Sudanese protesters take part in an anti-government demonstration in Khartoum on February 14, 2019. (Photo: AFP)

Please join the Wilson Center Africa Program and the Women and Peacebuilding in Africa Consortium for a discussion on “African Women’s Mobilization in Times of Unrest” on Wednesday, June 5, from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm in the 5th Floor Conference Room. The symposium will examine the cost of women’s exclusion and the possibilities for their inclusion in peacebuilding in war-affected African countries. Based on research conducted by the Consortium, this event will seek to provide evidence, comparative theoretical insights, and policy implications on women and conflict.

 

The morning session will focus on Women’s Mobilization in the Current Uprisings in Sudan and Algeria and the ways in which women’s past mobilization has led to the extraordinary roles they are playing in leading the fight for democracy, inclusion, and transparency in the current Algerian and Sudanese uprisings.

The afternoon session will discuss Women Activists’ Informal Peacebuilding Strategies in conflicts in northern Nigeria and South Sudan. It will look at the costs of exclusion from formal peacebuilding processes, and explore efforts at inclusion in governance in Somalia.

 

Session One: Women's Mobilization and the Current Uprisings in Sudan and Algeria

Speakers

Dr. Samia El-Nagar
Independent Researcher, Sudan

Dr. Liv Tønnessen
Research Director, Chr Michelsen Institute, Norway

Dr. Aili Mari Tripp
Wangari Maathai Professor of Political Science and Gender and Women’s Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States 

Moderator

Dr. Ayesha Imam
Independent Researcher, Senegal

Session Two: Women Activists' Informal Peacebuilding Strategies in Conflict 

Speakers

Ms. Helen Kezie-Nwoha
Executive Director, Isis-Women’s International Cross-Cultural Exchange, Uganda

Ms. Jackline Nasiwa
Founder and National Director, Centre for Inclusive Governance, Peace and Justice, South Sudan

Dr. Ladan Affi 
Assistant Professor, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates

Moderator

Dr. Aili Mari Tripp
Wangari Maathai Professor of Political Science and Gender and Women’s Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States 

 

The Women and Peacebuilding in Africa Consortium brings together the Center for Research on Gender and Women of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (lead), the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) in Bergen, Norway, and Isis-Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE), in Kampala, Uganda. Nine researchers affiliated with the project have conducted research in Algeria, northern Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan. The participants in the project include Dr. Hauwa Biu, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria; Dr. Ayesha Imam, an independent scholar; Professor Ladan Affi from Zayed University, United Arab Emirates; Dr. Samia El Nagar, an independent researcher; Dr. Liv Tønnessen, Senior Researcher at CMI, Norway; Helen Kezie-Nwoha and Juliet Were, Isis-WICCE, Uganda and Aili Mari Tripp, Wangari Maathai Professor of Political Science and Gender and Women’s Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA (Principal Investigator).