Strengthening Women’s Agenda in Peace Building: From Theory to Action

Two decades after the United Nations Security Council first recognized women’s critical role in peace and security through Resolution 1325, the journey from policy to practice remains incomplete. While the framework for women’s participation in peacebuilding exists, significant gaps persist between what has been promised and what is delivered on the ground. Addressing these gaps requires moving beyond declarations to concrete actions that tackle the structural barriers preventing women from fully contributing to sustainable peace.

Addressing the psycho-social needs of veterans 🔗

When armed conflicts end, the transition from military to civilian life presents challenges that peacebuilding frameworks have largely overlooked. Veterans and former combatants carry psychological trauma that, when left unaddressed, can fuel cycles of violence within communities. Traditional Western approaches to trauma recovery often fail to resonate in diverse cultural contexts where conflict has occurred.

The need for context-specific approaches to psycho-social recovery is urgent. Communities affected by conflict require healing processes that align with local traditions and understanding while providing professional support. Without these interventions, unhealed trauma perpetuates societal violence, undermining peace efforts and preventing genuine reconciliation.

Social protection as a foundation for peace 🔗

Women survivors of violence face particular economic vulnerabilities in post-conflict settings. Without adequate social protection systems, they risk exploitation and continued cycles of abuse. Expanded social insurance programs that include healthcare, unemployment benefits, and support for caregivers are essential safety nets.

These programs must be designed with women’s realities in mind, incorporating provisions for childcare and transportation that enable access to services. Research shows that when women have economic security and access to social services, they contribute more effectively to post-conflict recovery, investing in family health and education that benefits entire communities.

The overlooked crisis of HIV/AIDS in conflict zones 🔗

In sub-Saharan Africa, conflict and the HIV/AIDS epidemic share common drivers including poverty, food insecurity, and weak governance structures. The Security Council has recognized HIV/AIDS as a security threat, yet peacebuilding measures remain inadequate in addressing prevention, care, and treatment.

Post-conflict transitions create heightened vulnerability to HIV transmission through increased population mobility, disrupted health services, and the demobilization of combatants. Women and girls face compounded risks, particularly when survival needs drive them toward commercial sex work in refugee settings. The AIDS, Security and Conflict Initiative has called for integrating HIV prevention and response into disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs, emphasizing the critical links between violence against women and increased infection risks.

Confronting sexual and gender-based violence systematically 🔗

Sexual and gender-based violence remains a foundational obstacle to women’s participation in reconciliation and civic life. Despite its prevalence in conflict settings, responses have been narrow, under-resourced, and inadequate. SGBV often increases in post-conflict societies due to the breakdown of rule of law, availability of weapons, and normalization of violence.

The Peacebuilding Commission should systematically assess national action plans and collaborate with agencies like UNFPA and UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict to address both prevention and recovery. Effective responses require not only legal accountability but also comprehensive support services for survivors and programs that challenge underlying gender inequalities.

Reforming security sectors with a gender lens 🔗

Security sector reform represents a critical opportunity to reshape power structures and build institutions that serve all citizens. Yet women remain significantly underrepresented in security services. As of January 2025, only 10 percent of UN uniformed peacekeeping personnel are women, with even lower representation at senior ranks.

Comprehensive gender-responsive security sector reform must include establishing accountability systems, implementing gender-sensitive recruitment policies, creating procedures for registering crimes against women, and reforming police structures to ensure women’s protection. UN Security Council resolutions 2151 and 2553 call for removing legal and institutional barriers to women’s equal participation in security sectors, recognizing that diverse perspectives improve operational effectiveness and build community trust.

Ensuring access through judicial reform 🔗

Women’s access to justice requires bridging the gap between formal and traditional legal systems while aligning both with human rights standards. Many post-conflict societies maintain customary legal practices that discriminate against women, particularly regarding property rights and family law.

Key interventions include providing legal literacy programs, monitoring rights violations, ensuring reparations for survivors, and learning from global innovations such as specialized courts and police stations dedicated to addressing violence against women. These reforms must recognize that effective justice systems respond to the specific security needs of all community members, including women and girls who face distinct threats in conflict and post-conflict settings.

Addressing gender bias in economic recovery strategies 🔗

Macro-economic strategies embedded in Peacebuilding Frameworks often inadvertently harm women through privatization and cuts to social services. Women bear a disproportionate burden when healthcare, education, and social welfare programs are reduced, as they assume increased unpaid care responsibilities.

The Peacebuilding Commission must assess these frameworks for gender bias and conduct demand-side assessments to understand how economic policies affect women differently than men. Priority investments in water access, sanitation, and energy infrastructure directly impact women’s daily lives and their capacity to participate in economic and political recovery.

Investing beyond micro-credit in women’s economic empowerment 🔗

While micro-credit programs have received significant attention, sustainable economic recovery requires deeper investments. Women need access to secondary and tertiary education, agricultural research and extension services, and information and communication technologies that can transform livelihoods.

Strategies should build on women’s historical successes in entrepreneurship and trading through substantial loans, skills development, and removing market access barriers. Women’s economic participation contributes directly to three pillars of lasting peace: economic recovery, social cohesion, and political legitimacy.

Strengthening mechanisms for women’s political advancement 🔗

National mechanisms for women’s advancement need substantial strengthening to ensure meaningful participation in policy-making. The Peacebuilding Commission should consolidate best practices on affirmative action and quotas, providing consistent technical advice to governments.

Evidence demonstrates that women in post-conflict countries have nearly doubled their legislative representation compared to countries without conflict, reaching 27 percent in some African post-conflict parliaments. However, representation alone is insufficient without the power to influence decisions and shape policies that affect reconstruction and development.

Designing youth strategies that recognize gender differences 🔗

Conflict affects boys and girls differently across developmental stages, requiring targeted approaches that address specific vulnerabilities. Adolescent girls face distinct challenges including early marriage, teenage pregnancy, sexual exploitation, trafficking, and heightened HIV/AIDS risks.

Effective youth empowerment strategies must recognize these gendered impacts and provide appropriate support, education, and economic opportunities. Programs should engage both young women and men in peacebuilding while addressing the structural factors that perpetuate gender inequality and violence.

What do you think? How can peacebuilding frameworks better prioritize women’s economic security and political participation? What role should international organizations play in ensuring that post-conflict recovery programs genuinely address the needs of women and girls?

References

1. https://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/wps/
2. https://reliefweb.int/report/world/hivaids-security-and-conflict-new-realities-new-responses-aids-security-and-conflict
3. https://wps.unwomen.org/building/
4. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2584057/
5. https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2009/september/20090922aidsandsecurity
6. https://www.ohchr.org/en/women/womens-human-rights-and-gender-related-concerns-situations-conflict-and-instability
7. https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/about-us/un-action/
8. https://knowledge.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/gender-equality-in-peacekeeping-why-it-matters-for-global-security
9. https://www.un.org/ssr/content/security-sector-reform-women-peace-and-security
10. https://www.un.org/peacebuilding/policy-issues-and-partnerships/policy/women
11. https://www.inclusivesecurity.org/publication/why-women-inclusive-security-and-peaceful-societies/