UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security Turns Twenty

This October marks the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325. On this occasion, Member States, the UN and civil society are coming together, leading up to the annual Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security (29 October), to discuss the progress made and to call for the full implementation of the WPS Agenda. As in previous years, GPPAC’s Gender Experts will be participating in this process.

Twenty years since the adoption of Resolution 1325, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda has grown substantially. At the same time, however, its implementation has been frustratingly slow. This year, the heightened attention on WPS and particularly on participation of women in peace processes, provided by the milestone anniversary of its founding resolution, will allow our gender experts to advocate for the full implementation of WPS commitments in the context of conflict prevention and sustainable peacebuilding. In their engagements, our gender experts will also spotlight the impactful work done at the local level by women peacebuilders around the world, highlighting the essential contribution of women’s leadership in peacebuilding and conflict prevention. 

In the face of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s events will primarily take place online. Though this undoubtedly poses a new set of challenges, it also opens up new opportunities. Importantly, the shift to online spaces allows for greater engagement, especially on the part of GPPAC members who have, in previous years, been unable to participate in WPS week due to travel constraints. 

The 2020 Open Debate on WPS, taking place on 29 October, will be held under the presidency of Russia. GPPAC will be hosting two side-events:

No Peace Without Us: Women’s Participation in the UN Peacebuilding Architecture

On 27 October, as part of its series Operationalizing Sustaining Peace, GPPAC, in partnership with the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation (DHF), the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), and the International Peace Institute (IPI), will be holding an expert roundtable discussion. The event will explore the recent processes within the UN peacebuilding architecture aimed at advancing women’s participation in peacebuilding and to understand how women peacebuilders can and have been benefiting from these processes. The event can be attended by invitation only. If interested, please reach out to UN Liaison Marina Kumskova. 

Committing to Women’s Leadership in Peacebuilding - Bringing Women, Peace and Security and the UN Peacebuilding Architecture Closer Together

On 28 October, GPPAC will host an event on the synergies between the Sustaining Peace and WPS frameworks. The event will provide a space for exchange of Member States, the UN, and civil society to share practical experiences, including successes, key challenges, and recommendations on how to have more synergies between Women, Peace and Security and peacebuilding. It will feature a roundtable discussion among representatives of the UN and a diverse group of gender experts from the Caucasus, Cameroon, Lebanon and the Pacific followed by an interactive Q&A session. For more information, see the concept note.