Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace Network Member Visaka Dharmadasa
Participates in Conference on Women Combatants

Twenty-five women combatants and ex-combatants convened in Geneva in late August 2004 for three days to discuss and strategize on how women combatants can contribute to the advancement of humanitarian norms within their non-state armed groups. According to organizers of the event, discussion with women combatants furthers understanding and assists efforts to encourage compliance by armed opposition movements with humanitarian standards. From regions across the world, participants varied in background, religion, ideology, constituency, and leadership positions. They were joined by twenty experts from human rights, humanitarian, and peace organizations for discussion on the victimhood and agency of women and girl combatants, the inclusion of women in disarmament processes, and the challenges of reintegrating girl soldiers.

The event—convened by Geneva Call, a non-governmental organization with a mission to encourage armed non-state actors to adhere to international humanitarian norms—was the first of its kind to assemble women combatants in leadership positions to share ideas on women’s contributions to this mission. Geneva Call plans to further develop the recommendations generated by women at the conference and advocate with international stakeholders for their adoption.

Visaka Dharmadasa, a Sri Lankan member of Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace, participated as an expert in the three-day conference. Ms. Dharmadasa is the founder and chair of Parents of Servicemen Missing in Action and the Association of War-Affected Women and secretary of the Kandy Association for War-Affected Families. Working to end the civil war that has gripped Sri Lanka for the last twenty years, she educates soldiers, youth, and community leaders about international standards of conduct in war and promotes the economic and social development of women across conflict lines. She has designed and facilitated unofficial dialogue processes, bringing together influential civil society leaders from both sides of the conflict. Ms. Dharmadasa was asked by the leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to carry messages to the government when talks were floundering. (To read more on Ms. Dharmadasa’s work, please visit http://www.womenwagingpeace.net/content/members/dharmadasa.html.)

Ms. Dharmadasa offered the following insights from her discussions with women combatants.

• Women combatants are treated as equals by men in the armed movements. In many cases, they are among the leadership. By far, their rationale for participation in armed conflict is the same as men—liberation. In addition, women fight in an armed struggle due to discrimination, depravation, human rights violations, and the failure of national governments to provide adequate security to women and girls.
• Women combatants find they are in a unique position to bring about respect for humanitarian norms within their armed groups, primarily because of the moral authority they hold as mothers and the nurturing values often associated with motherhood.
• Women and girl ex-combatants are often excluded from official programs of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) conducted in the post-conflict environment by the international community. Not only are the specific needs and concerns of women left unaddressed, DDR programs often do not fully reintegrate men. The final stage of DDR—reintegration—is considered the most critical by women ex-combatants, but is the least funded.
• Women ex-combatants and women in civil society play a critical role in reintegrating former fighters. Because women’s organizations are generally active at the community level, they are particularly aware of the needs of the community and the former fighters and have developed programs to address them. These non-government projects have included counseling to address trauma and psychological issues, health and medical assistance, and education and skills trainings.
• Women must be consulted in the design and implementation of DDR programs, particularly in all matters related to women and girls. Although context- and culture-specific, DDR must always be a comprehensive process that engages all actors in order to be effective in achieving sustainable peace.

In October 2000, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325 to address the issue of women, peace, and security broadly and also to focus on DDR in particular. The resolution “encourages all those involved in the planning for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration to consider the different needs of female and male ex-combatants and to take into account the needs of their dependants.” It also calls upon organizations to adopt “measures that support local women’s peace initiatives… and that involve women in all of the implementation mechanisms of the peace agreement.” (For full text of the resolution, see http://ods-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N00/720/18/PDF/N0072018.pdf?OpenElement.) Organizations and agencies designing and implementing DDR programs in countries worldwide are urged to adhere to this international mandate to recognize and include women.

Geneva Call released its report with recommendations from the conference. For the full report, please click here. For a summary of the final report, click here. Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace has collaborated with International Alert to produce a toolkit on women, peace, and security that includes chapters on DDR and small arms, light weapons, and landmines. It is available at http://www.womenwagingpeace.net/toolkit.asp.

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