Securing Participation and Protection in Peace Agreements

2018 ◽  
pp. 460-474
Author(s):  
Isabela Marín Carvajal ◽  
Eduardo Álvarez-Vanegas
Keyword(s):  
Peace Process ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Meaningful Participation ◽  
Peace Agreements ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Colombian Government ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Women’s participation in the Colombian peace process constitutes an outstanding case in comparison with other peace negotiations processes, due to the efforts made by unofficial actors. Nevertheless, during the negotiation period, selective violence against social leaders increased, affecting their mobilizations and capacity to meaningful contribute. This chapter critically evaluates developments in scholarship and policymaking that considers the WPS pillars of participation and protection and their inclusion in peace agreements. To do so, the chapter draws upon the case of the Havana peace process, led by the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), between 2012 and 2016. The analysis derives from a research experience at the Fundación Ideas para la Paz (Bogotá, Colombia), exploring women’s participation in Columbia’s peace negotiations. Drawing on examples from the Colombian case, the chapter demonstrates the importance of accounting for women’s preexisting forms of participation and knowledge. It also argues that affirmative measures that encourage women’s meaningful participation in peace negotiations will be ineffective if the underlying structural factors that exclude women from decision-making processes more broadly remain unaddressed.

scholarly journals The UN and women's marginalization in peace negotiations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Schneiker
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Security Council Resolution ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Peace Agreements ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Peace And Security

Abstract Although UN Security Council Resolution 1325 calls for increased participation of women in all stages of a peace process, the number of women who participate in formal peace negotiations is still very limited. In order to augment their number, UN Women and other international organizations have published a series of policy reports in which they argue that women's participation increases the success of peace negotiations and leads to more inclusive peace agreements. However, based on an analysis of relevant policy reports and interviews with women and men involved in peace negotiations, I argue that the policy reports do not lead to women's empowerment. Instead, they contribute to women's marginalization in peace negotiations, because they entrap women between conflicting expectations. The type of behaviour that international advocates of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda expect of women when they participate in peace negotiations limits the women's room for manoeuvre—at best. At worst, this type of behaviour prevents women from participating in the negotiations, because it is dismissed by domestic (male) negotiators. But if women who participate in peace negotiations violate the behavioural script proposed by the policy reports, they are considered as not acting in line with the WPS agenda. Hence, no matter how women behave when they sit at the negotiation table, they either lose the support of international or national gatekeepers.

scholarly journals Major Leadership Features of the Peace Process in Colombia

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-87
Author(s):  
Adriana Calderon
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Political Learning ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Patriarchal Culture ◽  
Colombian Government ◽  
Leadership Components

This article examines the main leadership components of peace negotiations between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Havana, Cuba. It identifies the leadership factors associated with the success of the four-year peace process that started in 2012; while comparing it to previous peace dialogues in Colombia to draw out the political learning process. The hypothesis is that three components, namely political learning in its complexity, the inclusion of women, and the inclusion of victims, have been crucial for the success of the peace process. Firstly, the concept of political learning is understood as materialising as a political leadership function. Second, in an idiosyncratic and to some extent patriarchal culture like Colombia’s, it is essential to examine the role of women in the peacebuilding process as engaging negotiators and mediators, rather than as only being passively exposed to politics. Third, the inclusion of victims in peace negotiations was an uncommon decision, and it appears to have eased the Accords. This article also contends that leadership as process, and in particular leadership styles, are fundamental to understanding the complexity that led to ending the world’s longest-running civil war.

scholarly journals Women, peace and international security: the Havana Agreement for peace in Colombia

2019 ◽  
pp. 73-90
Author(s):  
Elena DE OLIVEIRA SCHUCK ◽  
Lívia BRITO
Keyword(s):  
International Security ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Peace Agreements ◽  
Specific Analysis ◽  
The Government

Armed conflicts have different impacts on women. In this regard, women’s civil society organizations are inserted in the international political arenas in order to guarantee their rights in warfare contexts. In the case of conflicts in Colombia, women are identified not only as combatants and victims, but also as members of women civil organizations for peacebuilding. These organizations played a prominent role in the elaboration of the peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Havana, Cuba, between 2012 and 2016. This article proposes an analysis of the theoretical production on peace, international security, feminism and subalternity, to present the specific case of the conflict in Colombia and its gender perspectives. The results indicate that peace agreements can be instruments of political inclusion and reparation for women affected by armed conflicts. In highlighting the role of political minorities in the international peace negotiations in Colombia, this research contributes to the development and expansion of critical perspectives —feminist and subaltern— on international security and studies for peace. Moreover, building upon the specific analysis of the Havana Agreement, this paper aims to contribute to the inclusion of a gender perspective in future peace agreements.

“Spoiling” in the Public Sphere: Political Opposition to Peace Negotiations and the Referendum Campaign in Colombia

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Joana Amaral
Keyword(s):  
Peace Process ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Political Opposition ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Peace referendums can be exploited by political actors who may gain politically from opposing a peace process. This article explores how political opposition affects peace negotiations, particularly when a referendum is used to ratify an agreement, through the study of the Colombian peace negotiations between the government of President Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). It finds that the exclusive character of the negotiations, coupled with their confidentiality, contributed to the political opposition’s capacity to influence public opinion against the peace process and to reject the peace agreement in the 2016 referendum. This qualitative study is based on the content analysis of reports, memoirs and interviews with key negotiation delegates, journalists and representatives of the referendum campaigns. It argues that political inclusion in peace negotiations can help prevent referendum spoiling, while public information and education during the negotiations can reduce the impact of disinformation and manipulation campaigns.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and Its Aftermath

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Palma
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The Political ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Colombian Government ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Hybrid Group

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—FARC) was an insurgent group that emerged in the 1960s as a consequence of struggles between the Conservatives and the Liberals, as well as the consolidation of a Communist party that promoted an armed insurrection. A relative absence of state institutions in farther regions, the uneven distribution of land, and an impoverished peasant class were elements fueling rebellious movements. By the 1980s, however, FARC had become something more complex than an insurgent organization. After initially opposing the idea, the group accepted the generation of income through the taxation of activities in the cocaine-illicit economy. An unprecedented process of growth experienced by the insurgency, with this income, allowed a remarkable offensive against the security forces, in specific regions, by the end of the 1990s. Since then, an explanation of the organization as a “pure” political insurgency would be inaccurate; the motivation and purpose of some fighters within the group was profit. Although an explanation radically separating political and criminal (economic) agendas may be flawed, at least a concept which portrays the organization as something more than just an insurgency seems helpful. The concept of hybrid group, in which armed, political, and criminal dimensions coexist, invites exploring different types of motivations, purposes, and tasks that fighters might have. The observation of these dimensions also contributes to an understanding of the evolution of FARC after the Havana Agreement. A strong military offensive during the 2000s was one of the factors motivating the group to engage in peace negotiations with the Colombian government. With the Agreement, FARC as an armed insurgency ceased to exist, but the continuation of factors which motivated the existence of a hybrid group have triggered the emergence of a myriad of smaller groups, several of which claim to be the real successors of FARC, mixing in diverse ways the political and criminal agendas.

Poor peacebuilding risks power vacuums in Colombia

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Aid Workers ◽  
National Liberation ◽  
Framework Agreement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Populations ◽  
Colombian Government ◽  
The Government

Subject Shadow governance in Colombia. Significance On March 30, the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) signed a framework agreement in Caracas formally to launch peace talks. Meanwhile, negotiations between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are in their final stages. The coordination of negotiations with Colombia's two leftist guerrilla groups is crucial in ensuring the security and stability of their territorial strongholds after they make peace. Impacts Necessary peacebuilding cooperation with guerrillas will leave the government open to attacks from the opposition and peace process critics. The success of foreign aid workers will depend on their building local democratic capacities rather than assisting the government. State efforts to tackle BACRIM encroachment by force could destroy any hard-won legitimacy with local populations.

What Works in Participation

2018 ◽  
pp. 147-160
Author(s):  
Thania Paffenholz
Keyword(s):  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Women In Leadership ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Transition Processes ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Meaningful Participation ◽  
Financial Conditions ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Research Findings

Despite the adoption of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 over fifteen years ago, women remain significantly underrepresented in peace and transition processes. This chapter analyses how and under which conditions the inclusion of women influences peace processes. It draws upon evidence-based comparative research findings, which show that increasing the number of women included in peace and transition processes does not per se increase the likelihood that more peace agreements are signed and implemented. Making women’s participation in peace and transition processes count is more important than merely counting the number of women included in such processes. This chapter suggests, therefore, that for the discursive shift toward meaningful participation to be seen in practice, peace negotiations need to be designed in a way that facilitates the engagement of women in leadership roles. Moreover, it concludes that substantive participation requires political and financial conditions that enable women to occupy leadership roles in the negotiation process.

WPS, Peace Negotiations, and Peace Agreements

2018 ◽  
pp. 814-828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Aggestam
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Peace Agreements ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Underrepresentation Of Women ◽  
Peace Negotiation ◽  
Gender Impacts

Peace negotiations and their outcomes have long-term repercussions for post-conflict politics and societies. Yet, one of the most striking patterns of contemporary peace diplomacy is the gross underrepresentation of women at the negotiation table, which reflects the gendered nature of diplomacy as an institution. The research question raised in this chapter concern how gender impacts peace negotiations, and how women’s participation is conceptualized in theory and framed in policy? The chapter first takes stock of contemporary policy discourses on women’s participation and the state-of-the art of scholarly work on gender and peace negotiations. It then moves on to depict where women are descriptively positioned in peace negotiation and analyzes the gendered dynamics of peace negotiations. It highlights some enabling and constraining factors, which influence women’s participation in peace negotiation. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how a research agenda can be advanced on gender and peace negotiation.

scholarly journals Conflict Externalization and the Quest for Peace: Theory and Case Evidence from Colombia

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hector Galindo-Silva
Keyword(s):  
Peace Process ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Domestic Conflict ◽  
International Dispute ◽  
Colombian Government ◽  
Rebel Group ◽  
The Government ◽  
Foreign Actor ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractI study the relationship between the likelihood of a violent domestic conflict and the risk that such a conflict “externalizes” (i.e. spreads to another country by creating an international dispute). I consider a situation in which a domestic conflict between a government and a rebel group has the potential to externalize. I show that the risk of externalization increases the likelihood of a peaceful outcome, but only if the government is sufficiently powerful relative to the rebels, the risk of externalization is sufficiently high, and the foreign actor who can intervene in the domestic conflict is sufficiently uninterested in material costs and benefits. I show how this model helps to understand the recent and successful peace process between the Colombian government and the country’s most powerful rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

scholarly journals GENDER-RESPONSIVE GOVERNMENT TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE POLICIES – A PATH TO SUSTAINABLE PEACE AND POST‑CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION

2021 ◽  
pp. 202-208
Author(s):  
E. V. Lukianchenko
Keyword(s):  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Meaningful Participation ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Peace Agreements ◽  
The Government

The article is devoted to the legal basis and direction of the Government of Ukraine in the development of gender-responsive state policy of the transition period. The international principles and commitments of Ukraine in the framework of transitional justice, taking into account the gender aspect, are revealed, as well as the international and national commitments of Ukraine in the framework of involving women in peacebuilding and participation. The article presents international experience of taking into account international standards and norms in order to protect women’s rights and build peace. Global evidence indicates that women’s meaningful participation in peace negotiations increases the duration of peace. Peace agreements with female signatories are more durable and have a significantly higher number of provisions aimed at political reform and higher implementation rates. The recent study investigating 352 peace agreements in 64 countries between 1990 and 2019 also found that there was a significant increase in the share of peace agreements with gender provisions, from below 10% in the 1990s to 45% in 2013. Yet, this practice appears to have been halted. In 2019, the share of agreements with gender provisions was only at 29%. Despite an increasing evidence about the important role of women, their expertise and meaningful participation in preventing and addressing conflict and sustaining peace, women are still under- represented in the peace processes. Between 1992 and 2019, women constituted, on average, only 13% of negotiators, 6% of mediators, and 6% of signatories in major peace processes worldwide. Present peacebuilding experiences also indicate that peace is likely to be lasting only if the security needs of the population are addressed in parallel with the political and socioeconomic aspects of conflict resolution and post-conflict recovery. Women’s exposure to conflict may result in their new roles and responsibilities and may open new opportunities for their greater involvement in public life, including peace and security decision-making. Likewise, gender equality positively influences the cohesion and effectiveness of the security sector in increasingly multidimensional peace processes.

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