Ten Years of Women, Peace and Security: Gaps and Challenges in Implementing Resolution 1325

On 26 October 2010, the UN Security Council (SC) marked the 10th anniversary of Security Council resolution (SCR) 1325. With the adoption of SCR 1325, the SC recognised the disproportionate impact of armed conflicts on women and girls for the first time and further emphasized the decisive role of women in preventing conflicts and consolidating peace. At the time of its adoption, SCR 1325 was recognized as a major breakthrough for greater gender equality in the area of peace and security and the acceptance of women as active agents in conflict management. Three further SCRs – 1820, 1888 and 1889 – now strengthen the women, peace and security (WPS) framework.

The actual impact of the WPS agenda has been widely debated by scholars and practitioners. Some argue that due to the overwhelming lack of political will, organizational inertia and discriminatory attitudes, the establishment of the WPS agenda has made little difference in strengthening women's interest and is nothing more than just another SC prestidigitation to placate women's‐rights activist and their supporters (Anderlini 2007, Raven‐Roberts 2005). Others are more optimistic and emphasize the rising number of references to the WPS agenda in the formal UN discourse on security and the increased difficulties faced by member states trying to shun addressing women's needs and experiences in conflict management (Tryggestad 2009). Overall, the adoption of SCR 1325 is seen as a remarkable development and an expression of the changing attitude towards a broader understanding of the concept of security.

While we share the view about the lack of implementation and the criticism of the predominantly rhetorical nature of the WPS agenda, we acknowledge that it has generated an increased focus on women's roles and experiences in armed conflict. The 10th anniversary of SCR 1325 provides a chance for all actors to move the WPS agenda from rhetoric to action.

The policy brief is divided into five sections. In the first section, we contextualize the adoption of the SCR 1325 and provide an overview of the main obligations that derive from the four SCRs. In the second section, we discuss the WPS agenda critically from a gender perspective on international peace and security. In the third section, we uncover several shortcomings in the implementation of the WPS agenda. In the fourth section, we formulate recommendations for bringing the agenda from rhetoric to practice. In the fifth section, we sketch out a system of implementation for the WSP agenda.