"Conflict-affected communities that experienced the most rapid economic recovery and poverty reduction are those that had more women reporting higher levels of empowerment." Global Study on the Implementation of UNSCR 1325, UN Women, 2015

The Challenge we address

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic, we have been hearing a lot about “women on the frontlines.” For years, this phrase has rung particularly true for women peacebuilders

Yet despite their great efforts and contributions, women peacebuilders have remained invisible and their work unnoticed. Decision-making processes in conflict and post-conflict contexts continued to deliberately excluded women.

The adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and the birth of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, had given due recognition to the experiences and achievements of women peacebuilders.

Twenty years and 10 UN resolutions on, women continue to work effectively to respond to crisis and human security concerns. Recognition of their work remains lagging.

As the world marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of UNSCR 1325 in October 2020, in the midst of a serious global pandemic, we have an opportunity to renew global commitment to supporting the important role of women in political and economic decision-making at early stages of recovery processes

Our Response

Working with the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and UN Women, UNDP has launched an online discussion and a sensemaking exercise to find out more about what is actually happening on the ground in areas of conflict and post-conflict, where women are engaged in different ways in rebuilding their communities that is not always recognised. 

The online discussion and subsequent sensemaking exercise brought together men and women peacebuilders and activists throughout the globe, including academic institutions, civil society and journalists. Participants discussed ideas on what works, what extra support might be needed to ensure positive change is supported and what issues should be brought to the world’s attention.

Recognizing that peace work often happens in some of the most remote contexts, additional efforts were made to reach out and gain insights from those without easy access to the internet.

The online discussion and subsequent sensemaking exercise also provided an opportunity to explore lessons learnt from women’s inclusion in conflict related economic and political decision making to help ensure women’s participation in key decision making in the global response to COVID-19.   

“Never underestimate the power of working together in a productive space; whether in a rice field or a garden or an industrial space. It is in these connections across lines that we humanize the other and create the basis for men, women and children to build peace together.”  Woman Peacebuilder

Avenues for future action: #WPSbeyond2020

Discussion and recommendations from the online discussion and subsequent sensemaking exercise can be summarized in nine key Insights and future opportunities for action.

1. The disconnect between UNSCR 1325 and grassroots women’s organizations and needs is undermining the women, peace, and security agenda

2. Women’s peacebuilding work differs stylistically from formal, masculine norms — and recognition of these actions is vital to secure support for it in pre- and post-conflict peacebuilding work

3. Women groups are most effective at weaving together former conflict groups when building shared community investments

4. Women are building a decentralized social service infrastructure and network with untapped potential

5. Building effective income generation programs requires investing in supply and demand ecosystems — not just capacity building — and breaking beyond craft making

6. Personal communication devices have the power to be transformative for women’s empowerment thanks to the possibilities they create

7. Women’s networking is the backbone of empowerment —but the “projectized” nature of development means it is poorly supported

8. As women organize, they are creating a viable power base that can help build local government capacity

9. Effective empowerment initiatives need to be connected

Each insight comes with a set of concrete action recommendations to operationalize it.

For more information on the online discussion and sensemaking exercise, and the full set of insights and action recommendations, please visit sparkblue.org/wpsrecovery; follow our hashtag #WPSBeyond2020 on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

UNSCR 1325 beyond its 20th Anniversary blog