From 13-14 October, Los Principios para la Paz (P4P) and Peace Direct will hold a two-day conversation on ‘Local Leadership in Peace Processes.’ We invite peacebuilders, activists, changemakers, and anyone committed to preventing conflict and restoring peace to be part of the conversation. This is part of a series of consultations exploring local ownership in peace processes.

Current approaches to peace processes view peace primarily as a political process focused on negotiating power-sharing agreements between political elites. Prioritising short-term political settlements has sometimes come at the expense of long-term sustainable peace, rewarding violent actors, and leaving post-conflicts societies vulnerable to further instability and recurring violence. Current approaches have sometimes created a dependency on international actors to lead and sustain peace efforts.

A key insight from the first consultation in this series highlighted the need for a fundamental shift in how peace processes are undertaken – one that encourages local responsibility and accountability by placing local leadership at the centre. What this means in practice, however, is not clear and requires further discussion.

To delve further into this issue, we will hold a two-day consultation from 13-14 October 2021 using Platform4Dialogue. The conversation will enable exchanges on how to effectively engage in responsibility sharing and accountability in peace processes.

Over the two days, some of the key questions we will be asking are as follows:

• What does local leadership look like in practice?
  • What do you understand by responsibility in a peace process? What does it mean to be responsible for peace?
  • Which local stakeholders should be responsible for peace processes and how can they be involved in an inclusive manner?
  • How can peace processes at the local or sub-national level be better connected to the formal peace processes?
  • How can international actors, if they are involved, be helpful in this process?
  • How does accountability and mutual learning factor into this?

Through this discussion, we hope to learn from practical real-life examples and good practices. We will encourage participants to share their own experienes, practical examples and reference points, where possible.

As well as the main online text-based discussion, there will also be a supplementary Zoom call (TBD). The Zoom wall will feature members of the Comisión Internacional, in conversation with consultation participants on the principle of responsibility sharing. You can express your interest in this additional conversation in the registration form.

Register for the consultation using this link, and please forward this to anyone you think might be interested.

How will it work? 

The conversations will primarily take place online on Peace Direct’s Platform4Dialogue online discussion platform. They will last two days, on October 13^th and 14th.

While the main language of the consultation will be in English, there will also be the opportunity for more focused discussions in French, Spanish and Arabic. Participants who speak French, Spanish and Arabic will be able to use the automatic translation function built into the discussion platform. A public report will be produced from this consultation, but no participant will be quoted publicly without previous and separate consent.

If you have any questions about this consultation, please contact the Platform4Dialogue team at info@platform4dialogue.org.