Women Initiatives in Informal Post-Conflict Peace Building in Nairobi City County, Kenya, 1990 – 2014
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Date
2025-09
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Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Globally, the roles played by women in peace building initiatives cannot be underestimated. Subsequently, women have contributed significantly in informal peace building initiatives in Kenya. In spite of the immense contributions of women initiatives in peace building in Kenya, their efforts in formal peace processes have been peripheral. This study investigates women initiatives in informal post-conflict peace building initiatives in selected informal settlements in Nairobi County between 1990 and 2014. This study looked at peace building in a broader sense and was not confined to post political violence only. Four objectives were set for this study. To begin with, this study sought to examine the drivers of conflict in Nairobi County between 1990 and 2014. Second the gendered dimensions of conflict in informal post-conflict peace building initiatives were explored. Third, the study assessed the initiatives taken by women in informal post-conflict peace building in Nairobi County. Finally, the study analyzed the influence of ethnicity on women participation in informal post-conflict peace building initiatives in Nairobi County. The study was anchored on two complementary theories namely; gender socialization and conflict transformation theories to understand gendered dimensions of peace-building and whether violent conflict transformed age old gender practices. This study took the form of a descriptive research design and employed both primary and secondary sources of data collection. The main tools of data collection were interview schedules and questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used to identify 100 respondents who included women and men, County Peace Committee members, women representatives, Members of the Nairobi County Assembly, peace initiative staff and members of the National Peace Committee. Data from this study was analyzed and interpreted qualitatively and quantitatively. The study findings noted that negative ethnicity was one of the key drivers of post-election violence in the informal settlements in Nairobi County. Other drivers included land, tenancy versus landlord and domestic violence which heightened tensions in the communities. In conclusion therefore, this study noted that although women are pivotal in ensuring the sustenance of peace in Nairobi City County, they faced challenges which included patriarchal culture, domestic violence and confinement to household chores especially in the informal settlements under the study. It was further noted that women are instrumental in the enhancement and restoration of peace amongst conflicting communities. The study has demonstrated that women in Nairobi City County have the potential to improve their contribution in conflict transformation if the challenges they face for example, funding for their initiatives, patriarchy, inadequate skills in peace building are mitigated. The study thus recommends that stakeholders including the Nairobi City County should develop a clear strategy and develop a policy framework on how to include the women undertaking informal peace building initiatives and fund them. The study further recommended that research to find out policy gaps that inhibits women visibility and recognition in peace building fifty years after the first UN conference on women issues and twenty-five years after the UNSCR 1325 of Oct 2000
Description
Thesis Submitted to the School of Law, Arts and Social Sciences in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Peace and Conflict Studies of Kenyatta University. September 2025
Supervisors
Felistus Kinyanjui Kinuna
Gordon Onyango Omenya