The Role of Women in Nation-Building: Rocking the Boat at the Risk of Making it Capsize?

Abstract

This paper addresses the role of women in post-conflict nation-building, especially in Muslim-majority countries during the post-conflict transitional period. It adopts the case of Afghanistan as a case study and considers what role women should play in post-conflict peace-making, especially in relation to the Afghan National Police (ANP). It draws on international human rights instruments, peace and conflict studies as well as Islamic norms and laws to build the argument that women should be involved in nation-building, in an integral way, from the outset (not added on as "frills" later, when peace has been achieved). It further argues that women's involvement in peace-making and nation-building does not violate Shari'a and thus women cannot be excluded from making an contribution on Islamic justifications.

Keywords: Peace-making, peace-building, nation-building, Afghanistan, women in Afghanistan, post-conflict societies, post-conflict transitions, Afghan National Police, international human rights of women, Shari'a law, Women and Shari'a Law, women in peacemaking

JEL Classification: I3,I130, I131, K00, K19, K33, K36, K39, Z12, Z18, Z19