The Women, Peace and Security Agenda Beyond 25 Years: Building Institutions for the Future

July 28, 2026

In April 2026, GIWPS Climate Security and Gender Fellow, Tamara Bah participated as a panelist in The Women, Peace, and Security Agenda Beyond 25 Years: Building Institutions for the Future, hosted by the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research (UNU-CPR) and UN Women. The discussion examined approaches to strengthening Women, Peace and Security implementation, accountability, and institutional capacity beyond National Action Plans. The engagement elevated climate security perspectives within a UN-level discussion on the future of the WPS agenda, highlighting the importance of integrating climate risks and financing considerations into peace and security frameworks.

Summary Report on Discussions:

The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda marked its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2025. In its first 25 years, the agenda has expanded beyond the mandate of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and its landmark resolution (UNSC Resolution 1325). This workshop’s discussion surfaced the vast range of successes, lessons learned and gaps in the WPS agenda’s first 25 years and identified priority areas for future work. This report summarizes the discussion.

Participants provided expert analysis, reflections and diverse views from the UN system, civil society, Member States and academia. Over the course of the workshop, five key questions emerged:

1. Where have there been successes in the WPS agenda? What can policymakers learn from those successes?
2. Which areas of the WPS agenda require urgent implementation and institutionalization?
3. What threats and barriers does the WPS agenda face in its implementation and institutionalization?
4. How do policymakers, civil society organizations and multilateral institutions respond to a critical gap in funding for the WPS agenda?
5. How do different epistemic and professional communities better communicate with one another to ensure better governance of the WPS agenda?

Participants emphasized that the WPS agenda was an innovation, brought about through a unique coalition of insiders and outsiders to the multilateral system. They also emphasized the importance of learning across sectors (multilateral and regional organizations, foreign ministries, development ministries and civil society organizations) to address governance gaps. They emphasized the importance of constructive cooperation in the face of funding gaps and ideological opposition to the WPS agenda.