How localization supports practical solutions for women, peace, and security

This week marks the 20th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) which is the first of eleven resolutions that comprise the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. The WPS agenda provides the basis for galvanizing worldwide efforts to address the many challenges that women and girls face in conflict-affected contexts. WPS priorities and goals are organized around four pillars: (1) women’s equal participation in peace and security decision-making processes; (2) protection of women’s and girls’ from sexual and gender-based violence; (3) the role women in conflict prevention including the prevention of violence against women and girls, and (4) more gender-aware humanitarian and peacebuilding efforts that reinforce women’s capacities to provide leadership in relief and recovery.

Over the past twenty years, civil society organizations, governments, the UN and others have sought to implement UNSCR 1325 and its sister resolutions through national- and local-level strategies (also known as National Action Plans (NAPs)). NAPs play a critical role in making the WPS agenda a lived reality for women and girls. These national-level government policies translate global WPS principles and goals into context-specific priorities across the four pillars and inform program, funding, partnership, and other decision-making processes. Globally, 86 NAPs have been developed at the national level but only a handful have been localized further to the county or municipal level.

On October 5th I interviewed Miki Jacevic a long-time WPS practitioner and NAP expert who has been supporting women peacebuilders for nearly 30 years, to discuss what we’ve learned about localizing the WPS agenda and what lessons we can share with the broader peacebuilding community. Our conversation has been summarized below in a question and answer format.

Read more.