<\/p>\n
By Kamina Diallo<\/p>\n
From 2002 to 2011, Ivory Coast experienced a civil war that divided the country socially, politically and geographically, with the north controlled by rebel armed groups while the south remained under government control.<\/p>\n
Central to the conflict was the ideology of \u201cIvorianness\u201d, which formed the basis of a violent, repressive policy of exclusion and discrimination against Ivorians from the north of the country who were considered \u201cforeigners\u201d by southern adherents.<\/p>\n
The insurgents justified their armed uprising as \u201cthe denunciation of exclusion, social injustices, and identity-based abuses\u201d carried out against \u201cnortherners\u201d, with the aim of establishing \u201ca new political order\u201d in Ivory Coast. Since the conflict began, there have been attempts to implement a series of disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR) programmes \u2014 typically reserved for \u201cpost-conflict\u201d settings \u2014 as part of a peace-building process.<\/p>\n
The DDR of former combatants is a standard part of security sector reform (SSR) programmes, and now often includes a gender dimension, at least theoretically. The design of DDR programmes as part of a peace process is relatively recent. Prior to the 1980s, the disarmament and demobilisation of fighters was designed by and for the military. But with conflicts becoming more complex, peace-building efforts have evolved to address new challenges such as countering violent extremism. In response, the scope, timing and expectations of DDR have evolved.<\/p>\n
The Ivorian DDR process has gone through many \u201ctwists and turns\u201d, and has been described as a \u201cpolitical yo-yo\u201d. Importantly, Ivorian DDR was not only the product of interventions from international and regional institutions; above all, it was an arena for national actors during social, political and military negotiations. And the DDR of combatants from both sides was mentioned in all peace and political agreements since the beginning of the crisis in 2002.<\/p>\n
DDR was viewed as critical for securing a return to peace and was a condition for holding presidential elections; as such, it has been highly politicised and securitised. In 2007, several institutions were created to deal with former combatants and contributed to a first wave of DDR activities. However, DDR was stymied many times due to breakdowns in peace process negotiations and disputes around elections, which continued until then-president Laurent Gbagbo\u2019s tight race against Alassane Ouattara in 2010, which both candidates subsequently claimed to have won. Throughout the post-election crisis there were violent clashes between the two sides, leading to over 3 000 deaths.<\/p>\n
While Ivorian women were actors in the conflict, including in roles as violent actors, few analysts have focused on them. Many that do, focus on their vulnerability or victim status due to the increased acts of violence committed against them during the conflict. Their roles in the conflict have been depoliticised and desecuritised because of factors including gendered norms assumptions, the lack of value placed on women\u2019s labour \u2014 such as cooking and providing care \u2014 and the particular stigmatisation of women who engage in violence.<\/p>\n
In theory, Ivorian DDR was gender sensitive. Women who joined armed groups were considered \u201cex-combatants\u201d on the same basis as men, at least theoretically. Indeed, the latest Ivorian definition of veterans included \u201cpeople of both sexes\u201d. This is distinct from other conflicts in which women in charge of \u201cauxiliary\u201d activities were not considered fighters, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ADDR (one of the last programmes in charge of DDR in the country) specified that the DDR process must \u201cbe enriched by the consideration of gender issues\u201d, though it does not specify these gender issues.<\/p>\n
Therefore, while Ivorian DDR and SSR documentation promote gender-sensitive actions, we observed during research trips from 2014 to 2019 that there were almost no measures or programmes specifically targeting women former combatants. A former DDR employee said in 2014 that \u201cthe proportion of women is so low that we are not going to establish specific quotas for women\u201d. Arguably, it could have been easier to create programmes directed at women combatants at such low numbers.<\/p>\n
As there were no specific programmes directed at former female combatants, we observed that the reintegration capacities of Ivorian women ex-combatants have been influenced by their social and cultural capital, particularly in terms of education, but also their ability to access support networks of former combatants, which might allow them to benefit more easily from DDR programmes.<\/p>\n
As one expert has argued, in post-conflict contexts, \u201cmen and masculinity are securitised post-conflict while women \u2014 even when they act in highly securitised roles such as soldiers \u2014 are desecuritised and, in effect, de-emphasised in post-conflict policy making\u201d.<\/p>\n
She has also noted that \u201cthe reintegration process for men has been emphasised as vital to the transition from war to peace while the reintegration process for females has been deemed a social concern and has been moralised as a return to normal\u201d. We can make the same observations in the case of Ivory Coast.<\/p>\n
This desecuritising of women in post-conflict settings has knock-on effects. In many contexts, women are not recognised as combatants because they are excluded from the patronage networks that determine access to DDR programmes \u2014 rebel commanders control their troops after the conflict ends \u2014 and so they don\u2019t benefit from the resources available in post-conflict settings. Experts have observed that having \u201cDDR processes planned and implemented by military officials has resulted in a bias against those the military does not consider \u2018real soldiers\u2019 (that is, men with guns)\u201d.<\/p>\n
Despite explicit gender mainstreaming efforts, DDR programmes in Ivory Coast have \u201creproduced and relied on gendered assumptions rather than a context-specific gender analysis\u201d.<\/p>\n
Most Ivorian women involved with rebel armed groups between 2002 and 2011 joined voluntarily. They made up about 8% of the 74 000 ex-combatants identified by the last DDR programme in Ivory Coast. To justify their mobilisation, some of them invoked political purposes, such as to defend the nation against \u201cIvorianness\u201d, and the return to peace. Others joined for career opportunities or other economic benefits. Some followed family or friends into the rebel group. And some joined for protection or to seek revenge. Overall, their motives appear to be similar to those of men and they emphasise women\u2019s political agency during war.<\/p>\n
Our research has shown that while these women carried out diverse duties, including violent roles, they were mainly relegated to stereotypically gender-specific auxiliary roles, such as cooks, spies and nurses. None of the women interviewed had held leadership positions in the rebel group and only a few admitted they were directly involved in combat duties.<\/p>\n
However, findings such as these should be looked at with some caution, since women, by characterising themselves as \u201cauxiliaries\u201d, may have been seeking to avoid implicating themselves in potential crimes or falling prey to reprisals. This could have also enabled them to remain within socially acceptable gender norms and avoid stigma. Even if, by joining a violent male milieu, they had deviated from the traditional path, \u201cremaining in the kitchen\u201d, for example, allowed them to show that this deviation had been only partial.<\/p>\n
As in other contexts, women\u2019s participation in the Ivorian conflict did not lead to a transformation of social-gender relations. Gains of autonomy and \u201cpartial\u201d emancipation brought by their involvement in the armed groups do not seem to have translated into political or social power in the post-conflict era. For most, the return to peace meant a return to the status quo. This can be explained by the fact that of the women interviewed, none mentioned the pursuit of gender equality as a goal or an incentive to join the armed groups. It can also be explained by their desecuritisation and depoliticisation, which entails denying the subversive dimension of women\u2019s participation in conflict.<\/p>\n
Part of the depoliticisation of women ex-combatants is the gendered assumption that women, unlike men, do not need to forge a new, post-conflict role in society; they can return to their work in the home. But not all Ivorian women were able to reintegrate easily because their status as ex-fighters carried a stigma for some, damaging relations with their families, friends and communities.<\/p>\n
However, for women living in a rebel-held area, the stigma might have been less. As one female veteran from Bouak\u00e9, the former rebel headquarters described it, \u201con the north side, everyone was family\u201d, and rebels were seen as \u201cdefending the same cause\u201d that everyone in the area shared.<\/p>\n
Some women also reported experiencing stigmatisation around participating in the DDR process itself. To avoid this, they decided to \u201cself-demobilise\u201d, a phenomenon referred to as \u201chidden women\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Ivorian case shows it is critical to recognise women\u2019s political agency within conflicts and include gender issues at the beginning of peace negotiations. Indeed, women were not fully considered as actors during the crisis, so they have been excluded from decision-making processes in the post-conflict era. Women from different categories must be able to participate in negotiations, including women from armed groups.<\/p>\n
It illustrates the need to deconstruct gender norms about women\u2019s roles in times of war and to transform damaging gender relations \u2014 not just economic and electoral systems. Women\u2019s diverse experiences of war, which go beyond victimhood, must be considered. As such, interviewing women fighters to collect and analyse accounts of their backgrounds, what roles they took up during the war, how they perceived the DDR, and their needs and desire for reintegration activities is critical.<\/p>\n
It also makes it clear that including gender dimensions into DDR and SSR documentation is not sufficient without challenging gender assumptions and introducing additional gender-specific and gender-sensitive measures, such as context-specific gender analysis; sensitisation and training of DDR personnel on gender; gender-responsive budgeting; and the use of gender-disaggregated data and indicators to be able to design, plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate DDR programmes. These would help to address gender issues, such as gender inequality and sexual and gender-based violence, on top of other outcomes for women ex-fighters.<\/p>\n
A gender-inclusive and gender-sensitive DDR would give women ex-combatants access to relevant information on DDR programmes; remove turning in a gun as an eligibility requirement; improve physical infrastructure, the design of demobilisation sites, and safety at DDR sites; enhance training and reintegration projects based on local and contextualised socio-economic analysis; and support communities to recover psychosocially and physically from the literal scars of conflict. Supportive activities \u2014 literacy programmes, psychological assistance, as well as long-term monitoring \u2014 could also be a part of gender-sensitive programmes for women and help recreate links and avoid stigma and distrust.<\/p>\n
It is also vital to engage female ex-combatants in meaningful roles within communities and provide them with long-term socio-economic assistance and alternative roles outside of the armed group, which would ultimately make DDR programmes more impactful. Ivorian women have made some gains in terms of increased participation in certain defence and security forces since the end of the conflict. For instance, since 2014, women have been able to enter the gendarmerie and girls have been able to enter high-ranking military schools. However, the number of women participating in the security sector remains low. To offset the imbalance, it might be worth setting up a quota for women ex-combatants who want to stay in the security sector, while being mindful not to reduce gender inclusivity to the act of simply \u201cadding more women\u201d, as it places unequal responsibilities on women if they are not given the correct support.<\/p>\n
In Ivory Coast, most women we met wanted to be involved with the DDR process; even \u201cself-integrated\u201d women, like the men, wanted to benefit more from DDR. Many even created or joined associations of ex-combatants to raise grievances, mainly to obtain additional benefits from DDR programmes and the state government. However, unlike the men we met, some women have also organised themselves into co-operative associations based on income generating activities such as the processing of local agricultural products \u2014 efforts that deserve support.<\/p>\n
The Ivorian case shows that DDR programmes continue to perpetuate gendered hierarchies and stereotypes; women and girls continue to be dismissed or not taken seriously, \u201cdesecuritised\u201d and \u201cconjugally ordered\u201d into questionably stereotyped roles designed by those with little understanding of gendered \u201cherstories\u201d \u2014 particularly on the African continent.<\/p>\n
* Diallo is an expert on gender and international security issues and a PhD candidate at Sciences Po Paris (CERI). This article was first published on the Global Observatory<\/p>\n
** The African has also carried the article<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Kamina Diallo From 2002 to 2011, Ivory Coast experienced a civil war that divided the country socially, politically and geographically, with the north controlled by rebel armed groups while the south remained under government control. Central to the conflict was the ideology of \u201cIvorianness\u201d, which formed the basis of a violent, repressive policy of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[12062,13250,13249,721],"class_list":["post-151123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-politics","tag-combat","tag-demobilisation","tag-shortchanged","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\n