General Women, Peace and Security

UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) and the broader women, peace and security (WPS) framework has been incredibly important in bringing gender onto the peace and security agenda. It has secured greater attention for women’s participation in peace and security efforts and raised attention to women’s specific needs in conflict-affected countries. It has not, however, resulted in the integration of a gender perspective in peace and security efforts. The term ‘gender’ is used interchangeably with ‘women’.

It is no gainsaying that promoting security should be a priority for every nation (security of lives and properties). Every life counts, male or female, young or old. Security, peace and development are words that intertwine. A country with a high level of security will experience a high level of peace as well as development.

The aim of this paper is to elucidate on the various roles women play in the peace and security initiatives. It shows how extreme violence that women suffer during armed conflict does not arise solely out of the conditions of war; it is directly related to the violence that exists in women's lives during peacetime. Throughout the world, women experience violence whether physical, psychological and sexual because they are women, and often because they suffer the imbalances of power relations.

Post-conflict peacebuilding processes present major opportunities for advancing women’s rights and gender equality. But a gender perspective needs to be more effectively operationalised in post-conflict institutions and peacebuilding processes. A key challenge for the United Nations (UN) and its member states in progressing the women, peace and security agenda in post-conflict settings is bridging the gap between the interdependent political and economic security pillars of peacebuilding.

Over the last two decades, gender mainstreaming has been adopted in a variety of forms, creating both opportunities and risks for advancing women's rights and gender equality. This policy brief reviews a selection of gender-mainstreaming practices implemented in the context of peace and security, and assesses their potential impact. It further calls for a more transformative model of gender mainstreaming that would utilize a gender perspective to challenge existing frameworks.

The submission briefly outlines Canada's National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and the response of Canadian civil society organizations. It includes 3 recommendations on building better NAPs arising from this experience.