Do you want to join us in shaping feminist peace work and make a difference for women in peace processes? Join our office in Colombia.

Women's access to peace processes is severely limited, even though UN Resolution 1325 on "Women, Peace and Security" legally stipulates their participation. Peace processes offer critical windows of opportunity for the formal recognition of women's rights and for the elimination of discriminatory social structures and gender norms: important cornerstones for post-conflict transformative change. Women and women's organisations must play an active role in peace processes.

Peace is more than the absence of war. Patriarchal power relations, structural violence and physical or psychological violence against women are also obstacles on the path to lasting peace. This is why we are committed to peacebuilding with a feminist, intersectional perspective. And because our understanding of peace is comprehensive.

In this programme, we focus on the point in time when there is little or no talk of peace and narratives revolve primarily around military and humanitarian measures. But peace work is relevant long before negotiations begin. The conditions must be actively created long before that: peace intentions and visions need to be developed and peace activists and their networks can be supported even during armed conflict. In this way, we can ensure that women are prepared to engage with the post-conflict period and to strategically plan for and participate in structural, transformative change. 

What images do the words "peace processes" evoke in your mind? Do you imagine years of negotiations culminating in a ceremony where the parties to the conflict sign an agreement, followed by a photo of the handshake that goes around the world? We have scrutinised and deconstructed this common image and taken an in-depth look at peace processes, as well as the question: "How do women influence peace processes?" The result of this work is a graphic representation of the different stages of peace processes. With this tool, we want to focus on the role women play and where they exert influence to drive peace processes and prevent setbacks.