{"id":23762,"date":"2026-02-24T14:33:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T13:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peaceagency.org\/?p=23762"},"modified":"2026-10-22T11:53:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T09:53:17","slug":"participation-vs-power-womens-persistent-exclusion-from-peacemaking-processes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peaceagency.org\/en\/participation-vs-power-womens-persistent-exclusion-from-peacemaking-processes\/","title":{"rendered":"Participation vs. Power: Women\u2019s persistent exclusion from peacemaking processes"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"23762\" class=\"elementor elementor-23762\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-gap-no elementor-element elementor-element-d3f4b14 e-flex e-con-boxed sc_layouts_column_icons_position_left e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"d3f4b14\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9d807b7 e-con-full e-flex sc_layouts_column_icons_position_left e-con e-child\" data-id=\"9d807b7\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div data-animation-type=\"block\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-28e4553 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget-tablet__width-initial animation_type_block sc_fly_static elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"28e4553\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;ta_fadeinup&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element vc_custom_1769510487157\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element \"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"wpb_text_column wpb_content_element vc_custom_1769788579736\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>&#8220;Despite global commitments under UN Security Council Resolution 1325, women remain largely excluded from real decision-making power in peace processes. The persistent gap between symbolic participation and substantive influence, showcase why presence alone is not enough. Focusing on our case study in the Horn of Africa, the article calls for structural change to ensure women move from being in the room to shaping the outcomes that define peace and security.&#8221;<\/p><p><i style=\"color: #1f242e; font-family: Lexend, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; text-align: center;\">Participation vs. Power: <\/i><i style=\"color: #1f242e; font-family: Lexend, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; text-align: center;\">Women\u2019s persistent exclusion from peacemaking processes<\/i><\/p><div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adopted in 2000, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/shestandsforpeace\/content\/united-nations-security-council-resolution-1325-2000-sres1325-2000\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">marked a turning point in global peace and security policy, establishing the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/peace-and-security\/page\/women-peace-and-security\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The legislation established a global commitment to women\u2019s participation in conflict prevention, mediation, and peacebuilding processes. Since the resolution was passed in 2000, more than 100 countries, alongside numerous regional organizations, have adopted regional and National Action Plans (NAPs) to implement the WPS agenda, realizing its radical aims of enhancing the role of women in conflict prevention and increasing women\u2019s participation in peacebuilding. Yet, despite the proliferation of NAPs and notable shift in international discourse on the importance of gender inclusivity in conflict prevention and resolution, data indicates that women remain consistently excluded from peace processes. What accounts for this discrepancy between discourse and data?<\/span> <b>Descriptive <\/b><b>\u2260 <\/b><b>Substantive Representation<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This gap between the promises of the WSP agenda and the reality of women\u2019s continued exclusion arises from its focus on <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">descriptive <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">rather than <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">substantive<\/span><\/i> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">representation. Descriptive representation refers to the numerical inclusion of women in political arenas. By contrast, substantive representation concerns their genuine capacity to shape political decisions and outcomes. The WPS agenda has seen relative success in advancing women\u2019s descriptive representation. It has gone a long way to normalize women\u2019s presence in peace processes and related institutions and to reinforce the unique contributions of women mediators to conflict mediation and resolution.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, women\u2019s involvement in peace and security processes has often been limited to peripheral or subsidiary positions: observer roles, advisory positions, or symbolic appointments that increase women\u2019s visibility in decision-making spaces without conferring them the authority to actually influence decision-making processes. Indeed, the gap persists because inclusion has been treated as a numbers game, not a question of power. As a result, women\u2019s participation risks remaining symbolic, affirming women\u2019s presence without challenging the gendered power structures that continue to govern decision-making in peace and security processes.<\/span><\/div><div>\u00a0<\/div><div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>A case study: the Horn of Africa<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Across the Horn of Africa, the barriers to women\u2019s meaningful participation in peace processes are stark. Countries like Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and South Sudan face <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crisisgroup.org\/pod\/africa\/horn-africa\/mediators-brave-new-world\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ongoing political instability, cycles of violence,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and weak institutional structures that limit women\u2019s access to formal decision-making spaces. Women mediators in these contexts are often at the forefront of local peacebuilding, using their networks, community knowledge, and negotiation skills to address the root causes of conflict. Yet despite their vital contributions, these efforts rarely translate into authority within official peace negotiations, leaving women\u2019s influence largely peripheral.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recognizing these gaps, the Agency for Peacebuilding (AP) launched a 2024 initiative to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peaceagency.org\/en\/promoting-the-participation-of-women-in-mediation-processes-in-the-horn-of-africa\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">support women mediators across the Horn<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The project creates a flexible, context-sensitive platform for collaboration, skills development, and regional knowledge-sharing, spanning Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan. By centering women\u2019s priorities and strengthening their capacity for sustained engagement in mediation, the initiative represents a promising model for bridging the divide between local expertise and formal negotiation arenas. However, no one initiative can fix the problem alone. Without political will and sustained funding, even the strongest networks risk hitting a glass ceiling, and the project\u2019s success ultimately depends on broader political will, institutional support, and long-term resourcing to ensure that women\u2019s expertise can shape not just community-level outcomes, but national and regional decision-making. <\/span> <b>Looking ahead: from <em>participation<\/em> to <em>power<\/em><\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Horn of Africa illustrates the broader challenge facing the Women, Peace, and Security agenda: women\u2019s presence alone is not enough. Presence alone is not power, and \u201cbeing in the room\u201d is not the same as shaping outcomes. True progress requires moving beyond symbolic inclusion to substantive power. It requires ensuring that women are not only participants, but decision-makers who can set agendas, negotiate agreements, and shape the policies that govern peace and security. Initiatives like AP\u2019s project demonstrate the potential of targeted support and cross-border collaboration, but structural change remains essential. Only by confronting entrenched gender hierarchies and embedding women\u2019s authority into formal peacemaking processes can the WPS agenda fulfill its promise of transforming peace and security for all.<\/span><\/div><div>\u00a0<\/div><div style=\"text-align: justify;\">This blog article is based on and inspired by the paper <em><strong>G. Ferraro, &amp; A. Marsh (2026).<\/strong> Participation Without Power: Women Mediators and the Limits of the WPS Agenda in the Horn of Africa. In H. Mitanoska, \u201cPower and Representation in Global Political and Social Transformations\u201d (pp. 71-84). Luiss Women in International Affairs &#8211; Rome &amp; International Humanitarian Law Youth Initiative &#8211; Cairo Publisher.<\/em> The FULL PAPER can be accessed here: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/400977255_Power_and_Representation_in_Global_Political_and_Social_Transformations\">Power and Representation in Global Political and Social Transformations<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>24\/02\/2026 &#8211; Alexa Marsh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":23765,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ap_template":"blog","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[137,145,142],"class_list":["post-23762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects","tag-europe","tag-mediation","tag-women-peace-and-security"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Participation vs Power: Women\u2019s persistent exclusion from peacemaking processes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite global commitments under UN Security Council Resolution 1325, women remain largely excluded from real decision-making power in peace processes.The persistent gap between symbolic participation and substantive influence, showcase why presence alone is not enough. 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