An important convening of women peacemakers from complex and critical peace negotiations took place in Istanbul from the 25th to the 27th of March 2019. The consultation styled “Women Setting Tables: Learning from Women Negotiating in Track 1 Peace Processes” was the start of a twelve month initiative at the nexus of research and practice in peace making. This research collaboration will seek to highlight the critical importance of women negotiators and mediators and build an understanding of practical methods and strategies women negotiators and mediators use and are using in peace processes. This knowledge exchange and research will be helmed by the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice’s (IPJ) in partnership with the Women Waging Peace Network, Center for Security Studies, ETH Zürich, Folke Bernadotte Academy and the European Institute of Peace. Kumudini Samuel (Kumi) an Executive Committee member of DAWN who lives and works in Sri Lanka, and was a member of the Sub Committee on Gender Issues advising the formal plenary of the 2002/2003, peace process in Sri Lanka, was among the women peace negotiators participating in the initiative.
The rich and vibrant consultation brought together leading women peace practitioners, researchers and academics who have negotiated complex peace agreements. Among them was Dr. Hanan Ashravi of Palestine renowned for her advocacy of Palestinian self-determination and peace in the Middle East; Betty Bigombe of Uganda who has played a key role in conflict resolution in Africa, including in Uganda and more recently in the peace process in South Sudan; Kate Economodiou of Cyprus who has concentrated on the Cyprus Problem engaging in conflict resolution, mediation and interactive management; Bronagh Hinds of Northern Ireland who is currently the advisor to the Special Envoy’s Women’s Advisory Board in the UN-mediated negotiations on Syria. Bronagh facilitated international cross-learning on women, peace and security for the Irish government; Mariam Jalabi of Syria who serves as the Representative of the Syrian Opposition Coalition to the United Nations in New York. She has served as a member of the Women’s Advisory Committee to the High Negotiations Committee (HNC); Valeriya Lutkovska of Ukraine who has worked as the Deputy Head of the Unit for International Legal Assistance and Cooperation of the Department for International Legal Activity, Deputy Head of Department for International Cooperation and Legal Assistance and First Deputy Head of the International Law Department of Ukraine; Shadia Marhaban of Aceh, Indonesia who was a member of the Free Aceh Movement’s (GAM) peace negotiating team in Helsinki (2005) that ended the 30 years of conflict. She has overseen the implementation of the reintegration programmes for women ex-combatants; Luz Mendez of Guatemala who took part in the Guatemalan peace negotiations that ended the armed conflict, as part of the Political-Diplomatic Team of Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca. She is the President of the Executive Board of Unión Nacional de Mujeres Guatemaltecas; Robinah Rubimbwa of Uganda who was among the women who marched for days to Juba to take part in the negotiation process between Uganda and the armed rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) from October 2005 to March 2006; Irene Santiago of the Philippines who negotiated a lasting ceasefire between Muslim separatists, particularly the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippines government. She is currently the Chair Emerita and Chief Executive Officer of the Mindanao Commission on Women (MCW); Dr. Edita Tahiri of Kosovo who is renowned as the only women peace negotiator in the Balkans. She was Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo, during the peace negotiaitons and liberation process (1990-2000) and has held numerous Ministerial positions including that of Deputy Prime Minister; and Luz Helena Sarmiento Villamizar of Colombia who was one of the Colombian government’s negotiators during the formal peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN). She is an authority on oil and mining industries and has held the post of Environment Minister and head of the National Environmental Licensing Agency.
The incisive discussions at the convening covered areas ranging from approaches to negotiations, both individual and as members of negotiating teams, to strategies, tools and process design employed. They also included intra group dynamics, which looked at decision-making power, mandates, communication and intragroup fragmentation. The women peacemakers also paid attention to the critical dynamics between negotiators and mediators and the impact of Third Parties. The convening began a process of developing key research questions through a mapping of participants individual experience within their respective peace processes and their understanding the roles within negotiation teams. The research is ongoing and is expected to conclude in twelve months.