UN WOMEN News: Facts and figures: Peace and security

Women’s meaningful participation in peace processes

1. Women continue to be largely excluded from negotiating peace. In UN-supported and tracked peace processes, women’s participation in negotiating delegations has not improved in recent years. In 2018, out of six active UN-led or co-led processes, women were included in 14 out of 19 delegations [1]. Global data trends also show little progress. Between 1992 and 2018, women constituted 13 per cent of negotiators, 3 per cent of mediators and only 4 per cent of signatories in major peace processes tracked by the Council on Foreign Relations [2].

2. Women’s direct participation in peace negotiations increases the sustainability and the quality of peace. A study investigating 82 peace agreements in 42 armed conflicts between 1989 and 2011 found that peace agreements with women signatories are associated with durable peace. The same study also found that peace agreements signed by women show a higher number of agreement provisions aimed at political reform and a higher implementation rate of these provisions [3]. Another study based on an analysis of 98 peace agreements across 55 countries between 2000 and 2016 found that peace agreements are more likely to have gender provisions when women participate in track 1 or 2 peace processes [4].

3. Women civil society groups play critical roles in peace processes. Particularly, strong linkages and collaboration between diverse women groups (for example, women delegates, women civil society groups, local women’s civil society activists) are crucial for the inclusion of provisions that address social inequalities, especially gender inequality [5].

4. Gender-sensitive language in peace agreements is critical to setting a foundation for gender-inclusion during the peacebuilding phase. However, the vast majority of agreements do not explicitly address gender equality or the rights of women. Between 1990 and the end of 2018, only 353 of 1,789 agreements (19.7 per cent) related to more than 150 peace processes included provisions addressing women, girls or gender. In 2018, out of 52 agreements across a range of issues only 4 (7.7 per cent) contained gender-related provisions, down from 39 per cent in 2015 [6].

5. Even where agreements have included specific gender provisions, implementation has proven difficult. For Instance, the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace, signed in Colombia in 2016 to end the armed conflict between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) is heralded as an inclusive and gender-responsive model. However, analyses of the agreement’s 130 gender provisions, including those centred on gender equality and women’s rights, showed that as of June 2018, 51 per cent of these provisions had not yet been initiated. Moreover, such provisions are being implemented at a slower pace than others within the accord [7].

6. “The Global Study on the Implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325” put forward a set of recommendations for action to enhance women’s meaningful participation in all aspects of peace negotiations and peace processes. See chapter 3 on women’s participation and a better understanding of the political [8].

7. In 2018, UN Women hosted an Expert Group Meeting on women’s meaningful participation in negotiating peace and the implementation of peace agreements. The report examines the concept of meaningful participation and includes a menu of actions for relevant actors and recommendations that reflect on nearly 20 years of implementation of the women, peace, and security agenda [9].

Protection, rule of law, and women’s access to justice

1. As of 2018, in situations on the Security Council’s agenda over 50 parties to conflict are credibly suspected of having committed or instigated patterns of rape and other forms of sexual violence [10].

2. An earlier study conducted in 2014 estimated that at least one in five women refugees in complex humanitarian settings has experienced sexual violence [11].

3. In 2017 the government of Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244) established a reparations programme to benefit survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. A government commission began receiving applications for reparations on 5 February 2018, and as of October 2019, more than 1,000 survivors have applied for the lifetime monthly pension of EUR 230; more than 500 are already receiving this benefit in recognition of the harm they have suffered [12].

4. In Colombia, women are leading the nation’s transitional justice process, holding the highest leadership positions in several institutions, including the Presidency of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and the Directorate of the Missing Persons Search Unit. Women also represent 54.9 per cent of the members of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and 45.45 per cent of the members of Commission of Truth, Coexistence and Non-recurrence [13].

5. In July 2019, the International Criminal Court convicted Bosco Ntaganda on 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2002 and 2003, including rape and sexual slavery. If this verdict is upheld on appeal, it will be the first final conviction for crimes of sexual violence at the International Criminal Court [14].

6. Violence perpetrated by United Nations designated terrorist groups continues to have a devastating impact, including indiscriminate violence against civilian populations, the targeting of civilian objects, violence and discrimination directed at women and girls, and the strategic use and manipulation of gender norms and stereotypes as part of recruitment and retention tactics and as part of violent extremist narratives, which has a negative effect on the rights of women and girls and the overall resilience of communities [15].

7. Recent reports continue to highlight the fact that national counter-terrorism legislation has been, and continues to risk being, used against civil society and human rights defenders, and that it may disproportionately affect women’s civil society organizations that often take on the role of peacebuilders and human rights defenders [16].

8. New data published in May 2019 shows record levels of political violence targeting women over the last 12 months, including killings, sexual violence, forced disappearances, online and offline harassment, physical assault, and mob violence [17].

9. Findings by the Special Rapporteur on the situations of human rights defenders show that the rise of misogynistic, sexist and homophobic speech by political leaders in recent years has contributed to increased violence against women, LGBTQI individuals, and women human rights defenders [18].

10. The UN Secretary-General requested peacekeeping and special political missions to continue to improve their monitoring and reporting of threats and violence against activists including women human rights defenders, with data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability, and for these to be built into early warning signs of escalating conflict or instability. Efforts have been made to enhance civic space and work towards the establishment of a country-wide human rights early warning system, such as those of the United Nations Integrated Office for Peacebuilding in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) which has established a network of nearly 900 human rights defenders, including 343 women [19].

Women’s rights to resources and gender equality in humanitarian action

1. In 2019, nearly 132 million people needed/sought humanitarian aid and protection, including an estimated 35 million women, young women and girls who required life-saving sexual and reproductive health services, and interventions to prevent gender-based violence and respond to the needs of survivors [20].

2. In 2018, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) endorsed its new policy on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, which has contributed to the progress of advancing gender equality in humanitarian action. Prior to 2018, less than half of humanitarian responses included gender analysis and related data. In 2018, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicates that 95 per cent of Humanitarian Needs Overviews mention gender-based violence or include some form of gender analysis. However, still only 28 per cent of these articulated the differential impact faced by women, men, girls and boys in crises as well as the underlying factors affecting vulnerability [21].

3. Conflicts and emergencies limit children’s and youth’s access to education. In 2016, only 61 per cent of refugee children had access to primary education, compared to 91 per cent worldwide. At secondary level, this drops to 23 per cent compared to 84 per cent globally.  Refugee girls at secondary level are only half as likely to enrol in school as boys [22].

4. Rates of early, forced and child marriage increase in conflict and humanitarian settings. Research found that 9 of the 10 countries considered to be fragile contexts have the highest rates of child marriage [23].

5. New data looking at 187 countries and territories show that nearly 40 per cent limit women’s property rights and nearly 30 per cent restrict women’s freedom of movement, increasing women’s vulnerability generally, but particularly in conflict-affected settings [24].

Governance and women’s political participation

1. As of January 2019, women served as Head of State or Government in 19 countries, including in two post-conflict countries (Ethiopia and Serbia). The global average of women ministers is 20.7 per cent compared to 18.3 per cent in conflict and post conflict countries [25].

2. As of January 2019, only 24.3 per cent of parliamentary seats globally are held by women. For conflict and post-conflict countries, this ratio is even worse, at just 19 per cent [26].

3. Gender quotas and other temporary special measures are effective tools to remedy this challenge. In conflict and post-conflict countries with legislated gender quotas, the share of women in parliament is more than twice that of those countries without (24.3 per cent compared to 10.6 per cent) [27].

4. As of May 2019, in 103 countries/areas with data, women’s representation in elected bodies varied from less than 1 per cent to gender balance at 50 per cent, with a median of 26 per cent. By comparison, the median is lower at 19 per cent for 21 conflict and post-conflict countries with data [28].

Financing the women, peace, and security agenda

1. Bilateral aid to promote gender equality and women’s human rights in fragile and conflict-affected contexts reached an average of USD 19.5 billion per year in the period 2016-17. The overall share of aid promoting gender equality in some form in fragile country situations has increased to 42.6 per cent—higher than ever before. However, only 4.9 per cent of this aid supported dedicated programmes or projects with the primary objective to improve gender equality and women’s empowerment—a level similar to previous years [29].

2. Of bilateral aid in the period 2016–2017, USD 82 million went directly to women’s organizations—accounting for only 0.2 per cent total bilateral aid to fragile and conflict-affected situations [30].

3. Certain United Nations entities have regularly tracked their gender-related investment and expenditure. For instance, UNDP has increased its financing for gender equality in developing countries from 48 per cent in 2017 to 56 per cent in 2018 total. Of the 56 per cent in 2018, 7 per cent had gender equality as a principal objective and 49 per cent as a significant objective [31].

4. The demands on UN Women for programming continued to rise. In 2018, UN Women’s total expenditure for peace and security programming and humanitarian interventions rose to USD 89.44 million [32].

5. Since 2004, the Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office has managed over USD 10 billion in funding through 148 funds, supporting activities in over 110 countries, with 52 participating United Nations entities and 98 donors. Among 90 funds analysed, 57 have explicit commitments to promote gender equality (63 per cent) [33].

6. In 2018, the Peacebuilding Fund allocated 40 per cent of the USD 183 million approved to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, exceeding the United Nations minimum target of 15 per cent, and the revised 30 per cent target set by the Fund [34].

7. The Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund has established its role as an innovative mechanism supporting impactful peacebuilding and humanitarian initiatives led by grassroot civil society organizations. Since its establishment in 2016, the WPHF has funded 56 civil society organizations in Burundi, Colombia, Iraq, Jordan, Fiji, Palau, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. Within its three years of operations, the Fund has impacted the lives of over 76,000 women and girls directly, and of over 3 million individuals in total [35].

National and regional strategies for advancing women’s peace and security

1. Member States hold the primary responsibility for advancement of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. As such, the Women and Peace and Security Focal Points Network, which includes over 80 Member States and regional organizations, provides a forum to strengthen approaches and strategies for implementation [36].

2. As of August 2019, 81 countries or territories had national action plans on women, peace and security. Only 41 per cent of Member States have adopted national action plans on women, peace and security and just 22 per cent of all plans included a budget at adoption [37].

3. Several countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Liberia, Serbia and Uganda, have adopted state, zonal, local and county action plans on women, peace and security with 19 such plans adopted in Nigeria, 18 in Ukraine and 11 in Liberia. Some countries have integrated the women, peace and security agenda in local and community development plans and policies [38].

4. National human rights institutions play an important role in ensuring that women’s international human rights are embedded and respected at the national level. However, as of June 2019, less than half (20 out of 43) of the conflict-affected countries reviewed for the 2019 Secretary-General’s report on women, peace and security had accredited national human rights institutions [39].

5. In April 2019 the United Kingdom and Germany invited Member States, regional organizations and United Nations entities to commit to specific actions on women, peace and security to be implemented by October 2020. In total, 64 Member States, 8 United Nations entities, and 3 regional organizations made commitments ranging from the adoption of new national action plans to funding pledges and institutional arrangements, among others [40].

UN progress on gender parity and mainstreaming in peace and security

1. Since 2015, the share of women leading United Nations peace operations has continued to show an upward trend.  As of December 2018, women comprised of 35 per cent of heads and 48 per cent deputy heads of United Nations peacekeeping and special political missions, compared with 26 per cent and 35 per cent respectively in 2017 [41].

2. As of December 2018, gender parity has been achieved among the United Nations Resident Coordinators globally [42].

3. In UN Peacekeeping Operations, the representation of women police personnel has increased to 12.8 per cent, while the share of women among military troops and personnel remains low at 4.2 per cent as at December 2018 [43].

4. Regarding representatives of Member States to the United Nations in New York, in June 2019, 49 out of 193 (25 per cent) permanent representatives were women, up slightly from 40 in 2018. Out of the 15 Security Council seats, three (Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States) were filled by women ambassadors in 2018 and 2019 [44].

5. In 2018, the Department of Political Affairs (now part of DPPA) had 19 full-time gender advisers deployed to 16 field missions or offices of special envoys. Of these, only four (21 per cent) were at the senior level (P-5 and above) as recommended by the reviews. Six were at the P-4 level (32 per cent) and nine (47 per cent) were at the P-3 level or below.  A dedicated gender and inclusion expert was also available at request through the Standby Team of Mediation Experts and was deployed 11 times during 2018. An additional 94 staff were assigned gender focal point duties, however only 28 (30 per cent) were at the P4 level or above [45].

6. For the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (now the Department of Peace Operations), 10 of the 15 peacekeeping missions active in 2018 had gender units with dedicated staff to ensure the provision of direct strategic and technical support to senior leadership at the mission level. However, only eight of those missions had relocated their gender units into the office of the head of mission and, of the 61 gender advisers working across the 10 missions, only in three missions (5 per cent) were the advisers at the senior level (P-5). There were 12 advisers with expertise in gender and combating sexual and gender-based violence placed in police components, 19 gender and protection advisers in military components and two United Nations Police specialized teams focused on combating sexual and gender-based violence were deployed in Haiti and South Sudan. There were also 21 women’s protection advisers deployed in seven United Nations field missions [46].

7. In 2018, UN Women maintained a country presence in a total of 82 countries, including 39 conflict and post-conflict countries, and continued to implement a range of peace, security and humanitarian initiatives in 55 countries [47].

Security Council’s work on women, peace, and security

1. As of 24 October 2019, there are nine UN Security Council resolutions that form the foundation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda [48].

2. In 2018, 72 per cent of all decisions adopted by the Security Council contained explicit references to women, peace and security issues, a higher per centage than in any other year except for 2013. Same year, all four missions undertaken by the Security Council to Afghanistan, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Bangladesh and Myanmar integrated women, peace and security elements and included meetings with local women’s groups [49].

3. Fewer than 20 per cent of all Security Council resolutions in 2018 contained references to the importance of and the need to ensure fundamental rights and freedoms for civil society, women’s groups and women human rights defenders [50].

4. In 2018, the Security Council invited a total of 350 speakers under rule 39, of which 30 per cent were women, an increase compared to the previous record of 24 per cent in 2017. In addition, women civil society representatives were invited to brief at 13 country-specific meetings, as well during 13 thematic meetings [51].

5. The Informal Expert Group (IEG) on Women and Peace and Security was created in 2016, after a decade of concerted calls by women led civil society. It affirms the Council’s 2015 commitment in Security Council resolution 2242 (2015) to strengthen more systematically the oversight and coordination of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. The IEG has become a proven conduit for strengthened analysis on women, peace and security and more considered implementation discussions among senior mission leadership and Security Council members [52].

6. Effective follow-up of Informal Expert Group recommendations must involve subsidiary bodies, including sanctions committees. Nine out of 14 existing sanctions regimes now include direct or indirect references to sexual and gender-based violence [53].

Disarmament and women’s roles

1. In 2018, total world military expenditure reached USD 1.8 trillion. The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action contains a strategic objective of “reducing excessive military expenditures and controlling the available armaments” [54].

2. A review of national reports on the implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA) and the International Tracing Instrument submitted in 2018 shows that most countries (117 out of 120 countries reporting) have legal frameworks for the control of illicit small arms and light weapons. Among them, 54 countries have considered gender in policymaking, planning and implementation of the PoA, and 16 countries have collected gender-disaggregated data to recognize and respond to the gender-specific risks linked to illicit trade [55].