Peace and security

Photo: UN Photo/Logan Abassi

War, violent conflict, terrorism and violent extremism have differential and devastating consequences for women and girls. In the face of this, women are all over the world are leading movements for peace and to rebuild communities, and there is strong evidence suggesting that women’s participation in peace processes contributes to longer, more resilient peace after conflict. Yet, despite this, women remain largely invisible to, and excluded from, peace processes and negotiations.

Against this background, and in response to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s call to leave no one behind, UN Women works to promote peace by supporting women of all backgrounds and ages to participate in processes to prevent conflict and build and sustain peace.

Our solutions

UN Women supports women’s full and equal representation and participation in all levels of peace processes and security efforts. UN Women’s work on women, peace, and security is guided by 10 UN Security Council resolutions—1325, 1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122, 2242, 2467, and 2493—and is  bolstered by a number of related normative frameworks, which make up the broader women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda.

UN Women leads on implementing the WPS agenda through research initiatives, data collection, learning exchanges, and documentation of good practices to inform policy and programming. Our resources and publications provide knowledge and guidance for ensuring women’s participation and inclusion in all aspects of peace processes.

We support Member States’ efforts to translate the WPS agenda from policy to practice and work to build capacities and increase opportunities for women at the local, national, and regional levels.

We work on interventions in more than 50 countries. Read about our work in Africa, Arab States/North Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Our global presence allows us to provide timely and accurate information to inform policy and guide the expanding normative framework around peace and security.

In the current global peace and security context, with many new and emerging threats from violent extremism, climate change, prolonged violent conflict, human trafficking, and unprecedented and protracted refugee and humanitarian crises, UN Women’s efforts to implement the women, peace, and security agenda are more critical now than ever.

Download a two-page thematic brief on UN Women’s work on women, peace, and security.

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