Opportunities for Transformation? The Implementation of Gender Provisions in Peace Agreements and Women’s Participation in Post-Conflict Transitions

This thesis explores the relationship between women’s participation in peace processes and the adoption of gender-sensitive peace agreements and post-conflict constitutions in two cases: Nepal and Kenya. It asks how far and in what ways ‘strong’ gender provisions have been implemented and their effect on women’s political, social and economic participation across formal and informal spheres. Combining feminist political economy analysis with theories of patriarchal social structures, the thesis examines how women’s unequal access to material resources and socioeconomic rights and patterns of patriarchal harms and violence against women shape women’s participation in transitions towards peace.