The oldest question about global conflict is why can’t we all just get along? But the second-oldest has to be what if women were in charge? Might women bring something to the peacemaking and keeping table that men do not? The short answer is yes. Qualities universally perceived, often condescendingly, as women’s strengths — an ability to listen, share experiences, empathize with all sides of an issue, and compromise while useful in negotiations, are rarely seen in the almost exclusively male circles of international diplomacy, where a premium is placed on the ability to outsmart the person sitting across from you.

It has been said, the makers of war should not design the peace. It’s a bad habit. If women are going to be the victims, they must be part of the decision-making. They are the grassroots activists, educators, health-care workers, academics, researchers, and religious leaders who keep their countries running even in times of war. They do the unheralded traditional work of women.

Since December 30, 2007, Kenya has witnessed spates of violence, continued unabated bloodletting, rendering thousands homeless and scores of others injured following the announcement of the disputed presidential poll which has touched off an economic meltdown and threatens a complete social breakdown.The current political impasse has driven millions of Kenyans into poverty and reversed the gains made over the last few years. There has been increased public clamor for the two political giants to meet at a negotiation table. With thousands of women and children camping at showgrounds and other places and reports of escalating sexual abuse and harassment women have rolled up their sleeves in a bid to find a lasting solution to this standoff. 

First to visit Kenya since the discredited presidential poll was Dr. Jendayi Frazer, the US Assistant Secretary of state for African Affairs. Top on her agenda was to attempt to mediate between Hon. Mwai Kibaki and the ODM leader Hon. Raila Odinga following the outbreak of violence in many parts of the country. Her statement indicated that the US favoured no side in the dispute and supported efforts to carry out free and fair elections. She said the generally peaceful and orderly voting process and record voter turnout was a triumph for the Kenyan people but the serious flaws in the vote tallying process damaged the credibility of the process.She had been in the country previously to work with Kenya in to deal with Somalia and work with Kenya to deal with Sudan, or to address African and global issues. She said Kenya is seen as a country that resolves conflict and not as a source of conflict. While she concluded her assignment in Kenya, she recommended fundamental institutional reform to resolve the fundamental problems.

Former first lady of Mozambique and South Africa, Ms. Graca Machel is also in the country alongside the former UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa to hold talks with Kenya’s political parties in an effort to find a solution to weeks of political tension.Speaking in a meeting convened last week to discuss the participation of women in the mediation process, Mrs Machel said “Conflicts are painful and they leave very deep wounds. Let your wounds bleed and then you heal. In the process of healing, seize the opportunity to build a society of justice.”On ethnicity she cautioned: “Do not let your country go the ethnic way, because if you do, you are going to boil each other. Then there is going to be no country to speak of.

Ms .Machel has been very active internationally and is world-renowned for her commitment to children's and women's rights, education, and development. She served as President of the National Commission of UNESCO in Mozambique, as a delegate to the 1988 UNICEF Conference, and on the steering committee of the 1990 World Conference on Education for All.

In 1994, she was appointed the independent expert in charge of producing the U.N. Report on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, by the then UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. She spent 1994-96 traveling to investigate the plight of children in countries beset by war. The subject had never before been studied in-depth and her report was ground-breaking. As a result, the General Assembly authorized the Secretary-General to appoint her as a Special Representative on the impact of armed conflict on children.

For her myriad achievements, Graca Machel has received many awards. She received the 1992 Africa Prize, awarded annually to an individual who has contributed to the goal of eliminating hunger in Africa by the year 2000. In recognition of her outstanding contributions on behalf of refugee children, she received the 1995 Nansen Medal from the United Nations and the 1997 Global Citizen Award of the New England Circle. Ms. Machel is much loved in her home country and is increasingly gaining world recognition. She has focused on the issues most critical to Africa, issues of development and particularly women's and children's rights, and she has widened her scope to effect change worldwide. She has already created a substantial legacy and her work continues.

Other women who have made significant steps in peace building across Africa include Prof. Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win the Nobel peace prize. Prof. Maathai has been recognized as a source of inspiration for everyone in Africa fighting for sustainable development, democracy and peace. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee referred to her as a strong voice speaking for the best forces in Africa to promote peace and good living conditions on the African continent.

In reaction to the current political stalemate, Prof. Mathaai has been on the spotlight accusing the government of not doing enough in protecting the lives and property of many Kenyans. In a past interview, the fiercely outspoken activist said the underlying issues at the bottom of tribal clashes have never been addressed hence their recurrence in every electioneering year. She also noted that those kinds of conflicts are actually utilized by politicians to achieve their own goals and that they should have no place in the Kenya we are trying to rebuild.
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She said although such clashes had a history, the Government had failed to deal with the instigators and perpetrators of violence. Prof Maathai said the Government should ensure the rule of law is respected by all. She is of the opinion that President Kibaki and ODM leader Raila Odinga should sign a peace agreement with a legal basis, which cannot be broken. The agreement should be negotiated first and taken through a legal process and then signed by Parliament for it to be binding. Other women who have been instrumental in brokering peace initiatives include the Africa Region Girl Guide Association Chairperson, Honorine Kiplagat, Dr. Jennifer Riria, the Chief Executive of Kenya Women Finance Trust and Mrs. Susan Mudhune, the Chairperson of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group. These women drawn from the civil society and the private sector are operating under a lobby group called “Concerned Women.”

Also joining the band to drum calls for peace under the banner ‘Heal the Nation Campaign’ are senior women editors drawn from various media houses including Mildred Ngesa of the Daily Nation, Rosemary Okello- Orlale, director African Woman and Child Feature Service and coordinator of the campaign, Jane Thuo, of the Association of Media Women in Kenya and Jane Godia, senior editor with the Standard. The women are committed to ensure that prominence of stories is given to real victims of the violence who are usually ignored by the media. The group is facilitated by the Swedish and Norwegian envoys in Kenya. There is an African saying, ‘Women make memory,’ women are often the widows, mothers, and orphans. They have a key role in the passing on of memories of the struggle or the change from a military regime to a democracy. Women live longer. They are the caretakers of children and the elderly.

Of prime importance to the Women brokering peace in Kenya is the formulation of a programme to get the leaders to agree to immediate cessation of violence, accept to use dialogue to settle their differences, and agree to talk under the aegis of the Panel of Eminent African personalities.