WPS Resource Center
A tool for academics and practitioners interested in gender and conflict.
Monitoring Progress on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda
The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security releases a series of reports tracking progress made by UN Member States on their commitments to advance WPS. The reports focus on states’ efforts to increase women’s representation in diplomacy and security spaces; funding for WPS-relevant activities; and the implementation of WPS through policy instruments over the…
Moving Mountains
Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, Afghanistan has faced a grim confluence of crises—a failing economy, widespread poverty and famine, rampant human rights abuses, and a total erasure of the rights of women and girls. Devastating earthquakes and the deportation of Afghans from Pakistan have further compounded the challenges facing the country. The Taliban appear…
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence
As the uses and abuses of technology develop at a rapid rate, the growing threat and consequences of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) must be addressed by those working to advance the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda. Existing policies and programs must be adapted and new ones adopted to account for digital dimensions of gender-based…
Trends in Women’s Status Over Time: Key Findings From Revised WPS Index Estimates for 2017-2023
Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda is strengthened by tools that track progress over time, identify where gaps persist, and hold decisionmakers accountable. First developed in 2017, the WPS Index multi-dimensionally measures women’s status in 177 countries and economies around the world. The structure of the WPS Index has been updated in…
The WPS Index and the Gender-Climate-Security Nexus
The impacts of climate change, conflict, and gender inequality are increasingly intertwined. While there is a growing body of evidence recognizing that environmental and humanitarian crises disproportionately affect women and acknowledging the vital need to meaningfully include women’s voices in prevention and response efforts, research on the relationship between women’s status broadly and countries’ resilience…
Beyond Engaging Men
More than two decades ago, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) to recognize women’s unique experiences of conflict and acknowledge that gender equality is an integral part of international security and peace. In policy circles, gender has often remained synonymous with women, and WPS work, in particular,…
Pathways to Education for Afghan Women and Girls
This month, Afghanistan’s schools opened for the start of a new academic year, but Afghan girls remain excluded from the classroom. The Taliban’s ban on girls’ education has lasted over a year and its implications are dire. Without the promise of a secondary education, increases in forced child marriage, gender-based violence, and depression disproportionately affect…
Exploring the Links between Women’s Status and Democracy
From democratic backsliding in Tunisia, Ethiopia, and Hungary to the rise of far-right coalitions in Israel and Italy, threats to democracy are accelerating worldwide. At the same time, antidemocratic forces are rolling back women’s rights as a central part of their patriarchal-populist agendas. That democratic backsliding and backlash against women’s rights are occurring simultaneously prompts…
Masculinities and Peacebuilding
The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda was formally introduced on October 31, 2000, with the unanimous adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. The historic resolution recognizes women’s specific experiences of conflict, as well as the necessity of involving women in the process of building sustainable peace. While the WPS Agenda rightfully centers…
Toward Inclusive Recovery in Ukraine
Women’s participation in the design and implementation of Ukraine’s recovery programs is critical to maximize the effectiveness of the reconstruction process, take into account differentiated needs, and bolster post-conflict development. Key recommendations:
A New Lens on Forced Displacement
The Women Peace and Security (WPS) Index, published by Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) and the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security (PRIO GPS) draws on recognized data sources to measure and rank women’s inclusion, justice, and security across 11 indicators in 170 countries. This year, Norway, Finland, and Iceland…
Culture, Gender, and Women in the Military
The increased number of women in the Armed Forces presents a timely opportunity to examine how the changing gender makeup of the US military affects operations and culture, what potential barriers exist, and what women’s participation means for compliance with international conventions such as the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and International Humanitarian Law…
