Women, Peace and Security Conflict Tracker: July 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: Eyes on North Kordofan, Sudan
The Current Epicenter of Sudan’s War, as Risks for Civilians Become Dire
By: Reem Abbas, Independent Sudanese Researcher and Writer
North Kordofan state is currently the epicenter of Sudan’s complex conflict. El-Obeid, the state’s capital and largest city, is currently under daily drone attacks targeting civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, gas stations, and schools.
The UN Security Council recently warned of “the imminent risk of mass atrocities,” and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for urgent action to stop the heavy fighting that has led to a massive humanitarian crisis.
“The women of El-Obeid do not need more expressions of concern; they need protection before another tragedy unfolds…The international community must move beyond statements to ensure humanitarian access, protect civilians, support local women-led organizations, and hold perpetrators accountable.”
Read Reem Abbas’ full article on our website.
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 July 2026 include:
- Fighting Resumes Between US and Iran: The collapse of the ceasefire between the US and Iran has raised fears of a return to wider regional conflict. Renewed fighting may lead to cascading consequences for women and girls across Iran and neighboring Gulf states, including heightened displacement, disruptions to healthcare and essential services, increased risks of gender-based violence (GBV), and further restrictions on civic space.
- Collapse of Protection Systems in Gaza and the West Bank: The widespread destruction of Gaza’s courts and legal system as a result of Israel’s genocide has drastically reduced access to critical protection and accountability mechanisms for survivors of GBV, leaving women and girls at heightened risk with few avenues for justice. In the West Bank, Palestinian women and girls experience intensifying detention, displacement, and loss of access to essential services, with Israeli settlers now reportedly controlling nearly one-fifth of the occupied territory.
- Israel and Lebanon Engage in Talks Amid Regional Insecurity: The resurgence of the US-Iran conflict threatens to derail limited progress reportedly made in the latest round of US-facilitated talks between Israel and Lebanon, at which Nada Mouawad, Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United States, appeared to be the only publicly identified high-level woman present. More than half of those remaining internally displaced are women and girls, as ongoing insecurity, internal tensions, and Israeli military operations and movement restrictions undermine their safe return.
- Women Face Violence, Repression Amid Deteriorating Security Landscape: Militant attacks and renewed tensions along the Afghanistan border are contributing to a deteriorating security environment in Pakistan. The life sentence handed to prominent human rights defender Dr. Mahrang Baloch reflects concerns over the authorities’ use of security justifications to suppress women-led activism and undermines women’s participation in peacebuilding and public life.
- See a GIWPS analysis examining the implications of Dr. Mahrang Baloch’s sentencing for women-led peace movements in Pakistan.
- Political Turmoil Threatens Potential Progress on Women’s Inclusion: Political tensions and insecurity continue to threaten progress toward women’s political participation, as women’s groups call for urgent, inclusive dialogue. At the same time, the transition to a one-person, one-vote electoral system presents an opportunity to advance inclusive governance—but only if reforms are paired with enforceable protections and address persistent barriers to implementation.
- Read a briefing paper on “Inclusive Democracy in Somalia” from the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA).
- Women Demand Meaningful Participation in Syria’s Governance: Women in Aleppo rallied under the slogan “Representation is Not Just Numbers,” following the appointment of just 14 women out of 70 people named to the People’s Assembly by President Al-Sharaa. As the country navigates its post-Assad transition, Syrian women are calling for constitutional guarantees and an equal role in shaping Syria’s political future.
- Deadly Earthquakes Leave Thousands Dead, Displaced: Women and girls displaced by the June 24 earthquakes—particularly in poor, hard-to-reach areas—are experiencing heightened risks of trafficking, exploitation, and abuse in crowded shelters with limited access to healthcare and essential services. At the same time, women-led civil society organizations are playing a critical role in relief efforts, filling gaps amid slow government response.
- June 2026 Marks the Deadliest Month for Civilians Since 2022: Russian aerial attacks intensified across Ukraine in June and early July 2026, with hundreds of civilians—including elderly women, mothers, and girls—killed or injured, including in areas far from the frontline. Russian attacks on aid personnel have increased by more than 20 percent since 2025, yet more women are assuming dangerous frontline humanitarian roles, despite funding cuts to women-led organizations.
- NATO Reaffirms Support for Ukraine: “The July 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara marked a strategic shift in Euro-Atlantic security, solidifying a €70 billion military assistance package for Ukraine and transitioning the Alliance toward long-term deterrence,” reports Iryna Nykorak. Read on-the-ground analysis from Nykorak, a Member of the Parliament of Ukraine and part of GIWPS’ Women Changemakers Initiative, who represented Ukraine at two high-level WPS side-events at the NATO Summit.
New Analysis from GIWPS
“The US Should Seek Ways to Support the ICC – Not Dismantle It”
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the US would use a whole-of-government effort to dismantle the International Criminal Court (ICC), which Rubio says “poses an intolerable threat to US sovereignty.”
The ICC is an essential tool for advancing Women, Peace and Security. It is a court of last resort: a space to hold the most egregious violations of international law—including atrocity crimes against women and girls—to account.
As GIWPS Distinguished Non-Residential Fellow and former US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, Beth Van Schaack wrote in Just Security: the Court’s docket is “singularly focused on delivering justice for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity—including sexual violence and harm to children—in some of the worst atrocity situations around the world.”
GIWPS Executive Director Melanne Verveer adds: “US interests are enhanced—not threatened—by the ICC. Secretary Rubio’s reference to ‘so-called international law’ seeks to undermine over 80 years of international consensus and legal obligations to holding perpetrators to account. Any perpetrators of these crimes should be prosecuted, and the US should double down on its commitment to enforcing these laws—including among our own armed forces and government officials—rather than undermining them.”
Note: Our monthly WPS Conflict Tracker updates will resume in September 2026.
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