The Role of Women Organizations in Conflict Resolution in Benue State

Abstract:

This paper examined the strategic role women and women organizations play in the resolution of conflicts in Benue state especially in the last five years (2011-2016), with the persistence of the pastoralist / farmers clashes. Benue state has the unfortunate lot of attacks and women have been at the receiving end as majority of them are engaged in agricultural production that sustains the economy and the population. Government has responded in addressing these conflicts, but we must reckon with the great role women under several organizations have sought to interface government in preventing these conflicts and also offering relief materials to the displaced populations. The paper surveyed some of these women organizations and the strategies they have adopted in reducing the conflicts. Using liberal feminist theory as a framework of analysis, the paper showed how socio-cultural factors are constraining the women organization’s effort at resolving conflicts. The study demonstrated how the non-confrontational approach adopted by women has continued to douse out the conflicts and helped to ameliorate the conditions of women, children and men affected by the conflicts. It is hoped that stronger collaboration of these women groups and government through legislative provisions will seriously address these conflicts and their negative consequences on the people.