Rural Women’s Livelihood Security as a Foundation for Sustainable Peace in South Asia

Gendered livelihood security is an area that is not covered entirely in the pursuit of sustainable peace in South Asia. The rural women, key players of agriculture and informal economies, have structural obstacles to resource access, decision-making, and opportunities. The paper examines how the improvement of the livelihood security of women can contribute to long-term peace based on the secondary qualitative data obtained by the World Bank, UN Women, FAO, UNDP and BRAC. As seen through the framework of the Research Onion with the interpretivist and inductive approaches, the analysis explores four themes, which are the livelihood deficits as structural violence, insecurity as a conflict multiplier, programs as micro-peace mechanisms, and digital and legal barriers to inclusion. It is found that the exclusion of women from assets, education, and technology perpetuates poverty and instability. On the other hand, SHGs of India, SACCOs of Nepal and the model of BRAC demonstrate that economic empowerment brings togetherness, inclusiveness and reconciliation. New exclusions are created in the form of the digital divide and discriminatory laws. There is a financial and peace imperative of women's security of livelihood. Gender-sensitive land, finance, climate, and digital reforms should be a top priority among policymakers in order to have a chance at inclusive peacebuilding.