The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda launched in 2000 with the United Nation鈥檚 adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325 on (hereafter 1325). 1325 promotes women's equal participation in conflict resolution, post-war reconstruction, peace negotiations, and security and governance through four pillars: participation, prevention, protection, and relief and recovery of conflict-affected nations. Since 2005, the UN has encouraged countries to adopt to implement UNSCR 1325 measures. Over the last 20+ years, have been seen as making pioneering steps towards enhancing gender equality and women's empowerment in postwar contexts.
Indeed, countries have made some progress in increasing women鈥檚 equal participation in peace, security, and development since 1325鈥檚 debut. For example, Nepal, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), among others, have tried to make good on their obligations to deliver the WPS Agenda. and is currently preparing a second NAP. led to the country鈥檚 recent Constitution, which allocated 33% of the Constitutional Assembly for women, 34% at the provincial level, and 40% in local government. when women had only 5% seats in the constituent assembly, this reservation dramatically increased women鈥檚 representation. Similarly, and after eight years, the government prepared a second-generation 1325 NAP (2019-2022) in which it commits to enhancing women's and girls' human rights and preventing gender-based violence. has advanced the security sector by calling for a 20% quota for women, and established a gender unit to draft, adopt and disseminate gender-sensitive policies. This has increased women's engagement in diverse empowerment activities and supported women's economic and social empowerment. Even in countries like serves as a tool for women鈥檚 rights advocates working in non-governmental groups such as the (WMC). The WMC has, for example, used 1325 principles , including economic struggles, particularly for war widows. Sri Lankan activists such as use 1325 principles in organizing for women鈥檚 rights.
1325 localization and grassroots women鈥檚 agenda
Despite these steps toward progress, 1325 is criticized for being ; pushing that are unfit for local realities and of the NAPs. Building on these debates, we call for the localization of 1325 and NAPs through an increased diversity of grassroots women鈥檚 organizations and individual grassroots women in respect to the four pillars of 1325: participation, prevention, protection, and relief and recovery. Localization is often understood as country-level observance. However, Amitav Acharya has countered that localization of new norms . We draw on this to suggest that localization must include a range of local actors to ensure a robust localization. There is who counts as 鈥渓ocal鈥� when it comes to national-level/nationwide organizations in a country versus organizations working at regional, district or even village levels. Often, are well situated with access to resources and funding opportunities to plan and implement the 1325 agenda. Such national organizations agenda set priorities, which tend to reflect the hegemonic values that dominate at the national level. Examples from , , and show that 1325 and NAPs are centralized and implemented by national women鈥檚 organizations, meaning that grassroots women鈥檚 demands are left out. reveals, . 鈥婭n particular, be disproportionately impacted during and after the war. Such , who are better positioned to voice their agendas, including having access to funding through their work in . For this reason, grassroots women鈥檚 priorities then are often absent from the NAPs while more privileged women鈥檚 interests come to the fore.
Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic also brings further challenges to the WPS Agenda. Those in war-affected countries such as , , , and women and girls are at particular risk of experiencing social, economic, political, and personal crises鈥攚here ongoing precarity due to conflict and other troubles already constrain women's everyday lives. For instance, s, girl鈥檚 child marriage surged in rural Nepal. Similarly, a in Myanmar, 90.7% of women work in the informal economy. With the COVID-19 lockdowns, 50% of the 700,000 predominantly female workers in the garment sector are at risk of either being suspended without pay or of losing their jobs permanently. Now, in the pandemic and post-pandemic era (wherever it is reached), localization of 1325 is urgent and is key to addressing women鈥檚 needs and interests, particularly those of grassroots women.
We propose the following to localize WPS and 1325:
- Develop concrete action plans to fund grassroots women鈥檚 organizations and their local initiatives in 1325 and WPS agenda activities to promote a diversity of grassroots women鈥檚 participation in the four pillars of 1325.
- Collaborate with grassroot women鈥檚 organizations and promote their initiatives and priorities.
- Organize robust coordination, reporting, and dissemination of the mechanisms of 1325 that include grassroots women鈥檚 work and issues in all domains of the WPS priorities.
- Track women鈥檚 participation in the four pillars of participation, prevention, protection, and relief and recovery by applying an intersectional lens to ensure that all women are included in WPS activities, including across intersecting factors such as gender, race, caste, religion, age, location, ethnicity, education, and disability. This data will allow researchers and policy makers to understand which women and organizations get funding and are engaged in 1325 and NAPs planning and implementation. Such data can ultimately be used to further a diversity of women鈥檚 participation.
- Integrate grassroots women鈥檚 issues that have been exacerbated by COVID-19 (such as unpaid care work, rise of poverty, gender-based violence) in 1325 NAPs (both ongoing and in progress).
The authors would like to acknowledge Dr. Nafisa Ahmed Abdulhamid for reading a previous draft of this blog and offering her excellent feedback.
Dr. Luna K.C.鈥檚 contribution to this blog聽was enabled by the Research Network-Women Peace Security funded by the聽Government of Canada Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security (MINDS) program.