Evaluation on the contribution of UN Women to increasing women’s leadership and participation to peace and security and humanitarian response

UN Security Council resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions (1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122) call for the urgent need to address women’s participation in peace processes and peacebuilding as well as the need to protect them from violations of their rights during and after conflicts. UN Women supports the implementation of these resolutions and prioritizes the area of increasing women’s leadership in peace and security and humanitarian response in its Strategic Plan specifically under Goal 4 and through the intellectual leadership of the UN Women Peace and Security section that works hand in hand with the programmatic and coordination divisions.

From 2012 to 2013, UN Women’s Independent Evaluation Office undertook the thematic evaluation of UN Women contribution to increasing women’s leadership and participation in peace and security and humanitarian response. The thematic evaluation assessed what was the contribution of UN Women and its predecessor entities in this area. The objectives of the evaluation were to capture key results and lessons learned that would inform the future programmatic planning of UN Women in women, peace and security.

The evaluation covered the period 2008–2012 and included the work of UN Women and its predecessor entities. The evaluation examined the different types of activities UN Women and its predecessor entities conducted during the period under evaluation to deliver their strategic objectives on peace and security and humanitarian response. Key findings include that UN Women is in a strategic position to influence global policy and debates on women’s leadership and participation in peace and security, and has used opportunities well to increase its strategic presence, leadership and influence on advancing women, peace and security at the global level. However, UN Women policy work and engagement at global level is insufficiently informed by lessons from country-level programmatic experiences and policy engagement at both national and regional levels. At country and regional levels, UN Women is making an effective contribution to enhancing women’s leadership and participation in peace and security, and has built meaningful and strategic partnerships across a range of national actors, women’s organizations in some countries and increasingly with governments and state actors.