7 Cross-cutting priorities

Norwegian peace and conflict diplomacy encompasses several intersecting priorities where professional expertise has been built up over time. These are inclusion and women, peace and security, victims’ rights and transitional justice, and humanitarian diplomacy. There is increasing attention to climate change as a driver of conflict. Climate, the environment, food, and health are also included as an intersectional priority in the work on peace and conflict resolution. During Norway’s membership of the UN Security Council in 2021–22, Norway was a driving force for the Council to recognise the link between conflict, security, and climate change.1

7.1 Inclusion and women, peace and security

In order for peace processes to be legitimate and sustainable, it is important that the voices of the population are represented and heard. It is then not possible for 50 percent of the population to be excluded from discussions about the country’s future. In 2025, it will be 25 years since UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (KFS) was adopted.2 The resolution states that women play a crucial role in international peace and security, and that the international community must work to increase the representation of women at all levels in order to succeed in preventing, managing, and resolving conflict. Norway is one of the strongest supporters of the agenda and promotes it on many levels. In addition to its own efforts to increase the number of women in negotiating delegations, Norway supports civil society and research institutions in order to position women and their voices in conflict resolution.

Textbox 7.2 Global Alliance of Women Mediators

Norway has long worked to strengthen the proportion of women peace mediators. In the major peace processes between 1992 and 2018, the proportion of women facilitators and mediators was only three per cent.¹ In 2015, the Nordic countries took the initiative to establish a Nordic network of women mediators, which was launched in Oslo the same year, inspired by a similar South African initiative. The purpose was to promote women as experts and mediators in peace and reconciliation processes, not only women from the Nordic region, but also from other regions. The Norwegian network currently consists of over 50 members. PRIO, NOREF and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have supported the work from the start. PRIO is the operational partner of the network.

Soon after the creation of the Nordic Women Mediators network, the AU’s FEMWISE, the Mediterranean Network, and the Commonwealth Network were established. In 2018, Norway took the initiative to bring them together in a global alliance for regional women’s mediator networks, which was launched in 2019. Shortly after, the Arab League Network and the Southeast Asian Women’s Mediator Network also joined the global alliance.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

¹ UN Women. (2023). Facts and figures: Women, peace, and security. https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/facts-and-figures/facts-and-figures-women-peace-and-security

Conflict-related sexual violence is a widespread problem. Norway is strongly committed to mapping the problem, implementing measures to reduce such violence, supporting victims and survivors, and, not least, getting conflict parties to commit themselves to refraining from these types of methods of warfare.

In 2023, the Government launched Norway’s fifth national action plan on women, peace and security (WPS).3 The plan contains goals for Norwegian efforts, nationally and internationally. In addition, there are separate guidelines for WPS work with peace and conflict resolution.

Norway’s efforts are taking place in a context characterised by a decline in women’s and girls’ rights and participation globally. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the warfare in Gaza, and the civil war in Sudan have clearly shown how conflict has different consequences for the population depending on gender. In all these situations, women’s active involvement will be crucial to achieving lasting peace.

Textbox 7.3 Inclusion of women in Colombia’s peace process

In the peace process between the authorities and the FARC guerrillas in Colombia, Norway encouraged the parties from the outset to include women. Norway shared experiences from other peace processes and made expertise available. Both parties included women in their delegations. The parties established a separate commission to safeguard women’s participation in the process and the gender perspective in the texts of the agreement. It was an innovation that representatives of the parties themselves were part of such a commission.

In order to include women’s and others’ voices in the process, delegations of women and representatives of the LGBTQ+ community were invited to Havana, where the negotiations were taking place. They shared their experiences of how the armed conflict had affected them and provided concrete input. They also met with the leadership of both parties. The Commission for Gender Equality actively contributed to the discussions on the decommissioning of arms, reintegration, and victims’ rights. The Truth Commission was to arrange for its own hearings of women and how the conflict had affected them. In the agreement on transitional justice, it was made clear that there would be no amnesty for sexual violence. The sub-agreements on land reform and rural development, political participation, and the fight against drugs had already been negotiated when the commission was established. These texts were reviewed again with a gender perspective. For example, it was explicitly stated that women shall have the right to own land and be given priority in the distribution of land, subsidies, and loans. A special committee was to ensure that women’s rights and the gender perspective were followed up in the implementation of the peace agreement. Norway was a driving force in this work.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In many conflict countries, children, i.e. people under the age of 18, make up 50 per cent or more of the population. Norway supports young people’s engagement in line with Security Council Resolution 2250,4 the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Security Council resolutions on children and armed conflict.5 Efforts are also made to include children in peace processes, not only as victims of war, but as active peacebuilders in their own communities.6 Save the Children, among others, is an important contributor to this.

7.2 Victims’ rights and transitional justice

In order for peace agreements to last over time and contribute to genuine reconciliation among the population, it is important that the parties agree on mechanisms for dealing with violations of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity. This is to ensure accountability for abuses in a transitional phase between armed conflict and peace, or between dictatorship and democracy. Transitional justice aims to provide recognition and redress to victims and ensure that they are heard and included, strengthen individuals’ trust in state institutions, promote respect for human rights, and strengthen the rule of law. These are important steps towards reconciliation and the prevention of new human rights violations, and can lay the foundation for lasting peace. The likelihood of a mechanism succeeding is greater if the victims participate in its design.

It can be very challenging to negotiate agreement on a system of transitional justice that is both perceived as fair for the victims and acceptable to the responsible parties. There are different models for this, and Norway has key partners with good expertise in the field. Transitional justice can include both judicial and non-judicial mechanisms such as truth commissions, special courts, prosecution initiatives, restorative sentences, compensation to victims, law reforms, and establishing the rule of law. Measures to ensure victims’ rights to commemorate their dead and document events are also important. Norway supports initiatives by the UN Human Rights Council on mechanisms for obtaining documentation and testimony on human rights violations, which can subsequently be used in transitional justice processes. Such mechanisms exist in both Sri Lanka and Syria.

Textbox 7.4 Colombia: Truth and Justice

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) was established through the peace agreement with the FARC in Colombia in 2016, and deals with the most serious and systematic violations of humanitarian law that took place during the conflict. The Special Jurisdiction is one of three pillars of the transitional justice system established by the peace agreement. Together with the Truth Commission and the Special Unit for the Search for Persons reported missing in the context of and due to the armed conflict, the JEP will ensure justice for the many victims of the armed conflict. According to the Truth Commission’s final report presented in June 2022, more than 450,000 people lost their lives as a result of the conflict between the government and the FARC in the period 1958–2016, and more than eight million people were forcibly displaced.

JEP is independent and established for a period of 15 years. It investigates those who had senior responsibility, both in the guerrilla groups and in the government forces. Those who publicly take responsibility for serious crimes could receive a sentence of up to eight years of community service. The Special Jurisdiction has garnered great trust internationally, but is controversial in Colombia. The system is very complex, and it takes a long time to issue indictments and hand down sentences.

The JEP is not intended to investigate all atrocities committed during the conflict, but to establish a minimum of truth and justice, so that the country can move forward in the reconciliation process.

Norway is an important supporter of the JEP in Colombia and provides substantial support to the entire transitional justice system, including the follow-up of the Truth Commission’s final report and the work to find the remains of people who disappeared during the conflict.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

7.3 Humanitarian diplomacy

Norway is a driving force in ensuring that parties to armed conflicts comply with their obligations under humanitarian law. Humanitarian diplomacy is intended to promote the protection of civilians and safeguard people’s rights, dignity and needs in armed conflicts and humanitarian crises. These are important topics in our contact with parties to conflict.7 We also work with humanitarian actors who negotiate access with governments and armed groups and work to ensure humanitarian protection.

Efforts to promote protection and humanitarian access are important elements of a peace process. To achieve results, we should initially talk to all relevant actors, including authoritarian regimes and non-state armed groups that have territorial control. We must have a long-term and systematic commitment. Humanitarian dialogue can be a common platform for parties to a conflict and help to create trust between them. Protection helps reduce the worst cases of violence and abuse resulting from warfare, which undermines trust and creates escalating cycles of violence, hatred and revenge. It is also important to depoliticise humanitarian efforts and ensure that humanitarian principles are respected. Humanitarian needs and obligations must not become bargaining chips in political processes.

7.4 Climate, environment, food and health

The links between conflict and climate change, food and health have become increasingly clear. Although climate and the environment in themselves are rarely direct triggers of war and conflict, climate change and environmental degradation are often one of several underlying causes, and can be a driver of conflict. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that between 3.3 and 3.6 billion people live in conditions particularly vulnerable to climate change. Lack of water, food and nutrition security, arable land, education and jobs are increasing social and economic insecurity. This may lead to political and military conflict and migratory pressure, including in Europe’s neighbouring areas in Africa and the Middle East.

In a wider perspective, it is also the case that war and conflict contribute to major greenhouse gas emissions. In ongoing war and conflict situations, it is rarely possible to implement necessary climate and environmental measures. It is therefore important that parties to a conflict include climate, nature and basic services in their agenda for dialogue and negotiations. Cooperating on specific environmental and climate measures can also build trust for parties to a conflict, and may in some cases be less sensitive than other topics.

To date, there have been few processes and few peace agreements that have largely considered or included climate aspects, but this is a topic with increasing focus. Norway is in dialogue with conflict actors in this field, including in Colombia, where deforestation is a topic in its contacts with groups that control rainforest areas in the Amazon.