established, as the legislation was silent on this issue - surprising given the information provided by the Women's’ Coalition during the negotiations phase. It was only through the intervention by feminists and activists that an opportunity was created for the Commission to explore the experiences of women. There were budgetary allocations for gender and dealing with male patriarchy in the Commission. Sierra Leone represented a unique opportunity given the reference in both the Lome Peace Agreement and the establishing legislation. The Lome Peace Accords in the article on war rehabilitation and reconstruction stated: “Given that women have been particularly victimised during the war, special attention shall be accorded to their needs and potentials in formulating and implementing national rehabilitation, reconstruction and development programs, to enable them to play a central role in the moral, social and physical reconstruction of Sierra Leone which was to take special account of the experiences of women”. As Commissioners,11 we also noted that the reference only perceived women to be victims and not perpetrators or taking on different gendered roles. Also reference was made to them playing a role in reconstruction and not in political life. What was unique of course in the Sierra Leonean Commission is that there was an expectation that the Commission would explore the structural issues underpinning the conflict. This was unlike the South African Commission. An important aspect for the work of Truth Commissions was the ability to look at the structural issues impacting on specific sectors of the society. In this sense the Sierra Leonean Commission was innovative as it looked at the socio-economic dimensions of the conflict as well as the civil and political rights issues. Integrating the Gender Approach The TRC Act refers directly to gender twice – that is, in the provisions related to the composition of committees functioning under the Commission and the Selection Panel and Coordinator which require that gender as well as regional representation be taken into account. Although no reference is made to the composition of the highest organ itself, the Commission, in reality, there was an acute awareness of the need for this and it resulted in three of the seven commissioners being women. 11 Ms Yasmin Sooka was a sitting Commissioner in Sierra Leone at this point Truth Commissions: the Best Practices 45