an Eldis Resource
Rising up in response: women's rights activism in conflict
Women's activism in times of conflict
Authors:
J. Barry; Urgent Action Fund
Publisher:
Urgent action fund for women's human rights, 2005
This downloadable book considers the study of women’s rights activists who respond to conflict or crises in their own countries. The authors address their strategies and why it is that the capacity of women activists is extremely limited.
In 2003 the Urgent Action Fund launched a year-long project identifying concrete ways to improve international support for the interventions of women’s rights activists during all phases of a conflict. Women were interviewed in three conflict areas: the Balkans (Kosovo and Serbia); Sierra Leone; and Sri Lanka.
Key findings include:
- women frequently mobilise, individually and collectively, to address the urgent needs of conflict-affected populations – before, during and after the fighting
- activists living both within and outside the worst-affected areas will reach out in various ways to support women on the frontline
- women’s rights activism rarely factors into international actors’ strategies to tackle deadly conflict
