Gender perspectives and confidence building for inclusive peace: Getting parties to a shared negotiation table through trust

Confidence building is an area that is receiving significant attention in mediation processes around the world. Meanwhile, feminist analysis of the theories and practices of confidence building is nascent. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the urgency for inclusive and transformative approaches to confidence building, as a step towards sustainable peace, have only increased.

In November 2019, UN Women convened a conference titled “Gender perspectives and confidence building for inclusive peace: Getting parties to a shared negotiation table through trust”. The aim was to explore good practices and strategies for women’s meaningful participation in confidence building initiatives for peacemaking, including through an examination of the ways in which women are already shaping and proposing such initiatives across different peace tracks and in various roles and capacities.

Beginning with a discussion on what confidence building is about and examples of women’s participation therein, this report summarizes key aspects of the discussion that took place and offers preliminary recommendations for further research and action.