Women have historically been systematically excluded from political leadership and peace processes. Despite decades of policy on the subject, this exclusion continues, as does the neglect of gender considerations in peace processes. At Inclusive Peace, we work to promote women’s participation and gender mainstreaming in all aspects of peacemaking and peacebuilding.

Two decades have passed since Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security (WPS) was adopted by the UN Security Council. The WPS agenda recognises that women are essential to international peace and security. UN member states acknowledge that peace depends on women’s meaningful participation in conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding. The agenda also highlights the importance of women’s participation in political decision-making more broadly.

However, the road from policy development in the Security Council to implementation has been long and slow. In many contexts, women still play a temporary and often symbolic role without actual possibilities to influence. In other words, significant gaps remain between this normative advancement and concrete results for women and girls. Lack of political will, accountability, and resources, as well as institutional and attitudinal barriers have been identified as the main causes for this gap.

How we work with Women and Gender

At Inclusive Peace, we work to break down these barriers. We support women’s meaningful participation in different contexts and fields, such as conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and broader political processes. This work is based on our extensive research and experiences on women’s varied roles and influence in peace and transition processes.

We support inclusive process design, but most of all we focus on how inclusive processes can lead to inclusive outcomes in addressing the barriers strategically.