A/79/334 communities, including internally displaced persons. Indefinitely postponing the participation of internally displaced persons in peace processes in order to find the right moment can ultimately result in their exclusion. Instead, peace stakeholders should seek to constantly create opportunities to include internally displaced persons or to ensure that their needs, priorities and perspectives are adequately reflected in the peace process when their direct participation would create risks, is impossible or is not their preferred modality for engagement. It is also crucial to build the capacity of internally displaced persons and their organizations at all levels to enable them to participate more effectively in peacebuilding processes. 21 23. For the participation of internally displaced persons to be meaningful, participation alone should not be the end goal. Peace stakeholders should ensure that there are concrete plans in place to respond to the issues and needs raised, as well as adequate safety and security guarantees to protect participants. Without such measures, peacebuilding stakeholders run the risk of raising false expectations, increasing victims’ disillusionment with peace processes, exposing victims to protection risks and failing to address the human rights violations suffered by internally displaced persons. 24. Participation should not be a one-off event, but should be continuous, with internally displaced persons engaged and empowered as stakeholders throughout all phases of the process, from peace negotiations to the conclusion of peace agreements and the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms, as well as in the post-conflict reconstruction process. Peacebuilding stakeholders should expand avenues for engagement by leveraging new technologies that enable participants to engage remotely in peace processes, while bearing in mind the limitations and additional challenges of digital engagement, including risks associated with online harassment and unequal levels of connectivity. 25. Among the 2,055 peace agreements in the Peace Agreements Database, 22 156 contain provisions that specifically and clearly address internal displacement. However, only eight agreements are focused specifically on the participation of internally displaced persons. Within those agreements, the aspects that are emphasized include participation in post-conflict decision-making and governance and the representation of internally displaced persons in dedicated commissions and committees. Although several agreements contain an emphasis on the importance of including women in the peace processes, less attention is paid to other groups facing marginalization and discrimination. 23 26. Despite the challenges involved, certain peace processes have successfully included internally displaced persons as direct participants in peace negotiations. Delegations of internally displaced persons, including specific delegations of women, participated directly in negotiations between the Government of Colombia and the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army. The delegations that were able to present concrete proposals during negotiations were engaged in public forums where the various elements of the agreement were presented. 24 In the Philippines, a Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission was established following the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro , in 2014, between the Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. As part of the peace __________________ 21 22 23 24 8/24 Submission by Serbia (2024). The Peace Agreements Database, also known as “PA-X”, constructed by PeaceRep, an international research consortium led by Edinburgh Law School, is currently the most expansive collection of peace agreements data in the world and includes a human-coded data set that covers agreement metadata and 230 substantive categories of issues covered in agreement texts. Available at www.peaceagreements.org/portal. Submission by McGill University (2024). Submission by the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia (2024). 24-15773