The story
Women’s experiences of insecurity and exclusion can remain peripheral to formal negotiations. This brief brings Gender SCORE Cyprus evidence into the Women, Peace and Security debate, drawing on research across both communities and stakeholder consultation. I led the underlying study, including engagement in the UN Buffer Zone; the published brief is an institutional output without an individual-author byline.
A finding to take away
Both communities supported a more inclusive peace process despite pessimism about its prospects. Women’s political representation was positively associated with openness to dialogue across the divide, making participation a substantive peacebuilding concern rather than merely a numerical target.
These findings support inclusion recommendations; they do not demonstrate that an inclusion policy has already caused a more durable settlement. Study details and findings are on PDF pages 5-6.