Women, Peace and Security Digest: March 2024

Climate Change 

Time is now to invest in women, peace and climate security in Asia and the Pacific (UN Women) 

“With gender, climate, peace and security firmly on the international agenda following the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), UN Women is advocating for greater investment in women as agents of peace and resilience in Asia and the Pacific.”  

Amplifying Women’s Voices, Combating Climate Change: Gender-Climate Highlights from COP28 (U.S. Department of State) 

“At COP28, the United States once again made clear its commitment to promoting women’s and girls’ crucial role in crafting effective solutions to the climate crisis.”  

Water for Peace: Accelerating progress for a water secure world (Water for Women Fund) “Throughout the world, women are at the forefront of climate change and it's impacts on water security – brokering peace, driving sustainable agriculture for food security, and delivering water and WASH for the health and well-being of their families and communities. Women hold often untapped local and traditional knowledges about the water cycle and the impacts of climate change on water resources, which are key to strengthening resilience. Women and water can lead us out of crisis.” 

When we recognise women as climate leaders, we support a safer world for all (The Elders) 

“The climate crisis is an existential threat to humanity rooted in gender inequality. The impacts of the climate crisis hit the most marginalised communities hardest. For many women and girls, a lack of access to education, healthcare and resources increases the risks they face, with those working in informal sectors suffering the most. The climate emergency is a gender injustice.” 

Technology 

WPS Message Guide: A Gender Perspective on AI Risks to National Security (Our Secure Future) 

“This message guide, building on Executive Order 14110 on the Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, contextualizes the top gendered risks of AI to national security and outlines key recommendations for developing gender-sensitive AI policy, focusing in particular on the importance of aligning AI policy with existing human rights frameworks and norms.” 

68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women – High-Level Meeting To Advance Women’s Political Participation and Leadership in the Digital Age (U.S. Department of State) 

“On March 13, on the margins of the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Government of the United States alongside the Governments of Canada, Colombia, and the United Kingdom, co-sponsored a high-level meeting at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations to discuss shared priorities for advancing women’s political participation and leadership, including by tackling new threats, such as technology-facilitated gender-based violence.” 

Placing gender equality at the heart of the Global Digital Compact: Taking forward the recommendations of the sixty seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women (UN Women)  

“One of the greatest challenges of the world’s digital transformation today is to address the current gender digital divide. This has become the new face of gender inequality, limiting women’s and girls’ opportunities to meaningfully and safely access, use, lead and design technology.” 

The Relationship between Digital Technologies and Atrocity Prevention (Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect) 

“New and emerging digital technologies — including, among others, social media platforms, artificial intelligence, geospatial technology, facial recognition and surveillance tools — have and will continue to rapidly shift the space of human interaction in the modern world. As such, these technologies can both directly and indirectly impact how various actors may perpetrate or prevent mass atrocity crimes.” 

Atrocity Prevention 

Afghan women’s rights are not a lost cause. Here’s what the international community can do (Atlantic Council)  

“As the Taliban tightens its rule in Afghanistan, women face unprecedented threats to their rights and livelihoods. The Taliban’s oppressive regime, described by women of Afghanistan and international experts as gender apartheid, is a stark reminder of the fragile state of gender equality not only in the region, but globally.” 

"Prevention saves lives and safeguards development gains," tells USG DiCarlo (United Nations) 

“The Women, Peace and Security Agenda can only be fully realised through national action. Over a hundred countries from all regions have developed national plans to implement Security Council resolution 1325. We commend them for their leadership and call on others to join them. It is essential that international support is made available for these efforts.” 

Remarks by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a UN Security Council Arria Formula Meeting on Leveraging the Synergies Between the CEDAW and the WPS (United States Mission to the United Nations)  

“... my hope is that this week, during the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, we will recommit to the ideals set forth in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in Resolution 1325, and in other multilateral instruments.This is urgent. Because right now, women and girls are under threat from conflict, repressive regimes, and a growing pushback on their human rights.” 

General WPS 

Advancing Feminist Foreign Policy in the Multilateral System: Key Debates and Challenges (International Peace Institute) 

“To explore the future of FFPs [feminist foreign policies], the International Peace Institute, in partnership with the Open Society Foundations and in collaboration with the co-chairs of the Feminist Foreign Policy Plus (FFP+) Group, Chile and Germany, convened a retreat on Feminist Foreign Policy and Multilateralism in July 2023. Drawing on insights from the retreat, this paper discusses five ongoing debates that FFP-interested states should meaningfully engage with.” 

Integrating the WPS agenda across the Humanitarian-Development-Peace nexus: Learnings from the Pacific (Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict) 

“Women peacebuilders in the Pacific - organising through regional and global networks and coalitions - were among the first to conceptualise the Triple Nexus and, despite the obstacles they face, have taken concrete action to advance the principles of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda across the Triple Nexus.” 

Investing in women accelerates prosperity and peace (Atlantic Council) 

“Gender inclusion cannot be an afterthought. Policymakers must address the immediate economic security and income needs of women during conflict, while empowering them to contribute to and benefit from recovery, reconstruction, and growth.” 

Breaking Down Barriers: How Women’s Peace Groups Help Advance Gender, Peace, and Security in Nigeria (Mercy Corps) 

“Conflicts in Nigeria have become increasingly complex over time, but effective and full implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda at the local level can advance locally-led, gender responsive, and inclusive peacebuilding efforts.”  

Addressing Gendered Violence in Papua New Guinea: Opportunities and Options (U.S. Institute of Peace) 

“Each year, more than 1.5 million women and girls in Papua New Guinea experience gender-based violence tied to intercommunal conflict, political intimidation, domestic abuse, and other causes. It is, according to a 2023 Human Rights Watch report, “one of the most dangerous places to be a woman or girl.” Bleak as this may seem, it is not hopeless. USIP’s new report identifies several promising approaches for peacebuilding programming to reduce gender-based violence and effect meaningful and lasting change in Papua New Guinea.”  

Georgetown Launches First Conflict Tracker with Gender Focus (Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security)  

“Armed conflict is on the rise around the world, increasing women’s exposure to combat and the importance of their participation in conflict resolution. A new Women, Peace and Security Conflict Tracker, launched today by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, will offer unprecedented gender-sensitive insights into today’s conflicts. 

“We don’t need saving, we just need the space” (UN OHCHR) 

“An estimated 614 million women and girls were living in conflict-affected countries in 2022...Yet, women continue to be on the front lines of the humanitarian response and at the forefront of efforts to build peace and spur social transformation, despite the barriers they face in participating in peace and political processes because of persistent gender-based discrimination in the family, communities and society at large.” 

Notable Events From Women’s History Month 

Shaping the agenda: Youth engagement and empowerment at the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (UN Women) 

“The Youth Forum brought together a vibrant mosaic of more than 400 young leaders from across the globe, ranging from activists to experts with a rich diversity of experiences, including adolescents, young people with disabilities, indigenous youth, LGBTIQ+ youth, and more, adding depth to the dialogue on poverty eradication and galvanizing efforts to push forward for gender equality.” 

Shattering Glass: The United Nations Security Council, its Elected Ten, and Women, Peace and Security (International Peace Institute)  

“In a timely discussion ahead of the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women on March 6th, IPI, in partnership with the Nordic Africa Institute, cohosted a hybrid policy forum. Panelists assessed the role of the Elected 10 (E10) member states in influencing UN Security Council policy outcomes and outlined strategies and challenges for these non-permanent states to advance the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda within the council.” 

OSF and the Atlantic Council Host Event on WPS in Today's Security Landscape (Our Secure Future and the Atlantic Council)  

“On March 4, 2024, Our Secure Future and the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative, in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, co-hosted a hybrid public event on the role of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in today’s security landscape. The event, titled “Women, Peace, and Security in a Shifting Security Landscape,” served as a timely exploration of the role of women in the evolving security environment, particularly poignant as the world prepared to observe International Women’s Day.” 

Pushing forward for gender equality: CSW68 event showcases strategies for countering pushback and advancing women’s rights around the world (UN Women) 

“On 20 March 2024, UN Women, in partnership with UNDP, UNFPA, and OHCHR, gathered partners to discuss strategies for advancing gender equality at “Multistakeholder Partnerships and Practices to Push Forward for Gender Equality, Human Rights, and Democracy”, a flagship side event held at UN headquarters and online during the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.” 

Panel discussion on "Strengthening Gender Equality in Generative AI" (United Nations) 

“This event aimed to facilitate a discourse on academic research related to generative AI with a specific focus on advancing, promoting, and safeguarding gender equality. It will delve into the incorporation of human flaws, such as gender bias, into generative AI systems and emphasize the responsibility of academia and users in ensuring gender equality within these applications.”