PKSOI Lessons Learned Report January 2019 | Page 22

women experienced and their subsequent unique needs. However, these are not the only factors to consider. It was assumed that reintegration for women would be a ‘social’ process that would happen ‘naturally.’ Yet, in situations of conflict, norms are often disrupted and the social order is rearranged. Some women were empowered by the conflict and by the new roles they could fulfill because of it. So, returning back to norms of the past meant that they would lose power and status, especially since such women are often sidelined out of post- conflict policies. Furthermore, the training options available for women in Sierra Leone’s DDR reintegration phase were trades such as tailoring, soap-making, and weaving. These were very gendered options, not particularly lucrative, and seemed condescending to women who had participated and led military units in rebel movements for 11 years. As such, few female ex-combatants participated or desired to participate in Sierra Leone’s DDR process. The vast majority of those interviewed did not think that it would be useful to them and lacked access to accurate information about the program. (44 of the 50 women interviewed, for example, had escaped from armed groups but were not aware that they would still qualify for the DDR process as escapees.) Others had negative perceptions of the process, seeing it as corrupt and fearing that it was a trap to identify anti-government combatants since photo ID cards were a prerequisite for DDR start-up packages. Many were concerned that identifying themselves would lead to potential retaliation. Female ex- combatants faced different kinds of stigma than did returning males; men might even be seen as heroes for having participated in the fighting. Women, however, were largely not seen in a positive way for having participated in the war. Many female ex-combatants and escapees subsequently avoided DDR because they were trying to disassociate themselves from the armed factions. For both male and female ex-combatants to fully participate in and benefit from DDR processes, the programs cannot be designed as a gender-neutral process. “The case of Sierra Leone demonstrates that the failure to address gender as a factor in post-conflict programming as not only sacrificing gender equality, but also the overall effectiveness of the DDR process and the chances for a true and lasting transition from conflict to peace,” (MacKenzie, p. 243). Recommendations: 1. Consult with female ex-combatants in the program design for DDR to understand both the ways in which they have been victimized by the conflict and “the ways in which they have participated in the conflict as agents, as supporters, and as soldiers,” (MacKenzie, p. 261). All too often, “[p]rograms for female victims of the war, abducted girls and women, and girls left behind were developed in the absence of women’s own accounts of what roles they took up during the war, how they perceived the DDR, and why they did not participate in the DDR,” (MacKenzie, p. 255). 2. Utilize GENDER MAINSTREAMING to form gender-sensitive DDR models so that gender is considered and included ahead of time, not as an afterthought. This includes identifying women as ex-combatants, establishing appropriate criteria for them to participate in DDR, understanding the obstacles to women’s political participation ‘post-conflict,’ and being sensitive to their experiences of stigmatization and discrimination. 22