On 11 June 2025, DPI organised a roundtable meeting titled The Role of Women in Conflict Resolution: The Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition Experience, hosted by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Istanbul and the Consulate General of Switzerland in Istanbul. The event, which was also attended by Arjen Uijterlinde, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Istanbul, Philippe Brandt, Consul General of Switzerland, and Clare Brosnan, Ireland’s Ambassador to Türkiye, brought together civil society actors, academics, and conflict resolution experts. The meeting aimed to discuss the transformative impact of women in conflict resolution processes, to assess the lessons learned from the experience of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition, and to consider how these experiences might relate to the Turkish context. The discussions also highlighted women actors’ contributions to peacebuilding and the necessity of pluralistic approaches for sustaining peace. International experience shows that processes involving women and civil society strengthen peace initiatives and increase the social legitimacy of negotiations. Excluding women from conflict resolution processes can lead to societal needs being overlooked, the vision for peace failing to spread across society, and peacebuilding becoming confined to a narrow political framework.
We would like to express our gratitude to the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Istanbul, the Consulate General of Switzerland in Istanbul, and their representatives for hosting this event and for their valuable contributions. We would also like to extend our thanks to Clare Brosnan, Ireland’s Ambassador to Türkiye, for her valuable contributions to the discussion. This roundtable meeting was held as part of a broader series of activities conducted within the scope of the Supporting Peace through Dialogue in Türkiye project.