A mobile app to support inclusive mediation

The PeaceFem mobile application is an example of how technology can be leveraged for more inclusive peacemaking in the Arab region and beyond. Innovative tools, such as PeaceFem, are critical in assisting the necessary access to information on gender in peace processes for all.

– Susanne Mikhail, UN Women Regional Director for the Arab States

From Burundi to the Philippines, women around the world consistently call for their rightful place at the table in peace processes, often at great risk to their personal safety. PeaceFem is a celebration of these efforts, showcasing the creative ways that women advocate for inclusive processes across diverse circumstances, where resultant peace agreements have embodied a gender perspective, and the critical factors that can enable or constrain their inclusion. We are delighted that this new version of PeaceFem enables Indonesian and French speaking women’s rights advocates to access this collective knowledge from their smartphones, in order to support their efforts to advance the Women, Peace and Security agenda in ongoing peace processes in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

– Laura Wise, PeaceRep Research Fellow

Despite the attention generated by the 20th anniversary of UNSCR1325, it seems like the WPS agenda at large, including ideas on strategies for advancing women’s meaningful women’s inclusion in peace processes and political transitions, is currently stuck, much like most of the world’s track 1 peace processes. Women can play an important role to revitalize and rethink processes. The updated version of the PeaceFem app – with new case studies and now available in more languages – provides free access to the tools, experiences, and insights of fellow WPS practitioners that can help users to think about strategies that can get gender responsive provisions into peace agreements, and also advance the WPS agenda more broadly.

– Thania Paffenholz, Director of Inclusive Peace