Women, Peace and Security

By Sophie Kemkhadze, UNDP Nepal Country Director

The United Nations in Maldives and the UN Women Multi-Country Office for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka organized a workshop to discuss women’s participation and leadership in peace and security based on the principles of the historic UN Security Council Resolution 1325.

At 42, Samantha Power became the youngest person to be appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Now, she is a powerful force in steering America’s foreign policy and dictating intervention abroad.

The concept of sustaining peace—as enshrined in the identical General Assembly/Security Council resolutions of April 27, 2016—offers a new consensus and vision for the UN’s work, in which prevention plays a central role. Prevention continues, however, to be defined negatively, largely by its relationship to conflict rather than by a proactive, nationally owned strategy for averting the outbreak of conflict and sustaining peace.

Across peace and development initiatives, the exclusion of women comes at a high cost. Without women’s equal participation, peace agreements are more fragile, peacekeeping missions are less credible and safe, and economies are less prosperous.