Research-practice exchange on Negotiating political integration of armed groups at the EU Community of Practice and Peace Mediation 2024

Posted on 28 October 2024

Dr Gyda Sindre recently participated in the EU Community of Practice on Peace Mediation 2024

people sat around a board table having a meeting

Dr Gyda Sindre recently participated in the EU Community of Practice on Peace Mediation 2024 (EUCoP24) organised by the European External Action Service, the EU’s Foreign and Security Service held in Brussels on October 22-23.

Together with partners from the Berghof Foundation, swisspeace, the Folke Bernadotte Academy and the Politics After War Network, Dr Sindre co-convened a group of distinguished international mediators and EU diplomats to discuss a practice guidance on Negotiating Political Integration of Armed Groups as part of peace processes. The guide to practise, which will be published later this year, draws on research findings from Dr Gyda Sindre and partners’ past and ongoing research on armed groups’ political inclusion as part of peace processes as well as feedback exchanges with peace mediators and peacebuilding practitioners.

Key takeaways include advice that despite changes in geopolitical climate, peace mediators play a central role in incentivising armed groups’ pathways to political integration. Despite lack of ideological commitments, many armed groups represent key constituencies that aspire for political representation, but this pathway is not limited to the formation of political parties that participate in national-level politics. In many places, we need to find creative solutions to pave the way for political engagement that reflects the political environment armed groups are integrated into.