Experts and practitioners review commitments to women, peace and security agenda

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), the OSCE and UN Women joined forces to host an online event on 12 October 2020. Experts reviewed commitments and charted the way forward on this landmark resolution, the first international agreement recognizing that conflict affects women differently than men and calling for the meaningful participation of women in peace processes. A wide range of WPS practitioners from civil society and women’s organizations, government officials and representatives of international organizations participated in the event.

“Over the past twenty years, the women, peace and security agenda has stood to accelerate the achievement of gender equality, to increase women’s voices and their inclusion in political and peace processes, decision-making and leadership,” said Inid Milo, Head of the OSCE Task Force of the Albanian OSCE Chairpersonship.

Alia El-Yassir, UN Women Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia said: “Creating a peaceful world for future generations requires the empowerment of women in conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts, and bringing them to the table. Given all that we know and the challenges that the world is facing, advocating for women´s rights and women’s equal participation in peace processes is more important now than ever.”

Participants noted that although scientific studies and practice show that women’s inclusion in peace processes ensures a more sustainable outcome, they are still largely absent from official peace negotiations. They pointed to the need for transformative measures to change the cultural norms that continue to prevent women’s full participation.

Discussions focused on real experiences in implementing the WPS agenda and the presentation of useful tools, such as the OSCE Toolkit on Inclusion of Women and Effective Peace Processes and the first-ever women, peace and security index created by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security together with the Peace Research Institute of Oslo. The index shows a direct correlation between the well-being of women and the well-being of nations.

Participants recommended, for a strategic way forward, connecting women’s peace efforts at the local level to official peace processes, involving the private sector and enhancing media representation of women leaders in peace and security efforts.