Women’s role in Peace Processes : A comparative study of women’s participation in the peace processes in Africa and Western Asia

Sammanfattning: With the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 the role women play for peace and security was affirmed. Since the implementation of the resolution, almost two decades ago, more than 400 peace agreements has been signed. Since then one can assume much has happened regarding women and their role in the peace process. It can thus be valuable to explore if the implementation of the resolution has created a larger acknowledgement of women in the peace agreements and to see if women are limited to and by the roles they are assigned to in the peace agreements in their peace work. The focus of this study is a comparative case study that examines five cases where women’s role in peacebuilding were mentioned more extensively. This will be done in two sections. First, the roles women are assigned in peace agreements and second, what the women actually work with. This will create a basis for the thesis to investigate the presumed supposition that women are victims of conflict rather than agents of change and also look into if women are engaged in work that follow societal roles or if they act outside of these gender norms. The findings of the study showed that women engage in all types of peacebuilding work and even though women suffer and are victims of war they are also agents of change and when they are limited by the gender roles that exist, they use what agency they have within the frame of their roles as women to implement change.