Meeting on women’s participation in peace processes

This is a summary of the main points raised by Kristian Herbolzheimer of Conciliation Resources at a meeting with the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office and the European Commission about the participation of women in peace processes.He emphasises that peacebuilding is a relatively new phenomenon but recognition of its importance (for example, by NATO) is growing.  Examples of its quantitative success include a reduction in the number of armed conflicts.  The challenge now is in improving the quality of post-conflict work and women have a big role to play in this.  Kristian also mentions the need to reassess assumptions about peacemaking and the importance of the International Crisis Group.