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Women, Peace and Security Conflict Tracker: March Updates

Our Women, Peace and Security Conflict Tracker combines real-time data points and original analysis to offer gender-sensitive insight into conflict dynamics across 27 countries. To see the complete analysis across all 27 countries monitored, please visit the WPS Conflict Tracker website and explore by country.

Spotlight: Iran & Broader Middle East Crisis

On February 28, 2026, the US and Israel launched strikes on Tehran and other targets, impacting at least 20 provinces. Since then, war has gripped Iran and spread throughout the Middle East. Iranian women and girls are being killed, injured, and displaced; a girls primary school in Hormozgan province was one of the first targets struck, killing at least 165 girls primarily aged 7 – 12. In total, at least 1,400 Iranian civilians have reportedly been killed since the start of the war. 

Moreover, Iran’s leadership succession is likely to further entrench and even amplify hardline tactics by the regime. After US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his son—Mojtaba Khamenei—was named as successor. Mojtaba Khamenei was a prominent target of criticism during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. Iranian authorities are reportedly increasing repression and have imposed another internet blackout, which has impeded communication and human rights monitoring—including of women’s rights—for more than three weeks. 

Attacks on oil fields and refineries have also caused massive pollution, including “black rain,” which drives displacement, health complications—including potential pregnancy complications—and disruptions to agricultural production in the short term, while accelerating the effects of climate change long-term. Desalination plants in Iran and the Gulf have also been targeted, worsening regional water scarcity and compounding the once-in-a-century drought Iran already faces. 

The toll of war is being felt well beyond Iran. Countries in the Gulf are enduring Iranian missile strikes, including on key energy and desalination infrastructure; related regional violence—including in Lebanon, where Israeli strikes now kill and injure the equivalent of a classroom of children daily—is escalating; and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to drive up oil prices and choke global shipping, straining households while making humanitarian aid more difficult and costly. These effects are felt globally, including in conflict-affected settings such as Sudan and Myanmar. Women and girls who rely on aid to access food, shelter, and healthcare are now at risk of losing access to services in an already resource-scarce environment. To learn more, see the WPS Conflict Tracker’s complete coverage of Iran, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. 

Spotlight: Afghanistan

UN Member States have an opportunity to advance the codification of gender apartheid as an international crime. The next step in the process involves the submission of initial proposals for amendments to the draft articles by April 30, 2026. Codification of gender apartheid would advance recognition and accountability for the worsening repression and violence women and girls face on the basis of gender, including in Afghanistan.  

Following the Taliban’s January 2026 release of a new Criminal Procedure Code—which effectively legalized slavery and entrenched gender-based discrimination—judges have begun denying women divorces, including those suffering physical abuses, as the code permits domestic violence unless done with “obscene force.” Moreover, new survey data finds that just 14 percent of women have access to formal dispute resolution mechanisms, compared to 53 percent of men, with access worsening over the last year. These challenges are compounded by escalating conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Pakistani air strikes hitting civilian areas. Women and girls often face greater difficulty fleeing danger and accessing support services. While the UN has officially recorded 143 civilian deaths—including women and children, the true number may be much higher. 

Risks & Opportunities

The WPS Conflict Tracker analyzes and identifies current risks and opportunities—including new developments, upcoming events, or looming threats—for women in the 27 conflict-affected settings we monitor. Updates for March 2026 include:  

Colombia 

  • Risk of Political Violence Amid Elections: Political candidates have faced escalating violence in the lead-up to the March 8, 2026 congressional election and ahead of the May 31, 2026 presidential elections. This includes the recent kidnapping of Senator and indigenous leader, Aida Quilcué, as well as an alleged assassination attempt against President Petro. Candidates and voters in rural areas are at particular risk of violence and harassment, as armed groups seek to influence election outcomes. Candidates are reportedly at risk of political violence in up to one-third of municipalities, underscoring safety concerns for women and men running for local office.
  • Congressional and Primary Elections Take Place: On March 8, 2026, Colombians elected a new legislature, with the ruling party receiving the most votes but falling short of a Senate majority. Women candidates made up 40.9 percent of the Congressional ballot—a historic first, yet were elected to only 29.7 percent of seats. Voters also selected party candidates for the presidency, with two women—Paloma Valencia (Democratic Center) and Claudia López (Green Alliance Party)—emerging as favorites ahead of the May 31, 2025 presidential election. 

Democratic Republic of the Congo 

  • Peace Remains Unlikely Even After DRC and Rwanda Agree to Ease Tensions: Representatives from the DRC and Rwanda engaged in US-facilitated talks in Washington, DC, culminating in a March 18, 2026 joint statement outlining plans to implement the Washington Accords. This renewed commitment came just days after violence against civilians in the DRC, including a drone strike that killed a female aid worker and the murder of a woman veterinarian during an attack on a nature preserve. Despite the two countries’ public commitment to de-escalation, concerns remain regarding the feasibility of implementation given ongoing hostilities and prior failed peace efforts. The agreement is unlikely to produce meaningful progress toward peace without clear enforcement mechanisms, leaving women and girls in the DRC at continued risk of displacement and sexual and gender-based violence.

Ethiopia

  • Growing Risk of Worsened Regional Conflict: Tension between Ethiopia and Eritrea continues to mount, as both countries have moved forces towards their shared border and engaged in escalating accusations and military displays. Ethiopia has also reportedly hosted a camp to train fighters in Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces armed group—the first direct evidence of Ethiopia’s involvement in Sudan’s spreading war. Regional conflicts risk merging as armed groups deepen alliances and the transnational movement of fighters and weapons grows. Internally, violence—including attacks targeting women militants and sexual assault by military actors—continues. Forty-one countries issued a joint statement to the UN’s Human Rights Council calling for dialogue and comprehensive transitional justice. 
  • Sexual Violence Continues to Surge: March 2026 research documents the ongoing effects of conflict-related sexual violence—including gang rape and sexual slavery—perpetrated by combatants against women and girls in Oromia. Many survivors have been forced to flee their homes, face continued threats and violence, and struggle with persistent sexual and reproductive health complications. 

Iraq 

  • Assassination of Prominent Iraqi Women’s Rights Activist: Yanar Mohammed, a fierce defender of women’s rights in Iraq, was gunned down outside of her home in early March 2026. Her death has sparked international condemnation, with rights groups calling on Iraqi authorities to ensure accountability and expand protections for activists. Mohammed’s work included building a multi-city network of women’s shelters providing refuge to women fleeing honor killings, domestic violence, and trafficking. This murder is the latest in a series of attacks against women leaders and rights organizations, including those that protested the Ja’afari Personal Status Amendment, adopted in 2025 and linked to a subsequent spike in child marriage and domestic violence cases.

Israel/Palestine 

  • Women and Girls Face Compounding Crises as Focus Shifts to Regional Conflict: With global attention turning to escalating tensions involving the US, Iran, Israel, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Palestinians fear that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is being sidelined. Israeli military operations continue to kill civilians in Gaza—including women and children—and restrictions on border crossings limit aid flow and prevent Palestinians from accessing urgent medical care. Rising poverty, overcrowded shelters, and limited access to services are increasing pressure on families to adopt harmful coping mechanisms, including child marriage, which has surged in the last two years. In the West Bank, settler violence has spiked in recent weeks, contributing to mass displacement that is reportedly driving family separation, with women and children forced to flee their homes while male relatives remain behind to protect their land. Women and girls face layered risks across occupied Palestinian territory, subject to repeat displacement, violence—including from Iranian missile attacks—and constrained access to essential services such as healthcare and education. 

Kosovo 

  • Women’s Organizations Face Funding Decline: A survey of more than 100 women’s rights civil society organizations (WCSOs) in Kosovo found that—-despite the critical role they play in providing social, political, legal, economic, and other support to their communities—WCSOs are facing drastic reductions in funding and resourcing amid an alarming global trend of declining humanitarian aid. Nearly half of respondents report a decline in resources over the past two years, and less than 10 percent have funding secured for 2027 and beyond; financial uncertainty makes it difficult for organizations to sustain long-term operations. These funding cuts have resulted in staff layoffs, burnout among activists, and reductions in services upon which women rely. 

Lebanon

  • Escalating War’s Toll on Women and Girls: Increasing Israeli airstrikes, cross-border hostilities, and stalled Hezbollah disarmament are driving mass displacement, disrupting health services, degrading critical infrastructure, and constraining governance and protection capacity across Lebanon, with nearly one in five people forced from their homes. These dynamics are producing acute, gendered impacts: women—who comprise more than half of residents in overcrowded displacement shelters—face restricted access to livelihoods, education, and sexual and reproductive healthcare, alongside heightened exposure to gender-based violence, early marriage, and economic exploitation. Electoral delays and prolonged instability due to the conflict may further entrench women’s exclusion from decision-making at a moment when protection risks and humanitarian needs are rapidly intensifying.

Myanmar 

  • Junta-Led Presidential Process Risks Entrenching Exclusionary Governance: Myanmar’s parliament is set to begin the process of electing a new president on March 30, 2026, following widely condemned elections staged by the military-backed junta. Under the process, the military and both houses of parliament will nominate candidates, with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing expected to assume the presidency and potentially stepping down as commander-in-chief to meet constitutional requirements. For women, civil society, and ethnic minorities—already marginalized under the junta-led electoral process—this transition risks further constraining political space and entrenching exclusionary governance, undermining prospects for inclusive governance and gender-responsive reform.

South Sudan

  • Sexual Violence Surges: South Sudanese women and girls face worsening sexual violence as conflict escalates and barriers to accessing services and reporting grow. The UN’s latest Report of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan documents widespread and weaponized sexual violence, as well as gender-based risks stemming from displacement. This follows a February 14, 2026 rapid needs assessment, which determined that sexual violence by armed actors against women and girls is increasing, with reports that those who resist assault are being killed. Medical care and protection services remain scarce in conflict-affected regions; in the Jonglei State’s Duk Padiet area, there are no gender-based violence caseworkers deployed, while many other regions lack operational safe spaces and sufficient healthcare. 

Sudan

  • Hospital Attack Kills Dozens: A March 20, 2026 attack on a Darfur hospital by a suspected SAF drone strike killed more than 64 people—including women and at least 13 children—and destroyed critical health infrastructure. Nearly three years of fighting have devastated Sudan’s healthcare system, impeding routine medical services as well as access to sexual and reproductive care for women and girls—including survivors of widespread conflict-related sexual violence. More than one-third of Sudan’s healthcare facilities were already inoperative prior to this attack. 
  • New Atrocity Prevention Coalition Formed: On February 26, 2026, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Norway unveiled a new coalition to prevent atrocities and advance accountability in Sudan. While concrete next steps are not yet clear, this coalition could provide a platform to amplify calls from Sudanese networks and address longstanding impunity—a challenge repeatedly recognized by Sudanese women leaders as fueling continued cycles of conflict. 

Syria 

  • Impunity for Abuses Against Minorities: A UN probe has exposed violations against minorities in Syria, particularly Alawite and Druze women, underscoring persistent failures of Syrian authorities to protect vulnerable groups. The investigation builds on reporting from February 2026 that highlighted continued impunity for dozens of abductions and assaults of Alawite women, in contradiction of findings by Syria’s Interior Ministry, which concluded that only one of 42 reported disappearances constituted kidnapping. The government’s dismissal of widespread abductions has fueled accusations of deliberate obfuscation to shield perpetrators, raising concerns that unchecked violence against minority women could deepen sectarian tensions and threaten Syria’s fragile stability.

Ukraine

  • Funding Crisis Undermines Women-Led Organizations and Essential Services: Reductions in foreign assistance are placing significant strain on women-led organizations across Ukraine, with three-quarters of organizations reporting severe or moderate impacts on their activities, including gender-based violence services, economic support, and participation initiatives. These cuts disproportionately affect vulnerable groups—particularly displaced women, single mothers, and those in rural areas—while weakening organizational capacity and forcing reductions in services. Women leaders and women-led organizations are also vital to advancing peace, supporting veterans, and promoting inclusive recovery.  

Venezuela 

  • State Repression Appears to Ease as Women Protest: Hundreds of women marched on March 8, 2026 for International Women’s Day, demanding the release of political prisoners and accountability for abuses. Venezuela’s government also approved a new law on February 19, 2026,  which grants amnesty to political prisoners and triggers the release potentially of thousands, including at least 54 women prisoners.
  • No Path to Accountability for Abuses Committed by Maduro Regime: Women continue to call out perceived impunity and the absence of comprehensive transitional justice mechanisms, including the lack of recognition and reparation for suffering caused by the Maduro regime. Although Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez has replaced key Maduro aides and restructured the military, much of the regime remains intact. This may forestall meaningful accountability for abuses—including arbitrary detentions, sexual violence, and disappearances—committed under Maduro. 

Yemen 

  • Houthi Abuses of Women: A March 2026 report documents years of gendered abuses by Houthi forces, citing thousands of violations against women since 2017, including killings, abductions, enforced disappearances, torture, and forced recruitment of women and girls. In recent months, Houthi-imposed social pacts have increasingly limited women’s freedom to travel without a male guardian, prohibited their smartphone use, and restricted access to essential services—further eroding women’s civil and economic rights in areas under Houthi control.  

In The News 

The Risks of Gender-Blind Conflict Analysis by Ambassador Melanne Verveer & Jessica Anania for Just Security  

This article argues that women’s experiences and roles are indelibly linked to national and global stability, yet are commonly overlooked in security forecasting and response. Data and news coverage often lack gender-disaggregated indicators or exclude women and girls entirely. This omission carries concrete strategic costs: patterns of sexual and gender-based violence serve as early warning indicators of conflict escalation, and women’s status and safety are powerful, consistent predictors of a country’s peacefulness even in seemingly stable democracies. Moreover, research conclusively demonstrates that women’s inclusion in peace processes promotes more successful negotiations and strengthens the durability of resulting agreements, yet their absence is rarely identified as a potential weakness in a peace process. 

In the Arts 

These women were Golden Age masters—why have they been ignored by art historians? by Kristina Foster for the Financial Times 

This article highlights a new exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, organized with the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, which features over 40 women who were active and celebrated artists during the Dutch and Flemish Golden Age of art. Despite enjoying significant fame and high-profile patronage during their lifetimes—with artists like Rachel Ruysch outselling Rembrandt—these women faded into obscurity, in part due to the misattribution of their work to men. This exhibition, the result of a three-year research project, aims to restore these artists to their rightful place in art history and signals a broader institutional shift toward reintegrating women into the canonical story of Western art.

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