WUNRN
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—Ejército del Pueblo, FARC–EP and FARC) is a guerilla movement involved in the Colombian armed conflict since 1964.
VIDEO - http://www.inclusivesecurity.org/video-how-female-farc-fighters-could-be-the-key-to-peace-in-colombia/ - Scroll down to video.
Kristin Williams - April 24, 2015
Colombia – How Female FARC Fighters
Could Be the Key to Peace in Colombia – Video
The Colombian civil war is winding down after more than 50
years and 222,000 casualties. How will the country help 8,000 guerrilla
fighters transition back into civilian life? A key step will be ensuring that
female combatants—who make up 30-40% of the FARC armed forces—are meaningfully
integrated in the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration process. In
this HuffPost Live
segment, Inclusive Security’s Director, Jacqueline O’Neill, outlines how to
include female fighters in building sustainable peace.
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Subject: Colombia - Are Women the Key to Peace in Colombia
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http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/20/are-women-the-key-to-peace-in-colombia-farc-talks/
COLOMBIA – ARE WOMEN THE KEY TO PEACE IN COLOMBIA?
As the country's five-decade war winds down, how the government disarms
female fighters could define the coming truce.
After 50-plus years, 222,000 deaths, $9 billion in U.S. aid, and 34 rounds
of negotiations, one of the world’s longest civil wars might finally be nearing
its end. The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (known by its Spanish acronym, FARC) have agreed to terms for
political participation, land reform, mine clearance, and stemming the cocaine
trade. Colombia’s president wants an agreement signed within months. Still to
be resolved, however, is the question of how to return over 8,000 FARC fighters
to civilian life, often within communities that bore the brunt of the violence.
The stakes are enormous. If this process is ineffective, as it’s been in so
many countries, the risk is not just that men and women from the FARC will
return to the mountains to take up arms. There’s also a high chance that
disaffected or underemployed ex-combatants will be recruited by drug traffickers,
who added thousands of demobilized paramilitaries to their ranks after the
country’s last peace process.
But perhaps the most critical factor for the viability of the coming peace
is the inclusion of women in the conversation.
Around the world, when armed groups lay down their
weapons, women are rarely part of the equation. In Colombia, where an estimated
30 to 40 percent of FARC members are female, this would be a crucial mistake.
As the parties negotiate, they must consider the perspectives of female FARC
combatants — as well as women from communities where former fighters will
resettle. In studying 174 countries, Harvard researchers found that the single best
predictor of a state’s peacefulness is not its level of wealth or democracy,
nor its ethnoreligious identity; it’s how well its women are treated.
Last month, a colleague and I met with government and civilian leaders in
Colombia to share insights from decades of
similar processes around the world. To avoid the mistakes made elsewhere, the
parties negotiating now in Havana should heed several lessons.
As a first step, implementers need an accurate picture of how many women
are in the FARC, what roles they play, and how their experiences and needs
differ from those of their male counterparts.
For over half a century of conflict, Colombian women have filled a wide
variety of tactical, recruitment, support, and combat roles in the FARC. Many
were attracted by its egalitarian ideology and the chance to escape traditional
gender roles; yet women who’ve left the group report being subjected to sexual
assault and slavery, as well as forced sterilizations and abortions. This abuse
happened at the hands of their fellow fighters as well as those of rival armed
groups. The Colombian process cannot ignore these experiences.
Peace planners also frequently underestimate the extent and nature of
women’s participation during conflict. At the end of Liberia’s second civil war
in 2003 to 2004, for instance, the U.N. expected to disarm no more than 2,000
women, but ended up working with over 22,000 (missing an estimated 14,000
others). Without reliable data, service providers won’t be prepared for the
influx of female ex-combatants or for meeting their unique needs.
This will require disseminating information in ways that explicitly target
women, using language and imagery that reflects their reality.
It also means creating reintegration packages that address women’s unique
physical, psychological, and economic requirements. For instance, globally,
many programs offer lump sum cash payments to demobilized fighters. But these
disbursements are often determined by rank — which disadvantages women who fill
non-combat support roles. And when packages are issued to couples instead of
individuals, as sometimes occurs, men typically retain the cash awarded for
both. In Afghanistan in 2011, for example, women emphasized the importance of
designing packages that benefit entire families and increase their investment
in the combatant’s continued participation in reintegration programs —
suggesting components such as educational vouchers for children and gas for
cooking stoves.
Job-training programs to provide ex-combatants with economic alternatives
to armed struggle will be essential. During the conflict, many women rose to
leadership positions within the FARC. They’re unlikely to desire a return to
previous social roles. Yet, globally, jobs envisioned for female ex-combatants
are often stereotypically traditional.
Imagine telling a battalion commander that her only
options are to become a hairdresser or a seamstress. Jobs that build upon
unconventional skills that FARC members acquired during the insurgency — such
as police officers, election organizers, and political candidates — may be
better received. Without decent options, demobilized women will be at higher
risk of recidivism or recruitment into organized crime.
The best way to ensure programs are designed in ways that meaningfully
incorporate women is to interview former and current FARC members and hear
directly from the women themselves. Starting now, the peace process must
consult a diverse swath of Colombian women — making sure to include minority
Afro-Colombians, for example. But it’s not only female combatants whose
perspectives and insights need to be incorporated; women living in the
communities that will receive reintegrated fighters are also key allies. When
researchers in Sierra Leone asked predominantly male ex-combatants to identify
who played a significant role in helping them reintegrate, 55 percent named
women in the community (vs. only 32 percent who cited international aid workers
and 20 percent who named local or traditional leaders).
In Colombia, as elsewhere, women in the community can help dictate whether
returning fighters are welcomed or ostracized. They can also provide services
through civilian groups; share resources like childcare, clothes, and food; and
facilitate skills training and education for ex-combatants, which will
ultimately ease fighters’ return to society.
Getting this right is critical for both sides at the negotiating table. For
the FARC, ensuring women’s full inclusion in the process positions the group to
transition to a political body. It enables FARC leadership to sustain
narratives about commitment to gender equity and fairness that could translate
into votes during upcoming elections. For the government, focusing on women
could solidify the country’s reputation as a leader in defining global
standards for addressing the aftermath of war.
The practice of disarming combatants and transitioning them to civilian
life is complicated, messy, and rarely effective. The Colombian negotiators in
Havana now have an opportunity to succeed where so many others have failed;
and, in doing so, to reduce the risk of a return to violence that neither side
can afford.
*Jacqueline O’Neill is Director of The Institute for Inclusive Security,
and has spent more than a decade working with leaders around the world to
increase the inclusion of women in peace and security processes. She recently
published a set of recommendations for the FARC and Colombian government on how
to design an inclusive program for reintegration of former combatants.
Photo: LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images