The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation
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To date, the women’s initiatives are what has built the peace dividends.<br />
<strong>The</strong> strategy <strong>of</strong> Asha Haji Elmi <strong>and</strong> her group is <strong>of</strong> extraordinary significance.<br />
With the formation <strong>of</strong> the Sixth Clan, the women have rooted<br />
themselves in the traditions <strong>of</strong> Somalia. At issue here is not the destruction<br />
<strong>of</strong> traditional power structures, but rather their expansion <strong>to</strong><br />
include respect for women as partners.<br />
<strong>The</strong> conclusion which Shukria Dini’s draws is first <strong>of</strong> all that it is important<br />
<strong>to</strong> build the peace-building process on the basis <strong>of</strong> the inner<br />
strengths <strong>of</strong> Somalia, <strong>and</strong> not from the outside; <strong>and</strong> second, that the international<br />
community can help where productive approaches for civil<br />
development in Somalia itself can be realized: infrastructure, education,<br />
health, protection for small peasants <strong>and</strong> nomads in the drought, building<br />
<strong>of</strong> administrative structures, <strong>and</strong> nation-building. <strong>The</strong>se are the issues<br />
that must continue <strong>to</strong> be discussed.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Case <strong>of</strong> Rw<strong>and</strong>a<br />
In Rw<strong>and</strong>a, the Hutu, Tutsi <strong>and</strong> Twa always lived <strong>to</strong>gether as brothers<br />
prior <strong>to</strong> colonization. Certainly, there were power struggles at court,<br />
but when it came <strong>to</strong> defending the terri<strong>to</strong>rial integrity, the whole population<br />
rallied without distinction. Every adult male went <strong>to</strong> the front<br />
<strong>to</strong> defend the integrity <strong>of</strong> the country. Everything started with the<br />
colonial ideology, which spawned the ideology <strong>of</strong> genocide against<br />
the Tutsi. (Yol<strong>and</strong>e Mukagasana, Report, p. 161)<br />
Rw<strong>and</strong>a is not a state created by the colonial powers, but rather has a<br />
long his<strong>to</strong>ry as an independent kingdom. <strong>The</strong> population consists <strong>of</strong><br />
three groups, the Twa, the Hutu <strong>and</strong> Tutsi. In her report on the his<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
<strong>of</strong> the country, Yol<strong>and</strong>e Mukagasana writes: “In Rw<strong>and</strong>a, the groups<br />
Hutu, Tutsi <strong>and</strong> Twa never existed as ethnic groups. <strong>The</strong> ethnic groups<br />
were created by the imagination <strong>of</strong> the colonizers. Tutsi, Hutu <strong>and</strong> Twa<br />
were socio-economic classes.” (Report, p. 154).<br />
<strong>The</strong> first colonial power in Rw<strong>and</strong>a was Germany, followed after the<br />
First World War by Belgium. Yol<strong>and</strong>a Mukagasana describes the process<br />
<strong>of</strong> ethnization <strong>and</strong> separation <strong>of</strong> the population groups in Rw<strong>and</strong>a by the<br />
Belgian colonial authority in stages: “In Rw<strong>and</strong>a, the Hutu, Tutsi <strong>and</strong> Twa<br />
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