Advancing-Womens-Leadership-in-Conflict-Resolution-ID-.pdf

Tactics to Influence Peace
Processes
Advancing Women's
Leadership in
Conflict Resolution
MARLENE SPOERRI
POLICY REPORT
2022

© 2022 UN Women. All rights reserved.
The views expressed in this publication are those of
the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the
views of UN Women, the United Nations or any of
its affiliated organizations.
This policy brief was commissioned by UN Women’s
Peace and Security Section.
This policy brief was produced as part of the project
"Enhancing Women's Leadership for Sustainable
Peace in Fragile Contexts in the MENA region,"
funded by the German Federal Ministry For
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in
cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
Cover Photo: Isadora Zubillaga, co-founder of
'Women for Democracy in Venezuela' at the
platform's launch in Geneva in October 2021. Photo
Credit: Independent Diplomat.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank counterparts at UN
Women for their feedback and comments,
including Sarah Douglas, Gehan Aboutaleb, Elettra
Antogenetti, and Lister Chapeta. The author would
also like to thank external reviewers who provided
thoughtful feedback to drafts of this report,
including Mariam Jalabi and Laura Mitchell. In
addition, the author extends her thanks to
colleagues at Independent Diplomat, including
Sophie Smith for comments, editing, and
proofreading. Particular gratitude is extended to
Shatha Yasin for her work to support women’s
empowerment during her time at Independent
Diplomat.
The author would also like to thank the Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Network for
Social Change, who have generously supported
Independent Diplomat’s work on women, peace
and security and helped to make this report
possible.

About Independent Diplomat
Independent Diplomat (ID) is a non-profit diplomatic
advisory group that strives to create more inclusive,
just, effective and lasting peace processes by building
the diplomatic capacity of marginalized groups and
democratic governments. Our work follows a simple
premise: we help those most affected by crises and
conflict to access the high-level political discussions
about them. We work inside the diplomatic system to
help these groups advocate for the legitimate
interests of those they represent, leading to more
durable and sustainable solutions.
POLICY REPORT INDEPENDENT DIPLOMAT

Contents
POLICY REPORT INDEPENDENT DIPLOMAT
Executive Summary 01
03
Introduction
18
Recommendations
22
Conclusion
04
Tactics and Strategies to Influence Peace Processes

Executive Summary
01
[1] See for example: https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/2017-05/pb222-inclusive-peace-processes-are-key-to-ending-violent-conflict.pdf .
[2] See for example: https://www.cfr.org/womens-participation-in-peace-processes.
[3] Over the past decade, Independent Diplomat's work to advance women's participation in diplomacy and peace processes has been supported by the Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Global Affairs Canada, Folke Bernadotte Academy,
and the Network for Social Change. Independent Diplomat and UN Women embarked on a partnership agreement in 2020 to support women’s diplomacy and advocacy in
peace processes, with the generous support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Working in close coordination with UN Women’s Regional Office for the Arab States, four UN Women country
programs/offices, and expert partners, ID has supported UN Women’s Peace and Security Section implementation of the program entitled ‘Enhancing Women’s Leadership
for Sustainable Peace in Fragile Contexts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region’, more on which can be found here:
https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/What%20We%20Do/Peace-security/WPS-Brief-Womens-meaningful-participation-in-
peace-and-political-processes-in-fragile-contexts-en.pdf.
[4] The insights of this paper are largely drawn from Independent Diplomat’s work on what is frequently referred to as ‘Track 1’ peace processes. Track 1 processes refer to
high-level negotiations that are often led by the UN, multilateral regional organizations, or eminent persons. They tend to engage governments and representatives of
opposing movements. While much of this brief focuses on Track 1, many of the lessons garnered also have a bearing on Track 2 and Track 1.5 processes. Women’s
meaningful participation within those tracks also offers important opportunities to influence and shape the framing of key substantive issues in a peace process.
Photo: Members of the Syrian Women's Political Movement meet in Paris. Photo Credit: Syrian Women's Political Movement.
Inclusive peace processes are widely acknowledged to increase the prospect of
achieving durable political settlements to armed conflicts. This is particularly true
for gender inclusive peace processes, where women’s participation has been
associated both with higher chances of attaining peace and longer lasting peace
agreements. Women’s contributions are made despite the many challenges that
threaten to impede their full, equal and meaningful participation. But while much
attention has (rightfully) rested on the under-representation of women in peace
processes, less attention has been paid to the creative ways in which women have
succeeded in overcoming such challenges to exert influence on conflict dynamics
and shape the trajectory of high-level peace processes, whether through formal
seats at the negotiating table or through less formal roles.
This brief examines how women break down barriers to participation, drawing on
Independent Diplomat’s work with female (and male) party leaders, delegates,
negotiators, and civil society leaders seeking to influence formal peace processes. In
so doing, the brief explores how women successfully exert influence, using their
networks, access, and expertise to affect policy outcomes and drive forward agenda
items. The brief thus focuses not on the many blockages to women’s full, equal, and
meaningful participation in peace processes, but rather, on the strategies and tactics
1
2
3
4

02
Empower women to engage beyond matters of representation and gender within
peace processes;
Put less emphasis on the need for full unity from women’s groups;
Expand the types of support provided to women beyond trainings and
conventional capacity-building projects;
Provide long-term, flexible funding that allows women’s groups to plan for the
future;
Create opportunities that target women in political positions, not just women
who identify as civil society representatives;
Move beyond rhetorical and financial support for the women, peace and security
agenda to ensure political weight is thrown behind gender inclusive peace
processes;
Set benchmarks for gender inclusion, including conditioning mediation roles on
inclusive delegations; and
Mirror inclusion within their own ranks.
that women can deploy to influence the trajectory of political negotiations, create
more inclusive outcomes, and achieve their political objectives.
The author argues that a combination of the following tactics help women wield
greater influence over peace processes: (i) developing a clear view on the goals and
objectives, which can form the basis of a targeted diplomatic strategy; (ii) building
and sustaining strategic coalitions committed to advancing those goals; (iii) leading
in the formulation and promotion of policy proposals; (iv) opening lines of
communication across parties; (v) engaging male allies and skeptics; (vi) securing
the buy-in of domestic stakeholders; (vii) directing the international community to
provide necessary political support and resources; (viii) securing independent, long-
term financing; (ix) focusing on tangible impact that makes a difference to the lives
of communities on the ground; (x) combining a mix of insider and outsider tactics;
and (xi) maintaining a long-term vision and persisting, despite the challenges.
The author also offers a set of policy recommendations to the international
community to support women’s assertive engagement in peace processes, arguing
that governments, multilateral institutions, and nongovernmental organizations
committed to advancing the women, peace and security agenda should work to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
While these steps will not counteract all the barriers to women’s meaningful
participation in peace processes, they can help to create an enabling environment
that creates more opportunities for genuinely inclusive negotiations.

Introduction
03
[5] To date, the Security Council has adopted ten resolutions on women, peace and security, and close to 100 countries have launched national action plans outlining their
own nation’s commitments to the agenda.
Since the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), the importance of
women’s meaningful participation and protection in peace processes has gained
growing recognition. Despite such recognition, however, women have continued to
comprise a minority of negotiators, mediators, and signatories to Track I peace
processes. In some cases, like Yemen or Afghanistan, women have been all but
absent from the formal peace table. In others, such as Syria or Libya, women have
maintained a more constant (albeit still under-represented, and too often,
precarious) presence at the formal negotiating table, serving as delegates to peace
talks, as well as advisers to mediators and parties.
The lack of women’s consistent representation at the peace table should not be
confused with a lack of impact or influence. Across conflicts, women have succeeded
not only in claiming spaces previously denied to them, but they have also exerted a
direct impact on conflict dynamics that has shaped the context within which peace
processes take place – whether it is securing detainee access and prisoner swaps,
facilitating local ceasefires, monitoring and collecting evidence of war crimes,
advocating for civilian protection, or engaging in high-level diplomacy to set out
policy recommendations for the international community. Over the past decade,
Independent Diplomat has had the privilege of working closely with women who
have assumed each of those roles.
In our capacity as diplomatic advisors to parties in conflict-affected areas, we have
worked side-by-side with female and male negotiators, political and civil society
leaders, and delegates to peace talks in Libya, Mali, Syria, Western Sahara, Yemen,
Venezuela, and elsewhere. We have provided strategic and tactical advice, capacity
building, training, administrative support, and access to resources, all designed to
support women’s strategic engagement within diplomatic processes and to bolster
women’s efforts to level the playing field with their male counterparts. In the
process of working closely with women and men involved in Track I peace processes,
we have seen directly how women have overcome obstacles to generate meaningful
political outcomes, secure greater representation, and lead political movements.
Below are some of the lessons learned throughout our work in conflict zones,
building on the reflections of women who have sought direct engagement within
Track I processes, whether as negotiators at the table or civil society activists
operating from the margins.
5

[6] These challenges can take the more pronounced form of outright exclusion, with women denied any roles within political delegations and decision-making functions.
But it can also take more subtle forms, with women in political delegations tokenized, sidelined, awarded limited decision-making roles, or assigned administrative rather
than decision-making functions. Women can also face backlash in response to their participation, with some confronting violent retribution, stigmatization, intimidation
and / or online attacks.
Women seeking to meaningfully participate and influence peace processes face a
number of challenges, from outright exclusion by political parties to tokenization
and pandering both by parties and the international community. Yet across
conflicts, women have exerted influence over peace processes in spite of such
challenges. In Colombia, women pushed for one of the most inclusive peace
agreements in history—with specific chapters dedicated to women’s inclusion,
transitional justice, and minorities. In Syria, women championed the need for justice
and the release of arbitrarily held detainees, while achieving representation close to
30 percent within Syria’s Constitutional Committee. In Myanmar, women remain at
the forefront of creative, nonviolent resistance following the military coup, while
also spearheading high-level diplomacy aimed at exerting pressure on the Junta and
creating a pathway for the reinstatement of the civilian government. And in Mali,
women continue to push for the implementation of the Mali peace agreement and
have secured seats within all delegations. While the conflicts in question vary, many
of the tactics and strategies women have deployed to influence peace processes
share similarities. Through our work with female leaders in many of the world's most
challenging conflicts, Independent Diplomat has seen our partners make the
greatest advances through the practices set out below.
Clear Goals and Outcomes
Without question, those most effective in influencing peace processes and using
diplomacy to advance their interests start with a clear vision of what they want to
achieve. By identifying their overarching goal, individuals and groups—irrespective
of their gender—are able to isolate the outcomes they seek to achieve and the policy
decisions that need to be made in order to realize their goals. This, in turn, allows
them to identify who makes those decisions and thus forms the basis through which
to develop a coherent action plan, setting out a clear strategy and the roadmap
needed to implement it.
Within the context of armed conflict, it can be incredibly difficult to identify clear
goals—particularly shared goals. This is as true for women as it is for men. When it
leaders
Tactics and Strategies to
Influence Peace Processes
04
6

comes to conflict resolution, not all women share the same desired outcomes.
Female political leaders may have different objectives from female civil society
leaders, and within those categories, diverse perspectives and priorities will be
found. Not all women will, for example, prioritize the issue of women’s participation,
nor will they necessarily prioritize the realization of a gender inclusive peace
agreement over other outcomes, such as: basic security and the cessation of
violence against civilians, an end to human rights abuses, justice for victims,
protection from indiscriminate attacks, the dismantling of dictatorship, etc.
Recognizing how different desired outcomes relate to one another, where there is
common ground, and where there is not, is vital to the development of an effective
advocacy strategy—particularly when women are working in coalitions. If the shared
goal is to secure gender inclusion, this means agreeing on platforms that move
beyond the basic agreement of serving as “women’s representatives” or pushing for
“women’s inclusion” to define the menu of outcomes that can lead to the
development of strategic plans. For example, if a group is working to achieve a
gender inclusive peace agreement, they might identify the need for a gender
inclusive peace process. To achieve that process, they might push for: the
application of a 30 percent quota for female negotiators within each party’s
delegation; the appointment of gender advisors to each delegation and the
mediator’s team; the formation of a civil society consultation mechanism to inform
the peace process; a reporting mechanism through which a mediator must report
back to international stakeholders and domestic constituents on the progress on
gender inclusion; etc. Once the desired outcome is clear, it is possible to define
diplomatic targets for advocacy, for example, the parties themselves, the convenors
of negotiations, mediation teams, etc. This provides the building blocks to develop a
strategy and action plan (see Figure 1).
Clear Goal
1
05
Desired Outcomes
2
Necessary Political Decisions
3
Advocacy Targets
4
Action Plan
5
Figure 1: Process To Develop Effective Diplomatic Strategy

Photo Credit: UN Women
Coalition Building
A key tactic that women have successfully deployed in numerous conflicts is to join
forces with other women, either across party lines or across the divide between civil
society and political society. By working collectively on the issues where they can
find common ground, women—both in civil society and politics—have exerted
pressure to advance inclusion and have successfully drawn attention to the issues
they prioritize.
In Libya, for example, during the negotiations around the development of the 2020
Libyan roadmap, female members of the Libya Political Dialogue Forum united
across party lines and across political and civil society to demand that the roadmap
include a quota of 30 percent representation of women in leadership positions—
including the position of Vice President Lamees Bensaad, who was part of those
negotiations. She explains that by “working together, we were able to apply pressure
as a group and campaign for the 30 percent inclusion. This pressure forced the Envoy
and parties to adopt the 30 percent marker. The more vocal, loud, and determined
we were, the more gains we achieved.”
In addition to providing a safe space for women to share their common challenges,
aspirations, and goals, collective action offers the ability to demonstrate strength in
numbers (thus dispelling the perception of marginalization or isolation), present
coherent objectives, and establish key targets, both in terms of participation and
specific policies. These alliances can be particularly helpful in pushing parties—and
international stakeholders—to commit to quotas and key policies.
Mariela Magallanes—one of two Venezuelan women representing the National Unity
Platform during political negotiations in the Norway-mediated Mexico City process—
recalls a similar dynamic playing out in Venezuela in 2021. Ahead of two rounds of
talks in which Venezuelan women would be present within the opposition’s
delegation for the first time, women in the Venezuelan democratic opposition
mobilized behind the scenes to insist that women be appointed to the National Unity
Platform’s delegation and nominated women for specific roles. “The unconditional
support of women political leaders was crucial in securing seats for women. Women
not
06
Photo: Special Advisor on Libya to the UN Secretary-General, Stephanie Williams. Photo Credit: UN/Violaine Martin.

07
Photo: Venezuelan Interim Government diplomat, Estefania Melendez. Photo Credit: Independent Diplomat.
across the opposition wrote a letter of support requesting that I represent them at
the table. This letter was key to ensuring that I emerged as a political representative
not of a specific political party, but of the women politicians representing
Venezuela’s democratic forces.”
Collective action can be an effective tool to drive forward big ideas and demonstrate
solidarity. But it is not a panacea. Working in large groups invariably brings
competing priorities, perspectives, personalities, and egos to the fore. Particularly
where such groups bring women from a broad spectrum of political views together, it
can be difficult to identify common goals that can be translated into policy outcomes
and action plans. In such a context, it is all the more important that women work
strategically to define clear goals and desired outcomes, and also to recognize when
and where it might be necessary to work in smaller groups.
Lead on Policy Solutions
Every peace process involves a multitude of political, economic, and humanitarian
issues. To exert influence, women must be involved in decision-making around each
of these issues. This means developing detailed thinking not just about how to
secure representation, but also, the full spectrum of issues raised throughout a
peace process. It is thus critical for women seeking influence over Track I processes
to develop and disseminate solid policy proposals on issues like confidence building
measures, security, humanitarian access, arbitrarily-held detainees, justice and
accountability, etc. The advancement of credible policy recommendations positions
individuals looking to influence a peace process as constructive leaders and
interlocutors—both for parties and mediators.

08
Photo: Syrian Women's Political Movement. Photo Credit: Syrian Women's Political Movement.
In Syria, for example, Syrian opposition delegate, Alise Mofrej, effectively led the file
related to detainees and arbitrary detention. A former detainee herself, she worked
closely with members of Syrian civil society to develop policy recommendations that
were informed by a broad spectrum of society. And she independently engaged
diplomats to raise the profile of detention issues. Through these efforts, Mofrej
emerged as a decisive voice during the Geneva peace talks, who wielded real
influence within her own party and delegation. Mofrej demonstrated her expertise
not just at the formal negotiating table, but beyond formal peace talks—proactively
engaging mediators, their diplomatic teams, stakeholder governments, and civil
society.
In some conflicts, party leaders and stakeholders attribute women’s exclusion to a
lack of female experts. In such instances, women have preempted these arguments
by identifying individuals with expertise across a range of issues, and ensuring that
both members of the international community, and parties themselves, are aware
that such experts exist and are ready to lend their expertise to a peace process.
Open Lines of Communication
Collective action can be an important asset in advancing women’s participation. But
in the context of protracted conflicts, it can be difficult—if not impossible—to find
common ground on issues that extend beyond representation. For women that
emerge as party leaders or party members in heavily polarized contexts, it can be
incredibly contentious to meaningfully engage other women from across party lines.
The same fissures and disagreements that cause breakdowns in negotiations
between men also affect women and make it difficult for women in political
positions

positions to find common ground that extends beyond the
importance of women’s participation.
For some women, however, the benefits of maintaining
lines of communication with men and women across the
political spectrum outweigh the political risks. Libya’s
Bensaad explains that even while serving as a member of
Libya’s Peace and Prosperity Party, she makes it a point to
“communicate with everyone, regardless of their
background, political views or ideology. I strive to
maintain good relations with influential groups,
irrespective of what political party they belong to. I make
clear that my priority is to work for my country, and I am
able to gain people’s trust because of that.”
Engage Male Allies and Skeptics
Despite its potential benefits, collective action by women
is not a substitute for outreach to and collaboration with
men. While women-centered advocacy can be an
important tool in highlighting the importance of women’s
participation and in pushing for the implementation of
quotas, confining engagement to one gender alone risks
compounding women’s marginalization and isolation from
high-level decision-making, particularly on issues that
extend beyond representation and inclusion.
09
“Working with women alone does not
help achieve gender equality. Rather,
it is necessary to work in a field that
includes both men and women…
working with men helps demonstrate
the ability of women on the ground.”
Fatma Mehdi, a representative of
the Frente Polisario at UN-mediated peace
talks on Western Sahara in 2018.
Photo: Fatma Mehdi, a member
of the Frente Polisario's
Delegation to UN-mediated
peace talks. Photo Credit:
Independent Diplomat.

09
Given that Track I peace processes remain heavily dominated by men—and it is
generally men who lead the parties that participate in peace talks—it is not sufficient
for women’s engagement to be confined to members of their gender. Changing the
behavior of party leaders necessitates the engagement of male allies and even (and
arguably, especially) skeptics. Across conflicts, women have long recognized this,
and have in many instances successfully built ties with male colleagues with political
influence—keeping them informed of their activities and outreach, sharing their
messages, including them in meetings and advocacy, seeking their input, etc.
In Venezuela, Isadora Zubillaga, the acting Foreign Minister of the Venezuelan
Interim Government and founder of Women for Democracy in Venezuela, notes that
working closely with male allies who understand the importance of women’s
participation has been critical to her achievements. “Every step that I’ve taken to
empower women in Venezuela’s political life, I have deliberately made sure that my
male colleagues were aware. I went to extra lengths to ensure that they understood
the importance of women’s inclusion and empowerment and that they could
understand how it fits into our larger goals for Venezuela’s democratic future. I have
always believed that if women are going to lead change, we must be part of the
change and work together.”
Summer Ahmed, the Representative of the Southern Transitional Council to the
United States, notes that “Women in Southern Yemen have been most effective when
we focus on building good working relationships and coalitions with the male
members of our community. It takes a lot of time and effort but communicating with
tribal leaders, military and political leaders can build a lot of bridges for women.”
Ahmed notes that to build such relationships, she often needs to emphasize issues
other than gender—particularly at the onset. “From my experience, and from what
I’ve seen from other women that have assumed roles in decision-making, we need to
think strategically about when to use feminist terms or push for inclusion on the
basis of our gender. It can’t be a one-size-fits-all approach, we need to tailor our
tactics to the individuals we are seeking to influence.”
At the same time, it is important to recognize that securing representation for some
women does not necessarily translate into gains for all women, nor does it
necessarily translate into meaningful participation. To change gendered power
dynamics and achieve more equitable gender norms and peaceful outcomes, a long-
term effort is needed to address masculinities in a transformative manner. Mobilizing
alliances with men should ultimately strive to create equal, mutually beneficial
partnerships rather than recreating new forms of patriarchal dominance.
Harness Domestic Support
Every sustainable solution requires the buy-in of domestic stakeholders. No matter
how

Photo: Alaa Murabit, founder of the Voice of Libyan Women, addresses the Security Council. Photo Credit: UN Women/Ryan Brown.
11
how much international attention is given to a conflict, lasting peace cannot be
imposed from the outside. Thus, as critical as it is for women seeking to influence
peace processes to engage the international community to secure their desired
policy outcomes, international outreach will never be a viable substitute for
domestic support. As women seek to exert influence over peace processes, it is thus
critical that they continue to consult closely with their local constituencies and
communities, and meaningfully engage local parties.
Omeima Abdel-Salam, the Representative of the Frente Polisario to Switzerland,
says “my work in Geneva is nothing if we do not have strong links to the ground. We
need to maintain constant lines of communication with people on the ground, who
provide reliable information, including human rights violations, so we have a full
sense of the reality.” It is essential that those lines of communication travel both
ways. Just as parties to conflicts must be informed by local communities, it is
equally important for parties to inform those communities of developments on the
political track, and ensure they feel invested in, and consequential to, the high-level
negotiations taking place regarding their future.
Yemen’s Dr. Amira Augustin notes that building this domestic support is key to
resolving conflicts in the long term. “The entire peace process wouldn’t make sense
if we do not interact with local communities who suffer the most from the conflict.
We need to strongly interact with those inside the country to know their needs and
aspirations. The peace process itself needs to be designed in the interest of these
local communities. Lasting peace is not possible when local communities do not see
their claims and aims represented and addressed as part of the process. A lack of
representation can deepen the fault-lines of the parties in conflict.”
Direct the International Community
Building domestic support for women’s empowerment is key for lasting change. But
securing international support for women’s participation has also been instrumental
to many of the advances women have made in expanding participation in peace
processes.

12
Speaking of the negotiations on Venezuela in Mexico City in 2021, Mariella
Magallanes notes that women’s presence at peace talks “was largely due to the
international pressure to increase the high-level participation of women in
Venezuela, which helped raise awareness among different actors to expand and open
paths for the meaningful participation of women.” Indeed, across conflicts, women
have found that their calls for inclusion are more likely to succeed when foreign
governments reinforce their demands around participation and protection, both by
amplifying their messaging and by setting conditions for support and engagement.
In many conflicts, women have worked publicly and privately to encourage
international allies to incentivize and pressure parties to prioritize gender equity.
This means pushing governments not merely to issue public statements on the
importance of women’s participation, but to follow through on their rhetorical
commitments to the women, peace and security agenda by directly linking women’s
participation to the political process, and working behind closed doors to push
parties (and other stakeholder governments with the capacity to exert leverage over
the parties) to prioritize women’s inclusion.
In the run-up to intra-opposition meetings on Syria, for example, female members of
the Syrian opposition mobilized advocates of the women, peace and security agenda
—including states like Sweden, Norway, Canada, etc.—to press their male colleagues
to allot more seats to female delegates. According to Mariam Jalabi, the co-founder
of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement, this international pressure—generated by
Syrian women themselves—was an important enabler in getting her male colleagues
to take women’s representation more seriously. “International pressure ultimately
came because of the pressure we, Syrian women and women’s groups, exerted on
the international community. The international community’s pressure, in turn,
helped push the parties to take our demands more seriously.”
In such cases, rather than wait for the international community to highlight the
importance of women’s inclusion, it is women themselves who set out their
expectations of the international community, and the steps governments should
take to reinforce their demands. Jalabi continues, “International pressure helps, but
it cannot replace what we Syrian women did internally within our own parties. It felt
more, at the time, like Syrian women were helping the international community
understand and recognize the importance of including women.”
Mobilizing governments to push parties to make gains towards gender parity can be
critical to advancing women’s participation. But it is no less critical to secure the
active support of Envoys and Mediators who facilitate Track I negotiations. Libya’s
Bensaad notes that the UN Envoy Stephanie Williams’ commitment to inclusion
“ensured we [women] were not sidelined from the process and she paved the path
for women’s inclusion in politics,” after years of women feeling “cut off.” Having an
activeo

12
active Envoy who assigns priority to the issue of inclusion can go a long way in
establishing a process with more equitable participation—and the opposite is also
true.
In cases where Envoys do not assign priority to women’s inclusion—or see it as more
of a tick-the-box exercise—ensuring women’s full, equal and meaningful
participation at the official negotiating table can be an immense struggle.
“It is very important for an Envoy to prioritize the inclusion of
women. If inclusive peace processes are not treated as a priority,
women will not have a seat at the table. An Envoy’s vision for an
inclusive peace process provides the foundation for women’s full,
equal and meaningful participation.”
Ola Alaghbari, CEO of the Sheba Youth Foundation and a member of Yemen’s
Technical Advisory Group (TAG), who advised the UN Envoy for Yemen throughout
various stages of Yemen’s peace process.
In cases where mediators have awarded less centrality to the issue of women’s
participation, it is imperative that women engage both with Envoy offices and their
teams, as well as with Member States (and in cases of UN-mediated conflicts,
members of the UN Security Council and the UN Secretary-General) to link women’s
participation to the political track, and ensure that women’s inclusion is not treated
as a dispensable add-on, but rather, as essential to the facilitation of a lasting peace
agreement.
Photo: Special Advisor on Libya to the UN Secretary-General, Stephanie Williams. Photo Credit: UN/Violaine Martin.
13

Secure Independent Financing
Funding can be a major determining factor in individuals’ ability to exert influence
over a political process—determining everything from who gets to attend peace talks
to who engages directly with international decision-makers. Unlike male parties to
the conflict, who often receive financing from local or regional stakeholders, women
often lack direct access to funding streams. A lack of independent funding can make
women dependent on their parties and male colleagues, making it difficult to carry
out the activities necessary to achieve their objectives. Independent funding—in
particular, long-term, flexible funding—can be a major asset for women looking to
influence political processes.
14
“When you are dealing with a conflict like Syria’s, it is money and
access that decide who is represented at the table—and women
often cannot compete.”
Mariam Jalabi, the co-founder of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement.
Financing for women’s participation in peace processes comes primarily from a mix
of governments, foundations, and UN agencies. Depending on its source, such
funding can be shorter or longer in duration, cover more or fewer political activities,
and be more or less earmarked for specific activities and outputs. Funding tends to
be more effective when it is more flexible, and when it is multi-year in duration.
Funding for women, peace and security also tends to favor registered civil society
organizations, rather than movements that lack designated registrations or women
in the political sphere, who do not identify as activists. This means that female
political leaders who seek formal participation in a peace process and members of
movements that are not officially registered can struggle to tap into the
international funding streams designed to enhance women’s participation in peace
processes. One long-term option to strengthen the availability of such funding is to
expand women’s access to the primary pool of funds supporting peace processes,
rather than earmarking women’s participation funds to a separate pool of funding.
Such an option would provide continuity in funding throughout a peace process’ life-
cycle.
Focus on Real-World Impact
In addition to showcasing technical expertise, women also exert influence by
focusing on on-the-ground dynamics and the tangible realities of warfare. Ola
Alaghbary of Yemen’s Technical Advisory Group, who has worked with mediators and
the parties to break the siege of Taiz, notes that “As someone directly involved at the

15
Photo: Yemeni women meet with UN Special Envoy to Yemen. Photo Credit: OSESGY.
grassroots, my overarching goal is to bring the voice of Yemenis from the ground to
the Track I process. As someone who has experienced war directly, and seen the
suffering of my people firsthand, my approach is to speak directly to the needs of my
people, to be clear about what is causing their suffering and what must be done to
address their needs.”
Fatma Mehdi, a delegate to the Western Sahara peace talks, adopted a similar
approach. During peace talks, she chose “to talk about the real situation, and be less
focused on abstract legalities or formalities.” She notes that while the men at the
table tended to emphasize historical points, Security Council resolutions, or legal
decisions, “I chose to talk clearly about the situation of human rights on the ground,
to make clear the difficulties that Sahrawi men and women are facing in real-life
terms. I used my time to explain the humanity of those affected by a lifetime under
occupation.”
When Mehdi finished speaking, she says the UN Envoy approached her personally
and promised to talk clearly about the need to address human rights abuses in
Western Sahara. “My intervention was a departure from my male colleagues. And I
think it is an approach that women often take. We speak directly to the heart of the
issue, we address what is happening in clear terms, and we give details that paint a
clear picture.” This approach of cutting through diplomatic niceties, and speaking
directly to the matters at hand, can be a very effective tool in negotiations that get
bogged down in rhetoric or pre-established positions.
Combine ‘Insider’ and ‘Outsider’ Tactics
Expanding women’s participation in peace processes requires tenacity. Women who
have succeeded in securing a meaningful role for themselves and other women have
done so not by waiting (or asking) for permission to be granted, but rather, by
seizing the initiative and claiming spaces traditionally denied to them.

“Throughout my career, I choose fieldwork and focused on the
areas that were associated in people’s minds as being led only by
men. I participated and was directly involved in settling disputes.
I did not wait for anyone to assign me those roles, but as I
overcame challenges, a great trust was formed between me and
many parties and they began to see my role as a constructive
one.”
Rabia Aburas, a member of Libya’s House of Representatives and a long-time civil
society activist.
16
Across conflicts, this has meant creatively carrying out the activities needed to
achieve women’s objectives—including combining the more ‘inside’ approach of
setting out policy recommendations to Envoys, submitting policy papers to parties,
participating in diplomatic meetings, and directly attending peace talks, with a more
‘outsider’ approach by speaking on-the-record to the media, leaking information
strategically, releasing public statements, or issuing public reports. This is true even
—and arguably, particularly—when women lack a formal role in a peace process.
While having a seat at the table is an obvious entry point to exert influence, it is by
no means the only route for women to do so. Leading diplomatic outreach and
engaging directly with international decision-makers and key stakeholders in their
respective conflicts positions women to advocate for their policy positions on their
own terms and in their own words. By proactively taking steps to influence a Track I
process, women can effectively shape the context in which a negotiation takes place.
This also includes embracing a multitrack approach to peace processes, ensuring not
only that engagement is happening with high-level decision-makers, but that such
outreach is supplemented with outreach to mid-level leaders as well as the
grassroots.
Persistence
Like conflicts themselves, securing women’s full, equal and meaningful participation
is a long-term endeavor. There is no quick fix to ensure women are meaningfully
engaged in a peace process. And improvements in participation at one stage may not
carry over into improvements at a later stage. The result is that achieving progress in
women’s participation requires constant vigilance, or what Mariam Jalabi, calls
persistence. “If it was not for Syrian women’s persistence, Syrian parties would not
include the women they do now. Any achievements we, Syrian women, have made
were because we refused to give up. For the last 11 years, we have insisted day-in
and

17
and day-out on our inclusion and we have pushed for progress on the issues that
matter to us. We are repeating the same messages over and over, and even when we
have a victory, we continue pushing—because nothing we achieve can be taken for
granted. We need to stay active and determined every step of the way.”
Persistence applies across conflicts, and it reflects the tenuous nature both of
advancements in women’s participation and in the wider progress around the peace
process and peace agreement implementation. In Syria, for example, commitments
made by the Syrian opposition to agree to a 30 percent quota for women’s
representation were not actualized in practice—and the gains that have been made
have required constant advocacy by women at every stage of the peace process.
Similarly, in Mali, the foundations of the 2015 peace agreement continue to go
unimplemented, requiring constant vigilance from women who seek to secure full
implementation.
"Advocacy for women's participation must be consistent and
permanent so that the conventions and laws on women's rights
passed and ratified by Mali, like Security Council resolution 1325
and law 052, are respected. It is essential to continue their
application so a greater number of women can benefit from
them."
Lalla Moulaye Haidara, a member of the Mali peace agreement’s monitoring
committee (CSA) representing Plateforme.
Photo: Training on the 2015 Algiers peace agreement to women involved in the peace process and leaders
from Northern Mali. Photo Credit: Independent Diplomat.

The aforementioned tactics can be key enablers for women seeking to influence
peace processes on their own terms. They do not, however, offer a universal
roadmap that can be deployed in all instances in precisely the same way. On the
contrary, in each context and for each individual, a different set of tactics may prove
more or less effective. Despite the mystery within which peace processes often seem
to be shrouded, there is no single “right” way to participate in or exert influence over
a peace process. And while women must always have a seat at the negotiating table,
formal participation in a peace process is by no means the only way to exert
influence over a Track I negotiation. On the contrary, women in civil society and
political society can—and indeed, have—succeeded in influencing negotiations by
creatively and proactively utilizing their networks, access, and expertise beyond the
table. Those in the international community, including governments, UN agencies,
and civil society organizations, seeking to support women’s full, equal and
meaningful participation in Track I processes should thus consider the following
when working to advance women’s participation:
Recommendations
18
1 Empower Women to Engage Beyond Matters of Representation: Securing
gender parity within a negotiation is a motivating factor for many women
involved in peace processes, but it is not the only goal women seek to secure.
Individuals are often motivated to get involved in a peace process because they
want to secure a specific policy outcome—whether it is a political transition,
protection of human rights, accountability, free and fair elections, the cessation
of hostilities, the release of detainees, humanitarian access, etc. Often, core
objectives are not limited to the achievement of representation, but rather,
what their participation will achieve. External support for women’s
participation in a peace process should broaden its focus to enable women’s
substantive input on all of the areas involved in a peace process, and not
confine women to either a subset of gender-specific issues or advocacy on
participation.
Don’t Demand Full Unity: Too often, women in peace processes are expected
to speak with one voice. While men are presumed to hold a variety of political
positions that make consensus difficult, there is often an expectation that
women—particularly those involved in peace processes—must unify across
party lines, and put their political differences behind them, in order to warrant
international support. This can lead to pressure on women of varying political
participation
2

perspectives to issue joint statements, feature in joint press conferences,
participate in joint visits, agree on joint policy recommendations, etc. Instead
of expecting such unity, international stakeholders should instead focus on
providing women with platforms and resources to determine the extent of their
own collective action and to cross party lines at their own pace and at their own
discretion—when women themselves determine that doing so will add value to
their efforts.
Support Beyond Training: Much international support for inclusive peace
processes focuses on building women’s capacity through trainings. Trainings
can be a useful tool if they are demand-driven, and tailored to the specific
needs of individual women or groups of women. But an overabundance of
trainings and capacity building exercises take a significant amount of
participants' time, which can leave women with less time to engage in the
practice of diplomacy itself. Rather than concentrating primarily on trainings as
a means to build women’s capacity to engage in Track I processes, there is
value in supporting women’s active engagement in such diplomacy—providing
platforms for meetings and events, sharing letters women have issued,
amplifying their political messaging, implementing their policy proposals, etc.
Long-Term, Flexible Funding: For women to engage assertively in peace
processes, it is imperative that they have access to the resources they need, in
particular, funding. Engagement in peace processes can be costly—running the
gamut from travel and accommodation in high-priced venues like Geneva to
venue rentals for public events. For women to engage effectively in these
processes, they need to be involved not just in one round of talks, a single
event, or one meeting, but across successive rounds of negotiations, events,
and meetings. The ability to plan long-term requires long-term funding, and it
requires flexibility to adapt to unpredictable changes in a peace process—
where talks can resume or stall at a moment’s notice. Having access to long-
term, flexible funding enables women to be agile in their engagement in a peace
process and to develop a long-term vision for that engagement. This applies
both to women in civil society and women in politics—who often are cut out
rom.
19
4
3
Photo: Muna Luqman, Yemeni activist, speaking at the UN Security Council. Photo Credit: UN.

20
6
from the funding opportunities allocated for women, peace and security (see
below). One option to address this is to fund women’s participation through the
primary pool of funds supporting peace processes. This would mean that
instead of earmarking women’s participation funds to a separate pool of
funding, a greater diversity of women—including those who identify as political
leaders and party members—could have access to funding throughout a peace
process’ life-cycle.
Support Women in Politics: Support (and in particular, financing) for women in
peace processes tends to concentrate on women in civil society. This leaves a
gap in support for women in political society, who are members of political
parties and who seek to level the playing field with their male counterparts
from within existing political structures. While it can be more politically
sensitive to support women who maintain these political roles, it is vital to
ensure equal and meaningful participation in a Track I process. Like women in
civil society, female political leaders need access to financial and material
support, visa assistance, intelligence and information, as well as platforms to
advocate for their positions. They also need to be engaged at the same levels as
their male counterparts, receiving access not just to experts specialized in the
women, peace and security agenda, but to decision-makers and diplomats who
are engaged in the full scope of a given peace process.
Throw Political Weight Behind Inclusion: Securing equal participation of
women is not only a matter of financing. To ensure more women are at the table
in Track I peace processes, governments and mediators overseeing those peace
processes need to treat inclusion as essential, not peripheral, to the
achievement of a peace agreement. This requires investing more political
capital in and setting conditions for bringing women to the table and keeping
them there, not just as advisors but as negotiators. In particular, those
overseeing peace processes—such as mediators and facilitators—should put
more emphasis on setting stronger guidelines on the inclusion of women,
including quotas on seat allocation, which can bind parties into making more
inclusive appointments, and make more of an effort to connect the women,
peace and security agenda directly to political processes (see below).
Set Benchmarks for Inclusion—and Stick to Them: Mediators, in particular,
have an important role to play when it comes to securing gender inclusion
within the peace processes they mediate. Institutions such as the UN could, for
example, set explicit conditions in exchange for their facilitator role, stipulating
that UN-mediated peace processes must be gender balanced and that each
delegation must include a minimum of 30 percent of women if the UN is to
engage as a mediator. Mediators could refuse to engage in peace processes in
which such benchmarks were not met. Or, mediators could insist that seats
meant
7
5

Photo Credit: Ola Alaghbari
21
8
meant to be designated for women remain empty if parties opt not to fill them
with women. There are several options that could be pursued in this vein, which
would require mediators to think of gender inclusion as a requirement for a
functional peace process.
Mirror Inclusion: Gender inclusion is not just a matter for the parties at the
table to consider, nor is women’s underrepresentation in decision-making a
problem limited to parties in conflicts. Women are under-represented in
policymaking globally. Hence, gender inclusive peace processes require
inclusion on all sides, including on the delegations representing stakeholder
governments and mediators on the other side of the negotiating table.
International stakeholders strengthen the argument for women’s participation
in peace processes when they do the same: including women in high-level
decision-making roles, including as envoys and senior diplomats; appointing
gender advisors to mediation teams and meaningfully integrating their advice
into their working methods; etc.
Photo: Women Heads of State and Government meet to discuss the newly created UNGA Platform of Women Leaders.
Photo Credit: UN Women/Ryan Brown.

To date, much of the Women, Peace and Security agenda has focused on the issue of
women's participation, often concentrating on the gross under-representation of
women within Track I processes. Yet through creativity, tenacity, persistence and
political savvy, women have succeeded in influencing peace processes to a far
greater extent than their numbers at the table would suggest. Deploying a variety of
tactics and strategies, women have not only secured seats in delegations once
closed to them, but they have successfully drawn attention to issues facing their
constituents, offered practical solutions to address both the consequences and root
causes of conflict, and led movements aimed at altering the context in which
negotiations take place. This report has outlined some of the methods women have
deployed to make these achievements, despite the many challenges they have
confronted, both domestically and internationally. This report has furthermore
argued that governments and nongovernmental actors seeking to support women’s
full, equal and meaningful participation in peace processes can play a significant
role in supporting women’s efforts in conflict zones by following women’s lead,
acting on their policy recommendations, pressing parties to broaden inclusivity, and
providing tangible support and resources for women seeking to engage with and
within the political parties that have a seat at the table.
Conclusion
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