Why abandoning the women, peace and security agenda is a mistake

Khaleej Times

22-05-2025

US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, recently announced that he was ending the Department of Defence's support for the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, accusing it of being a divisive, 'woke' and unnecessary programme from the Biden era. But by doing so, he not only risks undermining President Donald Trump's WPS Act, legislation signed during Trump's first term, but is also jeopardising the important gains made by the US defence department, which has seen steady growth in American women serving. That the United States is ending its support for the United Nations-led WPS agenda comes as no surprise amidst a domestic climate where DEI programmes are being rolled back, but the WPS agenda remains important to advocate for women's increased participation in the security sector. It is a multilateral agenda born out of the concern that women were historically left out of negotiations and peace building initiatives despite them being heavily impacted by war.
When the WPS agenda was introduced by UNSC Resolution 1325 in 2000, it started an unprecedented movement by the international community to consider women as key partners to peace. The 10 UNSC resolutions adopted since then, nine of which were supported by the US, demanded that women be fully engaged in conflict resolution. It is imperative that we don't abandon the WPS agenda during this seminal year — when the UN observes its 25 th anniversary.
Progress and gains made since 2000:
While uneven, the gains that were brought by the WPS agenda are substantial and need to be recognised. By 2024, 108 countries had a National Action Plan (NAP) for WPS, which indicates a commitment to applying the agenda domestically and in foreign policy. Various international organisations, including Nato, the League of Arab States, the African Union and the European Union, have also officially adopted their own NAPs and strategies for WPS, embracing its principles.
Between 1992 and 2019, women constituted just 13 per cent of negotiators and 6 per cent of mediators in peace processes worldwide. The adoption of the WPS agenda helped increase women's representation, albeit in a modest way, and i n 2023, women made up 13.7 per cent of mediators and 26.6 per cent of signatories of peace agreements. The UN also increased the share of women in its mediation support teams to 43 per cent in 2022, an uptick from 30 per cent in 2019. Another improvement to note is that the presence of gender provisions found in peace agreements also rose since the 1990s. While only 12 per cent of peace agreements made references to women between 1990 and 2000, 31 per cent of agreements now include gender provisions.
It is easy to dismiss these numbers as tributes to an elitist agenda that helps women leaders keep their positions. But WPS serves a larger number of women who would otherwise remain invisible. Through subsequent resolutions, the WPS agenda has raised awareness against conflict-related sexual violence and provided mechanisms to hold perpetrators of gender-based violence (GBV) accountable for their crimes. It has also shed light on, and empowered, women's involvement in informal and community-centered peace processes. For example, Yemeni women formed networks and groups to de-escalate tensions and fighting over resources, and helped with the evacuation of schools during attacks. They also facilitated aid access, reintegrated child soldiers, and helped release over 300 prisoners.
The inclusion of women in informal peace efforts and local peacebuilding is important for peace. Women have access to domestic spaces that men do not. They can assist with disbursing aid, protecting victims of GBV and caring for other women and children in conservative contexts that are often overlooked during conflict. By recognising and formalising their efforts, we ensure that peace processes include everyone.
Where we go from here:
Abandoning the WPS agenda not only wipes out three decades of advocacy, it also erases past and current contributions made by women to global peace. With persistent global conflicts, women's role in finding solutions is key. Women bring local knowledge and access, they command trust within their communities and they offer unique perspectives that would otherwise be lost.
We would also be wise to remember that some of the main benefactors of the WPS agenda are women soldiers. The agenda clearly advocates for an increased presence of women in the military and seeks to create more equitable and safer security structures where women would be encouraged to join, serve and lead. In essence, the WPS agenda is compatible with all defence strategies that seek to see more women in combat roles and promoted to senior ranks. By emphasising women's continuous training for various peacekeeping operations, the agenda gives the defense industry valuable insights into how their missions could succeed in difficult contexts.
The benefits of the agenda are by no means 'woke'; they are real. And they are needed. The principles of the agenda are not 'divisive', they are inclusive. They make military structures stronger and more prepared to face threats and post-war scenarios where millions of women and children need help.
The WPS agenda should not be a mere box-ticking exercise for states to pledge allegiance to women's empowerment when it suits them, or discard when the political tide changes. It is a global and necessary multilateral effort that states have willingly adopted to redress historical gender imbalances that left women victimised and invisible for too long. To abandon it in 2025 is to renounce a moral and strategic imperative that will prove costly to millions.
Dr Sara Chehab is a Senior Research Fellow at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi.