Women participation in peace-building on community projects’ implementation in conflict prone areas. A case of Sondu border town, Kenya

It is worth noting that despite the fact that women empowerment is vital in the society, majority of the researchers have only addressed the economic empowerment of women and factors influencing women participation in community development projects implementation. However, there is little empirical literature on how women participation in peace-building influence implementation of community development. This study was carried out to examine how women participation in peace building influences the implementation of community development projects in conflict prone Sondu border town. The study was guided by the participatory development (PD) theory and adopted a descriptive case study design with a sample population of 399 respondents, comprising female household heads and county ministry officials. Simple random sampling was applied to obtain the respondents from the households while a population census was applied to pick all the eleven county ministry officials. Data collection was by use of questionnaires and data was analysed through descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that women participation in peace building was very important in ensuring peace and development. The study recommends that for sustainable implementation of community development projects in conflict prone areas, women should be involved in creating peace, resolving conflicts and ensuring reconciliation.