Minister of Labour, Vocational Training and Public Service in the areas of vocational
training for three years with a view to improving their employment opportunities.237
In 2004, the female ex combatants in Ndabaga expressed an interest in being part of
peacekeeping missions in Africa, based on their first-hand experience of conflict and
the special needs of women who could be helped by fellow women.238 Supported by
UNIFEM, Ndabaga Association also contributed to the DDR process in the Sudan by
participating in the training for the South Sudanese DDR authorities.239 Over the years,
female ex combatants have participated in Rwanda’s peace keeping missions in
conflict affected countries like Mali, South Sudan, Central Africa Republic.240
g) Accountability and rule of law
Accountability and rule of law are major themes in DPG, indicative of democratic
practices in which societies are governed by rules and sanctions as a means of
managing social relations.
Aside from examining the responsiveness of laws to
women’s rights, the capabilities and attitudes of the institutions to dispense justice with
equity and responsiveness to men and women’s justice needs is scrutinised in review
processes.
Governments draw legitimacy from administering the law equitably and ensuring equal
protection of the law to men and women, of which rule of law and access to justice is
critical. Obligations to increase women’s participation in peacebuilding cannot be
delinked from the need to address the consequences of conflict on women.241 Men
and women have different outlooks on conflict because they experience conflict
differently. The justice versus peace debates in post conflict countries tends to reflect
masculine experiences of ex-combatants, military and government leaders often
237
Reliefweb ‘Rwandan female ex-combatants can play important role in peacekeeping.’ September 2004,
Available
at
https://reliefweb.int/report/rwanda/rwandan-female-ex-combatants-can-play-important-rolepeacekeeping
238
UN News ‘Rwanda women ex-combatants want role in African peacekeeping forces. Available at
https://news.un.org/en/story/2004/09/113952-rwanda-women-ex-combatants-want-role-african-peacekeepingforces 2 September 2004
239
Nakamura F’Gender and Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR): The Role of UNIFEM in
the Implementation of Gender-Responsive DDR Programs’ Monterey Institute of International Studies December
2005
240
Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission ‘Demob Rwanda No 05 March 2016
241
UN General Assembly ‘Women’s participation in peacebuilding: Report of the Secretary-General’ A/65/354–
S/2010/466, 7 September 2010
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