Across the globe, conflict causes widespread insecurity, poverty, and mass displacement, often leading to humanitarian emergencies and human rights violations. It’s often women and young people that bear the brunt of violent conflict. Islamic Relief’s Global Advocacy Research Coordinator Najma Abukar argues that sustainable peace can only be secured by protecting the rights of women and young people to participate in social cohesion.

Violent conflict uproots the lives of millions of people who are forced to abandon their homes, their livelihoods, and often their families to survive. They are also faced with gross human rights violations. Human rights violations are both symptoms and causes of violent conflict. Violent and destructive conflict can lead to gross abuse of fundamental rights, but can also result from a sustained denial of rights over a period of time.

At the end of 2018, more than half the 1 million displaced people worldwide were women and girls, whilst young people make up over 90% of casualties of armed conflicts.

Conflict exacerbates pre-existing patterns of discrimination against women and young people, exposing them to heightened risks such as gender-based violence against women including arbitrary killings, torture, sexual violence, and forced marriage.

Despite being overwhelmingly impacted by violent conflict, women and young people are also often excluded from participating in conflict prevention and peacebuilding processes.

Standing up for peace 

However, women and young people across the globe are choosing to stand up for peace, often facing the threat of violence to do so.

26-year-old Abdi is a Youth Peace Council representative from Mandera, Kenya, who is challenging the traditional notions of peace and advocating for more youth inclusion community peacebuilding.

“We youth play a key role in the peace of our community. Peace work is now more our role than the elders’ role, like it used to be, however, we still have a long way to go to convince our leaders and elders about our role in peace activities,” says Abdi.

Islamic Relief, through its Conflict Prevention and Social cohesion programme, has been supporting women and youth to lead community peacebuilding in Mandera County since 2018.

In the Phillipines, peace activist Noraisa is determined to ensure that women and young people are not left out of peace support processes.

“We need to fight for our voices to be heard in peacebuilding processes. Youth and women can also contribute towards solving problems in our community,” says Noraisa. 

“I wasn’t allowed to participate before, but now I have become one of the organisers in encouraging and mobilising women, youth and religious leaders towards peace.”

Noraisa is a member of the Bridging Khalifah circles group, composed of mostly young women who regularly meet to discuss pathways to peace within their communities.

Mobilising for inclusive peace 

Women and young people who are living with conflict and instability know and understand the context and are uniquely positioned to provide peaceful solutions. However, they are rarely afforded the opportunity to participate fully.

The full, equal, and meaningful participation and involvement of women and young people in all efforts is essential for maintaining and promoting sustainable social cohesion and security.

We must advocate for stronger representation of women and youth in conflict prevention and peace support processes at all levels. They should be empowered to participate actively in processes and decision-making without discrimination.

Since June 2018, Islamic Relief has been implementing a conflict prevention and social cohesion programme in Kenya, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Recognising the agency and active role that women and young people can play in conflict prevention and social cohesion, the project advocates for their active participation whilst also ensuring that institutions respond to the livelihood needs of women and young people and help to build their resilience.

Creating safe spaces

Women and youth are already playing a pivotal role in conflict prevention and peace support. To ensure their continued efforts, we must all do our part to ensure we create free, safe, and enabling civic spaces where they can exercise their rights to freedom of opinion and expression.

In doing so, we must also adopt a human rights-based approach to conflict prevention and social cohesion that centralises and protects the human rights of women and young people.

To ensure sustainable peace, women and young people must be part of the solution.

Islamic Relief is committed to working with women and young people to advocate and stand up for peace and take an active role in conflict prevention and peace support within communities.

In communities affected by conflict, people with disabilities are often persecuted, forced to flee their homes and deprived of basic human rights – and typically find it even harder than others to  access support. For women, it is even harder again.

Our Protection and Inclusion Advisor Sherin AlShaikhAhmed sheds light on new research by Islamic Relief around the issue and the ways in which we can make sure humanitarian action is inclusive of persons with disabilities.

Islamic Relief worked with the International Disability Alliance (IDA) to research the experiences of people with disabilities living in refugee camps in South Sudan, having escaped conflict in Tigray, Ethiopia.

The report shows, “clear evidence of the persistent exclusion of persons with disabilities during any humanitarian response, which further threaten the situation of persons with disabilities and violates their basic rights”.

Many refugees with disabilities living in the camp struggle to access food, healthcare and education, as well as clean drinking water and sanitation facilities. They were also found to often be excluded in decision-making processes or in appointing camp leadership and management committees.

Those who fled alone had lost the support of their caregivers and therefore faced protection risks and exploitation.

Women and children face further risks

The report focuses on the experience of women and children with disabilities, and the increased risks they face. Women and girls with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities were found to be more vulnerable to sexual violence, due to a lack of information around gender-based violence or a lack of awareness around personal safety and protective measures.

Certain zones of the camp were reported as unsafe by women and girls with disabilities due to alcohol abuse among men. Fatima, a young woman with physical disabilities, said she felt uncomfortable moving around the camp at night, because it is poorly lit.

What’s more, women and girls are often caregivers for persons with disabilities, and many found that they faced harassment and exploitation when trying to find support.

An interview with the parents of a woman with disabilities in Um Rakuba camp was particularly distressing. In the absence of any other support networks, they are struggling to look after their daughter. It’s a struggle for them to collect food, fetch water and deal with inaccessible camp facilities.

They also spoke about deep feelings of isolation and helplessness in not being able to support their daughter to participate in the camp activities.

An inclusive humanitarian response is key

Islamic Relief realises the importance of inclusive humanitarian programming and honours its commitments to disability inclusion, in order to ensure that people with disabilities have equal rights and opportunities to access humanitarian assistance, and participate equally.

Islamic Relief calls upon humanitarian organisations to place people with disabilities at the forefront of their humanitarian action. This should be based on internationally adopted norms and standards including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.

Islamic Relief is running a project in Stolac, Bosnia, which is enabling women to become self-reliant. The project involves creating new sustainable livelihoods by providing 96 women with greenhouses and the equipment and training needed to grow and sell fruit and vegetables. Jasmina who tragically lost her husband and home during the Bosnian war, is among those we’re helping.

“I had everything and they destroyed everything in the war. I had to start again from the scratch. We were forced to live out in the open space on the mountains,” says Merja.

“Life was very hard after I lost my husband. I can’t mention him without having tears in my eyes, but Allah is helping me. I struggled to feed my children. Wherever I saw a cow, I would take a small bottle cap and fill it with milk to give it to my little daughter, Jasmina, so she could survive.

“Now my daughter is grown up and has 2 children of her own. But after she also lost her husband, she struggled and was in need of help. It is not easy to live as a single mother with little opportunity to earn a living.

Then, Jasmina was selected to take part in Islamic Relief’s project, and was given a greenhouse, alongside training and equipment. She is now growing and selling fruit and vegetables in order to provide for her children.

“Islamic Relief’s help means a lot to my daughter, Jasmina, and her children. 1 child goes to school and the other will start next year. She works very hard to provide for them.

“I come to help my daughter as much as I can and I’ll keep helping as much as I can. I wish to express my sincere thanks to those who have helped her. Everyone has the right to be able to provide for their children.

“The greenhouse provided by Islamic Relief means a lot to us. In order to produce vegetables you also have to put in a lot of effort. It teaches dedication as this is needed to benefit from the greenhouse.

“The greenhouse has been useful during the Covid-19 pandemic. We can earn a living without having to mix with others, and the greenhouse opens up and is well-ventilated.

“You have to work to be able to live. This greenhouse that was donated to my daughter has kept her and her children safe and healthy. It helped her to live again. Thank God we have all managed to survive despite many hardships. Now we have to look only to the future,” she says.

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