Civil Society and Peace Negotiations: Confronting Exclusion

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren Kew ◽  
Anthony Wanis-St. John
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Strong Correlation ◽  
International Conflict ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Civil Society Participation

AbstractThe fact that civil society groups play important roles in post-conflict peacebuilding has entered the mainstream of international conflict resolution dogma. Rarely do local civil society groups get a seat at the negotiation table for peace accords. Although the exclusion of civil society from peace negotiations may streamline the process, the absence of civil society voices and interests at the negotiating table can negatively impact the sustainability of a peace agreement during peacebuilding. Surveying a wide variety of different peace processes, a strong correlation was found between active civil society participation in peace negotiations and the durability of peace during the peacebuilding phase. Cases in which civil society groups actively engaged in peace negotiations seemed to enjoy more sustained peace in the peacebuilding phase. This holds true also for cases in which civil society groups did not have a direct seat at the table, but did exercise significant influence with the negotiators because they were democratic actors. War resumed in many cases not characterized by direct or indirect civil society involvement in the peace negotiations. No claim of causality is made; the sustainability of peace surely rests on causes as complex and dynamic as the initiation of war does. However, these findings do call attention to the need for further research to understand the special impact that civil society inclusion at the peace table may have.

Women’s Participation in Informal Peace Processes

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-98
Author(s):  
Anjali Kaushlesh Dayal ◽  
Agathe Christien
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Systematic Study ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Rights Issues

Abstract Women’s greater presence in informal peace processes is often noted in works on peace processes, but there has been little systematic evidence about this involvement. This article is the first systematic study of women’s participation in informal peace processes. We find that women are a significant presence in civil society efforts to forge peace outside formal negotiation rooms: nearly three-fourths of identifiable informal peace processes have clear evidence of involvement from women’s groups. This research indicates that women advocate to be included in formal peace processes, work to legitimate formal negotiations and organize for peace, advocate for the inclusion of women’s rights issues in the final peace agreement, provide information on human rights violations to participants in the formal peace process, engage in local conflict resolution, and advocate as partisans for one or another side in the conflict.

scholarly journals Towards inclusive peace: Analysing gender-sensitive peace agreements 2000–2016

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqui True ◽  
Yolanda Riveros-Morales
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Upward Trend ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Peace Agreements ◽  
Civil Society Participation ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
And Gender

The presence of gender provisions in peace agreements affects women’s participation in post-conflict societies as well as the chances that a post-conflict society will move towards gender equality. While there is an overall upward trend in the number of references to women’s rights and gender equality in peace agreements, gender-sensitive agreements are not a given. Why and how are peace agreements with gender provisions adopted? We use statistical analysis to explain why some peace agreements adopt gender provisions while others have no such provisions. Based on an analysis of 98 peace agreements across 55 countries between 2000 and 2016, we find that peace agreements are significantly more likely to have gender provisions when women participate in elite peace processes. Our study also shows that the likelihood of achieving a peace agreement with gender provisions increases when women’s representation in national parliaments increases and when women’s civil society participation is significant.

scholarly journals Complexities and Context: Women's Peace-Building in Conflict and Post-Conflict Bougainville

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dylan Page
Keyword(s):  
Peace Process ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Peace And Conflict Studies ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Context Specific

<p>The potential role of women in conflict and post-conflict environments has been the subject of much debate in the field of peace and conflict studies. In 2000 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325, which called for a greater involvement of women and acknowledgement of gender issues in conflict and post-conflict environments, and this has led to further discussion about what this might mean and how it might be implemented. Despite this women are continually under-represented in nearly all peace processes and there is no universally agreed upon way to ensure this situation does not come about. The barriers women face range from cultural to logistical and economic, and surmounting them can be hard to achieve.  One case where women have been involved at all levels in the peace process with substantial success is the Pacific island of Bougainville, where a conflict over mining issues and secession from Papua New Guinea was waged from 1988-1997. Women were active in attempts to bring all parties to negotiations during the conflict and have also been heavily involved in the continuing reconciliation and healing processes. For cultural reasons Bougainvillean women were well placed to perform the role of peace-builders but that is not to say that they did not face challenges and barriers to their involvement. This thesis examines the involvement of women in both the immediate peace negotiations and the longer-term aspects of the peace process in Bougainville in order explain how and why they enjoyed these successes and what lessons can be learnt from this case in regards to the potential roles of women in other post-conflict environments. Four factors will be identified as key to women's involvement in the peace process: the history of Bougainville up to and including the conflict; the grassroots mobilisation and organisation of women; the traditional cultural roles of women in Bougainville; and the identification of women with motherhood and its associated traits.  These factors indicate that the involvement of women in peace processes is highly context-specific and although there are policies which can be pursued to encourage their participation the potential barriers to this are imposing.</p>

Peace Processes in Northern Ireland and Turkey

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Aytaç Kadioğlu
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Peace Initiatives ◽  
Elite Level ◽  
Resolution Processes ◽  
The Impact

This book assesses the impact of political, non-violent resolution efforts in the Northern Irish and Turkish-Kurdish peace processes. It offers an important contribution to conflict-resolution research, theorising the various stages involved in the attempted resolution of asymmetric conflicts. By relying on primary sources, including interviews and recently declassified archival papers, it presents an innovative framework for conflict resolution, a starting-point for further research on managing peace processes and ethno-nationalist conflicts. This book challenges the notion of ‘conflict resolution’ in these two peace processes, both far-reaching ethno-nationalist conflicts in the post-Cold War era. Incorporating fieldwork carried out until 2015, the book compares these conflicts during major peace attempts, from early secret talks and semi-official peace initiatives, to multilateral and internationalised conflict-resolution processes through not only main armed protagonists, but also independent third parties. It analyses the political resolution efforts for ending the IRA and PKK’s armed campaigns and establishing a peace agreement. It argues that peace initiatives are ongoing processes which contain not only formal peace initiatives, but also informal and secret peace efforts. It suggests that formal and informal initiatives together embody conflict resolution processes through three major aspects: backchannel communications as the unofficial aspect, peace organisations as the informal and semi-official aspect, and negotiations as the official aspect of conflict resolution efforts, which operate at the elite level of conflict resolution.

The Ripe Moment for Civil Society

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Aljets ◽  
Betsie Chacko ◽  
Maria Jessop
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Peace Negotiations

AbstractThis article explores whether and how civil society engagement in a peace process can 'ripen' the conditions and facilitate the success of a peace process. The activities and methods of the Inter-religious Council of Sierra Leone are examined for their impact on each stage of the peace process with a view to shedding light on how civil society can help create the ripe conditions for formal peace negotiations, be an effective participant in negotiations, as well as improve the sustainability of a peace agreement.

Managing the Tension between Inclusionary and Exclusionary Processes: Building Peace in Burundi

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth McClintock ◽  
Térence Nahimana
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Peace Agreements ◽  
Peace Accords ◽  
Exclusive Processes

AbstractThe tension between inclusive and exclusive approaches is present throughout peace processes. The challenge of facilitators, mediators, and parties alike is to determine how to manage these tensions, how to integrate various processes into a comprehensive whole and ensure that those required to implement the peace agreement have access to the process that creates the peace agreement. In particular, how can civil society, an actor of ever-increasing importance in the implementation of peace agreements, be effectively included in the design of the accords? This article examines the tension between inclusive and exclusive processes within the context of the Burundi peace process and the development of the Arusha Peace Accords.

scholarly journals The Role of Civil Society Actors in Peacemaking: The Case of Guatemala

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Roddy Brett
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
The State ◽  
Peace Studies ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Liberal Peace

This article builds upon recent scholarship in critical peace studies that focuses on the role of civil society actors in formal peacemaking processes, in short, peace talks, and post-conflict peacebuilding. The article specifically explores the role of civil society actors in the Guatemalan peace process. The research addresses the possible tensions and potential complementarities in processes where civil society enjoys a mandated role in centralised, formal peace negotiations carried out between the state and armed actors in talks levied within the liberal peace framework. In the case of Guatemala, non-state actors participated to an unprecedented extent in the peace negotiations, and Guatemala has not relapsed into armed conflict. However, post-conflict Guatemala is a violent and unstable country. Consequently, the study challenges the assumption that peacemaking is necessarily more successful in those instances where provisions have been established to guarantee the participation of civil society.

scholarly journals Liberia 2005: an unusual African post-conflict election

2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Harris
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Virtual Absence ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Run Off ◽  
African Setting

The 2003 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the ensuing two-year-long National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), which brought together two rebel forces, the former government and members of civil society, justifiably had many critics but also one positive and possibly redeeming feature. In spite of, or perhaps because of, the realpolitik nature of the CPA and the barely disguised gross corruption of the members of the coalition government, the protagonists in the second Liberian civil war (2000–03) complied with the agreement and the peace process held. The culmination of this sequence of events was the 11 October 2005 national elections, the 8 November presidential run-off and the 16 January 2006 inauguration. In several ways, this was the African post-conflict election that broke the mould, but not just in that a woman, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, won the presidential race, and a football star, George Weah, came second. The virtual absence of transformed rebel forces or an overbearing incumbent in the electoral races, partially as a result of the CPA and NTGL, gave these polls extraordinary features in an African setting.

scholarly journals The pursuit of inclusion: Conditions for civil society inclusion in peace processes in communal conflicts in Kenya

2021 ◽  
pp. 001083672110471
Author(s):  
Emma Elfversson ◽  
Desirée Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Youth Groups ◽  
Peace Negotiations ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Government

Why are some peace processes in communal conflicts more inclusive of civil society actors than others? Inclusion of civil society actors, such as churches and religious leaders, women’s organizations, or youth groups, is seen as important for normative reasons, and studies also suggest that civil society inclusion can improve the prospects for durable peace. Yet, we have a very limited understanding of why we observe inclusion in some communal conflicts but not others. We address this gap by theorizing about various forms of civil society inclusion in local peace processes, and examining to what extent involvement by different types of third-party actors—governments, inter-governmental organizations (IGOs), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—may contribute to inclusion. Empirically, we draw on a combination of cross-case and in-depth data covering peace negotiations in communal conflicts in Kenya. The findings show that civil society was less frequently included as facilitators when the government was involved as a third party, while inclusion in the form of direct participation of civil society in negotiations, or via involvement in the implementation phase, was equally common across different types of third-party actors. Our study thus provides important new insights regarding how inclusion plays out in communal conflicts.

scholarly journals Peacekeeping: The Role of Police in Peshawar Pakistan from 2013-2018

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shafi Ullah ◽  
Altaf Hussain
Keyword(s):  
Military Force ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Peace Agreement ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Peace Research ◽  
The People ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
Peace Enforcement

Abstract Peacekeeping role is an important factor for the society and the people what lives under it accordingly. It has been there for centuries this think and phenomena to persuade people for their desire and their duty to be fully utilized. This is the active maintenance of a truce between nations or communities, especially by an international military force but in this perspective the military force are considered the POLICE. Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths and reduces the risk of renewed warfare. There are a range of various types of operations encompassed in peacekeeping such as Observation Missions, Interpositional Missions, Multidimensional missions and Peace enforcement Missions. Even though within the United Nations (UN) group of nation-state governments and organizations, there is a general understanding that at the international level, peacekeepers monitor and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas, and may assist ex-combatants in implementing peace agreement commitments that they have undertaken. In this research, the role of peacekeeping in Peshawar has been conducted as year wise from 2013–2018. This shows about five years gape and also reveals that how much changes have been done since then and now. Challenges and difficulties have been analyzed that Police have face in last 5 years. The role of peacekeeping has been examined in last 5 years and then these are evaluated with the contrast of the existing situations. From this study different types of results have been generated and portrayed in tables and graphs. For the purpose of investigating good work and the evaluation of peacekeeping perspectives and related methodologies have been conducted in which the important and key factors have shown that have a huge impact on peacekeeping role in society building.

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