Around the world, the cries for “Ceasefire,” “End the war,” and “Stop the brutality” are rising in volume. These are not just abstract pleas for quiet; they are the unmistakable demands of women and girls who bear the disproportionate weight of modern conflict. From the frontlines of humanitarian crises to the quiet rooms where treaties are signed, the message is clear: peace is not merely the absence of war, but the presence of justice and equality. For twenty-five years, the global community has possessed a blueprint to achieve this—the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. Yet, as we approach a quarter-century of this landmark framework, the gap between promise and practice has never been more perilous.
The genesis of this movement dates back to October 31, 2000, when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) took a revolutionary step by unanimously adopting Resolution 1325. This was not just another bureaucratic milestone; it was the culmination of years of tireless advocacy by civil society and women leaders who demanded that the world stop viewing women solely as victims of war and start seeing them as essential architects of peace. For the first time, global leaders acknowledged that the traditional corridors of power—dominated almost exclusively by men—were insufficient for building lasting stability. Resolution 1325 established that gender equality is not a “soft” issue to be addressed after a conflict ends, but a core security requirement.
Today, the WPS agenda is supported by ten binding UNSC resolutions. These documents serve as a legal and moral mandate for all UN member states, built upon four critical pillars: Prevention, Participation, Protection, and Relief and Recovery. These pillars are designed to align gender equality and peace as shared responsibilities. Prevention focuses on stopping the outbreak of violence by addressing root causes, including the systemic marginalization of women. Participation ensures that women are not just present, but influential at every level of decision-making, from local community dialogues to international peace negotiations. Protection focuses on the safety and rights of women and girls during and after conflict, while Relief and Recovery ensures that humanitarian aid and post-war reconstruction are designed with the specific needs of women in mind.
The evidence of the last 25 years is irrefutable: when women lead, peace follows. Research consistently shows that when women are involved in peace processes, the resulting agreements are more inclusive, more durable, and better implemented. This impact ripples across every facet of society. In regions where the WPS agenda is prioritized, we see tangible progress: more women voting in pivotal elections, a decrease in the prevalence of child marriage, and an increase in women leading community-based conflict resolution. Peace is felt in the ability of a girl to attend school without fear and in the empowerment of women to reclaim their economic independence in the wake of disaster.
Consider the work of Randa Siniora, a Palestinian lawyer and human rights defender who has spent three decades advancing justice under military occupation. As the Director of the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling, Siniora has been a vocal advocate for the idea that women are initiators of change rather than just casualties. In 2018, she made history as the first Palestinian woman civil-society representative to brief the UN Security Council, reminding the world that protection and political participation are inseparable. Similarly, in South Sudan, Police Commissioner Christine Fossen leads the UN Police component with a philosophy that leadership is about using one’s voice to set an example. With over 30 years of experience, she now mentors the Network for Uniformed Women Peacekeepers, proving that security forces are more effective when they reflect the population they serve.
However, the 2025 report from the United Nations Secretary-General paints a sobering picture of the current landscape. Despite the clear benefits of the WPS agenda, women are being actively and systematically shut out of the very processes meant to secure their future. We are currently witnessing a “grim picture” defined by chronic under-investment and a global backlash against women’s rights. One in four countries now reports a significant regression in the protections afforded to women. As man-made conflicts proliferate, the rates of sexual violence, targeted attacks against female activists, and mental trauma are skyrocketing.
One of the most significant hurdles is the crisis of funding. The WPS agenda requires robust, reliable financial backing to function, yet many donors are turning away from conflict prevention and peacebuilding precisely when they are needed most. While global military spending continues to reach record highs, the “drastic cuts” to humanitarian and peacebuilding budgets are crippling frontline organizations. These cuts reduce the UN’s ability to monitor war crimes, support grassroots peacebuilders, and provide survivors with access to justice. The withdrawal of peacekeeping missions in several regions further threatens to leave women and girls without a vital layer of protection, exposing them to the whims of armed factions.
Compounding this financial crisis is a profound “data gap.” In many conflict zones, women and girls are effectively invisible because of a lack of gender-disaggregated statistics. When we fail to track sexual violence or women’s representation in local governance, we cannot hold perpetrators accountable or allocate resources effectively. Budget cuts have undermined the collection of this data, making it harder to train communities on how to utilize information to advocate for their rights. Without data, the unique suffering and the unique contributions of women remain unrecorded, allowing policymakers to ignore them.
The physical and digital violence against women is also on a steep upward trajectory. This includes the horrific use of rape as a weapon of war and the growing phenomenon of technology-facilitated abuse. Female officials and activists are increasingly targeted by digital trolls and stalkers, a tactic designed to silence their voices and drive them out of the public sphere. The secondary effects of conflict are equally insidious. Women in fragile or conflict-affected environments are nearly eight times more likely to live in extreme poverty than those in stable regions. Furthermore, in 2023, six out of ten maternal deaths occurred in countries experiencing crisis, often from preventable causes that could have been mitigated with proper investment in feminine-focused healthcare.
Despite these challenges, the spirit of the WPS agenda lives on through individuals like Quibibi Faquihe Buana. A displaced woman from Cabo Delgado, Buana serves as a district facilitator in a resettlement center in Mozambique. She mobilizes women to prevent gender-based violence and uses mobile technology to report incidents. Her work demonstrates that even in the most dire circumstances, women have the power to lift their communities. In Sudan, Mona Mohamed Omaer Hamad works with the Sorkenat Organization to ensure women are present in state institutions as leaders capable of resolving conflicts side-by-side with men. In Haiti, Minister Pédrica Saint-Jean, a survivor of armed attacks herself, continues to push for the fulfillment of women’s fundamental rights as a prerequisite for national renewal.
As we look toward the future, the path forward is already mapped out. Currently, 115 countries have developed National Action Plans to implement the WPS agenda. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, the most comprehensive global blueprint for gender equality. The Beijing+30 agenda calls for the full financing of these national plans and the support of women’s frontline organizations. We will know we are making progress when women’s participation in peace processes is the norm rather than the exception, and when relief reaches the most remote villages.
The Women, Peace and Security mandate is not a luxury or a secondary concern; it is a fundamental requirement for a stable world. UN Women was founded on the principle that gender equality is a prerequisite for peace, and that mission remains more urgent than ever. As women continue to rise, lead, and speak out in the face of brutality, the question remains: will the world’s leaders finally listen? The next 25 years must be defined not by the repetition of promises, but by the courage to fund and fulfill them. When women lead, peace follows—but only if they are given the seat at the table they have rightfully earned.
