UN PEACEKEEPING RESOLUTION 1325: WOMEN AS AGENTS OF PEACE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CONGO AND LIBERIA

Abstract

The violence in the African region has been alarming in regard to colonial domination, tribal differences, economic marginalization, majoritarianism, political instability, and civil wars. This research’s key areas of concern are the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia, where years of civil wars and political instability have called for an effective course of action. In such a scenario, women are the most vulnerable social gender group in any society, and how they are affected due to an armed conflict also differs from the effects of conflict on men. United Nations Organization introduced peacekeeping Resolution 1325, in the year 2000, which focuses on the impacts of armed conflict and war on women and works for their inclusion in peacekeeping and peacebuilding processes. However, due to many shortcomings in the implementation of this resolution and the lack of accountability and overall cooperation between the recipient states and UNO, this resolution has not been implemented with efficacy in Congo and Liberia. In order to analyze the achievements and failures of this resolution and for the establishment of possible solutions/recommendations for the operational effectiveness of the resolution and the induction of women into peace processes, this research has been conducted. This is a qualitative and deductive research. The research design is based on a descriptive method. The theory used is “Feminism” with a slight reference to Johan Galtung’s model of the violence triangle. The literature used is taken from secondary data, gathered through ‘Purposive Sampling.’ The data analysis conducted is Thematic Analysis, with different sorts of coding methods. However, due to less time and limited access we could only use secondary and nonstructured interviews for the data analysis. The findings are based on a comparative analysis between Congo and Liberia, which claims that Resolution 1325 so far has been the most successful in Liberia, and violence in Congo has continued so far.