Women, Peace and Security Agenda Still Hitting Glass Ceiling

This October will mark the 15^th anniversary of the adoption of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325. The landmark resolution on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) recognises not only the disproportionate impact armed conflict has on women, but also the lack of women’s involvement in conflict resolution and peace-making.

Peace Is Not a Boy’s Club

Governments have long pledged to bring more women to the peace table, but for many (if not most), it has been little more than lip service.

Four Ways Women Bring Lasting Peace to the Table

2015 marks anniversaries for two significant commitments made to increasing women’s participation at peace tables.

Women Seek Stand-Alone Goal for Gender in Post-2015 Agenda

The 45-member U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) concluded its annual 10-day session Saturday with several key pronouncements, including on reproductive health, women's rights, sexual violence, female genital mutilation (FGM) and the role of women in implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

OP-ED: Participation Is Key to Women’s Equality and Empowerment

The largest annual gathering with special focus on issues which impact on women and thereby humanity as a whole is now taking place in New York.

U.N. Urged to Practice What It Preaches on Gender

Amidst a rise in sexual violence in the world’s war zones, the United Nations has begun appointing women to head some of the key political and peacekeeping missions in conflict areas - and also created Gender Advisers as a second line of defence.

OP-ED: Women’s Empowerment Builds International Peace and Security

When war erupts, women are often the first to experience the harsh brutality and the last to be called to the peace table. A resolution adopted Friday by the U.N. Security Council moves us one step closer to the full participation of women as leaders for peace and security.

OP-ED: Moving Forward to End Violence Against Women

Last year, as rebels captured the main towns in Northern Mali, UN Women registered a sudden and dramatic increase of rapes in the first week of the takeover of Gao and Kidal, in places where most women never report this violence to anyone, not even health practitioners.

A Political Tug-of-War Over Militarism and Gender Violence

When the largest single gathering of women met at the United Nations in February last year, the adoption of a future plan of action was undermined by rigidly conservative governments opposed to women's reproductive rights - largely misinterpreted as a right to abortion.

Why Are Women Shut Out of Peace Talks?

Against the backdrop of an upcoming U.N. Security Council (UNSC) meeting on women, peace and security, a coalition of some 63 international women's groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has decried the absence of women during peace negotiations in post-conflict situations.

Security Council Vow on Women Lives Mostly on Paper

When the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) adopted a landmark resolution numbered 1325 back in 2000, it was supposed to integrate gender into its core mandate: the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security.