In 2015, U.S. Institute of Peace launched a project in Colombia to support a network of women peacebuilders and women-led organizations committed to nonviolence and mediation. With members that spanned every sector of society, this network complemented the formal peace process as it got underway. Women’s groups negotiated local ceasefires with armed groups and won the release of hostages. They pressured insurgents to lifts roadblocks and documented human rights violations. They protested budget priorities of local governments and sought solutions to drug trafficking and other illegal activity. Some of these women were invited to the negotiating table for the Colombia peace talks in Havana. One third of the table participants were in fact women. Among other roles they were instrumental in ensuring that the concerns of the war’s victims were reflected in the reconciliation and accountability mechanisms in the final agreement. This article speaks to the essential role of women in peacebuilding.
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The Essential Role of Women in Peacebuilding
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