Women building peace in displacement : the transnational peacebuilding potential of Myanmar women in Norway

It is generally recognised that women should not only be included in peacebuilding but that they are also a peacebuilding resource. This recognition is evident in the agenda set out in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR 1325) and subsequent resolutions. Based on the knowledge that the gendered nature of armed conflict means women and men experience it differently, UNSCR 1325 calls for the need to include women and their gendered perspectives of conflict in matters of peace. However, less recognized are the roles of refugee women as actors in peacebuilding. This reflects the relative lack of focus on people affected by forced migration in general as peacebuilding actors. This thesis takes a qualitative case study approach to understanding how women contribute to peacebuilding in the context of forced migration. It looks specifically at the case of resettled refugee women from Myanmar in Norway. The case study finds that the women in the Norwegian-Myanmar diaspora included in the study demonstrate considerable potential to contribute to peacebuilding through their various transnational activities in the economic, social and political spheres, and which are particularly relevant to sustainable development and peacebuilding in Myanmar.