PeaceRep analysis cited in UN Secretary-General’s report on women, peace and security

The UN Security Council held its annual Open Debate on Security Council Resolution 1325 – on women, peace and security – on 20 October 2022. Held annually since the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325[i] in 2000, the debate aims to further the women, peace and security agenda, with this year’s meeting aimed at “strengthening women’s resilience and leadership as a path to peace in regions plagued by armed groups”[ii].

The debate was informed by the annual report of the Secretary-General on women and peace and security. This year’s report[iii], published in October 2022, draws on PeaceRep research to illustrate trends in women’s participation and inclusion in peace processes. The report includes a chart drawn from the PA-X Peace Agreements Database v6, showing the percentage of peace agreements with gender provisions from 2000–2021. This analysis is underpinned by blog posts by Laura Wise and Anna Asproni, Gender perspectives in peace agreements: Time for a new approach?, and Laura Wise, Peace Agreements with a Gender Perspective are Still an Exception, Not the Rule (published on the LSE Women Peace and Security blog).

PeaceRep’s research is included on page 7, point 26:

In 2021, 8 out of 25 peace agreements (32 per cent) included provisions referencing women, girls and gender, an increase from 26 per cent in 2020 (figure I). This number is still barely above the average over the last two decades. There is also a broad range across the agreements in terms of comprehensiveness and issues raised. The stage or type of agreement, the involvement of the United Nations as a third-party, women’s participation and civil society participation in peace processes, and conflict duration, all have an impact on the inclusion of gender references in peace agreements. Notably, in 2021, detailed gender provisions could be found in local agreements, such as the Lou Nuer-Dinka Bor-Murle Action for Peace agreement in Jonglei, South Sudan[iv], where provisions seemed to be more contextually rooted in the community mediation processes preceding them. The Jonglei agreement also featured three women’s representatives as signatories on behalf of their communities.

Read the research behind the report
Gender perspectives in peace agreements: Time for a new approach?

Read the full UN Security Council report
Report of the Secretary-General: Women, peace and security

References

[i] Security Council Resolution 1325

[ii] In focus: Women, peace and security (UN Women news)

[iii] UN Security Council Report of the Secretary-General: Women and peace and security

[iv] Lou Nuer-Dinka Bor-Murle Action for Peace agreement