Women in Academia and beyond
Section editor: Dr. Atsena Abogo, Marie Therese
Bronze statue of Marie Skłodowska Curie | Warsaw, Poland
Women, Peace and Security at a Crossroads: Lessons from Global Conversations in
London, New York, and Ottawa
Dr Marie Atsena Abogo, Associate Professor
ACSS Department, University Canada West
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Twenty-five years ago, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, a landmark text recognizing both the specific impact of armed conflict on women and girls and the essential role women play in peace and security. In October 2025, as the world marks this anniversary, I had the opportunity to follow and participate in a series of events that brought the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda into sharp focus at three different levels:
Global, through a high-level conference entitled: “25th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325 - WPS at a Crossroads: Rethinking, Reimagining, and Recommitting to WPS in UN Peacekeeping” at UN Headquarters in New-York, broadcast on last October 29, 2025.
Academic and policy-oriented, at the conference “25 Years Beyond 1325: Reimagining the UN Women, Peace & Security Agenda” organised by the London School of Economics (LSE) on October 8, 2025 at the Hong Kong Theatre (Clement House) in London.
Operational and military, at the Women, Peace and Security Conference 2025 in Ottawa, hosted by Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) on October 28 to 29, 2025 at the Canadian Military Museum.
Together, these events reinforced a key message: WPS is at a crossroads. The question is no longer whether WPS matters, but whether we are prepared to fully implement what we have already agreed.
1. London: Reimagining an WPS Agenda that already works.
On 8 October 2025, I attended the conference “25 Years Beyond 1325: Reimagining the UN Women, Peace & Security Agenda” organized by the LSE Department of Gender Studies in London. Four panelists co-shared the floor for an hour, Dr Nancy Anman, Assistant Professor at the University of Coventry; Dr Aiko Holvikivi, Assistant Professor from LSE Gender Studies, Dr Paul Kirby, Associate Professor at Queen Mary University London, and Professor Stefanie Von Hlatky from Queen’s University in Canada. Dr Nancy Anman mostly talked about women participation in grassroots association in the promotion of peace, in Cameroonian-anglophone northwestern regions currently in conflict. Dr Stefanie really built on the peacekeepers of NATO and their involvement in sexual abuse. Dr Paul Kirby offered a critical account of how WPS has evolved (and where it fails) across the interlocking roles of the UN, member states, and civil society. He noted the application of the resolution 1325 with some contradictions: managerial metrics displace transformative politics; participation becomes tick-box inclusion; and “protection” is often securitized rather than community-led.
The LSE event fostered critical debate on whether WPS requires “reimagining” or whether existing tools simply require meaningful implementation. The academic discussions reflected long-standing concerns within feminist scholarship: the risk that gender mainstreaming becomes depoliticized, bureaucratically diluted, or reduced to procedural checklists.
Participants critiqued the tension between symbolic inclusion and substantive change. Although women are increasingly present in negotiations or peacekeeping roles, their ability to shape outcomes remains constrained by patriarchal institutional norms. My intervention, drawing from UN field experience in Mali, emphasized that many practical WPS tools—such as gender reporting and local women's networks—are effective when properly resourced. The problem, then, is less conceptual and more structural: insufficient funding, inconsistent leadership commitment, and weak integration into decision-making cycles. My insights from my UN experience in Mali, focusing on gender reporting and the everyday practice of WPS in peace operations was an hymn to the operational and intensive efforts done by the UN personal to foster women empowerment and protection in Peacekeeping mission. Therefore my intervention centered on a tension practitioners often feel:
How do we “reimagine” an agenda that is, in many respects, already normatively strong and conceptually sound—while acknowledging that implementation is still uneven and often fragile?
From a field perspective, many WPS tools are already in place: Gender analysis integrated into situation reports, Sex- and age-disaggregated data, Protection monitoring systems that track gendered harm, Partnerships with local women’s organizations. When these are properly resourced and backed by mission leadership, they do make a difference. The challenge is less abdout inventing new concepts and more about sustaining political will, ensuring funding, and embedding gender perspectives across all levels of decision-making.
In that sense, the answers received during the discussion were that “reimagining” WPS does not mean discarding the existing framework. Instead, it means improving them, by making WPS more intersectional, attentive to race, class, sexuality, age, disability, and displacement; deepening its integration into operational planning and mandates, not treating it as an add-on; Ensuring that WPS translates into real shifts in power and resources for women and marginalized communities in conflict-affected contexts.
2. New York: WPS at a Crossroads in UN Peacekeeping
On 29 October 2025, the UN marked the anniversary with a high-level event at Headquarters, broadcast via UN WebTV under the title: “25th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325 – WPS at a Crossroads: Rethinking, Reimagining, and Recommitting to WPS in UN Peacekeeping.”
The discussion framed WPS not as a niche agenda, but as central to the future of UN peacekeeping. The contribution of his excellency Bob Ray drove my attention. Canada Ambassador to UN, Mr Ray, pointed out several key themes in his address: the future of Peacekeeping which is impacted by the decision of some governments to reduce their fundings: the principle to support Peacekeeping is like Paying Taxes. The crisis of multilateralism, and the principle is liability and international solidarity. It should be maintained because the Global community can not survive if we can’t pay people. Other themes arose such as: Peacekeeping as a Driver of Gender Equality were meaningful. He pointed that men were mostly dominant in Peacekeeping Operations, and that he participation of women in many aspects was vital. Most of the Senior UN officials already highlighted the critical role of UN peacekeeping in advancing gender equality and implementing WPS across missions, emphasizing that peace operations are often the most visible UN presence in conflict-affected settings.
For Under-Secretary General Lacroix: WPS is not ideological, but rooted in the realities of modern conflict and the evidence that women’s participation improves peace outcomes. He argued that Gender-responsive peacekeeping already strengthened operational effectiveness, and continue to enhance community trust, and improve protection outcomes. This echoed what many practitioners already know: missions that take gender seriously tend to read the context more accurately and respond more adaptively.
Mr Ray, continuing his address in French, emphasized the fact that “When women are involved, the discussion in the room changes” and recommended the essential participation of women: “we cannot do the work without women participating at each level….we also need to understand that we need to address this issue with a sense of reel firmness. There is never too many women involved. There has never been enough women”.
Following this Mrs Catherine Andela, chief of the Department of Peace Operation (DPO)’s Gender Unit in New York pointed the role played by UNWomen in supporting and promoting Gender Equality in Peace and Security and Operations efforts.
The address of Mrs Nranza-Go Bonzmana, Deputy Director of UN Women. Introducing her remarks with the need to reimagine and recommit, she remembered the Charter of Human Rights celebrated 80 years ago, from which she believes Women Peace and Security comes and translates from. She also remembered the 30th anniversary of Beijing Platform recently celebrated. She argued that 676 Millions of women still live within 50 kms of conflicts. The reality of women exposed to conflicts versus the exclusion of women from peace processes doesn’t align with the celebrations of humanity claimed in the Charter, in places such as the Central African Republic, she stressed (For example: the ministry of Gender get less and regresses in budget, gender equality is not fully met, etc). The issue of resources is critical when Cease fires are negotiated. It is about economic empowerment of women in the ground. She requested to re-commit to the Women, Peace, and Security.
Finally The need for More Women in Uniformed Roles (police and security) was addressed. A strong message from the event was also a renewed call for more women in uniformed peacekeeping roles—military, police, and corrections. UN peacekeeping leadership urged Member States to put forward more female personnel and to remove structural barriers that hinder women’s deployment and advancement.
But the point was not simply about numbers or symbolism. Increasing women’s participation was linked to better engagement with local communities, greater reporting of sexual and gender-based violence, and More diverse perspectives in operational planning and leadership.
Excellency Mr Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under Secretary General of United Nations and Chief of the Department of Peace Operations, concluded by emphasizing how it is important to speak to the results (what have been achieved), especially in Countries such as CAR (Central Africa Republic). He pointed out the efforts to promote the role of women in terms of empowerment. There is no need to point that we cannot build sustainable peace without the participation of women. Adressing the role of UN colleagues, government ambassadors, Civil society and network representatives, he stressed that WPS is “at a crossroads”. So either the agenda will be fully integrated into peacekeeping practice, or it risks being hollowed out by underfunding and political backlash. He called for a meaningful participation of women from conflict-affected countries in peacekeeping decision-making, Sustainable, flexible funding for women’s organizations, Stronger accountability when WPS commitments are not met.
He more over emphasized the need to take women further, at leadership positions. And the need to continue to include women in Police and Military roles. Even in civilian roles, he noted that the integration of women fluctuated between 40 to 50% only. The issue he is dealing with as the head of the Peace Operations is creating a context and a space that gives women and men full and meaningful participation, even for psychological space. An environment that isn’t welcoming to women, he concluded, will not be welcoming to anybody else.
These global-level reflections resonated strongly with what I later heard in Ottawa.
3. Ottawa: From Policy to Practice – 25 Years of WPS
Also on 29 October 2025, I attended online the national Women, Peace and Security Conference 2025: “From Policy to Practice – 25 Years of WPS”, organized by DND and the CAF in Ottawa. The conference brought together: Members of DND and the CAF, Civil society practitioners, Researchers and scholars, International partners and allies engaged in gender integration in peace and security.
Two panels particularly stood out: “WPS in International Humanitarian Law (IHL)” and “Emerging Challenges in WPS”. These discussions showed how ideas similar to those raised at UN Headquarters are now being debated and operationalized within national and military contexts. Dr Megan Mackenzie, one of the panelists, outlined four dimensions of gender bias in IHL and explained how a WPS lens can help address them: some provisions implicitly cast women primarily as mothers or bearers of family “honour,” reinforcing narrow roles. Commentaries and practice that have historically described women as the “weaker sex,” shaping expectations of vulnerability and passivity. Some areas that disproportionately affect women—such as conflict-related sexual violence or denial of reproductive healthcare—have often been treated as peripheral. And finally, bias in decision-making and information: Gendered power structures determine who makes IHL-related decisions, what information is collected, and which harms are deemed “foreseeable.”
A WPS approach was stressed, that does not require rewriting the Geneva Conventions. Instead, it clarifies how existing obligations, such as non-discrimination and the duty to protect civilians, should be applied in gender-aware ways. Examples included Protection of civilians:
Women may be unable to flee because of caregiving responsibilities; men and boys may be presumed to be fighters and denied protection; LGBTQI+ persons may not fit pre-designed registration categories and thus remain invisible. Proportionality assessments:
Focusing only on immediate blast effects can ignore foreseeable, gendered consequences: loss of maternal health services, increased risk of sexual violence after displacement, unregistered children, and intensified unpaid care burdens when schools and services are destroyed. Aid can be “allowed” in formal terms but inaccessible in practice if women cannot safely reach distribution points, if systems assume a male “head of household,” or if sites expose LGBTQI+ people to heightened risk.
The core argument was that a WPS-informed reading of IHL makes the law more accurate, more humane, and genuinely non-discriminatory—very much in line with the calls from the UN WPS high-level event to “rethink” and “recommit” to WPS in peacekeeping.
Another major theme in Ottawa was accountability for gender-based crimes in armed conflict. Panelists noted both progress and backlash. On the one hand, there has been a rise in gender-progressive verdicts in domestic courts and at the International Criminal Court, including cases addressing gender persecution and conflict-related sexual violence.
On the other hand, political pushback has slowed or stalled accountability efforts in some contexts, and funding for rule-of-law and transitional justice initiatives is often fragile. Civil society organizations emerged as indispensable actors: They provide frontline services and holistic care for survivors; They document violations, preserve testimonies, and generate evidence that can inform both trials and preventive measures; They help translate legal and policy gains into meaningful change at community level.
However, many of these organizations are under acute financial pressure and risk closure—especially in conflict-affected countries—mirroring concerns raised globally about under-resourcing the WPS agenda.
Militaries Adapting: Gender Advisors, Legal Advisors, and Doctrine
The Ottawa WPS conference also highlighted how armed forces, including the CAF, are gradually embedding WPS into their doctrine, training, and operational guidance:
-National directives now require gender perspectives and GBA+ (Gender-Based Analysis Plus) to be integrated into military planning and operations, aligned with Canada’s National Action Plan on WPS.
-Dedicated gender advisors sit alongside legal advisors and commanders, helping ensure that gender analysis is reflected in mission design and real-time decision-making.
-Peacekeepers are increasingly trained not only to comply with IHL, but also to recognize, document, and respond to CRSV using a trauma-informed approach and to report potential violations, including those by partners.
One particularly interesting theme was the relationship between gender advisors and legal advisors: Legal advice is only as strong as the information and analysis that feed into it. If gendered patterns of civilian life and harm are not captured, legal assessments of foreseeability, precautions, and proportionality will be incomplete.
There is a growing recognition that legal advisors need at least a basic grounding in gender analysis, not to become gender experts themselves, but to recognize when gendered impacts are legally relevant and when to seek specialized input. This mirrors the UN-level call to “rethink” WPS in peacekeeping by bringing operational, legal, and gender expertise closer together.
At the Crossroads: From Commemoration to Commitment
Attending the LSE conference in London, following the UN high-level event in New York, and participating in the Ottawa WPS Conference gave me a multi-layered picture of where WPS stands at in 2025:
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Normatively, the agenda is strong. UNSCR 1325 and subsequent resolutions are widely recognized; the language of participation, protection, and prevention is familiar.
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Operationally, there are promising practices: gender advisors, revised doctrine, new training modules, and growing attention to gendered harm in IHL.
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Politically and financially, however, WPS is under strain—facing backlash, fatigue, and chronic underfunding, especially for civil society and women’s organizations.
The UN event captured this tension well: WPS is “at a crossroads”—either it is fully integrated into peacekeeping and security practice, or it risks becoming a rhetorical commitment without real leverage.
For me, the takeaway is clear: “Nations that fail women, fail. Period.”, as stated by Lieutenant-General Greg Smith, Canadian military representative at the NATO Military Committee. If we are serious about peace and security, then supporting women’s organizations and civil society is not optional—it is foundational; embedding gender analysis into IHL interpretation, peacekeeping mandates, and operational planning is not a luxury—it is necessary for accurate, lawful, and effective action; and ensuring accountability for gender-based crimes is not symbolic—it is essential to the credibility of international law and to survivors’ rights.
The 25th anniversary of UNSCR 1325 should not be just a moment of commemoration. It should be a renewed commitment to action—to making WPS central, not peripheral, in how we understand conflict, design mandates, train peacekeepers, and support those most affected by war. The WPS agenda is grounded in the recognition that conflict is gendered, but emerging scholarship should continue to push for deeper intersectional analysis. Dimensions such as race, sexuality, class, and displacement status shape individuals’ conflict experiences and access to protection—yet these dimensions remain unevenly addressed across peacekeeping contexts.
Conclusion
The adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000 marked a historic moment in international peace and security governance. Twenty-five years ago, the Security Council recognized women not merely as victims of conflict but as essential actors in peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and post-conflict reconstruction. Twenty-five years later, the WPS agenda appears firmly embedded in the architecture of global governance. Yet, as the events of 2025 reveal, WPS also stands at a crossroads characterized by institutional fatigue, inconsistent implementation, and increasing political contestation. In fact, WPS has reached a paradoxical moment of both consolidation and fragility: it is widely institutionalized but unevenly implemented; celebrated rhetorically yet constrained in practice by bureaucratic politics, resource scarcity, and geopolitical backlash. Across all sites, a persistent gap emerges between WPS as a normative framework and WPS as a lived institutional practice. I conclude that revitalizing WPS requires renewed political commitment, sustainable funding for civil society, and a structural—not symbolic—approach to gender integration.
REFERENCES
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