Virtual Peace: The Effects of Digital Technologies on Women's Participation in Peace Processes

Virtual Peace: The Effects of Digital Technologies on Women's Participation in Peace Processes - Hosted by the AIIA Queensland

Join us either in-person or online with Senior Lecturer at Griffith University, Dr. Outi Donovan, who will discuss the gendered nature of peace processes in the wake of COVID-19, as the use of digital tools become the new norm in conflict resolution.

If you are attending in-person, please arrive at Holding Redlich at 5:30pm for registration and drinks. This event will be available online. After registering, on May 14 at 5:30pm, you will receive a follow-up confirmation email containing further details on how to join the webinar which will commence at 6:00pm AEST. The event is free for AIIA Queensland members and AIIA members from all states. Those who are non-members will pay $10, while student non-members will pay $5.

If you arrive after 6:00pm, the lifts may not be accessible. Ring 0481 522 665 for assistance.

For in-person attendees, please note that you may be photographed or filmed for public consumption.

Images supplied: inclusivesecurity​

License: CC BY 2.0​

Peace processes aimed at ending armed conflicts are characterised by a significant gender imbalance. Women account for only 13 per cent of negotiators and 6 per cent of signatories of formal peace agreements.

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, changed peace processes in a way that may have important implications to women's participation beyond the pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak significantly accelerated the use of digital tools, such as videoconferencing platforms and instant messaging applications in peace processes as mediators sought to maintain dialogue between interlocutors between interlocutors. The growing use of online technologies has the potential to address the logistical barriers to women's participation by removing the need to travel to a negotiating venue and alleviating some of the gendered power dynamics often present in face-to-face peace processes. However, a gendered digital divide – women and girls having less access to the Internet – may render virtual peace processes less rather than more gender inclusive.

The talk explores the above dynamics and draws on Dr Donovan's research on digitalisation of peace diplomacy in Libya and Yemen. She argues that while digitalisation supports consultation of women and coalition-building and networking by women's groups, it has little effect on women's participation in the formal negotiations. Digitalisation may, in fact, be reinforcing the masculine and elitist culture surrounding peace processes.