post / 11 November 2020

Institute for Integrated Transitions Launches Global Effort to Develop International Treaty on Peace Negotiations

IFIT Peace Treaty Initiative

NOVEMBER 11, 2020 | This Remembrance Day, the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT) launched a new global initiative to help develop an international law of peace negotiation. Filling a critical gap in the existing laws of war – which mainly regulate how to fight – the Peace Treaty Initiative aims to facilitate global consideration of a purpose-built international legal framework to incentivise warring parties to choose the pathway of negotiation, in order to prevent armed conflicts in the first place and to end them once underway.

“Needless suffering and destruction could be prevented if peace negotiation was more attractive at the start, more flexible and organised in the middle, and more secure at the end,” said Mark Freeman, Executive Director at IFIT. “This initiative to develop the first-ever, multilateral treaty on peace negotiations will draw on decades of lessons in negotiation to make international law more directly helpful in addressing the hard choices involved in peace talks, helping to bring peace one step closer.”

Governments, multilateral organisations, academia, faith-based entities, NGOs and think tanks from around the world will be invited to shape the content of the treaty through participation in thematic and regional workshops and outreach events. Additional expert interviews and a public comment process will also inform the future content of the treaty.

The launch of this initiative follows three years of private research, expert interviews, and global consultations by IFIT and its partners. These include a high-level International Law and Peace Summit hosted by IFIT in Barcelona, Spain in July 2019, and the formation of an Expert Advisory Group to guide the Peace Treaty Initiative.

For more information or to arrange an interview:

Eleanor Weber-Ballard
+44 781 77 77 114
[email protected]

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