Series on inclusive peace processes

Too often, formal peace negotiations approach women’s meaningful participation and gender equality as a secondary and apolitical concern to “stopping the war”. Arguments are often made that the need for political pragmatism to end the conflict must singularly prevail. Yet both concerns are inextricably linked to one another for sustainable peace.

This series of papers supports women’s meaningful participation and the integration of gender perspectives in peace processes that aim to end violent intra-state conflict. The key target audience is women, gender equality advocates, and others engaged in peace processes, who wish to influence negotiations with a view to:

1. addressing the particular experiences of women during conflict, and
2. achieving lasting peace process outcomes that will improve women’s lives and the lives of those around them.

The approach of these papers supports engagement in peace processes rooted in the principle of gender equality, while recognizing that provisions designed to achieve equality in any context will be negotiated politically in practice. To influence change, women will need to influence a range of actors, including those who may not see gender equality as central. Women themselves will also have diverse political views and perspectives. These papers therefore offer comparative analyses, examples, and framing questions to support women and others to develop proposals suitable to their own context, rather than prescribing any one approach.