Market women’s informal peacebuilding efforts in Ekumfi-Narkwa, Ghana

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines market women’s participation in peacebuilding in the Ekumfi-Narkwa community in the Central Region of Ghana. In peacebuilding, women are often considered victims and passive targets for aid, rather than contributors to the process. Many studies and peacebuilders have neglected the critical role played by women in the informal sector in peacebuilding, especially at the local level. This study examines how local women help build everyday peace in their community through informal means. Twenty women and four men were purposively selected and interviewed. The results show that women in the informal sector draw on bonding and bridging social capital to improve peacebuilding processes in their community. Although the women studied were not well organised and did not have much formal education, they were able to contribute to peace in their community by creating and using informal social networks/bonds. We argue that women’s societal positions are aspects of social capital that make women agents of “everyday peace” who mobilise to aid informal peacebuilding efforts in the community. However, their efforts are not being recognised and supported in organising peacebuilding activities, especially during conflict.