Handbook on Peace Agreement Draft Language
Introduction
The number of active conflicts worldwide has continued to grow since the end of World War II. According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), as of 2022, there have been over 280 armed conflicts in more than 160 locations globally. The human cost of these conflicts remains significant, with lives lost, communities displaced, and widespread destruction of livelihoods and environments. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that by mid-2022, over 100 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide due to conflict, violence, and persecution.
In recent years, the trend of resolving conflicts through peace agreements has continued. The Peace Agreement Database (PA-X) reports that between 1990 and 2024, more than 2,144 peace agreements have been signed in over 150 peace processes. However, the success rate of these agreements remains a concern. While exact figures vary, recent studies suggest that approximately 35–40% of peace agreements fail within five years of signing. Many others, while not failing outright, fall short of achieving sustainable peace. Notably, the nature of conflicts has evolved, with an increase in non-state armed groups and a rise in intrastate conflicts, adding complexity to peace processes and post-conflict stability.
Nevertheless, a successfully negotiated and implemented peace agreement can help a state or region move from conflict and instability to building a durable peace. Most importantly, peace agreements aim to halt immediate fighting and suffering as a result of armed conflict. When peace agreements fail to end the conflict, the consequences are dire and many lives may be lost. Violent conflict also creates an environment of instability and insecurity, which prevents economic growth and development.
A successful peace agreement stops armed conflict and sets the stage to begin the normalization of relations between the parties to the conflict. Additionally, most recent peace agreements often focus on creating a democratic process by minimizing the disenfranchisement of certain groups. Depending on the type of conflict they address, they also often initiate a transitional justice process with the aim of fostering reconciliation and rebuilding society through justice and accountability.
Before beginning to negotiate a peace agreement, parties need to reach a point where peace is desired, which is extremely challenging and may take a long time. Political will to engage with the other side and end the violence or conflict is necessary to ensure that the parties are truly committed to an end to the conflict and to the beginning of a peace process which creates the conditions for a successful termination of hostilities. Without political will, parties often fail to reach an agreement, and if they do succeed, the actual implementation of the agreement is likely to face significant challenges and may eventually fall apart.
In these challenging circumstances, drafting a peace agreement is an art. It can be as difficult as negotiating an end to the conflict itself. As a peace agreement is a legal document, the way it is drafted and the language used will affect how it is interpreted and implemented. Diverging interpretations of the terms of the peace agreements are not rare. Parties, especially if not genuinely committed to the peace process, may exploit gaps or ambiguous terms to justify actions that reignite the conflict. One main reason for the failure of peace agreements is poor drafting and failing to tailor the terms of the agreement to the particular circumstances of a conflict, leaving too much space for ambiguity and misinterpretation.
While there have been failures, there have also been notable successes. For instance, despite the many flaws in the negotiation and drafting of the Dayton Peace Accords, the peace agreement has helped maintain peaceful coexistence in the region for nearly three decades. There is much to learn from how states have resolved conflicts and drafted peace agreements in the past. Additionally, there are now significant academic and technical resources available to those engaged in peace negotiations.
With this Handbook, the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) aims to contribute to the vast array of academic and technical resources on peace negotiations and sample language. Based on a review of peace agreements and related resources, the drafters of this Handbook were able to identify key issues that arise in peace processes and that are often addressed in peace agreements or related documents. For each of these issues, the Handbook provides sample language that parties may use to draft or review the peace agreements they are working on.
How to Use This Handbook
Negotiating a peace agreement poses challenges at every step of the process, and parties often struggle to ensure that the final agreement reflects everything that the parties wish to resolve during the peace process. Sometimes, peace agreements are short and essentially limited to a ceasefire agreement to stop ongoing fighting. This often occurs when the primary interest is to bring an immediate end to violent conflict. Peace agreements may also be lengthy, consist of multiple agreements or chapters, and include extensive details about the transition to peace. The form and content of the peace agreement will depend on the specific circumstances of each conflict and political will of the parties.
This Handbook offers draft language for a range of topics that typically arise during peace negotiations. The Handbook is divided into Chapters addressing different topics that typically arise in peace negotiations. Each Chapter discusses the essential components of the issue to be negotiated and provides sample language for inclusion in an agreement. As the topics addressed in peace agreements are inherently interlinked, parties engaged in negotiations can decide whether to address an issue separately from others, including related issues or as part of a broader discussion. This will depend on the nature of the conflict, the parties engaged in negotiations, and the parties’ priorities for the peace process. For example, in a conflict where child forced recruitment is a key feature, parties engaged in negotiations might prioritize this issue and dedicate a full chapter of the peace agreement to children. In the same agreement, parties might also address child forced recruitment within other chapters complementary to the protection of children and practices of armed groups, for example Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration; Security Sector Reform; Conflict Prevention; Accountability; and Human Rights.
To ensure a wide range of options for users, this Handbook provides draft language focused on specific issues, as well as for broader topics that address multiple, interrelated issues. The core components addressed in each Chapter of the Handbook may intersect and overlap with issues addressed in other Chapters. Parties will have to consider how to reinforce commitments across chapters to avoid contradictory provisions or multiple oversight bodies with overlapping mandates.
Each Chapter consists of two sections. The first section (“About This Chapter”) provides information on the role of the chapter topic in a peace agreement. This section provides insight as to why it is necessary to address the topic in a peace agreement, how that topic contributes to the peace process, and what the chapter aims to achieve.
The second section (“Draft Language”) provides language that could be adopted in a peace agreement to address a specific issue or problem. Every conflict situation is unique, and the language adopted in a peace agreement will reflect specific conflict dynamics. For this reason, each section on draft language provides multiple options that address a range of scenarios. Readers can make adjustments to tailor the language to the specific context it seeks to address. Entire sections can be incorporated into the peace agreement, depending on their relevance. Users of this Handbook can also draft new language for any of the concepts discussed.
This Handbook does not provide an exhaustive list of the provisions or concepts that parties might include in a peace agreement. It also does not attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of each issue that arises in peace negotiations, nor does it provide technical drafting assistance for experts. It is, however, meant to be a helpful resource for readers who do not necessarily have extensive knowledge of peace agreement drafting or who have not yet engaged in negotiations. Readers might be just beginning to consider the possibility of peace, traveling to negotiations, or engaging in early discussions regarding the content of a proposed peace agreement. The Handbook can also assist readers who are not directly involved in peace processes, but who are assisted and represented by expert legal advisors in peace negotiations. In these circumstances, this Handbook is a helpful tool to use to carry out an informed and thorough review of drafts.
This Handbook is a starting point for peace agreement drafting, and parties are by no means limited to what is presented in the Chapters. For this reason, additional, complementary resources are noted throughout the guide for reference purposes.