Last month’s blog on the Global Governance website (What Happened to the Peace Dividend?) focused on the calamities of war and questioned its utility as a means to advancing national interests given its enormous human, financial costs and environmental outcomes. 

The just concluded 69th session of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) sought to review progress made since 1995 on achieving the key recommendations of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. One of its central pillars was to “protect women in conflict situations and promote their participation in peace processes.” We have known for a long time just how devastating and harmful armed conflicts can be for women and girls. What is less known and therefore less discussed is why and how women will make the transition from traditional recipients of aid (or, as was once put by Amartya Sen, “patient solicitors of social equity”) to active agents of major social change, including in the area of peace and security.

Longstanding ethical and moral frameworks have condemned the killing of civilians – including women, children, and the elderly – in war, but that is now happening more frequently and too often with impunity. The United Nations reports, for example, that women killed in armed conflicts doubled from 2022 to 2023. Four out of every ten people who died as a result of conflict in 2023 were women, even though the majority weren’t participating directly in the hostilities. As if this was not enough of a calamity, women and girls often face increased risks of sexual violence, exploitation, and abuse during conflicts – acts that are systematically used as weapons of war to instill fear and destabilize communities. On top of this every day, 500 women and girls in conflict-affected countries die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. 

When women meaningfully participate in peace processes, agreements are more durable, communities rebuild faster, and conflict is less likely to recur.

One of the main themes of the recently released 2024/2025 Gender Equality and Governance Index focused not only on how violence impacts women in times of war, but also on how women are poised to help stop such atrocities. Women, say international advocates, have a critical role to play in peace processes locally, nationally, and globally. When women meaningfully participate in peace processes, agreements are more durable, communities rebuild faster, and conflict is less likely to recur. Excluding them isn’t just unfair—it’s counterproductive. 

According to UN Women and the Council on Foreign Relations, peace agreements are 20 percent more likely to last more than 2 years and 35 percent more likely to last at least 15 years when women participate in their creation. Sustainable peace is also far more likely to be achieved when women have a seat at the table. Although progress is stalling in this arena, when women are fully included in negotiations, mediation efforts, humanitarian assistance, and post-conflict reconstruction, they can help their communities both sustain peace and heal. 

The Harms of War on Vulnerable Populations

Sexual violence is occurring in a range of conflicts globally, including in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gaza/Israel, Sudan, Ukraine, and more. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by conflict-related sexual violence, accounting for more than 95% of the reported cases.

There is still little accountability for these crimes and, often, women do not come forward due to the stigma associated with gender-based violence. Furthermore, these experiences can traumatize them for life, including when they are not direct victims but witness to crimes of war.

Take Khadijah Muhammad Omar’s story. She is part of Sudan’s Muslim Masalit population, a Black African tribe targeted by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been in a nearly two-year civil war with the Sudanese Armed Forces. As reported by correspondents with National Public Radio, Khadijah and her sister witnessed mass killings when RSF soldiers – largely an Arab militia – shot men and boys over age 14 and witnessed the beating and/or raping of women and girls. Khadijah herself was harassed and had her meager belongings stolen as she joined hundreds of thousands of refugees, mostly women and children, fleeing from Sudan to Chad. Many women like Khadijah have no idea where their husbands are and face daily struggles to find enough food for their families.

Unfortunately, stories like Khadijah’s are just one among many in multiple countries. Other indirect costs of war include the destruction of healthcare infrastructure, which severely limits women’s access to essential services, including maternal and reproductive healthcare. Displaced populations often face inadequate access to clean water and sanitation, leading to outbreaks of diseases and heightened mortality rates. Children’s exposure to violence, displacement, and the loss of loved ones can result in long-term trauma and they are also at risk of being out of school for long periods or being forcibly recruited into armed groups. 

“Women and girls still face an appalling array of wrongs” said UN Secretary General António Guterres at the beginning of the CSW. “We see it in the sexual violence in conflicts from Haiti to Sudan… And we see it in the global pandemic of violence against women and girls, and their disproportionate poverty, hunger and marginalization,” he added.  

Progress or Regress?

In the political declaration released at the CSW on 6 March, ministers and representatives of governments promised to ensure that victims and survivors of violence against women and girls, including sexual violence in conflict, “have prompt and universal access to quality social and healthcare services such as psychological and counselling services, as well as access to justice, including legal services, to end impunity.”

We can only hope that these words are translated into action, especially as the trauma from such violence can last for generations. Justice and compensation for victims remains far too slow – including the process of collecting forensic evidence and lack of resources for investigative work. Lack of healing, however, also means the potential is lost for the many ways that women and girls can contribute to their families, communities, and the economic and social development of their nations.  

Nearly 25 years ago, the United Nations Security Council adopted a landmark resolution (1325) on women, peace, and security. But, as a recent report on this topic notes the UN Secretary General indicated that there has since been significant backsliding on key indicators.  

Besides record levels of armed violence and increasing geopolitical divisions globally, women – usually in the vanguard of peace efforts – have even less opportunity to participate in decision making on peace and security matters. According to the report, women made up only 9.6 percent of negotiators in over 50 peace processes in 2023. They also accounted for 13.7 percent of mediators and under 2 percent of signatories to peace and ceasefire agreements if Colombia’s agreements are excluded—the only country that bucked the trend

In many peace negotiations, those responsible for fueling conflict are given seats at the table, while those advocating for genuine peace—such as women’s groups—are often excluded. In fact, not a single peace agreement finalized in 2023 included women’s group representatives as signatories. 

Even if they are marginalized in formal processes, women are leading critical peacebuilding efforts on the ground. In Yemen, women negotiated safe access to water for civilians, and in Sudan, more than 49 women-led organizations came together in 2023 to establish the Peace for Sudan Platform, advocating for a more inclusive peace process. Women often enjoy greater legitimacy and moral credibility in war-torn communities, making them more effective in de-escalation or local negotiations. 

Even when not officially invited to negotiating tables, women often sustain informal networks of peace. In many conflicts, women are the ones organizing shelter, water, food, and school systems in the midst of chaos. They are already building peace, just without recognition or support. And in those rare instances in which they are invited to seat at the table to negotiate the terms of peace agreements, their focus on social wellbeing, community development, education and health, rather than the attribution of guilt for past violence or weapons use and the role of the military, takes the conversation to potentially more constructive and fertile areas, than can better leverage constructive change.

Conclusion

As they often have a greater stake in ending conflict and violence, women are at a crucial time to be in the lead. Despite setbacks, women and women’s groups are being recognized for the vital roles they can play in promoting peace and security, including helping to address the root causes of conflict, leveraging inter-community connections to gain trust, bringing skill sets that improve planning, and ensuring that more voices are heard in decision-making processes. Women who are working in military and peacekeeping roles can also improve the effectiveness of operations, including helping victims of gender-based violence. 

Women often bring different leadership styles and perspectives that are, and will be, critically important in a period of increasing geopolitical rivalries and compounding environmental crisis. As we navigate the challenges of confronting these global problems in the period ahead – and dealing with both the physical destruction and emotional trauma of war – giving women a greater voice will be a vital part of the solution. Let us imagine peace tables where the voices of survivors carry more weight than the weapons of warlords. Until that happens, humankind will be far from global peace. The time to transform our peace processes isn’t tomorrow—it’s now.