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As the world pauses today to mark International Women’s Day, and twenty-one years following the adoption of the first UN resolution on Women, Peace and Security UNSCR 1325 we should take stock of all that needs to be done to strengthen the inclusion of women in peace processes. That was certainly a key takeaway for me during my tenure in Libya with both the US government and the United Nations. Libya is a country in which women too often bear the direct brunt of armed conflict but struggle to obtain seats at the negotiating table.
The value of including women in conflict prevention and resolution efforts, not to mention peace-building, has become a sine qua non in international mediation but translating that into reality on the ground in countries beset by conflict where the voices of women have been marginalized in favor of those who carry the guns, requires persistent advocacy.