Women’s Meaningful Participation in Peace: Lessons from the Bangsamoro (Mindanao, Philippines)

The importance of women’s meaningful participation and the consequent need to address the absence of women in peace processes has been widely acknowledged, notably after the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1325 (UNSCR1325) in 2000 on women’s protection and empowerment. Women’s participation is not only an issue of justice but also a fundamental condition towards ensuring a sustainable and transformative peace process.

However, implementation of this resolution has been slow and much is still to be learned about how to move forward in practical terms. Each peace process therefore offers the opportunity to innovate and thereby contribute to the global knowledge on how to improve the quality of a peace process.

This paper reflects on the achievements and the challenges of four civil society organisations in the Philippines who worked together on the Mindanao peace process between 2013 and 2016, with support from Conciliation Resources and the British Embassy in Manila.

The purpose of the paper is to share reflections and learning from this experience to inform decisions on planning and the funding of other initiatives that contribute to women’s meaningful participation in peace.