Thousands of people gathered in Madrid's streets on March 9, 2024, International Women's Day, under the slogan "Patriarchy, genocides, and privileges, it's over." (Photo by Miguel Candela/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
While 2024 does not stand out as a seminal year for women’s rights, it did yield policy advancements within the women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda. These include new language in United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions, particularly in the context of UN peace operations; global commitments that either focus on or include language to advance WPS; and national and global policies that address emerging challenges to gender equality in the digital space.
These policy advancements are positive, yet it can be hard to see how policy gains impact women and girls around the world, given the rising levels of violence and the regression in women’s rights globally. Policy language is one critical step to strengthening the WPS agenda, but it is not enough, and member states must also push for implementation through accountability.
With 2025 marking the 25th anniversary of Resolution 1325 and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the coming year presents an opportunity to reenergize and recommit to the WPS agenda. In this article, we look at last year’s advancements, and what 2025 might bring for WPS.
WPS Policy Gains in 2024
Last year, the UN Security Council passed several resolutions that not only maintained previous WPS language but, in some instances, expanded it. For example, in April, the council adopted Resolution 2729 to renew the mandate of the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Building upon the previous mandate, Resolution 2729 includes a new reference to women human rights defenders as a group in need of protection from threats and reprisals. Additionally, in June, the council adopted Resolution 2734, which “recognizes that planning, directing, or committing acts involving sexual and gender-based violence” is a tactic of terrorism, and designates such acts as listing criteria in the UN ISIL/al-Qaida sanctions regime. Naureen Chowdhury Fink and Cyndee Trinh describe the resolution as a key step in the quest for greater accountability for conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).
2024 also saw two examples of increased attention on building more inclusive peace processes. In Resolution 2736 on the situation in Sudan, the Security Council encouraged “the full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation of women” in advancing an inclusive and comprehensive political peace process in the country for the first time since the conflict began in April 2023.
Then in October, during the open debate on WPS, the secretary-general officially launched the “Common Pledge for Women’s Full, Equal, and Meaningful Participation in Peace Processes.” In reflecting on the inconsistent and inadequate participation of women in peace processes since the passing of Resolution 1325, the pledge encourages mediation actors, including UN member states and regional organizations, to commit to taking concrete steps to advance the WPS agenda. The commitments of the pledge seek to reflect the evolving nature of the international mediation landscape and ensure that a broad range of women leaders play an integral and meaningful role in promoting gender-responsive peace processes. The pledge provides practical steps for mediating actors to move from rhetoric to concrete action.
Another positive sign in 2024 was robust coordination among Security Council members that want to advance the WPS agenda, as when eight out of ten elected members and three of the five permanent members signed on to the Shared Commitments on WPS. This signals a collective commitment to prioritizing the WPS agenda and ensuring its concrete and tangible implementation. The shared commitments aim to fully integrate the WPS agenda into the work of the council, including through women’s civil society participation in council meetings and the inclusion of a gender perspective. Looking toward 2025, three of the five incoming members—Denmark, Greece, and Panama—have also already signed on. This indicates the potential for champions of the WPS agenda to collectively advance its goals in the council and provides elected members an opportunity to reaffirm their WPS commitments as they take their seats.
There was also progress on language related to WPS in the UN General Assembly. In September, world leaders adopted the Pact for the Future, which includes explicit commitments to achieving gender equality, empowering women and girls, and advancing the WPS agenda. During the drafting stage, Russia objected to (among other provisions) the language around gender empowerment. However, Russia’s attempt to remove this language failed after facing broad opposition, reflecting a resounding commitment to the principles of the WPS agenda by members of the General Assembly.
The WPS agenda also made some advancements at the national level. For example, Colombia and Vietnam introduced their first national action plans (NAP) on WPS, and Timor-Leste launched the second generation of its NAP on WPS. Additionally, despite ongoing violence, efforts to implement the 2016 peace agreement in Colombia set a positive example by including a high proportion of women as negotiators and actively engaging women- and LGBTQ+-led organizations.
Finally, progress on policies addressing technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) demonstrated the adaptability of the WPS agenda. In July, NATO released its revised WPS Policy, which addresses a variety of new security threats, including TFGBV and the weaponization of gendered narratives and disinformation propelled by new and emerging technologies. The same month, the United States government launched “Women Leading Effective and Accountable Democracy in the Digital Age (Women LEAD)” which identifies growing threats to women’s safety, political participation, and leadership resulting from new digital technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfake images.
Further on TFGBV, the Third Committee of the General Assembly approved draft resolution A/C.3/79/L.17/Rev.1 in November. The resolution acknowledges the interrelated nature of online and offline violence against women and urges states to take comprehensive measures to address the significant physical, sexual, psychological, social, political and economic harms TFGBV causes to women and girls. Given that, globally, 38% of women report personally experiencing TFGBV and 85% of women report witnessing violence against other women online, this thematic focus is important to ensure that the WPS agenda adapts to the evolving threats and needs of women and girls beyond traditional conflict contexts.
The Gap between Policy and Lived Realities
These policy gains can seem detached from the lived reality of many women and girls around the world. According to the UN secretary-general’s annual report on WPS, against the backdrop of rising conflict, instability, and violence, generational progress in women’s rights is severely under threat. While official data for 2024 is not yet available, 2023 saw an increase in the proportion of women killed in armed conflicts and in UN verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence. With escalating violence over the past year in many contexts, including in Gaza, Lebanon, and Sudan, and given the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the current situation is dire.
In 2024, there were alarming instances of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in many contexts. The war in Sudan has had a brutal impact on women and girls, including an increase in cases of CRSV. Rights groups and activists even reported instances of women taking their lives after being raped by paramilitary fighters, reflecting the severity of the CRSV. In Haiti, criminal groups have increasingly used sexual violence against women and girls, who have limited access to services, including reproductive and sexual health care.
High levels of violence against women also continue to be documented beyond conflict-related contexts. A 2024 UN report on femicide found that approximately “51,100 women and girls were killed by their intimate partners or other family members during 2023,” equaling 140 women and girls killed each day on average.
Despite growing needs, the share of bilateral official development assistance (ODA) with gender equality objectives decreased in 2021–2022 (the latest years with available data). The amount and share of bilateral aid supporting feminist, women-led, and women’s rights organizations in conflict-affected countries also decreased and remains far below the 1% target of ODA allocation recommended by the UN. In his 2024 WPS report, the UN secretary-general urged states to close this funding gap to meaningfully meet the policy priorities and commitments of the WPS agenda.
At the national level, last year saw an escalation in the legal backlash against women’s rights and gender equality. For instance, defying broader global trends on the liberalization of abortion laws, abortion access was severely rolled back in the United States. In Afghanistan, the passage of the Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which significantly limits women’s personal freedom and largely prohibits their access to public spaces and education—among other extreme restrictions—marked the codification of the Taliban’s ongoing efforts to restrict the rights of women and girls. The law outlines new, harsher enforcement mechanisms and penalties for women in breach of the law and for men whose female family members are found in violation of the rules. In Iraq, lawmakers proposed amendments to the Personal Status Law that women and human rights groups have said will significantly violate the rights of women and girls. The proposed amendments would lower the minimum age of consent for marriage to as low as nine years old and would undermine protections for women regarding divorce and inheritance.
Though not exhaustive, these examples highlight alarming instances of governments institutionalizing gender discrimination and rolling back the rights of women and girls over the past year. Against the backdrop of increased armed conflict, the secretary-general’s report on WPS painted a grim picture of the global landscape of the WPS agenda and highlighted the significant work that remains to be done to achieve its aims.
Looking Ahead to 2025
Given this state of affairs, there is little room to feel optimistic about the prospects for progress on the WPS agenda in 2025. With the incoming Trump administration in the United States and the potential electoral success of more right-wing parties in several countries that recently adopted feminist foreign policies, including Canada, Germany, and Chile, 2025 will likely bring further challenges to women’s rights and gender equality.
For example, Trump is expected to reinstate the “global gag rule” which significantly limits federal funding to global sexual and reproductive health programs. One study estimates that during Trump’s first term, this policy alone resulted in approximately 108,000 maternal and child deaths and 360,000 new HIV infections. This exemplifies the catastrophic and potentially lethal outcomes of efforts by political actors determined to roll back the rights of women and girls around the world. As such, in 2025, women’s rights defenders, activists, civil society, and governments dedicated to implementing the WPS agenda must unite and stand firm to combat the backlash and uphold the principles of the agenda.
This year is an important milestone for women’s rights and gender equality as it marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 25th Anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325, which launched the WPS agenda. During the annual meeting of the WPS Shared Commitment Holders in December, the executive director of the NGO Working Group on WPS, Kaavya Asoka, acknowledged that despite some gains made in the council in 2024, it is “important not to mistake process for progress.”
It is imperative for member states to move beyond the normative framework of the WPS agenda and focus on practical, tangible actions to implement its aims. Global leaders owe it to their populations to respect and uphold their commitments to the WPS agenda by taking concrete actions to implement the existing frameworks to which they have already agreed. This year, we hope to see more member states and mediation actors adopt and implement the Common Pledge, adequately fund and implement their NAPs on WPS, and increase funding to achieve full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation of women in peace processes and to protect the rights and safety of women and girls everywhere.
Olivia Parsons works the Women, Peace and Security program at the International Peace Institute (IPI). Phoebe Donnelly is a Senior Fellow and Head of Women, Peace, and Security at IPI. Evyn Papworth is a Policy Analyst for IPI’s Women, Peace, and Security program.