Women in indigeneous conflict resolution and peace building: the experience of the Grusi in northeastern Ghana

The study sort to explore the role of women in conflict resolution and peacebuilding among the Grusi people in the Upper East Region of Ghana using indigenous cultural tools. The study used a qualitive approach using in-depth interviews (IDS)and focus group discussions (FGD) to gather data. A total of 20 women participated in the study, of which 6 women who lived in Doba and Kandiga during the conflict participated in the IDS, one queen mother and one women leader of the Payaasi network from each from Doba and Kandiga commu-nities. Also, 10 women from SWOPA, Doba and Kandiga took part in the 2 FGDs sections conducted in Sirigu. The study was analysed using themes and quotes from the data collected. These quotes and themes developed from the data were analysed using the lenses of the feminist theory, maternal and women’s agency to comprehensively understand how women contribute to conflict resolutions and peacebuilding and the barriers the face. The study found that despite cultural systemic caveats, women continued to deploy strategic measures to promote peace building and conflict resolution. The strategic actions of the women as found in the study included and not limited to; spreading of ash lines by women, holding of calabash with grounded jute leaves, formation of human shield by women, Negotiation with husband and children, reflected the collective agency power and negotiations skills women explore in peace building. These actions gave nuances of the understanding of women in fostering peace building. The actions of the women revealed in the study highlighted the feminist view of the embodiment power in peace building. The study also revealed very crucial traditional rituals performed as a belief in peace building. This emphasized the fact that peace building transcends political negotiations but also involves cultural deep-rooted practices within the communities. The study also showed how women navigated the constraints of systemic traditional structures deploying or leveraging on their cultural knowledge to promote peace using their agency. The study also revealed the negotiation power of women played a critical part with their husbands and sons during the conflict. This finding reflected my opinion that mothers negotiate by putting her life online, trying to take minimum risk and because of their love and the role as the bond of the family they try to influence the family decisions on risk. The study showed that women play very important roles in conflict resolution using their unique culturally embedded and social roles through their effective exercise of their agency power. Thus, there is a need for traditional institutions to reevaluate its patriarchal structures to promote gender equality of women and men to ensure inclusivity in conflict resolution.