The article published in Sivil Sayfalar discusses DPI’s online comparative study event entitled ‘Celebrating Women’s Participation in Peace and Conflict Resolution: Overcoming Challenges and Putting Peace Back on the Agenda’.
The Philippines Government Chief Negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, as well as Dr Emma Leslie, an experienced mediator’s presentations were opened by Professor Sevtap Yokuş’s opening remarks, who emphasised the importance of the work on conflict resolution done by DPI, which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary.
The first speaker, the Chief Negotiator who represented the government of Philippines, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer presented the challenges they faced during the peace process and talked about how they overcame those problems. Stating that women’s participation in the negotiations is not enough on its own, Coronel-Ferrer said, “the final peace agreement should contain provisions that address women’s problems and gender issues.” Reminding that it is not easy to get women to take place at peace tables all over the world, Coronel-Ferrer said that women’s leadership should be normalised, and women should be represented in the government. Ferrer also emphasized the importance of the inclusion of non-governmental organisations in official mechanisms and women to act as a watchdog in order to conclude the negotiations with an agreement and for peace to be sustainable.
The second speaker, Dr Emma Leslie, presented her experiences and observations in various peace negotiations, especially in the Philippines. Recalling that the success rate of processes is higher when there is an increased participation of women in the process, she said that it is important for women with different views to come together and to establish a connection between the workers on the ground and the groups around the table. Stating that a new feminist approach should be developed for negotiation and peace processes, Leslie said, “these models should not be hierarchical and should be as participatory as possible.”