Understanding the Causes of Civil Wars in Post-Colonial Sub-Saharan Africa. Case study: Sierra Leone and the Role of women in the Search for Peace

Abstract

It is widely understood or assumed among scholars like Thomas Weiss, that civil wars in Africa are mainly wars for natural resources. This statement needs careful evaluation, and it is for this reason that this study will use Weiss`s theories on the causes of wars in sub-Sahara Africa as a background for understanding the Sierra Leone conflict. In addition, as the title implies, this paper further aims to investigate the war in Sierra Leone and most importantly the predominant role played by women in the search for peace, in sustaining it and in the post conflict reconstruction. It is of vital significance because in the minds of many Africans, women are meant to be seen and not to be heard. It is in the light of this that this thesis will investigate the sudden emancipation of the Sierra Leonean women from victims of their culture to agents of peace like their women counterparts in neighbouring Liberia.