Pitches for Peace event inspired and sparked discussion

In October 2020, Inclusive Peace marked the 20th anniversary of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda by inviting women engaged in peace processes to discuss their creative Pitches for Peace with high-level representatives from the UN and member states.

Achieving the meaningful inclusion of women in peace processes requires creativity, innovation, and a willingness to rethink the way we do peace. That is why we invited four female peacemakers to identify critical barriers in peace processes, and to propose ways to dismantle them. The peacemakers then discussed their “Pitches for Peace” with a panel of senior peace practitioners. High-level representatives from the UN and the United Kingdom, Mexico, Kenya, and Norway then reflected on how to use these ideas in practice.

The pitches addressed some of the most pressing challenges to date in reaching the goals of the WPS agenda, including the absence of inclusive processes globally. We see that there remains a perspective that women’s participation, and gender responsive content, are seen as add-ons, and not central principles that support conflict prevention and resolution, and underpin the growth of peaceful, inclusive societies.

The discussion provided a set of highly innovative options for how to rethink inclusive peace processes. Here we bring you a snapshot of the Pitches for Peace:

Emmily Koiti, Youth Representative from the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission in South Sudan, pitched how to bring financing and monitoring measures into the negotiations themselves, not waiting for post-agreement.

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Betty Bigombe, Technical Adviser to the South Sudan peace process, spoke about the need to look at training, politics, and personality when selecting mediators.

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Yasmine Ouirhrane, Expert on Peace & Security at the AU-EU Youth Cooperation, Hub and Founder of We Belong, called for intersectionality and inclusion when external actors convene pre-negotiation discussions.

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Daniela Soto Pito, Coordinator to the Indigenous Regional Council of Cauca, Colombia, called for regional dialogues with all actors – and to have these discussions reflected in online/virtual fora.

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Finally, senior practitioners Teresa Whitfield, Hanna Tetteh, and Thania Paffenholz discussed politics and aspiration; community legitimacy & political clout; funding & support.

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The audience also had a chance to weigh in through an online poll, evaluating the pitches on Innovation, Practicability, Affordability, and Potential to Provoke Change. Finally, we heard from key stakeholders and from our partners on this event: the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the Mission of Mexico to the UN, the Mission of Kenya to the UN, and the Mission of Norway to the UN.

At Inclusive Peace, we are delighted to see that this event not only provided a space for reflection, but provoked challenging and innovative pitches for change. These are the kind of ideas we need to foster to promote inclusive peace processes worldwide.

You can watch the event anytime here:

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