Post-conflict Peacebuilding: divergences between women organisations and international cooperation in San Salvador and Bosnia-Herzegovina

On March 8th, 2013, coinciding with International Women’s Day, Hegoa Institute affiliated professor, Irantzu Mendia Azkue, defended her doctoral thesis “Construcción de la paz posconflicto: divergencias entre las organizaciones de mujeres y la cooperación internacional en El Salvador y Bosnia-Herzegovina (Post-conflict Peacebuilding: divergences between women organisations and international cooperation in San Salvador and Bosnia-Herzegovina)”. Enrolled in our Doctoral Programme on Development Studies, this thesis is supervised by Karlos Pérez de Armiño and it meets the requirements for “International Doctorate”.

The object of this research consists in the analysis of the divergences, in terms of discourses, priorities and strategies, between local women organisations and international cooperation actors in the field of postwar rehabilitation and peacebuilding.

To that end, the experiences of women organisations during postwar San Salvador (1992-2009) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (1995-2009) are considered as case studies, comparing the context and characteristics of their participation in the political, economic and social processes of the reconstruction in each country, following the signing of the Peace Agreements in 1992 and 1995 respectively.

Particular emphasis is placed on the interaction between these organisations and the actors of international aid that intervened in each case for the post-conflict peacebuilding.