A peace agreement is a document that establishes an end to armed conflict. Peace agreements aim to promote reconciliation & address past grievances. They can be made between groups or countries.
A key element is ensuring that all groups affected by the peace agreement have a stake in the negotiations. This is important to prevent spoilers from attempting to undermine the agreement. Peace agreements are often negotiated outside of the conflict zone. For example, negotiations between the Colombian government & the FARC took place in neighbouring countries, and the negotiations in Mali involved groups that were not part of the governing coalition, but considered to be representative.
Another key issue is addressing the economic benefits of the war economy and providing alternatives. The way in which financial aid is distributed is particularly important; it must be clear that the money is not intended to favour one group over another. This will help to reduce the sense of ‘payment for peace’.
The organisational/institutional components of a peace agreement are arrangements/mechanisms that are designed to promote the implementation of the agreement. They include political forums that enable the parties to resolve disagreements over implementing provisions. They also include mechanisms that allow them to commit resources for implementing the agreement. Several scholars have demonstrated that organizational/institutional components can help to ensure that a pact is actually implemented (e.g., Steedman et al., 2002; Bekoe 2003).
The regime type & ideology of the government overseeing peace agreement implementation is also a key factor in determining whether a peace agreement is implemented or not. This is because policy continuity & stability can facilitate or hinder implementation of a pact.
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