Our Women, Peace and Security Conflict Tracker combines real-time data points and original analysis to offer gender-sensitive insight into conflict dynamics across 25 countries. The WPS Conflict Tracker is updated monthly to reflect developments for women’s participation, protection, prevention, and relief and recovery. This blog highlights select updates. To see the complete analysis across all 25 countries monitored, please visit the WPS Conflict Tracker website.
Spotlight: Sudan
Sudanese women continue to face escalating violence, including in areas like Port Sudan that were previously relatively secure. One in three Sudanese is now displaced due to the war, which entered its third year on April 15, 2025. Combatants—particularly from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) armed group—continue to commit systematic abuse against women and girls, including conflict-related sexual violence and kidnapping. Famine has already been declared in North Darfur, and half the country, including nearly two-thirds of female-headed households, faces acute food insecurity. Despite the enormous scale of need, aid flows remain precarious. Port Sudan has been the primary entry point for humanitarian aid; its bombardment risks interrupting aid flows upon which women and girls disproportionately rely.
Women’s leadership continues to be vital to ensure aid delivery and progress towards a political solution. As many civilians return to areas formerly held by the RSF, emergency response rooms—often led by and supported by local women volunteers—have stepped up to provide food, hygiene items, and other vital supplies. Last week, GIWPS convened Sudanese women leaders to discuss Sudan’s future and develop guidance for action. Their full list of comprehensive recommendations covers humanitarian response, conflict resolution, and justice and accountability and is targeted for international donors, regional and multilateral bodies, and other stakeholders.
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 25 conflict-affected settings we monitor. Updates for May 2025 include:
Afghanistan
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Afghan women refugees are facing immigration challenges that put them at risk of repression, imprisonment, and violence if made to return to Afghanistan. Temporary Protected Status for Afghans in the US expired on May 20, 2025, and will terminate on July 14, 2025. This means Afghans—including female lawyers, judges, US military collaborators, and NGO workers now hunted by the Taliban—will be forced back despite continued reprisal attacks and arbitrary arrests.
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Neighboring countries that host Afghan refugees are also increasingly cracking down. Iran has escalated mass deportations of Afghans, while more than 144,500 Afghans returned—many by force or coercion—to Afghanistan from Pakistan in April 2025 alone. Such deportation campaigns jeopardize women’s safety and increase women’s risk of trauma and gender-based violence amidst frequent immigration raids.
The Democratic Republic of Congo
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To aid with the Nairobi and Luanda peace processes, regional governance bodies—including the East African Community and Southern African Development Community—appointed a facilitators group, which includes two women. This comes alongside the UN Secretary General’s report on the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which highlighted efforts to include women in both economic and political processes and called for greater participation by women leaders.
Ethiopia
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Women and girls are struggling to meet their basic needs amidst a funding crisis and conflict-related challenges. The WFP stopped malnutrition treatment for 650,000 women and children due to insufficient funds. Healthcare services have also come to a near-halt after workers began striking on May 13, 2025, for better pay. Healthcare infrastructure was already severely weakened by armed conflict, compounding women and girls’ lack of access to sexual and reproductive care as well as treatment for diseases like cholera and malaria.
Haiti
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The UN warned that Haiti was on the brink of total chaos, as analysts have raised concerns that gangs could fully seize the capital and overthrow the transitional government. Haitian women who have fled are at risk of deportation, exposing them to displacement, poverty, and gender-based violence. The Dominican Republic, for instance, has deported Haitian women and children from hospitals, while the US administration’s ongoing attempt to end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians puts women and girls at risk of forced return.
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The US administration’s designation of two Haitian gangs as terrorist groups, which penalizes anyone providing them “material support,” risks blocking women and girls’ access to aid deliveries and financial support. This designation will also likely complicate civil society organizations’ ability to work in gang-controlled territories, now comprising 85 percent of the capital. Gang governance may, in turn, be strengthened as they step in to fill gaps left by aid blockages, further entrenching the conflict.
Iran
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Iranian authorities are increasingly using digital tools to monitor and harass women and girls. Women report receiving personalized text messages warning them about alleged hijab violations, while a mobile application enables the public to report women they think are violating hijab restrictions to police. Authorities are also increasingly cracking down on women singers who perform or release music on social media, leading to a surge in arrests and harassment.
Nigeria
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Gender rights advocates and civil society are pushing for the “Reserved Seat for Women” bill to increase women’s representation and leadership in federal and state legislatures. Women currently hold just 4 out of 109 seats in the Senate and 16 out of 360 seats in the House of Representatives. In total, women make up just 4 percent of all federal lawmakers.
Myanmar
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As the monsoon season approaches in June, women and girls suffer from already stretched humanitarian resources and ongoing conflict. This is exacerbated by a disjointed humanitarian response to the 7.7-magnitude earthquake and the military junta’s violation of the ceasefire put in place to enable relief efforts. As it stands, 4.6 million women need menstrual care, thousands of pregnant women risk unsafe deliveries without adequate services, and girls comprise 64 percent of unaccompanied children. The United Nations Population Fund’s emergency response plan only has $3.7 million, but it requires $12 million to provide life-saving services to women and girls from April to September 2025.
Somalia
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Nearly 4.6 million people are projected to face severe hunger by June 2025, with half a million children at risk of starving to death. Women are disproportionately exposed to food insecurity as well as elevated food prices due to climate shocks and armed conflict inhibiting agriculture. Extremist groups may exploit the mounting hunger crisis by using food to recruit new combatants or by weaponizing food access to control civilians. Such tactics risk further reducing women and girls’ access to food and increasing their exposure to violence and repression amidst worsening conflict.
Syria
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The lifting of sanctions on Syria by both the US and EU may improve women and girls’ access to humanitarian aid and help bolster stability. Historically, sanctions have made it difficult for fuel and medicine to enter the country and for aid groups to receive funding. Women—who face higher levels of poverty than men—stand to benefit significantly from greater access to financial resources and social services.
Ukraine
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Ukraine and Russia concluded their first direct talks in three years with an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each, but they have not yet agreed to a ceasefire. Continued conflict prolongs displacement and violence impacting Ukrainian women and girls. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, thousands of women have died, over one million have been internally displaced, and 6.7 million now require humanitarian assistance.
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The potential creation of a formal peace process presents a critical opportunity for the full inclusion of Ukrainian women and civil society. Ukrainian women leaders continue to share guidance and demands for talks, penning an Open Letter to President Trump and developing a 10-Point Compact for Ukraine’s Just and Sustainable Peace. Recommendations included upholding Ukraine’s sovereignty over occupied territories, a gender responsive rebuilding process, and the protection of civilian populations.
In The News
The Pentagon Is Ending Its Women, Peace and Security Program. America’s Security Will be Impacted by Melanne Verveer & Kim Hart for Ms. Magazine
This article interrogates Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement to terminate the Department of Defense’s Women, Peace and Security (WPS) program, which he called a “woke” distraction. The bipartisan WPS initiative, signed into law by President Trump in 2017, has enhanced military effectiveness while remaining extremely low-cost. Through initiatives like Female Engagement Teams in Afghanistan and Iraq, women troops have proven essential in combat and intelligence roles. The program’s termination undermines US security interests and global leadership. With over 100 countries maintaining WPS National Action Plans, Hegseth’s announcement also marks a significant departure from proven security strategies.
Israel’s anti-war protests avoid Gaza. These women are changing that by Rachel Chason & Heidi Levine for the Washington Post
This article highlights a growing movement of Israeli women who have transformed anti-war protests in the country by bringing attention to Palestinian civilian casualties. Since Israel broke its ceasefire with Hamas in March 2025, these women have displayed photos of Palestinian children killed in Gaza alongside traditional Jewish mourning candles at weekly demonstrations. What started as a group of 10 women has grown to 200 protesters, marking a significant shift in Israeli discourse around the conflict. While past attempts to highlight Palestinian suffering were often met with hostility, these silent vigils have gained greater support and sparked empathy from Israeli citizens. This women-led initiative coincides with calls from thousands of Israelis—including military veterans and former diplomats—to end the war.
