Women and Security Governance in Africa

Edited by Awino Okech, ‘Funmi Olonisakin

When United Nations Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security was adopted in October 2000, it was hailed by policy analysts and international observers alike as a pathbreaking move. It was the first time that the security concerns of women in situations of armed conflict and their role in peace building were placed on the agenda of the UN Security Council. In the field of international security there is a tendency to relegate discussions on women and children to the margins. This book addresses a broader debate on security and its governance in a variety of contexts while at the same time making the argument that human security cannot be achieved without placing women at the centre of this policy agenda – for perhaps the single most important measure of the effectiveness of security governance is its impact on women. But this is not just a book about women. Rather it is a book about inclusive human security for Africans, which cannot ignore the central place of women.

Written by academics and activists from around Africa, this book’s Africancentred approach – both analytically and through derivative experiences – builds a corpus of approaches that will shape interventions, policy advocacy and programmatic approaches on women’s rights and security sector governance.

Contents

Preface
‘Funmi Olonisakin & Awino Okech

Introduction
‘Funmi Olonisakin & Awino Okech

Part 1 Conceptual approaches
1 Evolving narratives of security governance in Africa
‘Funmi Olonisakin

2 Security sector reform: re-imagining its transformative potential Comfort Ero

3 Alternative discourses: a feminist approach to re-thinking security
Awino Okech

Part 2 Country case studies
4 Security sector reform and the women’s peace activism nexus in Liberia
Ecoma Alaga

5 Sierra Leone: opportunities, challenges and lessons learnt for women
Mohammed Sidi Bah

6 ‘Many truths were not revealed’: the case of Mozambique
Helen Scanlon and Benilde Nhalevilo

Part 3 Regional organisations
7 The case of ECOWAS
Eka Ikpe

8 The African Union and security governance
Tim Murithi

About the Authors

Awino Okech is a feminist activist and researcher and is the Gender and Conflict Thematic manager for ACORD’S (Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development) Pan African Programme.

’Funmi Olonisakin PhD is Director of the Conflict, Security and Development Group at King’s College London.