Building on the recognition that countries are more peaceful and prosperous when women are accorded full and equal rights and opportunity, President Obama released the first ever United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (NAP) in December 2011 and signed Executive Order 13595 directing the plan’s implementation. The NAP lays out the course the U.S. Government will take to accelerate, institutionalize, and better coordinate its efforts to advance women’s inclusion in peace negotiations, peacebuilding activities, and conflict prevention; to protect women from sexual and gender-based violence; and to ensure equal access to relief and recovery assistance in areas of conflict and insecurity. Including half the world’s population in preventing conflict and building peace is essential to international peace and stability, and to national security.