This background paper presents an overview of the state of knowledge regarding women’s participation in post-conflict and transition settings. The paper is structured as follows. First it summarizes what we know about women’s participation in negotiating peace agreements and in constitutional reform processes. The paper then outlines key factors that contribute to enabling women’s voice and participation, and recurring challenges that women and gender advocates face. This is followed by a brief review of the types of entry points and interventions that feature in international action aimed at supporting women’s participation in post conflict governance. The wider context of unresolved legacies of conflict and ongoing safety and security challenges often reflects major obstacles to women’s meaningful political participation in shaping post-conflict political settlements and engaging in political life more generally, and thus needs to be taken into account. The paper ends with concluding reflections on what we know about women’s voice in post-conflict and fragile contexts.