20 Years on, radical change needed to realize women’s inclusion in peace and political power

As 2 billion people across the world struggle to survive in areas afflicted by armed conflict in the midst of a global pandemic, women – who are disproportionately affected by such strife and play a key role as mediators and peacebuilders –remain largely excluded from formal peace processes and post-conflict power structures, a new United Nations report on Women Peace and Security shows.

The report, presented to the UN Security Council during an annual Open Debate on Women, Peace, and Security that commemorated the 20th anniversary of its landmark resolution 1325, outlines five goals to realize inclusive and sustainable peace in the next decade. These range from women’s full inclusion in all peace efforts and unconditional defense of women’s rights to reversing the historic rise in global military spending, coupled with meeting minimum levels of financial assistance and launching a data revolution that sheds light and propels rapid action.

“As we recover from the pandemic, we face a choice. To continue down the path of increasing militarization, conflict, and inter-generational losses. Or to work towards greater inclusion, equality, and prevention of conflicts and crises of all kinds,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

While countries struggle to provide basic services that underpin human security, military spending is at a historic high. In 2019 alone, global military expenditures reached USD1.9 trillion, following the largest annual increase in a decade.

“The needs laid bare by the pandemic should be driving decision-making on national investment in peacebuilding, education, health and other vital public programmes with women fully included in all aspects of those considerations,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women.

Twenty years after the passing of the Security Council resolution 1325, which set a new framework for women’s leadership and inclusion in all aspects of peace, alarming gaps in implementation are holding back impact at a critical moment when a joint and undistracted effort to contain COVID-19 is needed. Peace is a pre-requisite for health, equality, and human security. Despite the contributions that followed the resolution, women too often remain sidelined behind those holding the guns. On average, women were only 13 percent of negotiators, 6 percent of mediators, and 6 percent of signatories in major peace processes between 1992 and 2019.

Women are central to peace efforts, and they get results. The evidence is clear: having women at the peace table generates greater buy-in and strengthens accountability for implementation. Women’s participation also makes peace more durable because, with their input, agreements go beyond the realm of power to the realities of people. However, peace agreements with gender equality provisions increased from 14 percent in 1995 to 22 percent only in 2019.

Without radical action over the next decade to integrate women into all aspects of peace, we risk a continuous state of insecurity, heightened instability, and prolonged conflicts.

Original source: UN Women