Welcome to Our Secure Future’s monthly Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Digest, “the done for you” newsletter on WPS. Read on for this month’s articles and reports focused on women’s rights and international peace and security matters, featuring a selection of resources from the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29).
COP29
Three Takeaways from COP29 (Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security)
“The stakes were high for advancing gender-responsive climate action going into the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29) after gender negotiators received pushback on advancing the gender and climate agenda at the Bonn Conference this summer. As armed conflicts with devastating climate and environmental implications rage around the world, it is more important than ever to advance an ambitious climate action agenda that centers the needs and leadership of women, particularly in highly vulnerable and conflict-affected areas.”
Women This Week: Deadlock at COP29 to Update UN Action Plan on Gender and Climate (Council on Foreign Relations)
“Efforts to ensure that countries are more responsive to the nexus of gender and climate change have stalled at this year’s COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan. The Lima Work Programme on Gender (LWPG) was originally established in 2014 to advance a gender-responsive approach to climate policy and action. In a proposed update to the LWPG, African and European Union countries included a line recognizing the different experiences that climate change may have based on “gender, sex, age and race.”
Imbalance of power: Women at international climate negotiations (Dialogue Earth)
“As the 29th UN climate conference opens in Baku, Azerbaijan today, one thing remains the same: men will occupy most seats at the climate talks. Much has changed since the UN’s first Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1995. But the proportion of women representatives has remained stalled, at about a third of participants.”
Creating a just social order: The role of gender equity in climate action (Africa Policy Research Institute)
“Explore how gender justice is key to transformative climate action and sustainable development in Africa. This paper discusses barriers and opportunities for gender equity at COP29 and beyond... the intersection between gender inequalities and climate change risks and vulnerabilities is increasingly recognised as a critical issue by researchers and policymakers alike. Climate change does not affect everyone equally; the impacts are influenced by factors such as gender, age and socioeconomic status.”
Women fight to have a voice in climate negotiations (Financial Times)
“Female business and policy leaders from around the world gathered at the sleek offices of wind energy company Ørsted on Madison Avenue during the recent New York climate week, in an evening that ended with a team photo of women making a fist, Rosie-the-Riveter style...Their show of strength was motivated by the failure of the Azerbaijani COP29 presidency to include even a single woman in an initial 28-member organising committee. After a backlash, President Ilham Aliyev expanded the group to 42 to include 12 women and another two men. It has since swelled to 55 members, but has not reached gender parity.”
The Gender-Climate-Security Nexus: Expert Recommendations for COP29 and Beyond (Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security)
“World leaders, policymakers, and activists are gathered for the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) amid growing recognition of the convergent threats of climate change and conflict and their disproportionate impacts on women. Yet, the root causes—and solutions—often remain siloed in policy and practice. Emphasizing these linkages and the critical role of women who are on the frontlines of solutions across gender actions at COP can strengthen ongoing efforts to achieve a Just Transition.”
Technology
Yemen: Authorities and Meta must address online gender-based violence (Amnesty International)
“Authorities in Yemen are failing to address gender-based online blackmail and harassment on Facebook, to protect women’s right to privacy in online spaces and to provide redress to survivors said Amnesty International. The organization added that these assaults are taking place in the context of Meta’s lack of sufficient preventative action around online protection. Amnesty International examined the cases of seven women subjected to technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TfGBV) on Facebook between 2019 and 2023 in Aden, Ta’iz and Sana’a governorates. These women faced online blackmail and harassment involving the non-consensual sharing of images or sensitive information, violating their right to privacy.”
Tough new action to tackle violence against women and girls as government marks 16 Days of Activism (Government of the United Kingdom)
“New measures designed to tackle online violence against women and girls are announced today at the start of this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The project, called Safe Online: Preventing Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) and to be backed by more than £27m of UK-government funding, will help to support survivors of online violence and abuse, gather data to strengthen our understanding of this emerging threat, and minimise women’s exposure to harmful content by working with national regulators.”
Atrocity Prevention
Stand Up, Speak Out: A Global Call to Men on the 25th Anniversary of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Inter Press Service)
“On November 25, 2024, as the UN commemorates the 25th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, perhaps it is worth stating it explicitly: violence against women is not just a women’s issue. It is a societal, economic, and security issue. Given the vast majority of perpetrators are men, it is also very clearly a men’s issue.”
Progress on Gender Justice Continues as States Consider Next Steps on Draft Crimes Against Humanity Treaty (Just Security)
“This fall, the United Nations General Assembly’s legal arm (the Sixth Committee) convened to discuss and debate the Draft Articles on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity (Draft Articles). The meeting was the latest in a series of gatherings held under a December 2022 General Assembly resolution calling for a series of sessions to discuss elements of the International Law Commission’s (ILC’s) draft treaty, which was developed to address gaps in international law in combatting crimes against humanity.”
Recommitment, accountability and resourcing needed to end gender-based violence in conflict (UN Human Rights)
“In 2023, four out of 10 civilians killed in armed conflicts were women, double the proportion compared with 2022. The number of UN verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence was 50 per cent higher than the year before, and the number of girls affected by grave violations in situations of armed conflict increased by 35 per cent... This increase in prevalence and forms of gender-based violence (GBV) faced by women and girls in conflict settings has led this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women (25 November to 10 December) to focus on this issue.”
How women human rights defenders are under threat worldwide (UN Women)
“In the current global political climate, there is a broad backlash against long-standing concepts of human rights, and a rise in anti-rights movements. Women human rights defenders are often the first to come under attack... Read more below about the challenges that women human rights defenders face, and what needs to be done to defend them.”
General WPS
Countering China and Russia: The Hidden Advantages of Women, Peace, and Security (Center for Strategic and International Studies)
“Recent presidential administrations—representing both parties—have argued in their national security strategies that the key challenge before the United States is that of countering authoritarian regimes that seek to undermine democracies and rewrite the rules of the world order to be more favorable to dictatorial governments. This brief lays an analytic foundation for considering gender analyses, and Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) programs, as strategic enablers for accomplishing key Department of Defense (DoD) priorities.”
DNI Avril Haines Awarded NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Women for Peace and Security Award (Office of the Director of National Intelligence)
“Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines was awarded the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s “Women for Peace and Security Award” on Nov. 25 during the assembly’s 70th annual session in Montreal. The award recognized the first female director of the U.S. Intelligence Community for promoting the equal participation of women in peace and security issues.”
More women must be at the table: Women, Peace and Security after 24 years (UN Development Programme)
“Last month marked the 24th anniversary of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). At the Security Council Open Debate, many speakers raised their concern over the worsening situation for women living in conflict zones and the little progress made on the implementation of the WPS agenda. An Open Letter issued by the NGO Working Group on WPS reiterated the concern: ‘The WPS agenda’s vision of peace and equality has never been so important — or so under threat.’”
Opportunities
Director, Gender, Women and Democracy (National Democratic Institute)
“NDI is seeking a Director to provide creative and impactful vision, guidance and leadership to NDI’s design, implementation, and evaluation of programming related to gender, women, and democracy. The incumbent will be NDI’s programmatic leader on a technical area that is one of the organization’s flagship issues with the aim to change gender norms, increase equality, and foster women’s political leadership.”
Project Officer, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security - Walsh School of Foreign Service (Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security)
“The Project Officer will play an integral role in the administration and management of GIWPS’ activities related to the US Department of State’s WPS Centers of Excellence Initiative. This initiative supports host governments in Colombia, Kosovo, and the Philippines to establish virtual hubs of expertise for advancing the WPS agenda at local, national, regional, and international levels. In each of these countries, GIWPS is working with government partners, civil society, women leaders, and researchers to promote meaningful, sustainable progress in implementing all four pillars of UNSCR 1325 through a variety of activities.”
Gender Equity Intern - Spring 2025 (International Rescue Committee)
“IRC programming assists refugees to become economically self-sufficient and supports acclimatization within the United States by providing access to casework services. All IRC service provision is provided through the lens of Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI). This role will support the IRC’s Gender Equality work, cross-cutting programmatically and departmentally to support the administration of equitable services and the proper consideration of gender concerns in programmatic and departmental initiatives.”