Statement of the PeaceBuilding Commission, March 28 2016.

Hindrances to women’s participation in peace and security include cynical cultural practices that maintain patriarchal attitudes and norms; insufficient political will across the board to fully implement resolution 1325 (2000) and associated resolutions; militarized interventions and approaches to conflict resolution that tend to crowd out other organic initiatives within society that help build resilience, particularly during peacekeeping and countering violent extremism, which put women at a disadvantage; and the absence of gender-sensitive economic recovery following conflict, which poses a barrier to women empowerment during transitions. Similarly, top-down bureaucratic processes in implementing the women and peace and security agenda have neglected the local ownership aspects that a complementary bottom-up approach would help bring about.