Women’s role in all walks of life cannot be overemphasized. In contemporary times, women’s role in peacemaking has gained immense acknowledgment. This is mainly because women’s worldview contrasts with men's regarding peace and security. Peace can be understood in its traditional and non-traditional meaning, i.e., positive and negative peace. Negative peace is simply the absence of war, while positive peace includes more aspects of social life. According to Johan Galtung, positive peace means the absence of structures that perpetuate violence or the presence of social justice in society. Since women are the household caretakers, she is naturally inclined towards positive peace. Hence, women can play a critical role in peacemaking in any society.

Women have participated and can participate in promoting peace not only at the grassroots level but also at the global level. To streamline women’s engagement in peace across the world, the United Nations Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security was put into place in 2000. Under this resolution, member states committed to increasing the number of women at the national and international level through UN Peacekeeping. They have achieved success. However, there is a long way to go. In 2023, only 26.5% of national parliamentarians were women.

There are many women peacemakers at the global level, which motivates women everywhere. These women are active in every continent and every country of the world. They work at the governmental, non-governmental, or individual level to bring change. The UN has recognised three African women for promoting peace in their countries. One of them is Alokirr Malual. She was the first woman to sign a peace agreement in South Sudan in 2015. Over the next three years, she worked tirelessly to increase the number of women working for the cause of peace and enhanced their participation in politics by a quota of 35%.

In the same way, New Zealand’s ex-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s domestic policies have shown commitment to peace. In the wake of the shooting in the Christchurch Mosque in 2019, she not only banned semiautomatic weapons and assault weapons but also initiated a Christchurch Call to act against the terrorist content online. Her efforts were recognised worldwide.

Women who rose above challenges

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani Nobel Laureate who survived a terrorist attack by the Taliban. Her contribution to furthering the education agenda is commendable and is seen as a driver for positive peace.

Women’s role in peacemaking in Pakistan is limited due to the rigid socio-cultural barriers. Women face inequality and have limited mobility in our patriarchal setup. They do not have access to facilities or opportunities to realise their full potential as an effective member of society. The financial well-being of women further worsens this situation. Moreover, women are not secure in their homes, where they are victims of domestic violence. When a woman’s security is jeopardised, how can she contribute towards peace at the societal level? 

Despite this grim picture, Pakistan still has a history of women who have risen above all the challenges and played their part in promoting peace and positive change.

The women in the Parliament of Pakistan have raised the plight of the women, but they have been unable to bring positive change on the ground level. Some women from the upper class did leave their mark in society, like the late Asma Jahangir. However, these women are few and far between. Women from middle-class backgrounds have come to the fore and stood out in the crowd. One such example is Dr Shaale Baloch, a young activist from Balochistan. She has advocated for the missing persons of Balochistan. Many young women are following her lead. Dr. Mahrang Baloch has also been vocal about the issues of Balochistan.

Sign of changing times

Women participating in the jirga of PTM (Pashtun Tahafuz Movement) is also a sign of changing times. Women solving disputes through jirga have also been documented as Khwendo Jirga(sisters council) in KPK since 2013. This jirga solved the problems of women's inheritance and domestic abuse, providing relief to the local women.

The Aurat Foundation has launched the peace builder program in the provincial capitals of Pakistan. This unique program aims to train and educate 75 women in resolving conflict and engagement in peace-building processes. This would help these women to work with the government and civil society to promote peace.

The role of women in peacemaking at the national level is still nascent. However, Pakistan’s women UN peacekeeping missions' role in promoting peace in post-conflict spaces is widely acknowledged. More than 500 hundred Pakistani women peacekeepers are currently in different UN missions. They provide a wide range of services to fulfill their roles per the UN’s peace agenda.

(The author is a research scholar at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad. Views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at tabishmunirkhan@gmail.com )