This statement was made by Kaavya Asoka, Executive Director of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, at the June 2026 United Nations Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, “Peace is decided with women: Emerging from conflict by enhancing their participation.”
President, Excellencies,
Thank you for the opportunity to brief you today. I am Kaavya Asoka and I lead the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG), an international civil society coalition advocating for women’s rights.
Our members joined others in advocating for Resolution 1325 (2000) over 25 years ago not only because we believed it was time for the Security Council to recognize women’s right to fully participate[1] in any discussions about their future, but also because we believed that this Council has an obligation to support this right.
Today, as we face an intensifying, organized and well-funded global backlash against gender justice and women’s rights, women’s participation is more important than ever because feminist movements are on the frontlines of resistance to war and authoritarianism. Without them, there can be no democracy or peace.
Excellencies,
Since the very beginning, women’s participation in peacemaking has been a founding principle of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, and a collective demand of women leaders, many of whom my organization has proudly supported to brief the Security Council for two decades. I want to begin by reminding you of what many of them have said.
Yanar Mohammed,[2] a prominent Iraqi woman leader, asked in 2015 what Iraq would have looked like if the Council had promoted an inclusive political process as women and marginalized groups had called for. She described how their continued exclusion paved the way for the creation of ISIS and its horrific abuses. She told you that Iraq could not wait another 15 years for the WPS agenda to be implemented. Yet today, Iraqi women human rights defenders are being targeted with violence and hate campaigns, and even the word “gender” is now prohibited by the authorities,[3] making women’s participation or advocacy on gender-related issues all but impossible. Earlier this year, Yanar was assassinated at her home in Baghdad.[4] To date, the perpetrators have yet to be identified or held to account.
At the same meeting in 2015, you heard from Julienne Lusenge[5] from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who described women’s exclusion from peace talks with the M23.[6] Do you know what the response was, she asked, when women in North Kivu demanded their rightful place at the table? They were told: “There are only two parties in the conflict. Either you are part of the Government or part of the M23.” Armed actors were invited to negotiations. Women were not.[7] Julienne called on the international community to make women’s participation a requirement in peace processes. 11 years later, amid renewed conflict with the M23, Congolese women civil society are still being denied their place at the table.[8]
In 2019, Alaa Salah,[9] who participated in the women-led uprising that ousted the dictatorship of Omar Al Bashir, called on the international community to support the demand of Sudanese women to have 50% representation across all peace processes and all levels of government.[10] Sudanese women were ambitious, and correct. But the international community failed them, allowing the military and armed groups to hijack the transition,[11] rather than centering inclusivity and justice as the basis for Sudan’s political future. We see the results today. As feminist leader Hala Alkarib[12] recently told you, Sudanese women bear the brunt of more than three years of renewed conflict fueled by unchecked external interference and blatant disregard for this Council’s own arms embargo.[13] Despite being on the frontlines of community response,[14] Sudanese women are excluded from official peace negotiations.[15]
Shaharzad Akbar[16] in 2023 described to you the Taliban’s regime of systematic, institutionalized, gender-based repression,[17] a system that Afghan women and international experts call gender apartheid.[18] She outlined the Taliban’s dystopian vision: an Afghanistan without ballot boxes, the media, rule of law, or of course, any rights for women. With over 230 edicts targeting women,[19] the recent imposition of a repressive Criminal Procedure Code,[20] and just days ago, the Taliban’s deadly retaliation against women in Herat who protested their draconian dress code,[21] that vision of a public sphere without women is materializing before us today.
In December, one year after the fall of the brutal Assad regime, Mariam Jalabi[22] told you what it was like to return to a free Syria, from being wanted by three security branches to being welcomed home at the border. She recounted how Syrian women not only survived 54 years of brutal dictatorship, but played a leading role in advocating for human rights and international accountability, including for missing persons. She was clear that the Security Council must advocate for women’s participation in Syria’s democratic transition.
Last year, Noura Erakat[23] described reproductive violence and genocide by Israel in Gaza, and reminded you not to “permit brute power to unravel our humanity.” She called on you to ensure that Palestinians, especially women, are at the helm of their own political future. She asked you to take courage from the Palestinian women who refuse to surrender.
Despite these consistent messages from women leaders to the international community about what should be done, women’s exclusion from peace processes and political leadership is still the norm.[24] While UN-supported peace processes may have higher levels of women’s participation,[25] these are barely 6 percent of peace processes worldwide.[26] And in situations like Iran,[27] Lebanon,[28] Palestine[29] and Ukraine,[30] this Council has barely considered the question of women’s rights, let alone their participation in peace talks.
Ahead of this meeting, our coalition surveyed women’s rights activists across conflicts and crises to ask them what the main barriers to their participation are, and what support they need from the international community.[31] Despite the different contexts they came from, the challenges they described were much the same: unbridled militarization[32] and conflict; flagrant violations of international law; deeply rooted patriarchal norms in their societies, laws and institutions; male-dominated political structures that exclude women from peacemaking; unprecedented attacks on women’s rights, including sexual and gender-based violence[33] and retaliation against women for participating in public and political life; lack of funding;[34] and little political will or accountability for those perpetuating their exclusion.
In other words, they reinforced what women civil society have been telling you for 25 years.
So: what can you, the Security Council, do?
- Uphold international law, including WPS norms.[35] In 2025, only 46% of Council decisions contained any language related to WPS, the lowest since 2009. Well-established international norms on gender equality, preventing gender-based violence, women’s participation, and sexual and reproductive rights, among other issues, were repeatedly contested, rolled back and actively removed from Council decisions. As you know, this has continued into 2026. Further, every day we see international law increasingly trampled in favor of narrow interests, including by several members of this Council, who are not only violating the UN Charter themselves but constraining the ability of this Council to do its job. So I want to be clear that disregard for international law and its specific protections for women and girls means no accountability, no peace and a breakdown of the international system. Women’s rights, in their entirety, including their reproductive autonomy,[36] must be upheld as a necessary condition for their participation in public life. Defending women’s rights today means that Member States must speak out when the human rights of women, girls and LGBTIQ people, the independent voices of civil society, and the integrity of the multilateral system are under attack. While the political cost of holding the line on these issues may be great, the cost of dismantling the norms we have collectively built will be far greater.
- Create the conditions for women’s participation. As Wai Wai Nu,[37] a former political prisoner from Myanmar, told you in 2024, women cannot take part in public or political life if the conditions for their participation do not exist. Empty condemnation of attacks against civilians, while continuing to arm violence against them is unacceptable. Member States must commit to stopping arms transfers when there is a substantial risk that they may be used to commit or facilitate serious acts of gender-based violence, genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes, in line with the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).[38] Further, Member States should publicly condemn all violations of women’s rights and hold perpetrators accountable. We also urge you to pursue accountability strategies that center gender justice, including codifying gender apartheid in the new crimes against humanity treaty, supporting prosecutions of gender persecution at the International Criminal Court, and ensuring accountability for violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The standards you set today can help prosecute crimes tomorrow.
- Insist on women at the table.[39] This means direct inclusion of diverse women,[40] including women human rights defenders, peacebuilders and feminist movements, at all levels of decision-making, including Track 1 processes, with the target of 50%.[41] Women’s participation must be politically supported and fully resourced. Quotas for women’s participation must be established and enforced. Women’s full, equal, meaningful and safe participation in peace processes, especially those supported by the UN, must be a requirement. No Member State nor the UN should endorse, facilitate or participate in peace processes where women are absent. Further, you must enforce a zero-tolerance approach to any form of attack or reprisal against women for their political participation, human rights and humanitarian work, peacebuilding activities or cooperation with the UN, including the Security Council. Do not allow protection concerns to push women out of the spaces where they belong. I urge you to keep these principles front and center as you consider women’s participation in peace or political processes in every situation on the Council’s agenda, from Syria to Afghanistan, from Sudan to Myanmar, from Yemen to South Sudan.
Excellencies,
The costs of women’s exclusion from decision-making are crystal clear. Repeated cycles of violence.[42] Less representative political systems. Fewer checks on those in power. And more repressive societies.
If there is one thing we can learn from the women leaders I have mentioned today and 25 years of WPS, it is how essential women’s participation and feminist mobilization is for democracy[43] and peace.[44]
Yanar, the feminist activist from Iraq whose testimony I began my statement with today, embodied this principle. For decades, she lived under constant threat, as anti-rights and fundamentalist forces tried to stifle her activism. But she, like so many other courageous defenders, including those we have supported to brief this very Council, refused to remain silent. Your role is to amplify voices like hers. Enabling the participation of women leaders like Yanar means doing everything in your power to give these organizations and movements the serious political support, funding[45] and protection resources they need to do what they do best: speak out, document, deliver, protest, and build the resistance that is the lifeblood of peace and democracy.
Thank you.
Photo Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe
[1] Under the equality provisions of international human rights law, women have the right to full and equal representation, and States have a duty to guarantee that women fully exercise their human rights on an equal footing with men, free from discrimination. The binding principles of equality and nondiscrimination form the backbone of the international human rights protection system, and are enshrined in the UN Charter Art. 1(3), UDHR Art. 2, ICCPR Arts. 2, 3, 25, ICESCR Arts. 2, 3, CEDAW Arts. 7, 8, Human Rights Committee General Comment 28, and CEDAW Committee General Recommendations 23, 25, 28, 30 and 40, in addition to Security Council Resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1889 (2009), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019) and 2493 (2019).
[2] Statement by Ms. Yanar Mohammed at the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, 13 October 2015, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/statement-unsc-wps-open-debate-october-2015/.
[3] Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, “Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of Iraq,” ¶25(b), 26(b), 25 February 2026, CEDAW/C/IRQ/CO/8, https://docs.un.org/CEDAW/C/IRQ/CO/8; Amnesty International, “Iraq: Authorities must immediately reverse media ban on the terms ‘homosexuality’ and ‘gender’,” 9 August 2023, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/08/iraq-authorities-must-immediately-reverse-media-ban-on-the-terms-homosexuality-and-gender/.
[4] Human Rights Watch, “Iraq: Prominent Women’s Rights Activist Assassinated,” 12 March 2026, https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/03/12/iraq-prominent-womens-rights-activist-assassinated; MADRE, “On the Assassination of Feminist Leader Yanar Mohammed,” 2 March 2026, https://www.madre.org/media-item/yanarmohammed/.
[5] Statement by Ms. Julienne Lusenge at the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, 13 October 2015, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/statement-unsc-open-debate-women-peace-security-october-2015/.
[6] See also Susanne Allden, “Towards Gendered Peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 12 May 2025, https://gjia.georgetown.edu/human-rights-development/gendered-peace-in-the-drc/.
[7] All 11 signatories of the 2013 Framework Agreement for Peace, Security and Cooperation for the DRC and the Great Lakes Region were men, and only one of the four witnesses, the then-Chairperson of the African Union Commission, was a woman. A small number of women from civil society also had observer status with no negotiating or decision-making power. International Alert and Kvinna till Kvinna, “Gender audit of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the region,” p. 26, October 2015, https://www.international-alert.org/publications/gender-audit-drc/.
[8] Women civil society have not been included in any capacity in any agreements since 2025 on the conflict in eastern DRC. PA-X Peace Agreements Database and Dataset, accessed 12 June 2026, https://www.peaceagreements.org/agreements/search/?search_type=basic-search&countries=42&match_any_issues=True&signed_after=2025-01-01&signed_before=2026-06-12&sort=name.
[9] Statement by Ms. Alaa Salah at the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, 29 October 2019, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/statement-unsc-wps-open-debate-october-2019/.
[10] See also Liv Tønnessen and Samia al-Nagar, “Patriarchy, Politics and Women’s Activism in Post-Revolution Sudan,” Chr. Michelsen Institute, 2020, https://www.cmi.no/publications/7267-patriarchy-politics-and-womens-activism-in-post-revolution-sudan; Sudanese Women’s Declaration for Change No (1), April 2019, https://www.elkara.ma/news/news/sudanese-women-are-right-to-demand-parity-in-the-transition; SIHA Network, “Women Participation in Decision-Making is Not Pending Anyone’s Permission; It is De Facto,” 15 April 2019, https://sihanet.org/women-participation-in-decision-making-is-not-pending-anyones-permission-it-is-de-facto/.
[11] Human Rights Watch, “Sudan: Military Takeover Threatens Rights,” 26 October 2021, https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/10/26/sudan-military-takeover-threatens-rights.
[12] UN Security Council Briefing on Sudan by Hala Alkarib, 19 February 2026, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/un-security-council-briefing-sudan-hala-alkarib/.
[13] Human Rights Watch, “From Bogotá to El Fasher: The UAE’s Role in the Deployment of Colombian Fighters and Other Backing to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan,” 25 May 2026, https://www.hrw.org/report/2026/05/25/from-bogota-to-el-fasher/the-uaes-role-in-the-deployment-of-colombian-fighters; Amnesty International, “Sudan: Advanced Chinese weaponry provided by UAE identified in breach of arms embargo – new investigation,” 8 May 2025, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/sudan-advanced-chinese-weaponry-provided-by-uae-identified-in-breach-of-arms-embargo-new-investigation/; Final report of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan, ¶41-52, 15 January 2024, S/2024/65, https://docs.un.org/en/S/2024/65; Amnesty International, “Sudan: French-manufactured weapons system identified in conflict – new investigation,” 14 November 2024, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/11/sudan-french-manufactured-weapons-system-identified-in-conflict-new-investigation/; Human Rights Watch, “Fanning the Flames: Sudanese Warring Parties’ Access to New Foreign-Made Weapons and Equipment,” 9 September 2024, https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/09/09/fanning-flames; Amnesty International, “Sudan: Constant flow of arms fuelling relentless civilian suffering in conflict – new investigation,” 25 July 2024, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/07/sudan-constant-flow-of-arms-fuelling-relentless-civilian-suffering-in-conflict-new-investigation/.
[14] UN Women, “Gender alert: Three years of war: Sudanese women on the frontlines of humanitarian and local peacebuilding efforts,” April 2026, https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2026/04/gender-alert-three-years-of-war-sudanese-women-on-the-frontlines-of-humanitarian-and-local-peacebuilding-efforts.
[15] Manal Taha, “Women in Sudan’s Peace Process: The Need for a New Push,” Agency for Peacebuilding, April 2026, https://www.peaceagency.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/AP_PP_2026_04_Women-in-Sudans-peace-process.pdf; International IDEA, “Sudanese Women’s Participation in Ongoing Peace Processes,” pp. 13-17, December 2024, https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/2024-12/sudanese-womens-participation-in-ongoing-peace-processes.pdf.
[16] UN Security Council Briefing on Afghanistan by Shaharzad Akbar, 20 December 2023, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/un-security-council-briefing-afghanistan-shaharzad-akbar/.
[17] UN Special Procedures Communication OL OTH/33/2026, 10 April 2026, https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=30851; UN Security Council Briefing on Afghanistan by Negina Yari, 10 December 2025, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/un-security-council-briefing-afghanistan-negina-yari/ [highlighting restrictions on women humanitarian workers]; OHCHR, “Afghanistan: International community must reject Taliban’s violent and authoritarian rule, say UN experts,” 14 August 2025, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/08/afghanistan-international-community-must-reject-talibans-violent-and; UNAMA, “De Facto Authorities’ Moral Oversight in Afghanistan: Impacts on Human Rights,” July 2024, https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/moral_oversight_report_english_final.pdf.
[18] End Gender Apartheid Campaign, accessed 16 June 2026, https://endgenderapartheid.today/index.php; OHCHR, “Treaty on crimes against humanity: States must give Afghan women a central voice and recognise gender apartheid, Experts say,” 19 January 2026, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/01/treaty-crimes-against-humanity-states-must-give-afghan-women-central-voice; Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, “Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Afghanistan,” ¶13-14, 10 July 2025, CEDAW/C/AFG/CO/4, https://docs.un.org/en/CEDAW/C/AFG/CO/4; UN Security Council Briefing on Afghanistan by Azadah Raz Mohammad, 10 March 2025, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/un-security-council-briefing-afghanistan-azadah-raz-mohammad; “The phenomenon of an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity and exclusion of women and girls – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan,” 13 May 2024, A/HRC/56/25, https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5625-phenomenon-institutionalized-system-discrimination-segregation; UN Security Council Briefing on Afghanistan by Karima Bennoune, 26 September 2023, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/un-security-council-briefing-afghanistan-karima-bennoune/.
[19] Documentation by Afghanistan Justice Archive. UN Security Council Briefing on Afghanistan by Metra Mehran, 8 June 2026, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/un-security-council-briefing-afghanistan-metra-mehran/.
[20] UN Special Procedures Communication to Afghanistan, OL OTH 33/2026, 10 April 2026, https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=30851; Belquis Ahmadi, “The Taliban’s New Criminal Regulation Legalizes Slavery, Violence, and Repression of Women,” Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, 30 January 2026, https://giwps.georgetown.edu/2026/01/30/taliban-regulation-legalizes-slavery-violence-repression-women; Rawadari, “Press Release Regarding the Implications of the “The Criminal Procedure Code for Courts” Issued by the Taliban,” 22 January 2026, https://rawadari.org/press_releases/press-release-regarding-the-implications-of-the-the-criminal-procedure-code-for-courts-issued-by-the-taliban/.
[21] OHCHR, “Afghanistan: Experts condemn arrests for dress code violations and excessive use of force in Herat,” 11 June 2026, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/06/afghanistan-experts-condemn-arrests-dress-code-violations-and-excessive-use.
[22] UN Security Council Briefing on Syria by Mariam Jalabi, 18 December 2025, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/un-security-council-briefing-syria-mariam-jalabi/.
[23] Statement by Ms. Noura Erakat at the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, 6 October 2025, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/statement-noura-erakat-security-council-open-debate-women-peace-security/.
[24] In 2024, women made up an average of 7% of negotiators in peace processes, and 14% of mediators, in peace processes globally. Report of the Secretary-General on women, peace and security ¶24, 26, 5 September 2025, S/2025/556, undocs.org/s/2025/556.
[25] In 2024, women made up an average of 18% of negotiators in processes led, co-led or supported by the UN, compared to an average of 7% in all peace processes globally. Report of the Secretary-General on women, peace and security ¶24, 26, 5 September 2025, S/2025/556, undocs.org/s/2025/556.
[26] For example, in 2024 there were 65 active peace processes — the UN led or co-led four. Report of the Secretary-General on women, peace and security, ¶24, 26, 5 September 2025, S/2025/556, https://docs.un.org/en/s/2025/556.
[27] The Security Council’s only decision related to the Iran conflict, Resolution 2817 (2026), did not contain any WPS-related terms. This was the first Council product related to Iran since Resolution 2231 (2015), which also did not contain any WPS-related language. In the three Security Council meetings on Iran so far in 2026 (S/PV.10153, S/PV.10112, S/PV.10091), the only mention of women’s participation was from Panama (S/PV.10091, pp. 13-14), in the context of restrictions on Iranian women’s and girls’ ability to participate in public life. Three senior UN officials have briefed the Security Council so far in 2026 on Iran, none of whom have mentioned women’s participation in any context. Only one Iranian woman civil society representative has ever briefed the Security Council (S/PV.10091).
[28] Neither of the two Security Council decisions on Lebanon in 2025, S/PRST/2025/1 and Resolution 2790 (2025), mentioned women or WPS in any capacity. Similarly, the Council’s only decision on Lebanon in 2024, Resolution 2749 (2024), also did not mention women or WPS. So far in 2026, seven senior UN officials have briefed the Security Council in three meetings on Lebanon (S/PV.10163, S/PV.10127, S/PV.10118), and none mentioned women’s participation. No Lebanese women civil society representatives have ever briefed the Security Council at meetings on the Middle East, though a woman from Lebanon who represented a political entity briefed the Security Council in March 2026 (S/PV.10118).
[29] Of nearly 200 Security Council resolutions on Palestine since 1948, only three have mentioned women at all — Resolutions 2720 (2023), 2735 (2024) and 2803 (2025) — though none mentioned women’s participation. So far in 2026, five senior UN officials have briefed the Security Council in five meetings on Israel/Palestine (S/PV.10155, S/PV.10146, S/PV.10125, S/PV.10108, S/PV.10098), none of whom have mentioned women’s participation.
[30] The Security Council’s only decision on Ukraine since the 2022 full-scale invasion by Russia, Resolution 2774 (2025), did not use any WPS-related terms. In the nine meetings on Ukraine so far in 2026 (S/PV.10166, S/PV.10162, S/PV.10160, S/PV.10158, S/PV.10152, S/PV.10140, S/PV.10124, S/PV.10110, S/PV.10087), no senior UN officials mentioned women’s participation in any context. Since February 2022, the Security Council has held over 130 public meetings on Ukraine, only two of which were WPS-focused (S/PV.9013, 11 April 2022 and S/PV.9056, 6 June 2022), and heard just six briefings by Ukrainian women civil society representatives (S/PV.9799, S/PV.9404, S/PV.9126, S/PV.9056, S/PV.9027, S/PV.9013).
[31] In June 2026, the NGOWG surveyed women from Afghanistan, DRC, Haiti, Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen on their participation in peace processes and decision-making, including barriers, best practices, and future opportunities. The results of the survey are synthesized above.
[32] World military expenditure increased by 2.9% in 2025, totaling $2.88 trillion. Xiao Liang et. al., “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2025,” SIPRI, April 2026, https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2026-04/2604_milex_2025.pdf.
[33] Report of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence, 21 April 2026, S/2026/321, https://docs.un.org/s/2026/321.
[34] Human Rights Watch, “Every Autocrat’s Dream: A Global Snapshot of the Human Rights Harms of US Foreign Aid Cuts,” 14 May 2026, https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/media_2026/05/us_aidcuts0526_0.pdf; Women’s Refugee Commission, “A Year of Harms: The Impact of US Foreign Aid Cuts on Women and Girls in Humanitarian Crises,” 20 January 2026, https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/research-resources/year-of-harms/; Amnesty International, “Lives at Risk: Chaotic and Abrupt Cuts to Foreign Aid Put Millions of Lives at Risk,” 29 May 2025, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr51/9408/2025/en/; UN Women, “At a breaking point: The impact of foreign aid cuts on women’s organizations in humanitarian crises worldwide,” 13 May 2025, https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2025/05/at-a-breaking-point-the-impact-of-foreign-aid-cuts-on-womens-organizations-in-humanitarian-crises-worldwide.
[35] Security Council Resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2008), 1889 (2008), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019) and 2493 (2019).
[36] International humanitarian law (IHL) and customary IHL protect sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), including access to safe abortion, through: the right to all necessary medical care without adverse distinction, including for pregnant women (Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions; Geneva Convention III, art. 14; Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, Arts. 8, 10; Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions, Art. 7; Customary IHL Database Rule 88); prohibiting rape and other forms of sexual violence (Customary IHL Database Rule 93); and prohibition of “cruel treatment and torture” and “outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment” (Common Article 3). Under international human rights law, SRHR are protected including through the rights to: life (ICCPR Art. 6; CRC Art. 6; UDHR Art. 3; CRPD Art. 10); health (CERD Art. 5(e)(iv); ICESCR Art. 12; CEDAW Arts. 11(1)(f), 12, 14(2)(b); CRPD Art. 25; CRC Art. 24, UDHR Art. 25); privacy (ICCPR Art. 17; CRC Art. 16; UDHR Art. 12; CRPD Art. 22); liberty and security of person; freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CAT; ICCPR Art. 7; UDHR Art. 5; CRPD Art. 15; CRC Art. 37); freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief (ICCPR Art. 18); equality and non-discrimination (UDHR Art. 2; ICCPR Arts. 3, 26; ICESCR Art. 2; CERD Art. 1; CEDAW Arts. 1 and 2); and to seek, receive and impart information (ICCPR Art. 19; UDHR Art. 19; CEDAW Arts. 10, 14, 16; CRPD Art. 21; CRC Arts. 13, 17). SRHR are also specifically protected by Security Council resolutions 1889 (2009), 2106 (2013) and 2122 (2013) on women, peace and security.
[37] Statement by Ms. Wai Wai Nu at the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, 24 October 2024, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/statement-wai-wai-nu-security-council-open-debate-women-peace-security/.
[38] The Arms Trade Treaty, Arts. 6(3) and 7(4), 3013 UNTS 269, https://old.thearmstradetreaty.org/hyper-images/file/ATT_English/ATT_English.pdf?templateId=137253.
[39] 2023 Open Letter to Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in advance of the annual Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, 16 October 2023, https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/resource/open-letter-un-wps-2023/.
[40] “Diverse women” includes women from minority, ethnic and religious groups, LGBTIQ individuals, young women, displaced and migrant women, women with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. CEDAW General recommendation No. 30 on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations, ¶6, 36, 1 November 2013, undocs.org/CEDAW/C/GC/30.
[41] CEDAW General recommendation No. 40 on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems, 25 October 2024, undocs.org/CEDAW/C/GC/40.
[42] Escola de Cultura de Pau, “Gender, Peace and Security,” 2019, https://escolapau.uab.cat/img/programas/alerta/alerta/19/cap03i.pdf; Catalina Crespo-Sancho, “Can gender equality prevent violent conflict?” 28 March 2018, https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/dev4peace/can-gender-equality-prevent-violent-conflict; Sian Herbert, “Links between women’s empowerment (or lack of) and outbreaks of violent conflict,” December 2014, https://gsdrc.org/publications/links-between-womens-empowerment-or-lack-of-and-outbreaks-of-violent-conflict/.
[43] Julisa Tambunan, Aminah Jasho and Esme Abbott, “Weaponising Gender: How gender became the perfect scapegoat for far-right and authoritarian actors,” The Transnational Institute, 3 February 2026, https://www.tni.org/en/article/weaponising-gender.
[44] Erica Chenoweth and Zoe Marks, “Revenge of the Patriarchs: Why Autocrats Fear Women,” Foreign Affairs, 8 February 2022, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2022-02-08/women-rights-revenge-patriarchs.
[45] In addition to directly sustaining women’s rights organizations, donors should commit to meeting minimum targets for gender equality and women’s participation — namely, 1 per cent of overseas development assistance for women’s rights and women-led peacebuilding organizations and 15 per cent of funds for programs that advance gender equality as a principal objective — with a firm commitment to increasing such funding in the future. Report of the Secretary-General on women, peace and security ¶105(a), 5 September 2025, S/2025/556, undocs.org/s/2025/556.