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1. Building peace from the inside phase II: Supporting insider mediation for the sustainable transformation of conflict

Author:
Marine Jacob, Claudia Maffettone, Stephanie Sarta, Nura Detweiler, and Victoria Cochrane
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Berghof Foundation
Abstract:
The objective of these short policy briefs is to inform national, regional and international institutions on key topics related to insider mediation and to inform the development of more holistic and supportive policies for insider mediators. While women still face cultural, logistical and security barriers in their participation in local mediations, they are able to play critical and unique roles in mediating family, land, socio-economic, and environmental conflicts, contributing to a high success rate of mediation agreements. The value of building and supporting (informal) networks of insider mediators is key in environments that do not always welcome the contributions of civil society and where more flexible and nimble networks can act as early warning and response mechanisms, raising the chances to achieve sustainable and transformative peace.
Topic:
Women, Mediation, Post-Conflict, and Peacebuilding
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Women Mediation Networks: A mechanism for localisation and inclusion

Author:
James Henry Murray, Molly Hamilton, and Kundai Mtasa
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:
Twenty years since the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSC 1325) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), women remain underrepresented in peace processes. This underrepresentation has far-reaching consequences for the lives of many women and girls in post-conflict countries. The low participation of women in peacemaking and formal peace negotiations calls into question the legitimacy of the process itself, and the evidence shows that the lack of women’s meaningful inclusion at the peace table leads to less representation during peacebuilding actions. To address this persistent exclusion and to ensure opportunities for societies to become more gender-equal are not lost, there has been a rapid emergence of regional and international Women Mediator Networks (WMNs). Comprised of a diverse group of women from various backgrounds and with different expertise and experience, these networks have the potential to be a transformative mechanism for achieving the goals outlined in the WPS Agenda. Analysing the emergence of WMNs and their potential to rejuvenate the implementation of the WPS project, this Policy and Practice Brief (PPB) seeks to answer the following questions: Why are more WMNs emerging? What impact will these networks have? Where do they fit into the existing global framework and how do they engage with this framework?
Topic:
Women, UN Security Council, Mediation, and Post-Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Can You Hear Me? Taking Mediation Online: Reflections from Practice

Author:
Florence Mandelik and Ayat Mohamed
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
In mediation, where trust-building and confidentiality are vital, the current shift towards virtual and online interactions brings a set of new challenges for practitioners. The authors summarise early takeaways from online engagements with and between civil actors in the context of mediation projects, focusing on the opportunities and challenges that virtual tools and online engagements bring to process design and implementation. In online settings the convener should use several tools from the IT tool box in tandem, carefully selecting them to match the objective of the engagement with the overall context. Process design has to ensure that all the requirements of virtual interaction, including a code of conduct and rules of procedure, are met in order to achieve the desired result. The brief discusses this in detail, including the selection of appropriate IT applications and dealing with participants’ computer literacy and internet access challenges. In particular, it emphasises how active steps should be taken to foster the inclusion of traditionally marginalised groups, including women.
Topic:
Civil Society, Diplomacy, Science and Technology, Mediation, and Information Technology
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. Digital Inclusion in Mediated Peace Processes: How Technology Can Enhance Participation

Author:
Andreas T. Hirblinger
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Inclusion in peace processes is conventionally understood in “offline” terms, such as being physically present at the negotiation table. However, digital technology can support a mediator’s efforts to integrate a broad variety of perspectives, interests, and needs into a peace process. This report explores the current and future practice of digital inclusion, giving a framework for understanding the possibilities and risks, and providing examples of practical ways digital technologies can contribute to mediated peace processes.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Negotiation, Peace, Participation, and Mediation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. The Future of Mediation in the Post-COVID World

Author:
Itonde Kakoma and Edward Marques
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the state of the world today in two words “uncertainty” and “instability”.28 These two terms will remain the defining characteristics of the future. If we want international peacemaking structures to remain relevant then the evolving nature of conflict must be taken more seriously. Doing so will require addressing fundamental questions including but not limited to: what does an effective mandate look like in the current geopolitical climate? What might de-escalation mechanisms or a ceasefire look like for hybrid or cyber conflicts? How can virtual safe space for dialogue be secured? How do we ensure that peace agreements hold, when the parties to the conflict are so many, and so far away from the conflict itself? How can we advance international cooperation on peacemaking in the absence of an effective UN Security Council? Given the increasingly blurred lines between peace and conflict, the basic concepts of global peace and security and thus the future of peace mediation will need to be reconceived.
Topic:
Diplomacy, International Cooperation, Peace, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Mediation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. Parallel Tracks or Connected Pieces?: UN Peace Operations, Local Mediation, and Peace Processes

Author:
Arthur Boutellis, Delphine Mechoulan, and Marie-Joelle Zahar
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
Track-1 mediation processes have increasingly struggled to deliver comprehensive peace agreements that address fragmented conflict dynamics and include local communities’ needs. As a result, local mediation has increasingly been a focus for the UN, including for UN peace operations. UN peace operations can play an important role in supporting local mediation initiatives, whether these initiatives are separate from, complementary to, or integrated into national processes. This paper considers how local mediation fits into the broader political strategies of UN peace operations. Building on a series of country case studies published by IPI and the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs’ Mediation Support Unit, it provides preliminary answers to whether, when, where, and how the UN can engage in local mediation efforts. It explores what capacities the UN would need to increase its engagement in local mediation, what role it can play, and how it could better configure itself and engage in partnerships. While this paper does not advocate for UN peace operations to engage more or less in local mediation processes, it concludes that missions ought to assess whether, when, and how short-term investments in local mediation can contribute to longer-term, sustainable conflict resolution. In each case, they should tailor their role based on informed strategic decisions and appropriate partnerships and as part of a broader effort to strengthen and foster greater coherence in national peace processes.
Topic:
United Nations, Peacekeeping, and Mediation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

7. Adaptive Mediation

Author:
Cedric De Coning and Stephen Gray
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Conflict Trends
Institution:
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:
When United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres took up his post in December 2016, he observed that “conflicts have become more complex and interlinked than ever before”.1 The increase in complexity that Guterres refers to stems in part from a proliferation in the range of national and transnational stakeholders and interests that affect peace processes. We are now concerned with, for instance, the roles that governance, corruption, organised crime, increasingly fragmented opposition movements, violent extremism, the environment, gender, youth and natural resource management play in contributing to – or hindering – conflict resolution. The proliferation of actors and threats stretches the limits of traditional state and multilateral mediation processes. The challenge of navigating complex stakeholder landscapes is compounded by dynamic, interconnected and unpredictable local to global societal processes. Digital interconnectivity allows people to mobilise in ways that was not possible just a few years ago. The more the world is globalised, the more changes one factor can have in unpredictable and unintended political, economic, migration or conflict consequences elsewhere. The consequence of increasing complexity for peacemakers is that there are more variables that can affect peace processes, less stability in the behaviour of these variables, and less predictability when it comes to how peace and conflict processes are likely to unfold. Complexity therefore renders rigid adherence to analysis, plans and structures ineffective and potentially harmful. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), for instance, Eriksen has argued that the state-building project of external actors has failed, in part, because their designs have been based on fixed, non-negotiable conceptions of what the state should eventually look like, without due regard to the complex and evolving interests and relations between domestic powers.2
Topic:
Globalization, United Nations, Conflict, and Mediation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. Connecting Informal and Formal Peace Talks: From Movements To Mediators

Author:
Anjali Dayal
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS)
Abstract:
Women have been historically absent in formal negotiations and peace processes. However, their participation in informal, or Track II processes, is significant and well documented. Increasing women’s representation in formal peace negotiations is imperative to fulfilling United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325’s call for women’s full participation at all levels of peacemaking efforts and to promoting sustainable peace. One way to do so would be a concerted effort to link Track I and Track II efforts. A renewed focus from the UN Secretary General on the role of mediators in peace negotiations motivates this policy brief, which calls on the UN to nominate more women mediators, and to create a 1325 directive for all mediators to strengthen connections with civil society and women’s organizations, in order to increase women’s meaningful involvement at all levels of peace processes. Additionally, it points to the need for mediators to better link Track I and II processes.
Topic:
Women, Negotiation, Peace, and Mediation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9. Conflict Resolution Revisited: Peaceful Resolution, Mediation and Responsibility to Protect

Author:
Seán O'Regan
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:
Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:
Alan Tidwell, the author of Conflict Resolved? A Critical Assessment of Conflict Resolution,[1] wrote in the preface “Not all conflicts can or should be resolved; frankly there are some conflicts I do not wish to resolve – I want to win them.”[2] This is a real challenge to every person who aspires to be a peacemaker, and challenges, as Tidwell intended, the notion of peace at whatever cost. Tidwell argues that that while morally inspired positive peacemaking is a “good thing,”[3] it can lack a sense of proportion, ignoring justice, right and wrong and deep-seated reasons for grievance. Similarly, evangelical theorists “propagate the value of conflict resolution at all costs”[4] and in the process lose a sense of reality about what can realistically be achieved. The increased adoption by states of early warning, conflict prevention and conflict resolution policies is often based on notions of positive peacemaking and inspired by evangelical theorists. Latterly mediation has been added to the arsenal of state-led conflict resolution tools. This commentary will explore the limitations of mediation in relations between states, consider the implications for conflict resolution practice and advocate a principled international response to conflicts, including, if necessary, the need to win them.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Mediation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

10. Addressing Child Protection in Conflict Mediation

Author:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
Abstract:
The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University and the non-governmental organization Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, with support from the Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein to the United Nations, convened a workshop, “Addressing Child Protection in Conflict Mediation: Charting a Way Forward,” on July 15, 2014, at the Princeton Club of New York. The workshop brought together representatives of United Nations member states, including members of the Security Council, United Nations Offices including the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC), Department of Political Affairs (DPA), Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), NGOs, and academics to discuss specific strategies and concrete actions that can be taken to promote child protection in peace processes.
Topic:
United Nations, Children, Peace, Mediation, and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus