Role of African Women in Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Reconciliation & Rehabilitation

This paper studies the roles of women in post-conflict demobilization, emphasizing their contributions to security and peace building in Africa, with a specific focus on the crisis in Cameroon. It reviews historical and current issues affecting women during and after conflicts, including marginalization and violence. In addition, this paper explores a wide range of reviewed theses on the subject in question, journals, articles, magazines (Human Rights Watch/Africa/Cameroon 2016-2019), occasional papers, in-depth interviews with those on the fields (20 female colleagues in different security roles who were purposefully chosen for the study), reports from CHRDA (Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa) and other International Development Agencies. Our findings are based on primary experiences after haven been in the field for years, working hand in globe with the government of Nigeria under the auspices of both international and national alliances in the security sector to harness a safer society for Africa as a whole and the world at large. Nonetheless, working with secondary source from journals, books, articles and internet publications have been of greater assistance. It is unfortunate that we are yet to learn and implement better and more practical policies towards protecting our women and children as appealed by the United Nations Council Resolution. Take a closer look at what is ongoing in Cameroon, where thousands of women and children remain the majority as casualties in discrimination, hostilities and marginalisation. After a comprehensive analysis of my experiences in the security sector, I salute the sacrifices of well-meaning organisations like WAELE, who is soled determined in promoting and ensuring that, there are policies which governs and pushes forth sustainable peace for women, with the aim of providing a greater effort to financially support a broader spectrum of local actors who work in the gender dimension. On the same note, we are recommending quality and immediate actions from the United Nations, African Union, European Union, Amnesty International, Plan International as well as other large scale donor countries to keep making progressive impacts in better creating spheres where our women and children will always feel more empowered, safer and protected.