Implementing peace accords sustainably: Alternative avenues to bypass blockages and mitigate resistance

Author: Alexander Ramsbotham

Implementing peace accords is essential for sustaining peace and preventing recurrence of violence. But implementation often hits blockages and meets resistance, and is prone to delay, breakdown and collapse. Alternative avenues for implementation can help to navigate obstacles and maintain momentum. These can include ‘decentralising’ implementation through regional and local processes; combinations of top- down and bottom-up initiatives to implement gender commitments; and multiple monitoring mechanisms adapted to support implementation of short- and long-term objectives.

Conciliation Resources convened a series of online joint analysis workshops in 2020 in which practitioners, policymakers, donors, conflict parties, civil society and analysts collectively explored obstacles and responses to effective implementation, including case studies from Afghanistan, Colombia and Ethiopia. This Accord Spotlight presents some key reflections, findings and recommendations drawn from workshop discussions.

The bulk of the analysis in this paper was completed in summer 2021, shortly before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, following which publication was deferred. Some amends to the Afghanistan analysis have been made in early 2022, prior to publication in April 2022.