Marking the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, UNDP and partners organized a series of events to both celebrate progress and renew global efforts. Shoko Noda, UNDP Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Crisis Bureau, highlighted that global peace and stability are at their lowest in decades, and that societies with greater gender equality are less prone to conflict. Across discussions, leaders emphasized the need for renewed accountability, stronger financing, inclusive leadership, and data-informed programming to support durable peace.
A key focus was financing gender equality and peacebuilding. The “Financing Economic Recovery for Gender Equality” event, co-hosted by UNDP, the United Kingdom, and Sierra Leone, underscored that funding is the critical link between commitments and action. Panelists discussed barriers such as weak connections between fiscal policies and gender equality outcomes, fragmented donor coordination, and insufficient inclusive financial instruments. Innovative approaches like gender bonds and gender-responsive budgeting were highlighted as ways to unlock private capital and sustain women-led recovery initiatives. UN Women stressed the importance of women being decision-makers in economic allocations, especially amid rising military spending, to advance human security.
Translating Gender-Responsive Conflict Analysis (GRCA) into actionable peace strategies was another key theme. UNDP, UN Women, IOM, and DPPA/PBSO convened over 100 participants for a technical roundtable to launch UNDP’s guidance on GRCA. Sessions demonstrated how GRCA informs programming and institutional change, going beyond sex-disaggregated data to analyze power dynamics and structural drivers of conflict and exclusion. Discussions highlighted the need to break silos across humanitarian, development, and peace sectors, institutionalize GRCA approaches, and strengthen partnerships with local women peacebuilders to ensure analysis reflects lived realities and informs sustainable solutions.
Women’s role in disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) was highlighted through a multimedia exhibition, HE[R]EAL – Her Reality, co-hosted by UNDP, the Folke Bernadotte Academy, and Sweden’s UN mission. The exhibition showcased the experiences of women formerly associated with armed forces and groups, emphasizing their crucial role in community reintegration, recruitment prevention, and early warning networks. Speakers from Cameroon, Colombia, Somalia, and Ukraine stressed the importance of clear, centralized policies to support women’s participation even in socially restrictive contexts.
The events also addressed gender justice and accountability as essential foundations for peace. Under the Gender Justice Platform framework, UNDP and UN Women, alongside partners, highlighted efforts to end impunity for conflict-related sexual violence and center local voices in peace processes. Examples included Colombia’s gender-inclusive peacebuilding initiatives and Kenya’s post-election justice efforts, as well as reproductive violence cases from Myanmar and Gaza.
Across all discussions, the central message was clear: sustaining the WPS agenda requires resources, inclusion, and political will. After 25 years, the agenda continues to guide the global pursuit of peace, anchored in the conviction that women’s full and equal participation is not symbolic but essential to achieving just, inclusive, and lasting peace.
