[This report was produced as a background paper for CHD's Oslo Forum, an annual gathering of senior international conflict mediators.] The role of the private sector in different aspects of conflict resolution has received increasing attention in recent years...First, the private sector...is often present in contexts of armed conflict and exposed to its risks and impacts, which frequently compel it to act...Second, it has the capacities...to intervene in different ways. Third, what has been called the ‘privatisation of peace’ is underpinned by the wider global trend of privatising services and functions traditionally provided by the state or the international community...This paper will discuss the diverse roles played by the private sector during Track 1 peace processes in particular, drawing on a variety of examples from different contexts. These examples illustrate that where the private sector enjoys credibility...has access to conflict parties, and a strategic interest in the resolution of a conflict, it can become actively involved and have significant impact on the course of a peace process, for better or worse. [examples include from El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Mozambique, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, DRC]