Insights from the Inside: Women’s Mediation Networks as a Tool for Influencing Peace Processes

Civil society-led networks of women have for decades worked hard to promote peace in conflict areas around the world, and lately, a new wave of women’s mediation networks (WMNs) are being established that are led by states or regional organizations. All these networks share a collective aim: To promote women’s inclusion and influence in mediated peace processes. After nearly five years since the establishment of the Swedish Women’s Mediation Network (WMN), the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) teamed up with the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University and the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) to reflect on lessons learned from managing such a network. The collaboration resulted in the publication Insights from the Inside: Women’s Mediation Networks as a Tool for Influencing Peace Processes. 

Support for research was provided by the FBA and the Swedish Research Council project Disciplining Fighters (2015-03094), [P.I. Dr Angela Muvumba Sellström]. This publication would not be possible without the coordination and research assistance provided by Christiana Lang (DPCR-MSSc 2019), who, under the aegis of DPCR, carried out interviews and organized information on the networks between 2018 and 2019. The project team also acknowledges Hannele Hartto, for her assistance in 2017.

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