The Speaker of the Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has called for the inclusion of women in active conflict resolution, especially in Africa.
Kadaga, who was speaking at the ninth Conference of Parliamentary Muslim Women held during the Parliamentary Union of Islamic Conference (PUIC) on Wednesday, in Burkina Faso, said international bodies and governments should consult and involve women in mitigating conflicts around the world.
“It is a matter of grave concern that we have very few women who lead peace missions; the former UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon advised that women be appointed as special envoys but that has not been realised,” Kadaga said.
She added that the African continent has many conflicts necessitating the bestowment of more women as special envoys to conflict resolution missions so that they lead instead of being advisors.
“On these missions, women are taken as gender advisors with no guarantee of their advice being seriously adopted,” Kadaga added.
Kadaga said that the attention should be given to the peace agreements and their gender sensitivity. She said that they should account for the women and children as well as address their needs as victims of conflict.
“We want post-conflict management programmes that are tailored for women because they face challenges unique to gender during and after conflicts; this can only be realised with more women inclusion,” she said.
Kadaga continued and added that while men have the authority and means to start wars, women tend to look for alternative means to deal with conflict for the sake of safe-keeping their families.
“Women are more democratic and able to work together to mobilise their children and societies towards recovery from conflict,” she added.
Kadaga’s plea was after the cry for more involvement of women in key political positions, especially in Arabian countries. In this case, she cited the United Arab Emirates(UAE) appointing the first female leader of the National Assembly, Amal Al Qubaisi and Bahrain first female Speaker of the Council of Representatives, Fawzia Abdulla Yusuf Zainal.
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