A Feminist Critical Analysis of Women’s Peace Activism: Implementing the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in the Gambia

This thesis relies on extended interviews with peace activists in The Gambia. I use a feminist methodology of bottom-top qualitative design to provide a detailed account of Gambian women's peace activism related to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325, 2000) and The Gambia National Action Plan (NAP, 2012). The UNSCR 1325 has attracted feminist debates: supportive voices applaud the focus of UNSCR 1325 on women as an instrumental framework for women activists (Cohn et al., 2010). Critics, however, question the effectiveness of the resolution in addressing women's concerns in war and security, arguing that the resolution’s portrayal of women as 'naturally more peaceful' than men is an essentialist view that obscures women's agency and contribution in conflicts (Chinkin and Charlesworth 2006; Hudson 2013). However, my study suggests that women peace activists in The Gambia harness this essentialist depiction and employ it strategically to promote women's agenda. Thus, I argue that Gambian women have embraced the essentialist representation of women as "victims of violence, who are peaceful by nature" as a strategic tool for their peace activism. My findings show that the NAP (2012) did not have a transformative impact on women’s life. I argue that Gambian women lag in representation and participation in decision-making positions and violence against women persists due to ineffective implementation of laws and lack of political will from the government. My findings illustrate that kabudu (nepotism) challenges the women activist’s efforts in implementing the UNSCR 1325. Gambian women activists demonstrate that security and peace can be achieved by employing traditional peace building methods like the oususu groups despite facing a double-edged sword from international donors’ lack of interest in funding unstructured and informal groups and initiatives. Thus, I argue that the local women activists operationalise the concept of peace and security beyond the classic understanding of peace and security.