Intersectionality and Durable Solutions for Refugee Women in Africa

Abstract

This article proposes a re-evaluation of the classic ‘durable solutions’ – repatriation, local integration, resettlement – being applied to refugee women in Africa, foregrounding gender considerations in the selection of solutions to apply, women's access to these processes, and sensitivity to the African and peacebuilding context. Extant literature largely ignores the reality of diversity among refugee women. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) policy and states’ practices regarding refugee women do not sufficiently address this diversity and how structural dynamics are shaping durable solutions for refugees. I argue therefore that there is an intersectionality of disadvantage, a dual intertwined convergence of personal and systemic factors that make refugee women in Africa doubly deprived in accessing and experiencing sustainable durable solutions. I suggest that rethinking durable solutions for refugee women in Africa involves a reassessment of the three solutions, and the adoption of initiatives that positively link refugee women and peacebuilding outcomes.

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