As conflict continues across the world, peace talks are often the only way to stop fighting and prevent escalation. But it’s not enough to just talk: a peace agreement needs to be accompanied by peacebuilding processes. The following stories of real people making a difference in the process of building peace are inspiring and should be seen as a reminder that peace negotiations are not just a job for highly trained diplomats, but also for civilians at the grassroots level, who play a vital role in brokering and maintaining peace.
A key challenge for peacemakers is getting warring parties to accept that they can negotiate. Often, leaders believe that their enemy will perceive them as weak or weakening by engaging in talks. This can make it difficult to get them into a negotiation climate, especially when there are unresolved core issues.
Pre-negotiation agreements define how the negotiations will be structured, including their schedules, participants and location. These are essential for determining how well the negotiations will go and, ultimately, whether or not an agreement will be reached. It is important that mediators make a commitment to include women in their teams, both as gender advisors and technical experts within the broad range of topics covered by the negotiations. This will help to reduce negative cross-impacts and generate synergies.
Waiting for a “ripe moment” to start high-level negotiations is risky, as it can prolong a conflict and cause extreme suffering. Moreover, it can push conflicts beyond the reach of a political solution and into a vicious cycle of violence and suffering.
