Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) is considered a milestone – what’s so significant about it?

Elisa Piras: Firstly, in the way it came about: in a decades-long struggle that united activists and organizations worldwide, from rich and poor countries alike, it actually succeeded in changing the international agenda “from the bottom up.” Resolution 1325, which launched the WPS agenda, was also one of the few Security Council resolutions to be adopted unanimously. Not only that, but the agenda’s goals also were very ambitious, striving for real transformation of the concepts and dynamics that characterize the sector of security. In addition to protecting women as potential victims with gender-specific needs, it also sought to involve them in conflict prevention, peace processes, and reconstruction; another goal was about significantly increasing the number of women in the entire security sector – the armed forces, the police, as security experts, in ministries, in local and transnational civil society organizations – and at all decision-making levels.

After a quarter of a century, what does the proportion of women look like now?

Piras: In UN peacekeeping missions: the Blue Helmet missions, the overall proportion of women is still only 10 percent; in military contingents, it is 8 percent – very low, of course, but in 2018 it was only 4.2 percent, so the proportion has doubled in a short period of time.

According to a UN study, the proportion of women in national armies averaged 14 percent in 2022 – here, too, there has been an increase; in 2016, the figure was 11 percent. Unfortunately, however, these data are not broken down and include female soldiers as well as ministry employees.

What about the participation of women in peace negotiations?

Piras: According to UN Women, only 7 percent of negotiators in peace processes were women in 2024. However, women and women’s organizations often play a decisive role in informal processes in the run-up to negotiations; their participation in official negotiations is often still excluded, especially in countries with strong patriarchal structures.

Of the peace or ceasefire agreements signed in 2024, 20 percent were signed by women. However, this figure is largely due to Colombia, where many former female guerrilla fighters were involved in the agreements. Without Colombia, the percentage of female signatories drops to just 7 percent.

Although studies show that negotiations involving women lead to more stable peace, the current situation is discouraging.

What exactly do these studies show?

Piras: A statistical study from 2018, with a large number of cases from different contexts and geographical areas, showed a strong correlation between peace agreements signed by female delegates and lasting peace. The study also found that agreements signed by women contain a significantly higher number of provisions on political reform and that the implementation rate of these provisions is higher.

It was also shown that peace agreements in which women were involved take greater account of aspects that go beyond military pacification, such as issues of education or reconciliation policy. And these issues are crucial for crucial for rebuilding the social fabric and thinking about the future.

What explanation does science have for this?

Piras: Women who are involved in these peace processes often have very close ties to women’s associations, civil society, or organizations such as the Red Cross or the Red Crescent, which are intensively involved in social issues and support people, especially in conflict situations. The hypothesis is that this trusting relationship with civil society groups forms the basis for cooperation over a longer period of time.

According to a recent UN report, more women and girls worldwide are affected by wars and conflicts than ever before: over 670 million. Having just cited the disheartening statistics on women’s participation in peace processes, how far does this cast doubt on the resolution’s effectiveness?

Piras: While the resolution was certainly groundbreaking, it also highlights the limitations of the United Nations system. Here, grand declarations of principle and ambitious reform programs are often not matched by equally bold implementation. The resolution is implemented through “national action plans” drawn up by individual states. So far, 108 countries have such a plan – some already on their fourth or fifth, some on their first; but at least a third have expired and have not been renewed. And about 70 percent have not allocated a budget – so they have the plan, but no money to implement it, or it all depends on the goodwill of individuals in the government. This is a clear signal that the issue is unlikely to realise its transformative potential.

October 31, 2000, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1325, which called for the equal participation of women in peace and security processes.

Credit: UN Photo | Milton Grant | All rights reserved

Which major countries do not yet have a national action plan? Which countries are setting an example?

Piras: Geopolitically important powers such as China, India, and Turkey do not have a plan, nor do Russia and Israel, both of which are currently waging wars in which women are massively affected.

Positive examples of the implementation of the WPS agenda include Canada, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. Rwanda was also very proactive for a while. The WPS agenda has not achieved its goal of structurally changing the security sector, but there has been considerable progress in some countries. In the Canadian army, for example, the advancement of women and LGBT people to higher ranks is specifically promoted, and we are indeed seeing more gender diversity in strategically important positions there.

What is the situation in Italy?

Piras: The first female lieutenant colonels in the Italian army were appointed in 2022, so we are still in the early stages of gender mainstreaming in the armed forces. However, since 2010, Italy has been working on its fifth National Action Plan for the implementation of the WPS agenda, valid from 2025 to 2029. So here we see a certain continuity and seriousness. The fact that no budget has been published for the current plan, however, clouds the picture and makes the whole thing difficult to verify. But there are people in defense, especially women themselves who are trying to push the WPS agenda forward, and slowly, very slowly, things are changing. As in many countries, the armed forces and the police must now have gender advisors who bring a gender perspective to all issues and decisions, from equipment to cultural rules when forces are deployed in conflict regions.

Activists have spoken of an increase in hostility towards the WPS agenda, with disappointment already being voiced on the organization’s 20th anniversary.

Piras: I had the good fortune of interviewing Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini, one of the pioneers of international feminist pacifism, whose work ultimately led to the adoption of the WPS agenda. I met her in 2021 shortly after the Americans and the other states of the International Security Assistance Force had withdrawn from Afghanistan, and the Afghan women’s movements, which had initially been declared saviors because of their involvement in positive reconstruction processes, were abandoned from one day to the next and left to the mercy of the Taliban’s revenge. Naraghi-Anderlini expressed bitter disappointment at the international community’s alienation from the principles of the WPS agenda – principles such as peace policy, disarmament, protection of human rights, and upstream conflict prevention strategies. Resolution 1325 claimed to trigger a real cultural change in international relations, but the example of Afghanistan shows that the revolution is still pending.

Critics say that what has happened instead is a militarization of the agenda – more women are being turned into soldiers, but the dynamics and structures remain unchanged. Another point of criticism is that the important international players are only using the agenda for their own purposes, such as in the fight against terrorism.

Following Resolution 1325, several other resolutions were passed within the WPS agenda that specifically address sexual violence in conflicts, including its prohibition and providing assistance to victims. In recent conflicts in places such as Tigray, Congo and Sudan, sexual violence has been used extensively as a weapon of war. Have these resolutions achieved nothing?

Piras: On the contrary. The fact that we know about these cases, that we have figures, that the use of sexual violence in ongoing conflicts is being investigated, is a success of the agenda. In the past, these things were accepted as collateral damage of war and no attempt was made to record their extent. The Secretary-General of the United Nations recently published data showing that in 2024 alone, there were more than 4,600 cases of sexual violence in conflicts – and those are only the ones we know about for sure.

There has been a great deal of progress in raising awareness here. This also applies to sexual harassment and assaults within the armed forces such as those within the United Nations blue helmet contingents, which are now being rigorously prosecuted.

However, some regard the succession of resolutions addressing sexual violence in conflicts that followed Resolution 1325 as a regrettable narrowing of the agenda. This is because women are once again primarily seen as victims rather than protagonists. Incidentally, the last two Security Council resolutions on this issue were passed without Russia and China voting in favour – the initial consensus has since disappeared.

What is your view on the future of the WPS agenda with people like Trump and Putin currently determining world politics?

Piras: The UN Secretary-General attempted to revive the agenda in October 2024 by calling for a joint commitment to involve women more frequently and in key roles in peace processes. He also mentioned the current unfavorable geopolitical climate. Many states have signed up to the commitment, but many have not responded.

Do you see any positive developments?

Piras: For a few years now, NATO has shown increased commitment to the WPS agenda, probably because the number of women within NATO structures has increased and some of them now hold important positions. I was involved in deep dives – an initiative of the NATO International Military Staff Gender Advisor. These in-depth discussions explore the integration of gender perspectives into operations and strategies. I was asked to provide an assessment of the phenomenon of gendered disinformation – targeted gender-specific disinformation designed to discredit certain groups, which is being used more and more frequently in conflict situations and not only there. You probably remember the case in Ukraine when a maternity hospital was bombed and it was then reported that the mother interviewed on television was actually an actress. That was one example, but gendered disinformation can be directed against men or LGBT people just as easily.

A wish for the future?

Piras: More data. We only have estimates for many aspects because governments do not provide accurate data or do not update the data they do share. As such there is a great need for up-to-date data and monitoring. This part of the WPS agenda has been somewhat neglected so far, as has prevention. Ideally, we would focus more attention on preventing conflicts rather than dealing with them once they have arisen.

Elisa Piras

Elisa Piras is Senior Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies at Eurac Research. Previously, she held Research Fellow positions at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa and Bologna University. Working at the intersection of political philosophy and international relations, she focuses on contemporary liberalism, social justice, disinformation, gender and security

Marzia Bona

Marzia Bona is a researcher at Eurac Research, working with the Center for Migration and Societal Change and the Institute for Regional Development. Her work bridges migration and local development studies, focusing on socio-economic processes involving people with a migration background in rural and mountain areas. She has also developed expertise on the Western Balkans through collaborations with the ERMA programme in Sarajevo and Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa.