Women in Mediation: Connecting the Local and Global

15 August 2017
  • Women’s representation in mediation remains persistently low despite normative commitments made to increase women’s roles in peace and security.
  • There is a gap between the local peacebuilding work of women mediators and the representation of women in high-level peacemaking.
  • Focusing exclusively on empowering women at the local level perpetuates a distinction between the “soft” work of peacebuilding conducted by women and the “hard” work of peacemaking that is the preserve of men.
  • States and international organisations need to think more strategically about how to forge stronger links among local, national and international mediation practice.
  • Greater clarity is needed on the definition of mediation and the distinction between mediation and advocacy.
  • It is time to rethink the role and function of mediation in light of changing trends in conflict worldwide.
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Author
Prof. Catherine Turner
Associate Fellow within the Global fellowship Initiative at the GCSP, Professor of International Law at Durham University, and Deputy Director of the Durham Global Security Institute
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