Professor Christine Bell co-authors UN Women and PSRP report outlining ways to increase the number of women in high-level peace mediation positions
Thu 24 June 2021
Increasing the participation of women as peace mediators is essential for achieving gender equality and inclusive peace
To increase the number of women in high-level mediation positions, which in turn ensures more inclusive peace agreements, a new paper by UN Women and the University of Edinburgh Political Settlements Research Programme (PSRP) titled “Increasing the Representation of Women Peace Mediators: Collaborative Leadership Models for Ensuring Equality” looks at co-mediation as a temporary special measure to ensure the appointment of equal numbers of men and women in leading mediation roles until gender parity is fully realised.
The paper was authored by Catherine Turner, Associate Professor, Deputy Director Global Security Institute at Durham University, and Christine Bell, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Edinburgh Law School and Director of the PSRP.
The paper considers the under-representation of women in high-level mediation and peacemaking positions. Set in the context of successive normative commitments to increase the representation of women in high-level mediation, the paper considers why peace process mediation appears to be an outlier in the general trend towards gender parity in UN senior posts in particular. It then considers whether, given the low numbers of women visible in high-level mediation positions, the model of co-mediation would be a specific, measurable, accountable and time bound (SMART) approach to women's representation in mediation.
While co-mediation would increase the symbolic representation of women, it would not necessarily increase the gender responsiveness of mediation efforts. Counting the number of women envoys should not become a tick-box exercise that enhances inclusivity in peace mediation without addressing the hurdles to women’s inclusion in peace efforts more broadly. For that, we also need the envoys’ commitment to gender equality values and standards regardless of their gender.