While peace agreements are frequently symbolized by handshakes, their implementation and the broader goal of sustaining peace present formidable challenges. Despite the extensive efforts and substantial time invested in negotiations, violence often persists, and peace agreements routinely struggle to be put into action. In these contexts, sustaining peace can seem remote and, at times, insurmountable.

This White Paper, associated with this summary by the Global Institute for Strategic Research (GISR) in Qatar, critically examines the reasons why peace agreements falter and explores the role of design, capacity, and political will. It highlights the importance of understanding the wider environments that characterize and shape peace processes and reflects on implementation mechanisms and wider cross- cutting issue areas, where promising practices are evolving to address the shifting landscapes of peace agreement implementation, its aftermath and sustainability.