Explaining changes in women’s representation in peace processes: The adoption of a gender quota in the Agreement Monitoring Committee in Mali

How can we explain changes in women’s representation in peace processes? Based on an analysis of interviews with key actors in the peace process and documents, this article examines the events, factors and actors that contributed to the introduction of a gender quota in the Malian peace process (2015-2023).

After a peace agreement was signed in 2015 between the Malian government and two rebel groups, several mechanisms and committees were established to contribute to its implementation. An Agreement Monitoring Committee was also established, where representatives of the parties were to meet regularly to make decisions related to the overall implementation of the agreement. Until November 2020, the parties’ delegates to this committee consisted exclusively of men.

Since the outbreak of conflict in 2012, through ceasefire negotiations, peace negotiations, and the implementation of the peace agreement, Malian women’s groups have been fighting for increased participation. But such demands were usually met with resistance from the parties to the peace process. This changed in 2020, however, when the same parties adopted a 30% gender quota in the monitoring committee.

The article therefore addresses a central issue surrounding women's participation in peace processes: How can important actors be persuaded to change their minds, and move from opposing women's participation to adopting a 30% gender quota?

The analysis finds that changes in women's representation are facilitated by critical actors who initiate or stimulate others to support and/or promote women-friendly reforms. Furthermore, two enabling conditions must be present: On the one hand, international gender equality norms, together with international pressure to promote these norms; and on the other hand, women’s mobilization, including women’s activists’ use of international frameworks to advocate for gender-based reforms.

The analysis shows how these enabling conditions were present in the Malian case. Furthermore, the article analyses and shows how critical actors who supported the peace process contributed to “political accumulation”, that is, the gradual building of political recognition for the issue of women’s inclusion over time. This happened through a combination of increases in the number of actors and initiatives supporting and promoting women’s inclusion and the repeated exposure and learning among the parties and other key actors.

Critical actors also collaborated with and supported Malian women’s organizations and women leaders engaged in activism for women’s increased representation in the peace process. Additionally, critical actors actively worked to remove counter-arguments and obstacles – for example, through funding and capacity-building. This contributed to a more enabling environment in which the benefits of supporting the gender quota began to outweigh the costs of opposing it.

The article concludes that the combined efforts of critical actors, which occurred in a context of international gender equality norms and women’s mobilization, contributed to changes in the behaviour of key actors and made possible the adoption of a gender quota in the monitoring committee.