). Many believe
that these structures of cooperatives in Rwanda have contributed to genuine reconciliation
among direct victims and perpetrators of the genocide. More importantly, women have
actively participated in these programmes, thereby contributing to national healing and
reconciliation.

Lessons for Nigeria

Although the conflicts in Rwanda and Nigeria vary in nature, intensity and scope,
they share some similarities. Conflicts in both countries have been intractable and they both
have ethnic undertones. Beginning many years before independence, ethnic tensions and
rivalry have been a recurring decimal in the efforts towards state-building in both countries.
In Nigeria, these tensions and rivalries climaxed in a bloody civil war between 1967 and
1970. The aftermath of the civil war still haunts the country till today. Ethnic mistrust has
deepened; ethnic cum religious-motivated killings have increased; and ethnic nationalists in
the form of socio-cultural organizations have emerged in all geo-political zones to fight for
their 'share' of the commonwealth. In Nigeria presently, political appointments, placements
in civil service and the security forces, citing of infrastructure, etc. are all determined by

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 Iloh, Emeka C., PhD, Okafor, Uzodinma Chukwuemeka, PhD &Oghomitse, Reuben O.

one's ethnic origin. Hence, allegations of marginalization by ethnic groups against each other
have become normal depending on which ethnic group those who wield power hail from at
any given time. Apart from the civil war, the country has witnessed several ethno-religious
conflicts and skirmishes since independence. Beyond this, ethnic sentiments have generally
defined Nigeria's existence as a country since the return to civil rule in 1999, but in particular,
these tensions have peaked since 2015 when Mohammadu Buhari assumed power as the
President of the country.
Likewise, in Rwanda, these ethnic tensions, which started well before independence,
have caused serious havoc to the polity, culminating in the civil war and genocide in 1994.
The genocide was only the climax of a process of extermination that had started in 1959 and
continued periodically until 1994 (Rwagatare, 2019). Before the genocide, yet another wave
of ethnic cleansing erupted between December 1963 and January 1965 when about 10,000
Tutsis were murdered (Colomba, 2013) by government-masterminded violence. Another
wave of ethnic violence against the Tutsis was around 1973 when President Kayibanda
launched violent campaign against Tutsis when support for his government was waning due
to economic downturn in his country. This was done to revive Hutu nationalism and shore up
support for his regime. Thus, ethnic hatred and prejudice has caused periodic massacre of
Tutsi minorities by the Hutu majority since 1959. The 100-day genocide in 1994 was the
climax of the hatred and killings where it was estimated that close to one million lives were
lost (Colomba, 2013).Conflicts in Rwanda and Nigeria have, therefore, caused both
countries to be sharply divided, with ethnic distrust and hatred as the major ingredients of the
division.
Since both countries share certain similarities in terms of nature of conflicts, what
lessons could Nigeria derive from the Rwanda's success story, especially as regards the
contributions of women in resolving the conflict? Sisulu (2019) has argued that women must
be at the center of conflict resolution and mediation because peace cannot be achieved
without the participation of women. This is more so when it is considered that women suffer
the most as victims of war and instability, even when they play little or no role in instigating
the conflict. Prentice (2012) has gone further to adduce reasons why more women should be
involved in conflict resolution and peace building. The first is that of equality. Women are
half of the population, thus they should have a proportionate role in deciding and
implementing any plans that affect them. This is particularly true about Nigeria, whose
female population is 49.34 percent, according to World Bank statistics released in 2016.
The second reason, according to Prentice (2012), is that 50 percent of peace
agreements fail within their first decade because of issues of non-inclusiveness.
Inclusiveness here does not only entail including all parties to the conflict, but also ensuring
gender balance. According to McWilliams (2012), most people think of inclusion in relation
to enemies, in relation to combatants, para-militaries or the army, the warlords and the
political elites. But they do not think of inclusion as also being men and women. This is
probably part of the reason why the Rwandan peace efforts have not failed, 25 years after,
because women were included in the process from the beginning. Nigeria has a lot to learn
from this. The third reason, according to Prentice (2012), is that there is the empirical
evidence of women's contributions in peace and security, as the Rwandan experience has
shown. This is also a case study for Nigeria.

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 Iloh, Emeka C., PhD, Okafor, Uzodinma Chukwuemeka, PhD &Oghomitse, Reuben O.

Involving women in conflict resolution and peace building in Nigeria also has the
potential to keep peace talks going to a conclusion, as they did during the Liberian conflict,
when they barricaded the entrance to the venue of peace talks to ensure that no one left till the
talks were concluded. Women have the ability to put effective pressure on negotiators,
community and family members to keep peace talks going, or even dissuade them from
participating in war or conflicts, as the Rwandan women persuaded their husbands and
relatives to abandon rebellion and insurgency. Likewise in Nigeria, women can effectively
play such roles. Every single man who participates in war, conflicts, insurgency and in every
other form of unrest in Nigeria has either a mother, sisters, wives and girlfriends who have
the responsibility of persuading them to turn away from such actions, especially given the
fact it is women and children who suffer the most whenever conflicts break out. Thus, Boko
Haram members, Fulani herdsmen and every other man who kills or instigates conflict in the
name of religion or ethnicity in Nigeria has a woman in his life he could listen to. Therefore,
Nigerian women should take a cue from their Rwandan counterparts and begin to leverage on
their roles as mothers, daughters and wives to influence events.
Nigerian women can equally contribute to peace building and reconciliation in the
country by increasing their participation in decision-making organs of government and in the
implementation of policies at institutional and community levels. Nigeria is still struggling
with attaining gender balance in decision-making, while Rwanda has bridged the gender gap
in decision making. In regards to this, Nigerian government should learn from the deliberate
efforts of the government of Rwanda to empower women. In other words, there should be
affirmative measures to increase the number of women in decision making positions and by
extension, in peace processes, as the government of Rwanda has done, by putting in place
constitutional provisions or mechanisms aimed at increasing the number and role of women
in peace building and decision making. Apart from domestic constitutional guarantees for
certain roles and percentages in decision making, the government of Rwanda has taken
further steps towards ensuring that women's roles in society have international legal backing.
Thus, the Rwandese government has ratified all relevant international instruments
pertaining to the UNSCR 1325 and has gone ahead to domestic them through internal laws
(Republic of Rwanda, 2015). Such instruments include:
a. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948);
b. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966);
c. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966);
d. The Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discriminations Against Women
(CEDAW) (1979);
e. Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (1984);
f. United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1994)
g. Beijing Platform for Action (1995);
h. United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000).
i. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (2001);
j. The African Charter on Human and People's Rights (1986);

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k. Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003) (also known as the Maputo
Protocol);
l. The Goma Declaration (2008) (Republic of Rwanda, 2015, pp. 48-49).

Nigeria has ratified many of these instruments, but is yet to domesticate them through
internal laws. Furthermore, Nigeria has been dillydallying with constitutional guarantees of
certain percentages of women representation in government, unlike Rwanda which has put
in place a gender-friendly constitution which guarantees that at least 24 of the 80 seats in the
Chamber of Deputies must be reserved for women (Iloh, Ekeocha and Ugwu, 2018).
Rwandan women have long surpassed this constitutional quota and have ranked as the
world's number one in female representation in parliament with 64 percent representation
(World Bank, 2015). Conversely, in Nigeria, at the beginning of the fourth republic in 1999,
women representation in the National Assembly was 6.08 percent, but increased to 9.67
percent in 2015 (Iloh, Nwokedi and Ekeocha, 2018). 2019 general elections are still fraught
with litigations and the percentage of women elected into the National Assembly can only be
decided at the end of the litigations. The point being made here is that women do not yet have
a strong voice in Nigeria, and this impedes on their contributions to peace building and
conflict resolution in the country. Thus, Nigerian government should copy from its Rwandan
counterpart by ensuring constitutional guarantees for women's role in government.

Challenges to Active Women Involvement in Peace Processes in Nigeria

Culture and religion inevitably create serious challenges to women involvement in
conflict resolution and peace building globally, including in Nigeria. In Nigeria, women are
still generally stereotyped. Even Nigeria's President was once quoted as saying that women's
role is 'in the other room'. Some cultures in Nigeria still do not permit women to talk when
their male counterparts are talking. They are only meant to listen. Even in resolving family
conflicts, some cultures do not allow women to sit and argue with their husbands. They can
only make their case and leave while their husbands and the mediators sit back to take
decisions involving women.Religion is also another potent challenge where more
conservative religious sects do not see women as equal partners to men, and thus, have some
clearly-delineated roles prescribed for women, which of course, do not include meddling in
conflict resolution. Culture and religion are, therefore, a twin obstacle in this regard. The
experience of Monica McWilliams, a female peace negotiator, illustrates this. According to
her:

Our society was very conservative and religious and I was often told, your
place is in the home, your place is not at this table. I was told often to go home
and have babies and I often said, I have had my babies - I have a brain as well
as other parts of my body that I want to use to make a contribution at this time,
to this table (McWilliams, 2012, p.48).

McWilliams said this to underscore the extent of the challenges posed by culture and
religion to women who intend to make contributions to peace building in their societies.
However, despite how popular the culture and religion argument are, it has been made less

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powerful by women's constructive activism in such places as Afghanistan or Yemen which

are highly conservative societies. This is underlined by the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize awards to
Tawakkol Karman of Yemen and the two Liberians, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and
LeymahGbowee (Prentice, 2012). If women could break the culture and religious barrier in
such society as Yemen, Nigerian women can do more.
Another obstacle is widespread poverty manifested by acute shortage of resources to
sustain their families. Because of poverty, women whose husbands, sons or relatives are
involved in insurgent activities such as those of Boko Haram cannot persuade them from
such if that is probably their only source of income. There have been suggestions that conflict
mongers and their likes are sponsored or paid to cause trouble in society. If such women are
financially independent or if they could provide for their families without their husbands'
income, they can make meaningful impact in influencing their husbands, since there is an
alternative source of income. Poverty is, therefore, a major challenge.
Another major challenge is poor coordination, networking and monitoring system of
women's initiatives. If women's voice must be heard in this regard, they must be properly
coordinated, and there must be networking between and among women non-governmental
organizations. There are several women NGOs in Nigeria but only few are actually looking
towards the direction of conflict resolution and peace building.

Conclusion
The study examined the lessons Nigeria could learn from the roles women played in
conflict resolution and peace building in Rwanda. It considered the UNSCR 1325 of 2000
and found out that even before this international legal instrument came into place, Rwandese
women were already involved in conflict resolution. The study further examined the
different roles women played in resolving the conflicts in Rwanda as well as their peace
building efforts. It then considered the lessons Nigeria could derive from the Rwandan
experience and finally examined the obstacles that could impede the involvement of women
in conflict resolution in Nigeria. In conclusion, therefore, we draw from Prentice (2012).
Thus:

There is no armed conflict… that is fundamentally about gender issues; but

every single issue that armed conflict is about, has gendered connotations,
including issues of ethnic and religious identity, issues of ownership and
access to resources like water, land, minerals or even political power itself
(Prentice, 2012, p.25).

This is why Nigerian women should take a cue from their Rwandan counterparts and
take up active roles in not only preventing conflicts from occurring, but also participate in
resolving them when they occur.

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 Iloh, Emeka C., PhD, Okafor, Uzodinma Chukwuemeka, PhD &Oghomitse, Reuben O.

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