Welcome to Our Secure Future’s Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Research Digest, “the done for you” newsletter on WPS. Every month, we curate the latest articles and reports on cross-cutting issues related to women’s rights and international peace and security. This September, we searched the web for you, and here’s what we found...
WPS in the US
Could disaster recovery include protecting women from domestic abuse and exploitation? (The 19th)
September 21
“Proposed legislation would strengthen FEMA’s response to gender-based violence, an issue advocates say is often overlooked after natural disasters…Reps. Laurel Lee, a Florida Republican, and Lucy McBath, a Georgia Democrat, have introduced legislation directing the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to strengthen safety at evacuation shelters and establish reporting protocols for issues like domestic violence and sexual assault.”
A Conversation With Jennifer Klein: The History of Gender Policy at the White House and Where We Go From Here? (Council on Foreign Relations)
August 31
“Under the second Trump administration, the country is experiencing a return to retrenchment. Klein remarked that the Trump administration’s regression on federal policies and programs critical to women’s rights and gender equality, both for domestic and foreign policy, is politicizing a previously bipartisan commitment. This contradicts what both Democratic and Republican administrations, including the first Trump administration, have done.”
Defense and Security
To Build Trust, the UN Needs to Deliver on Peace and Security (International Peace Institute)
September 18
“While the public expects the UN to deliver across a wide range of areas, peace and security currently ranks the highest… Yet, when it comes to preventing conflict, the UN has had little to show in recent years. There were 65 active conflicts across 35 countries in 2025 - the highest number since 1946 - as well as an increase in conflict-related fatalities driven by wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. In many of these conflicts, the UN has been notably absent from peacemaking efforts, and the secretary-general has been less visible in conflict zones than some of his predecessors.”
Left to carry households alone: War and the rise of women-headed households in Gaza (UN Women)
September
“Many (women) are now carrying the sole responsibility for providing for, protecting, and holding their families together in increasingly devastating conditions. With severely limited access to food, shelter, safe water, and hygiene supplies, alongside ongoing hostilities and insecurity, the situation in Gaza remains catastrophic. Restrictions on humanitarian access and continued bombardment are deepening the crisis for women-headed households.”
Syrian women between hope and fear (The Amargi)
August 28
“Throughout the years of armed conflict, Syrian women have consistently paid the highest price… the military security approach adopted by the Syrian regime and other conflicting parties, along with the retreat toward tribal, sectarian, and religious affiliations in some areas, contributed, through social and political exclusion, to gradually depriving women of the foundations of security, their civil rights, and their social roles.”
Economic Empowerment
Smaller Cities, Youth, Women To Power India’s Next Financial Expansion (Times Now)
September 29
“India’s financial ecosystem could be on the cusp of its next major expansion, with the country having the potential to add more than 100 million long-term investors by 2035, according to a recent report by EY. The opportunity is being driven by growing participation from smaller cities, younger Indians, women, and households increasingly connected through digital platforms…Women are also becoming a larger part of the investment landscape, particularly in beyond-top-30 (B30) cities.”
Financial literacy for women is about inclusion, not ability (Kipling)
September 25
“Every woman deserves a seat at the financial table, not because she expects a crisis, but because life is unpredictable. The best time to learn about your family's finances is not after a major life event. It's while there is still time to participate in the decisions that will shape your future.”
UN: Women Farmers Hold Key To Nigeria’s Food Security, Economic Growth (Independent News)
August 31
“The United Nations has called for increased investment in Nigerian women farmers, warning that persistent gaps in access to land, finance, technology and markets are limiting their contribution to food security and economic development.”
Technology
Police file cases. Courts rarely convict. Can technology change that? (The Indian Express)
September 25
“Speakers at the third National Women’s Conference examined how technology, stronger institutions, and better coordination could address gaps before and after crimes against women occur.”
Building a safer digital future through women’s leadership in cybersecurity (UN Women)
September 23
“At a time when demand for cybersecurity skills continues to grow, excluding women from the sector means leaving talent, innovation and leadership untapped. Diverse teams where women and girls are empowered are better positioned to anticipate risks, design inclusive solutions and strengthen trust in the digital systems that increasingly shape people’s lives.”
How the United Nations Can Address Growing AI Concerns to Peace and Security (Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security)
September 21
“UN Women has already documented that women human rights defenders and women-led civil society organizations face elevated AI-facilitated threats precisely because of their work, and they are often the least equipped to recover from them… A governance gap in AI will not affect everyone equally. It will fall disproportionately on marginalized groups already positioned to bear the greatest exposure to harm and the least power to demand protection from it.”
Climate
(Union for the Mediterranean)
September 25
“How can governments and stakeholders better address the interconnected challenges of gender inequality, climate change and conflict? This question was at the centre of a regional workshop on “Women, Peace and Security and Climate Change in the Arab Region: Operationalizing Policy Coherence for the Gender–Climate–Conflict Nexus”, held in Cairo on 23–24 September.”
Amid Climate Change And Insecurity: How Women Build Resilience in Mali (Food for Transformation)
September 1
“The message I would like to give is that women farmers are not just beneficiaries, but drivers of solutions. Their local knowledge needs to be valued, and women need to be able to take ownership of financing mechanisms that already exist. Local authorities should integrate women’s resilience and food systems transformation into their development plans, because women are at the beginning and at the end of the food system.”
General WPS
What Peacemaking Loses When Women Are Left Out (TIME)
September 25
“Now that progress is being reversed. As peacemaking organizations fracture and lose their ability to press warring groups toward compromise, an assortment of social conservatives and warlords is finding new ways to exclude women from discussions about war and peace. Finding space for gender diversity could do more than ensure that women are heard; it could also give peace efforts a better chance of success.”
No Peace Without Women: Closing The Gender Gap In Peace Negotiations (NATO Association of Canada)
September 18
“The scale of women’s exclusion from peace negotiations is substantial. UN Women’s 2024 data shows women made up just 7 percent of negotiators and 14 percent of mediators in formal peace processes worldwide, with many talks including no women at all… This trend is not improving: women’s share of negotiators in UN-led or co-led peace processes fell from 23 percent in 2020 to 18 percent in 2024.”
The women’s leadership gap that we should all be talking about (UN Women)
September 17
“Closing the leadership gap can close the justice gap, combat sexual harassment, and confront gender bias in the public sphere. When women lead, justice systems deliver better… Globally, women lead successful peace negotiations and rebuild essential services in crisis settings… even though they remain largely shut out of formal peace processes.”
UN Reforms Must Centre Women and Security (Global Policy)
September 10
“Peace continues to be treated largely as one policy objective among many, alongside health, education, poverty, climate and gender equality. That hierarchy is increasingly difficult to defend, because peace is the condition under which progress across almost every other development objective can endure.”
Upcoming and Past Notable Events
October 5-8, 2026 – SVRI Forum 2026
Bangkok, Thailand
The SVRI Forum is the Sexual Violence Research Initiative’s flagship event and the world’s leading abstract-driven conference on research, evidence, and solutions to prevent and respond to violence against women (VAW), violence against children (VAC), and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV).
Click for more
October 8, 2026 – The Challenges Annual Forum (CAF26)
United Nations Headquarters in New York
Hosted by the Permanent Missions of Sweden and Denmark, the Forum will convene Member States, UN leaders, partners, and experts under the theme “Turning the Tide: Building Momentum for Peace Operations in a Demanding World.”
Click for more
November 4, 2026 – When the Earth Heats, Inequality Burns: Climate Change as a Driver of Gender-Based Violence and Human Trafficking
10:00 - 11:00 AM ET, Virtual
Drawing from frontline experiences in Uganda’s Busoga region, the session will highlight practical community-led responses, including solar-powered water systems, safe shelters, economic empowerment, survivor support, and gender-responsive climate adaptation. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the climate–GBV–trafficking connection and practical ideas for building safer, more resilient, and gender-just communities.
Click for more
November 15-17, 2026 – Reykjavik Global Forum 2026
Reykjavik, Iceland
This year’s Forum will be our most solution-driven yet, bringing together 500 invited leaders for a dynamic and diverse programme focused on Women in Leadership, designed to turn shared insights into actionable plans for real change.
Click for more on OSF’s LeadersTalk on Monday, November 16
