National Implementation of the UN Security Council's Women, Peace and Security Resolutions - NOREF - Norwegian Peacebuilding Resoure Centre - Aisling Swaine - WILPF Academic Network

The implementation of the women, peace and security resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) faces ongoing challenges. National action plans (NAPs) have been developed as a means to address the implementation gap, with 40 such NAPs developed by UN member states to date. NAPs aim to enable states’ commitments under the various UNSC resolutions to become the actions they take in both domestic and foreign policy. Stand-alone NAPs offer significant opportunity to advance the national implementation of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. They also present risks, however, most notably in terms of how strategic provisions of the various WPS resolutions are translated into actions in an action plan. Successful implementation of the WPS agenda is thus not just contingent on the adoption of an NAP, but the proper implementation of that NAP. This policy brief provides an overview of the key opportunities and constraints presented by NAPs and the action planning process itself, and concludes with a range of recommendations for enhancing the development and implementation of NAPs for the overall fulfilment of the WPS agenda.

Thematic Focus: 
General Women, Peace and Security
Implementation
Date of Paper: 
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Contact person email: 
academic@wilpf.ch
Responsible for submission: 
WILPF Academic Network coordinator on behalf of Aisling Swaine
Strategic recommendation(s): 
  1. Give a “results focus” to action planning, implementation and evaluation: A “results” focus is required to ensure that NAPs are structured around the results and outcomes that the WPS resolutions intend to achieve. The evaluations of NAPs should assess the substantive quality of the actions themselves, i.e. whether they are contributing towards the normative changes envisioned by the resolutions, rather than simply whether actions themselves have been performed or whether thematic aspects of the resolutions have been addressed. 
  2. Employ comprehensive and inclusive processes to develop and revise NAPs: Factors that lend themselves towards a more successful NAP need to be incorporated in all aspects of NAP development and implementation. These include:
    1. Wide stakeholder involvement, including a broad range of ministries, parliamentary representation, civil society members, women’s organisations, and diaspora and refugee organisations;
    2. The inclusion of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms; and
    3. A clear statement of funding specifically earmarked for the implementation of the NAP from each ministry concerned. 
Paper / Document: 
PDF icon Aisling Swaine_NOREF policy brief.pdf