We can benefit from their positive socialization and their fresh perspective on decisions needed to bring about peace. In the last decade, a significant body of research shows consistently that women are less supportive of the use of military force than men. In a 1996 study of attitudes toward the Persian Gulf War, for example, women were significantly less likely than men to favor the initiation of armed hostilities, more emotionally distressed by the onset of conflict, and more likely to favor limits. We should support research that explores gender differences in interpretation of events leading to crises, the use of force, and strategies for creating stable peace. These are not lofty or unrealistic recommendations.
Women are stakeholders in the peace process.
Disproportionately affected by conflict, women have had to pay the price of a failing African leadership. More often than not, women are the ones displaced, women are the refugees, women are the violated. They, with children, are our most vulnerable. Africa needs the participation, energy, and commitment of its women in peace-building. There is no justification for not including them.