Drawing particularly on African cases, they examine national and global efforts to right past wrongs. The contributors argue that, for women in post-conflict societies, “defying vic-timhood” means being recognized as an activist, peacebuilder and -above all - a full participant in post-war social, economic, political and security structures, access to which all too often has unjustly and unwisely been denied. We examine definitions of and approaches to peacebuilding more generally, followed by key challenges and opportunities for peacebuilding in the after-math of conflict.