Attachments
SUMMARY Mali has experienced protracted insecurity since 2012. Despite a heightened security presence and a peace agreement signed in 2015, root causes underpinning insecurity hinder effective and inclusive conflict resolution. Recognizing gender inclusivity as critical to lasting peace, the Malian Government adopted a National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2013 to operationalize the global Women, Peace and Security agenda and augment participation of women in national decision making. Provisions, however, remain sparsely implemented and progress towards gender equality faces significant resistance from traditional power holders.
This SIPRI paper investigates gender dimensions of conflict in Mali by comparing the roles of women and men as observers, victims, actors and agents of change. The study finds region and community type more indicative of observations and experiences of conflict than gender. However, gender remains a determining factor for roles of engagement in conflict and peacebuilding processes. While they suffer elevated levels of conflictrelated gender-based violence, women also play key roles as informants for insurgent groups and exert significant influence over security decisions in the private sphere. In governance and law, the current peace process could also afford some opportunity to shift societal status quos.
Context and summary
Mali has grappled with an evolving security crisis and parallel peace efforts since 2012. Long-standing political and economic grievances in the North spurred rebel and jihadist factions to overthrow state control, and violence has spread throughout the North and Central zones of the country, with attacks also occurring in the city of Bamako.1 Successive governments in Mali have been unable to implement sustainable development and maintain national unity.
Processes of conflict and peacebuilding present unique opportunities to shift societal status quos and question power structures. A demonstrated motivation from women at the local and national levels to respond to a burgeoning crisis runs in parallel with significant international pressure to involve women in peacebuilding.
The following study presents research from the project ‘Building a Sustainable Peace in Mali: Civil Society Contributions to Security Policies’, which was carried out by SIPRI and the National Coalition of Civil Society for Peace and the Fight against the Proliferation of Light Weapons (CONASCIPAL) from 2016 to 2019.2 This paper examines when and how gender plays a significant role in Mali’s conflict through an assessment of various populations’ perspectives on security developments and local priorities.
Legal context for women’s rights in Mali
The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 underscores the importance of integrating gender perspectives into peacebuilding and serves as integrate perspectives at national and local levels to best support gender rights and peacebuilding in Mali.
At the national level, social, traditional and religious norms continue to hinder the participation of women in conflict management in Mali.4 Mali has ratified the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the 2003 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), and the 2008 Protocol on the Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, but has yet to enact key legislation at the national level. In fact, the Malian Government was found in violation of the Maputo Protocol by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in May 2018 for allowing child marriage for girls, not always requiring consent for marriage, and discriminating against women in inheritance statutes in the Malian Family Code.5 An attempt to revise key provisions of the code in favour of greater equality in 2009 was blocked by wide-scale protests, led by religious leaders who dissuaded the president from signing off on the amendments (see annex 1).
The Malian Government adopted a National Action Plan (NAP) on Resolution 1325 in 2013, which was updated for the 2015–17 period.6 The plan provides a rubric for increasing the participation of women in national decision-making processes and ensuring their rights and needs are taken into account through five priority areas: conflict prevention and prevention of conflict-related sexual violence; protection and rehabilitation of survivors; participation and representation; promotion of gender and female autonomy; and monitoring and evaluation. The NAP aims at operationalizing the global WPS agenda within Mali’s national policy. Yet WPS resolutions have been sparsely and inconsistently carried out because of a lack of political pressure and resources, and a lack of coordination and implementation avenues at the local level.7 the first of 10 resolutions making up the global Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.3 While the WPS agenda has a global reach, it is essential to