London School of Economics Centre for Women, Peace and Security to house the Women Mediators across the Commonwealth network.

London School of Economics Centre for Women, Peace and Security to house the Women Mediators across the Commonwealth network.

We are pleased to announce that the network has received further funds from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to be able to continue its vital work. This will allow the Women Mediators across the Commonwealth (WMC) network to build on the achievements of the past three and a half years, whilst entering a new phase, hosted by the London School of Economics Centre for Women, Peace and Security (LSE WPS).

With support from Conciliation Resources since our founding in 2018, the WMC has become a space for expert women mediators from all five regions of the Commonwealth to come together to share our experience and expertise from different contexts and spaces, and jointly advocate for women’s inclusion in peace processes, particularly the deployment of our members. Recognising the role of women in the resolution of armed conflict will enable access for women from the frontlines of conflict to the key spaces where policies are shaped and decisions are made, as well as integrate gender responsiveness in analysis, policies and programming pertaining to the world’s most urgent crises and conflicts.

The network would like to thank Conciliation Resources for the ongoing support they have given us across the years to set up, develop and strengthen our network of diverse women mediators and peacebuilders. With their support the network has achieved:

• The establishment of the WMC’s Strategic Mediation Fund small grant-making mechanism to provide funding for members’ ongoing peacebuilding and mediation work, addressing some of the financial barriers that exist for women peacebuilders.
  
  
• The development of a public database of women mediators, allowing for external stakeholders to identify qualified members to request their professional services.
  
  
• Published research in collaboration with Conciliation Resources examining the barriers and enablers supporting women mediators, and supported the network to disseminate these findings: Women Mediators: Bridging the Peace Gap, published in September 2020 and Beyond the Vertical: What Enables Women Mediators to Mediate, published in October 2021.

Through LSE WPS’s support for the WMC network we will continue to demonstrate the transformative value of deploying women mediators in conflict settings around the world. Together, we will continue to:

• Increase the participation of women mediators in peace and mediation processes and facilitate members’ deployment in mediation processes across the member states of the Commonwealth.
• Strengthen and contribute to development, international relations, peace and security scholarship through the WMC members’ inclusion in LSE WPS seminars, research activities, publications and interactions with the wider community of academics and students;
  
  
• Support WMC members ongoing pioneering peace and mediation efforts through funding their community, national and regional work;
• Build an ongoing evidence base and advocacy platform to collectively address the key barriers faced by women mediators by connecting with decision-makers so that they can benefit from the distinct experiences and alternative solutions to conflicts that woman can propose, but rarely get a chance to share.

We look forward to WMC members actively engaging with LSE WPS and collaborating with others across the LSE community as we continue our work to promote the inclusion of all members of society in peace processes and initiatives which arise from conflict. We, and WMC members, will continue to collaborate with Conciliation Resources where there are opportunities to support members’ advocacy and their inclusion in peace processes.