Inclusive Peace supports various partners in Afghanistan. We provide advice on inclusive process design for the ongoing Intra-Afghan peace talks, and we work with women peacebuilders to enhance their influence in the peace process.

A peace agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban signed in February 2020 paved the way for negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Talks were due to start in March 2020 but were delayed due to disagreements over the modalities of a country-wide ceasefire and the release of Taliban prisoners held by the government. Talks began in September 2020 in Doha. Progress has thus far been slow, while violence across the country has increased.

Over the past two years, Inclusive Peace has been providing advice on inclusive process design for the ongoing Intra-Afghan peace talks. We have also worked with key constituencies such as women, youth, religious actors, and the Diaspora, as well as their international partners.
Our advice has also covered the risks and potential pitfalls associated with broader inclusion, including cooptation of included actors and the tension and discontentment that can arise from failed or superficial inclusion mechanisms.

We have also provided input on how digital tools – such as online consultations and social media – can be used to expand opportunities to participate and to disseminate knowledge about the peace process. Communicating information about the peace process to the broader Afghan population is of particular importance in order to generate legitimacy and public buy-in. A failure to do so has proved the undoing of multiple peace processes.

Inclusive Peace has also provided advice and input to Afghan women peacebuilders to help them to understand the different strategies and goals for enhancing women’s influence in the peace processes, along with the key factors that constrain and enable women’s influence, and how to build women’s solidarity and networks across different roles and constituencies including a set of common priorities for Afghan women.