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 Periodical article |
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| Title: | If I could speak to Madam President: returnee women's experiences of return, reintegration and peace in Liberia |
| Author: | Yacob-Haliso, Olajumoke |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Periodical: | Liberian Studies Journal |
| Volume: | 33 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Pages: | 1-22 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Liberia |
| Subjects: | women refugees return migration |
| Abstract: | When the war in Liberia ended in 2003, an estimated 350,000 persons had become refugees. By 2005, about 200,000 refugees had returned, with females constituting about 51 percent. Using a psychosocial approach which factors in personal and social factors that affect an individual's healing and well-being, the author focuses on the particular experiences of the women returnees as defined by them, and what the government should be paying attention to. Evidence based on fieldwork carried out in Liberia in 2006, including interviews and focus group discussions in five counties with returnee refugees and various community leaders and agency staff, indicates that women returnees' perception of Liberia as 'home' has shifted; that their experiences of reintegration have been difficult; that the promotion of repatriation as the 'best' solution to the refugee issue may be questioned; that 'peace' for women involves much more than the absence of war; that returnee women have opinions they would like to share with Madam President, but that they can neither approach her nor their own representatives; and that the process of reintegration will be long, and may eventually prove unsustainable. Bibliogr., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract] |