Reinventing conflict prevention? Women and the prevention of the reemergence of conflict in Burundi

• Date: 01 March 2020
• Published date: 01 March 2020
• Author: Élise Féron
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21275

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Reinventing conflict prevention? Women

and the prevention of the reemergence of

conflict in Burundi

Élise Féron

Tampere Peace Research Institute,

Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

Correspondence

Élise Féron, Faculty of Social Sciences,

Tampere Peace Research Institute,

Tampere University, Tampere 33014,

Finland.

Email: elise.feron@tuni.fi

Abstract

Based on interviews conducted in Burundi with repre-

sentatives of women's groups, and in light of existing

knowledge on conflict prevention and peacebuilding in

divided societies, the article critically examines national

and international efforts to prevent a re-emergence of

the conflict. It argues that conflict prevention initiatives

led by women's groups, though often overlooked and

sidelined, could provide important insights for improv-

ing operational conflict prevention models. Through

their multilevel, low-key, inclusive, and versatile activi-

ties, Burundian women's organizations challenge and

complement conventional operational conflict preven-

tion practices that are often ill-suited to the needs of

intrastate conflicts.

1|INTRODUCTION

Burundi is a small African country that has suffered numerous episodes of mass violence over the

past decades, some of them of a genocidal nature. While it has attracted much less international

attention than some of its neighbors like the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Rwanda,

Burundi has been at the center of several peace building initiatives, the most successful one lead-

ing in 2000 to the signing of the Arusha peace agreement. Major tensions, however, arose again

in 2015 when, againstconstitutional provisions allowing for a maximum of two presidential man-

dates, President Pierre Nkurunziza entered office for a third term. The ensuing political and mili-

tary conflict generated hundreds of casualties, and pushed more than 400,000 people into exile.

Most of the leaders of the opposition had to flee, as well as most high-profile civil society activists.

While a few civilians have since returned, today many Burundians are still living in refugee

camps located in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and numerous

Received: 23 June 2019 Revised: 9 December 2019 Accepted: 21 December 2019

DOI: 10.1002/crq.21275

Conflict Resolution Quarterly. 2020;37:239–252. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crq © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 239