Wars impose heavy costs on women, yet their voices and concerns are often marginalized in global peace processes. Since the end of the Cold War, the United Nations has made progress in including women in peace negotiations and post-war reconstruction, but this trend is now reversing.
Undermining Peace Processes
Peacebuilding organizations are facing erosion and inability to pressure conflicting parties, while conservative and warlike groups have found new ways to exclude women from war and peace negotiations. While some governments still value women's representation in important areas like the selection of the next UN Secretary-General, this issue is less visible in the everyday practice of peace diplomacy.
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The Colombian Experience and Existing Challenges
In the past decade, the Colombian peace process reached an agreement that represented a way to end a deep conflict. In these negotiations, in addition to military and political advisors, civil society groups also provided advice on rural reforms and inclusive governance. However, many provisions of the agreement regarding gender have not yet been fully implemented, and women are gradually being sidelined from the negotiation table.
Current ceasefire agreements do not even provide the minimum protections for women against violence. By 2025, none of the 13 signed ceasefire agreements included a ban on sexual violence. In many conflicts, women have political networks that men do not, and they can act as a bridge between humanitarian activists and communities.
Various factors have contributed to the reduction of inclusivity in diplomacy. Military stalemates have encouraged a minimalist approach in peace processes, and diplomats have focused more on stopping conflicts than on conditions that could sustain peace. Moreover, diversity has become a contentious issue, with different governments holding varying views on it.
In Sudan, a bloody war has been ongoing for over three years, and the need for an immediate ceasefire is felt. Several diplomatic efforts have been made to draw attention to the issue of women and civil society in these negotiations, but they have still been unable to compel the parties involved to engage in dialogue.
Similarly, in Syria, hopes for fair representation in the post-war future have diminished. Women hold only 22 out of 207 seats in the new parliament, a number that is clearly below the minimum 30% quota that civil society and the United Nations have emphasized for increasing women's representation.
