Losses and gains: women's empowerment in armed conflict and the aftermath

Despite international recognition of the roles that women assume during conflict and the specific needs and contributions women make both in perpetuating conflict and ending it, women frequently remain invisible to local, national and international actors working to rebuild the state in the post-conflict period. The contributions of women to conflict as combatants and in other support roles and their contributions "at home" during conflict in sustaining communities, economies and individuals is often unrecognized in demobilisation, demilitarisation and reintegration (DDR) and other reconstruction processes. According to some scholars and development practitioners, women's involvement in formal peace processes helps to overcome this; however, simply adding women to such processes is not enough to ensure their empowerment. This thesis examines the utility of women's organizations and networks as a tool to combat women's marginalisation in the aftermath of conflict and to consolidate the limited gains some women make in times of conflict.