Institutionalized but Under Implemented: Factors Affecting Women’s Inclusion in Peace Negotiations Between 1975 and 2020

Abstract

The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda has achieved global prominence. Yet, women’s participation in peace negotiations remains rare, and little is known about which factors facilitate their inclusion. Quantitative scholarship has been hampered by incomplete data, drawing almost exclusively from prominent negotiations where agreements were reached. To address this shortcoming, we introduce a novel dataset comprising 267 dyadic negotiations between 1975 and 2020. We find two distinct pathways to women’s representation. First, representation in government and rebel negotiating delegations is linked to higher rates of women’s participation in rebel group leadership, higher levels of feminist mobilization, and the presence of a WPS National Action Plan. Second, representation in civil society delegations correlates to international mediation and higher levels of women’s representation in parliament. These findings suggest that the norm of women’s inclusion continues to face barriers that can be overcome by a particular combination of actors and domestic commitments.