Women’s political participation and economic empowerment in post-conflict countries Lessons from the Great Lakes region in Africa

About International Alert International Alert is a 26-year old independent peacebuilding organisation. We work with people who are directly affected by violent conflict to improve their prospects of peace. And we seek to influence the policies and ways of working of governments, international organisations like the UN and multinational companies, to reduce conflict risk and increase the prospects of peace. We work in Africa, several parts of Asia, the South Caucasus, the Middle East and Latin America and have recently started work in the UK. Our policy work focuses on several key themes that influence prospects for peace and security – the economy, climate change, gender, the role of international institutions, the impact of development aid, and the effect of good and bad governance. We are one of the world's leading peacebuilding NGOs with more than 159 staff based in London and 14 field offices. To learn more about how and where we work, visit www.international-alert.org. This publication has been produced with financial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of International Alert/EASSI and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of SIDA. About EASSI The Eastern Africa Sub-Regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI) is a sub-regional civil society organisation established in 1996 to facilitate systematic follow up of the Platforms for Action emanating from the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China, in 1995. The development of the Beijing Platforms for Action was preceded by the African Platform of Action on Women, which was developed in Dakar, Senegal, in 1994. EASSI is a collaboration between individuals, NGOs, coalitions and networks committed to the advancement of women. It is registered in Uganda as a non-governmental organisation and currently covers eight countries in the Eastern African sub-region: Acknowledgements This report represents a synthesis of the key findings and recommendations of a regional research project on women's political participation and economic empowerment in countries emerging from conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Born to a Congolese father and a Rwandan mother, Jeanne was deeply concerned by the grave crisis facing DRC for more than a decade. In 2009, she published, in English, a book entitled Rural development for conflict transformation. A case study of North Kivu, in which she examined the linkages between rural development and conflicts in the territories of …