From the “comfort women” of the Second World War to the systemic violations of the Bosnian War and the genocide in Rwanda, women have historically been one of the most affected groups during conflict. Yet, they have consistently been left on the margins of the peacemaking process. Over the years, the United Nations has increasingly sought to bring women into peace negotiations and post-conflict reconstruction processes. For example, after the end of the conflicts in Bosnia and Rwanda, which led to the recognition of sexual assault and mass rape as a war crime, the international community adopted resolution 1325, known as Women, Peace and Security (WPS), in October 2000, which not only recognised the gender-specific nature of the violence women have to endure during wartime, but also established female participation as essential to conflict prevention and recovery. However, as Cristal Downing, Project Director for Gender and Conflict at the International Crisis Group, highlights in her TIME article, this progress is slowly being reversed; peacemaking organisations are losing their ability to pressure the groups involved in the conflict into compromise, while conservative actors and warlords are finding new ways to exclude women from discussions regarding conflict and security. It is important to strongly implement gender diversity, not only as a matter of equity, but as a necessity to give peacemaking a genuine chance of success.
The gap between international commitments and their implementation is particularly evident in contemporary peace processes. According to the 2026 report of the UN Secretary-General on Women, Peace and Security, women accounted for only 5% of negotiators across 57 peace processes in 2025, down from 7% in 2024. Furthermore, only 10 of the 53 peace agreements concluded that year included references to women, girls, gender or sexual violence. This pattern of under-representation is also reflected within international institutions responsible for maintaining peace and security. A 2025 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) examining the representation of women in multilateral peace operations found that women represent only 8.8% of military personnel deployed in UN peace operations, and, although their representation is higher among civilian personnel, women remain a minority across the UN operations and field offices analysed.
Downing, in her article, describes this as a recent regression, pointing out how, a decade ago, the Colombia peace process showed the value of consulting not only the belligerent parties but also civil society, including women's groups, and despite its shortcomings, it demonstrated the importance of involving people with local relationships and knowledge of communities' needs. By contrast, recent diplomatic efforts, from Sudan's peace talks and trade negotiations with China to Gaza's Board of Peace, have featured teams composed entirely of men. Similarly, Syria's political transition raises concerns about women's representation in post-conflict governance, as women hold only 22 of the country's 207 parliamentary seats. Several factors contribute to this regression; the growing tendency to prioritise immediate ceasefire agreements rather than addressing the broader issues that are necessary to build lasting peace has led to negotiations being conducted mainly between military and political leaders, leaving less room for civil society and women's political representation. At the same time, the complexity of contemporary conflicts and post-conflict transitions and the growing opposition to gender equality and diversity initiatives have made women's participation more difficult.
To address these issues, a stronger commitment to the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda is needed, together with concrete actions that go beyond formal recognition. During a forum organised in 2025 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), speakers highlighted how women's participation in peace processes can improve negotiation outcomes, strengthening community trust and contributing to long-term stability. The speakers also asserted that the inclusion of women in peacekeeping and conflict resolution is not only a matter of equality, but also a necessary strategy, and, for this reason, it is imperative to address the structural barriers that limit the presence of women in leadership positions in peace and security. In 2024, Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, addressing the Security Council, had already identified three priorities for strengthening women's participation: promoting intergenerational dialogue, ensuring more inclusive peace processes and providing financial support to young women peace-builders.
The importance of these measures is demonstrated by concrete examples, such as Sudan, where, as highlighted by Downing in her TIME article and by human rights defender Tahani Abbas during the Security Council debate, women have contributed significantly to local mediation, humanitarian assistance and efforts to prevent conflict escalation, despite being excluded from formal negotiations. Similarly, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a UN-supported initiative brought attention to four women-led social enterprises, providing their founders with training, mentoring and access to funding to strengthen the economic independence of conflict-affected women.
Such initiatives serve not only to create new employment opportunities, but also to strengthen social cohesion and women's participation in local development. However, their long-term impact will be limited if it is only recognised at the local level and not integrated formally through active state policies. As Downing's analysis suggests, women should not be seen merely as a group to be protected and consulted in a limited capacity, but as key social actors with the necessary experience and knowledge required to make the decisions that will determine the future of their communities. It is therefore crucial that women have access to the necessary resources and opportunities needed to actively participate in the peace process and post-conflict reconstruction, and that the systemic barriers preventing gender equality in these spaces are dismantled.
