ISSAKA SOUARÉ (Guinea – Process Design) has, in the past four years, served as an independent senior governance and mediation advisor. He worked on the operationalisation of the Africa Facility to Support Inclusive Transitions (AFSIT), and advised, from mid-2022 to early 2023, the Trilateral Mechanism composed of the UN, AU and IGAD in their facilitation efforts of dialogue between Sudanese actors in Khartoum.
CHRISTINA SHAHEEN (USA – Gender & Inclusion) has extensive experience in mediation and negotiation, with a focus on Women, Peace and Security and ensuring women’s meaningful participation in Track I processes. She has advised on mediation and dialogue processes related to Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, Sudan and Syria, and has broader experience in supporting multi-track engagement of youth and civil society in the MENA region.
Mr. Garang served as the Head of IGAD Political Affairs and Peacebuilding (PAP) in 2024, IGAD Ambassador and Head of Mission to the Republic of South Sudan from 2020 to 2023, as well as the Director of the IGAD Mediation Support Unit since 2013. Mr. Garang has extensive experience in preventive diplomacy and mediation. He supported IGAD-led mediation processes in South Sudan from 2014 to 2018 and provided technical assistance to the South Sudan-led mediation on the conflict in Sudan from 2018 to 2020. From 2002 to 2013, Mr.
The malicious use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) such as offensive cyber operations and Internet and telecommunications shutdowns are a reality of contemporary armed conflict, featuring regularly in international wars between States and in internal civil conflicts. As the malicious ICT conduct in conflict has grown, so have the calls for its inclusion among issues to be negotiated in peace processes.
This (2024) UN DPPA, DPO and UN Women Options Paper provides UN senior leadership, including (D)SRSGs, and RCs/HCs, options and illustrative examples on how the UN system can advance tangible results in women’s participation in peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding by 2030, as part of achieving the Secretary-General's (2020) Women Peace and Security goals for the decade (see: S/2020/946, para 113).
This brief addresses the importance of women’s full, equal and meaningful participation to an effective pandemic response and to peacemaking efforts, and how the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda can provide a critical framework for inclusive decision-making and sustainable solutions.
The Colombian peace process and its 2016 Final Peace Agreement are widely held to be an international model for gender-sensitivity and the inclusion of women’s rights. The United Nations (UN) played an active role, along with others in the international community, first