New Data on Women’s Roles at the Peace Table

Today, the Women and Foreign Policy program is launching new data on women’s participation in peace processes. 

Women’s contributions to conflict prevention and resolution can improve outcomes before, during, and after conflict. But women are often excluded from formal peace processes. We found that between 1992 and 2019, women constituted, on average, 13 percent of negotiators, 6 percent of mediators, and 6 percent of signatories in major peace processes around the world. Nearly seven out of every ten peace processes still did not include women as mediators or signatories (the latter indicating that few women participated in those talks as negotiators, guarantors, or witnesses). 

Despite the historical exclusion of women from the peace table, a growing body of research reveals how women’s participation contributes to reducing conflict and improving stability. The Women’s Participation in Peace Processes Interactive outlines how women’s inclusion—whether in official negotiating roles or through grassroots efforts—advances peace and security and presents statistical research demonstrating the relationship between gender equality and the security of states.

Readers can explore the data on women’s roles in peace processes (and the methodology for the dataset); read qualitative analysis of women’s participation and influence through case studies of current and past peace processes; and listen to interviews with U.S. diplomats and global leaders on their contributions to peace and security processes around the world, from Iran, to Liberia, and to Northern Ireland. 

Explore the Women’s Participation in Peace Processes Interactive here>>