The Role of Women in Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Northeast Nigeria

This study examines the contributions of women to post-conflict reconstruction processes in North East Nigeria, specifically in Borno and Yobe States affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, a conflict that has displaced over two million persons and destroyed thousands of communities since 2009. Women in conflict-affected communities of the North East have assumed critical roles in family survival, community social cohesion, and informal economic recovery that are frequently undocumented in official reconstruction frameworks. Using a descriptive qualitative design, the study conducted in-depth interviews with 35 women community leaders, IDP camp organisers, and women's non-governmental organisation staff in Maiduguri and Damaturu. Secondary data drawn from UN Women reports and humanitarian situation reports from 2021 to 2024 supplement the primary data. The Feminist Peace and Security Theory and the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Framework provide the analytical lenses. Findings reveal that women in affected communities have sustained informal credit associations, organised collective child care arrangements for orphaned children, and mediated inter-community tensions in ways that have preserved social fabric in the face of state reconstruction failures. Their exclusion from formal peace talks means their knowledge of community needs goes largely unincorporated into official responses. Keywords: women, post-conflict reconstruction, North East Nigeria, Borno, gender and peace.