Allies and Assets: Strengthening DDR and SSR Through Women’s Inclusion
This chapter in Monopoly of Force: The Nexus of DDR and SSR examines the challenges stemming from a lack of women’s inclusion in peace processes and post-conflict reconstruction. Explaining why and how women have traditionally been excluded from negotiations, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR), and security sector reform (SSR), O’Neill and Vary highlight the main challenges that limit women’s inclusion in critical phases of post-conflict reconstruction. They then discuss concrete examples from around the world to illustrate how women have successfully contributed to these processes. The authors also provide policy recommendations for increasing women’s participation in negotiations, DDR, and SSR, ultimately arguing that excluding key actors with an enormous stake in building peace, especially women, fundamentally hinders peace processes’ success and sustainability. (Starts on page 77)
