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Inclusive Peace not only has a new name and brand, but also a changed approach, objectives and priorities. Get to know the “new” Inclusive Peace here. 

A little over a year after Inclusive Peace transitioned from the Inclusive Peace & Transition Initiative (IPTI) at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, what has changed? 

Quite a bit, it turns out.  And the changes are more than cosmetic. Yes the name, logo, and website have changed, and Inclusive Peace is now an independent think and do tank – but there are others less obvious at first glance. Here are the 5 main ways Inclusive Peace sets itself apart from IPTI.

Collaboration is key 

Inclusive Peace partners with multiple stakeholders to create and share impact in peace and policy processes and through research. 

As a predominantly research organisation, IPTI’s approach was largely driven towards applying its research knowledge. In 2017, IPTI began to experiment on how to make more of an impact in the mediation and peacebuilding field. This included undertaking a series of collaborative ventures. Such experiences revealed just how impactful we could be in partnership with others.  

Inclusive Peace has mainstreamed these learnings not just in our operational work, but also in our core objectives and approach. In our peace process support we acknowledge local contexts and leadership by playing the role of a critical, trusted friend from a discrete, back seat vantage point. We also work collaboratively on research projects with academic institutions across the world and are co-creating an interactive online knowledge platform with national and international peer organisations. 

Setting the inclusion agenda

Inclusive Peace takes an active approach to shift the peace process field as a whole to integrate inclusive outcomes within all aspects of work, understanding that peace is an ongoing process, built over time.

When IPTI began experimenting with how to make more impact in the mediation and peacebuilding field, it  grew out of frustration towards the traditional approach of the field. To appease conflict actors, local and international-led processes either took no notice of inclusion frameworks or made artificial attempts to meet them. However, being a predominantly research-focused organisation held IPTI back from taking too much of an active role in agenda setting.

Now, Inclusive Peace’s independent setup allows a more strategic  approach. We strive to change the traditional linear peace process approach, working with our partners to systematically and creatively rethink how they work for peace. For us this means working from the belief that peace is a perpetual process that all societies need to actively engage in to thrive. The challenge now is how to get our whole field to systematically rethink how peace processes are conducted for inclusive outcomes.

Broadening public awareness of inclusion

We work to make societies more peaceful and inclusive. To achieve this we need to work not only with actors from the peace process field alone. 

IPTI’s size and research-focus meant there was little appetite and limited resources to take an active, strategic approach to public awareness raising. This is no longer a barrier at Inclusive Peace, where our global and agile team have broader inputs, networks, and reach. Non-profit organisations in other sectors (environmental, humanitarian) have long used social media and communications tools to gain supporters and influence change. But for the peace process sector it’s still early days. 

Inclusive Peace wants to change this, at first by making systematic use of its communications channels and The Open Peace portal to increase visibility and broaden awareness. By creating inspiring #campaigns on our social media channels we contribute to build broader inclusion understanding beyond expert circles. 

A balanced organisational setup 

Inclusive Peace is an independent think and do tank with balanced priorities in research, policy and practice. In reality, this means a leaner research team in-house and more collaborations with external institutions.

As a research programme housed within an academic setting at the Graduate Institute, IPTI was inherently research-focused and resourced. In contrast, Inclusive Peace is an independent association with a broad mandate that does not solely focus on research. We have an ambitious vision and mission, which makes it clear that research is important but requires transfer into action. We’re staffed by a balanced team of individuals with diverse talents, strengths, and interests to work across peace process support, agenda setting, and knowledge creation projects. 

What’s in a name?

Inclusive Peace has a new brand since transitioning from IPTI, including a shorter name, a new logo, and a recently launched website with a new look and feel. 

The name change from IPTI to Inclusive Peace raises the obvious question: why keep “inclusive peace” but drop “transition initiative”? The new name differentiates the new organisation while at the same time retaining the institutional memory and experience of IPTI. Political transitions of course remain an important area within the scope of our work, but this no longer needed to be spelt out. Our name now reflects an organisation working to support inclusive outcomes in peace processes while at the same time setting the discourse on inclusion in peace research and policy.

The new logo and branding is likewise designed to reflect our vision, mission and approach. Our claim – setting change in motion – reflects our discrete back-seat approach inspiring at critical junctures. Our brand, website and social media channels are all built around our core values and focus areas and play a vital role in our strategic agenda setting work reaching both the expert community and wider public with our message of inclusion. 

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Over the last decades, women’s crucial role in effective peacebuilding has increasingly been recognised. But women’s participation in formal peace processes remains at unacceptably low levels. Here’s our take on how to better counteract patriarchal structures and discourses in a smart and effective way. 

March has been a busy month at Inclusive Peace. Among myriad other tasks, we have been moderating and giving inputs to a series of events related to Women, Peace and Security. In the beginning of the month, Executive Director Thania Paffenholz led the event launching Germany’s new Women, Peace and Security strategy. Two days later, Director Sarah Taylor gave expert input for a GIZ panel discussion on women’s leadership in peacebuilding, giving food for thought to high level stakeholders. Read her input here:

Identify patriarchal backlash as a reality
Put simply, patriarchy is generally unimpressed by norms and evidence. Despite established evidence, policy, and the fact that women comprise more than 50% of the global population, arguments are often put forward to show or ‘prove’ that women’s inclusion in peace processes is not necessary, or is even harmful to a process: ‘Right now we need to get armed parties to sign a ceasefire – women’s inclusion can come later.’ ‘There is not sufficient evidence that women’s inclusion really brings more peace’. ‘Women do not know enough about the subjects discussed at the table.‘ ‘Women are not sufficiently representative’. In response, WPS champions are instead often drawn into producing counter-arguments, rather than challenging the premise of the questions: ‘We need to ask Envoys to consult with women’ instead of demanding a 50% gender quota for all negotiation delegations; ‘We need more evidence’, instead of pointing to the bulk of existing evidence. Finally, ‘We need to train the women’. i.e. the need to ‘fix’ the women, not patriarchy, as being the cause of the problem. We should support women to better understand how to push for peace processes to succeed, and how to push their way in rather than waiting to be invited.

Overcome conceptual confusion: What constitutes meaningful participation of women in peace processes?
General – and thus unspecific – calls for women’s inclusion often manifest as a conflated agenda that does not distinguish between different goals. In his 2018 annual report on Women, Peace and Security, the UN Secretary General differentiates between gender parity, gender mainstreaming and meaningful participation and women’s influence throughout his report, a clearer framing that helps to make women’s inclusion more real and understandable. For example, women’s representation can be achieved with a gender or inclusion quota across all bodies in a peace process – from negotiation delegations to consultative bodies or implementation bodies and constitutional commissions. Gender mainstreaming in all outcome documents of a ceasefire or peace deal – as the Colombian case exemplifies – can be achieved with formally mandated gender commissions or gender focal points. Women’s influence over the peace process needs multiple strategies, ranging from discrete lobbying to presenting targeted proposals to mass action or campaigns.

Work for inclusion in multiple roles and bodies in peace processes
In many UN-led peace processes in recent years, women’s inclusion has been characterised by prioritising separate, women-specific tracks, advisory bodies, technical committees or consultations over the direct inclusion of women at the negotiation table or in key implementing bodies. This does not mean that women cannot be simultaneously included in multiple bodies and functions in a peace process; but this is not a replacement for direct equal participation. The SG confirms as much in his 2018 report: ‘In some cases, this has taken the form of parallel processes or advisory bodies that are unable to contribute to main processes and outcomes’.

Prevent reduction to “women’s demands”
The language and strategies used to lobby for women’s inclusion can contribute to the narrative that women have to justify their place at the table and at other crucial forums. This can happen through qualifying or justifying women’s inclusion (something men never need to do), exaggerating the need for training to build women’s capacity, focusing on women’s needs rather than strengths, or advocating for quotas that are below parity.

Change the rules of the game, not just the players
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the traditional approach of inviting key armed actors to the negotiation table and signing a peace deal no longer works. Official peace negotiations in Syria, Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan, Cyprus are continually stalled, or essentially not working. The objective cannot be to just add more women to an evidently malfunctioning system. We as a community need to focus instead on fundamentally rethinking our approach to peace, recognising the entire ecosystem in which these processes develop, and recognising that these processes do not end with a signed agreement.

Rethinking our approach to peace with inclusion at its core, with women’s leadership fundamental at every step, will help us build more resilient communities.

Briefing Note,

Beyond the Normative: Can Women’s Inclusion Really Make for Better Peace Processes?

This briefing note summarises key findings on the effects of women’s inclusion and influence in peace processes. It is based on the multi-year research project “Broadening Participation in Political Negotiations and Implementation”.

April 2015|Thania Paffenholz,

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Infographic,

Factors Enabling and Constraining Women's Influence in Peace Processes

This infographic provides an overview of 19 factors enabling and constraining women’s influence in peacebuilding and peace processes.

December 2019|IPTI,

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Briefing Note,

Fresh Insights on the Quantity and Quality of Women’s Inclusion in Peace Processes

This briefing note summarises expert views on women's inclusion in peace processes. It is based on findings from the “Broadening Participation” and “Civil Society and Peacebuilding” Projects.

May 2013|Antonia Potter Prentice, Cate Buchanan, Thania Paffenholz,

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Report,

Making Women Count - Not Just Counting Women: Assessing Women's Inclusion and Influence on Peace Negotiations

This report is based on the multi-year research project “Broadening Participation in Political Negotiations and Implementation”. It examines women’s inclusion and influence in peace processes.

April 2016|Steven Dixon, Anna-Lena Schluchter, Jacquie True, Thania Paffenholz, Nick Ross,

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Briefing Note,

Making Women Count in Peace Processes

This briefing note summarises key findings on women's inclusion and influence in peacebuilding and peace processes. It is based on the “Broadening Participation in Political Negotiations and Implementation” research project.

February 2016|IPTI,

Download Pdfview document
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At Inclusive Peace, we generate knowledge products designed to be used by practitioners, policymakers, and researchers. We do so in new and innovative ways, and in our collaboration with partners on the PeaceFem app, we are inspiring peacemakers across the globe.

Who is still in doubt? The future is female – including in peacemaking. However, women’s achievements in peace and political reform processes are often invisible or understated. Inclusive Peace, in collaboration with UN Women, the Monash University Gender, Peace and Security Centre, and PeaceRep: The Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform at the University of Edinburgh, created an app to highlight female peacemaker’s strategies to influence peace processes as well as the provisions created in agreements and the level of their implementation. We pooled our data in one easy-to-use app, now available in English, Arabic, French and Indonesian. The app is designed to inspire current and future peacemakers and is now in use in more than sixty countries across the globe.

The PeaceFem app was launched in July 2020 and has now been downloaded in over 60 countries, by users from Sweden to Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan to Austria. The App has been updated for 2023, with additional case studies and languages that will expand the app’s reach and accessibility among WPS actors in even more regions around the world.

What’s new in Version 2?

  • Additional case studies on women’s involvement and gender perspectives in peace processes in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Indonesia, and Tunisia
  • New full translations into French and Indonesian, alongside English and Arabic
  • Technical improvements to improve user experience

“Women’s participation in and influence on peace processes is essential to inclusive societies, but we have a lot of work to do in making this work visible and accessible for other advocates around the globe. With the PeaceFem app, we hope to inspire and spark women’s participation in peace and political reform processes,” says Sarah Taylor, Director, International Policy Strategy and WPS, at Inclusive Peace.

The app contains a comprehensive index sorted by region, country, strategies, provisions, and implementation providing information about strategies women groups and their supporters have used to influence peace agreements. These strategies are often creative and sometimes surprising. In Somalia, for example, milk collection collectives were key in building trans-clan alliances between women involved in the peace process following the civil war. And in post-apartheid South Africa, there was a significant number of strong feminist leaders involved in political parties and civil society.

“Despite the attention generated by the 20th anniversary of UNSCR1325, it seems like the WPS agenda at large, including ideas on strategies for advancing women’s meaningful women’s inclusion in peace processes and political transitions, is currently stuck, much like most of the world’s track 1 peace processes. Women can play an important role to revitalize and rethink processes. The updated version of the PeaceFem app – with new case studies and now available in more languages – provides free access to the tools, experiences, and insights of fellow WPS practitioners that can help users to think about strategies that can get gender responsive provisions into peace agreements, and also advance the WPS agenda more broadly,” says Thania Paffenholz, Executive Director at Inclusive Peace.

Download the PeaceFem app on iTunes or Google Play.

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