Building and Sustaining Peace from the Ground Up: A Global Study of Civil Society and Local Women’s Perception of Sustaining Peace

Sustaining Peace Research Findings:

Between April 2018 and March 2019, the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) with support from UN Women coordinated a global research to map and analyze local women’s perspectives on what Sustaining Peace means and how it should be operationalized. The research reached over 1,600 women and men in 60 countries.

Peace is more than an absence of war

To women peacebuilders we interviewed, peace means many things:

Strong laws and inclusive institutions

Ensuring inclusion and participation in decision-making; and consultation in all institutions and processes related to peace and development

Fostering a “culture of peace,” including through education and the media

Demilitarization

Stable economies, access to services and employment

Women build peace in more than one way!

Whether they are part of official peace negotiations or not, women contribute to preventing conflict and sustaining peace in a number of ways:

Advocacy and campaigning – Creating platforms for greater inclusion of women and other marginalized groups in peace processes

Addressing consequences of conflict and supporting development

Raising local communities’ awareness about the peace negotiations, peace agreements (where they exist) and promoting peace

Resolving conflicts at the community level

Building grassroots women’s capacity to participate in peacebuilding decision-making and in the economy

Read the Research:

A publication of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, funded by UN Women.

Lead Author and Overall Project Coordinator: Agnieszka Fal Dutra Santos

Survey Data Analysts and Co-Authors: Dinah Lakehal, Mallika Iyer, Prativa Khanal

Project Advisor and Substantive Editor: Mavic Cabrera–Balleza

In-country Researchers:

Afghanistan: Storai Tapesh, Roshan Mashal, Wahid Safi, Robina Hamdard and Qudsia Raheen
Bangladesh: Nazneen Akhstar, Gulfam Tasnim and Bareesh Hasan Chowdhury
Burundi: Joselyne Bucumi, Seconde Nyanzobe, Niyongabo Augustin, Reginas Ndayiragije and Christian Ngendahimana
Canada: Kristine St Pierre and Sarah Tuckey
Colombia: Francy Jaramillo and Beatriz H. Quintero G.
Liberia: Charles G. Tiah
Libya: Dr. Rida Al Tubuly, Aisha Fathi Alubuly and Iman Awaidat Abdullah
Mali: Boubou Diallo and Abdoul Kassim Fomba
Mexico: Kelly Yzique-Zea (remote interviews)
Philippines: Jasmin Nario-Galace and Sophia Dianne Garcia
Sierra Leone: Dr. Nana Pratt, Rosaline Macarthy and Mabel Kartusche
South Sudan: Rita M. Lopidia
Sweden: Lovisa Dahlström, Maja Skogh, Zahra Khalaf and Annika Schabbauer (team leader)
Syria: CCSD management and field team
Ukraine: Ella Lamakh, Anna Ambartsumova and Maria Dmytriyeva

Peer Reviewer and Copy-Editor: Eleonore Veillet-Chowdhury

Publication Coordinator: Katrina Leclerc

Layout and Design: Jim Marpa

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