​This background paper summarises what we know about women’s participation in negotiating peace agreements and in constitutional reform processes, outlining the key factors that contribute to enabling women’s voice and participation, and recurring challenges that women and gender advocates face.

The paper also provides a review of the types of entry points and interventions that feature in international action aimed at supporting women’s participation in post conflict governance. The wider context of unresolved legacies of conflict and ongoing safety and security challenges often reflects major obstacles to women’s meaningful political participation in shaping post-conflict political settlements and engaging in political life more generally, and thus needs to be taken into account.

In concluding, the paper reflects upon what we know about women’s voice in post-conflict and fragile contexts.

 

Pilar Domingo and Clare Cummings