CURRENT PROJECT
Supporting women in Resistance and Liberation Movements in peace negotiations and post-war transitions

Through capacity building, this project supports women in resistance and liberation movements to enhance their peace negotiation skills and opportunities for post-war democratic leadership.
Timeframe: 2018 - 2026
Although women in many resistance and liberation movements (RLMs) make up to 40 per cent of the overall membership and serve in key functions during armed conflict, very few are afforded the opportunity to participate in peace negotiations. This lack of participation undermines the meaningful representation of women in important political positions during and after transition.
Through the creation of a peer-learning network for female members from eight active and recently demobilised resistance and liberation movements, this project enhances the women’s negotiation skills and bolsters their capacity and opportunities for post-war leadership. In so doing, the project directly addresses the gap in representation of women in peace processes by fostering more participatory and gender-inclusive peace negotiations and post-war political transformation processes.
This project builds upon the Berghof Foundation’s longstanding engagement with resistance and liberation movements and our support for peaceful and democratic political transitions in a number of countries.
Over the course of the project, Berghof Foundation has created and fostered a peer-learning network of female members of resistance and liberation movements who are engaged in peace negotiation processes and post-war democratic politics. Focusing on two central themes (negotiation and peace processes, and post-war political and social leadership), the project supports the women in developing strategies to counter internal (in-group) and external (society-wide) challenges that are currently hindering their active participation and meaningful inclusion in all stages of their respective peace processes.
By bringing together women members of eight resistance and liberation movements, former negotiators and advisors of movements from other post-war contexts, and leading experts in negotiation, democratic governance and women leadership, we foster a transfer of knowledge about the roles that female conflict stakeholders can play in (re)building democratic and prosperous societies. This contributes to ongoing and future post-war transition processes.
Watch our event recording on the political reintegration of women ex-combatants after war:
Updates from this work:
- Women shaping peace after war 10 Jul 2025
- Gender-inclusive conflict transformation 8 Nov 2022
- Feminist foreign policy must be about justice and participation 12 Sept 2022
- Asking my sisters: Film and booklet released 11 May 2022
- Women's agency in war and peace 2 Dec 2020
- UNSCR 1325 turns 20 29 Oct 2020
- I have to speak: Film and booklet released 27 May 2020
Team members
Fee Högner
Claudia Cruz Almeida
Véronique Dudouet
Rachel Gasser
Antonia März
Media contact
You can reach the press team at:
+49 (0) 177 7052758
press@berghof-foundation.org