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.
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