Conflict, instability and violence are on the rise with devastating consequences for women and girls.

• Rising conflicts: In 2024, over 185 armed conflicts were recorded, including 61 active conflicts involving at least one state, the highest number since statistics began in 1946. Approximately 676 million women and girls lived within 50 kilometers of these conflicts, the highest recorded number and share (17 per cent) since the 1990s. [1]
• Increased violence: In 2024, more than 4,600 cases of conflict-related sexual violence – including as a tactic of war, torture, terror and political repression – were documented by the United Nations, an increase of 87 per cent between 2022 and 2024. Moreover, gender-based violence was assessed as severe or extreme in 22 of 25 countries that experienced humanitarian crises. [2]
• Displacement: At the end of 2024, an estimated 123.2 million people were forcibly displaced, representing a decade of year-on-year increases in the number of refugees and others forced to flee their homes. Over 60 million forcibly displaced and stateless women and girls face elevated risks of gender-based violence. [3]
• Food insecurity: Conflict drives hunger in most of the world’s food crises, from Gaza and Sudan to Yemen and Mali, pushing food and nutrition insecurity to unprecedented levels. In 2024, more than 295 million people faced high levels of acute food insecurity, and 47 per cent (139.8 million) of them lived in conflict or insecurity zones. In 2024, 10.9 million pregnant and breastfeeding women faced acute malnutrition in 21 countries with nutrition crises; a third of them were in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan and the Sudan each had over 1 million.  
• Attacks on healthcare infrastructure: In 2024, there were 1,647 reported attacks on healthcare in 16 countries and territories with complex humanitarian emergencies, killing or injuring more than 2,700 people. Attacks on health centres in Haiti, Mali, Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, and the State of Palestine deprived millions of women of life-saving services, including sexual and reproductive healthcare.  
• Girls’ education under fire: Over 85 million children affected by crisis are out of school, of which 51.9 per cent are girls, including 5 million girls in the Sudan. Four years after the Taliban takeover, 8 out of 10 young Afghan women are excluded from education, jobs or training.   
• Women’s voices in media: A 2024 report by CARE found that while media coverage of conflicts increased more than six-fold between 2013 and 2023, only 5 per cent of articles focused on women’s experiences in war – and only 0.04 per cent highlighted women’s contribution as leaders in peace processes. [4]

Women’s participation in peace processes leads to better and more sustainable outcomes. However, women remain  underrepresented in formal negotiations. 

• Stronger peace deals with women: Studies show that peace agreements with women signatories have higher rates of implementation and last longer. One recent evaluation on peacebuilding efforts in Mali and Niger’s border zones, for example, found that women’s participation in conflict prevention rose from 5 to 25 per cent between 2020 and 2022, helping resolve more than 100 conflicts about local natural resources. [5]
• Lack of women in peace processes: Despite their critical roles, women continue to be largely excluded from peace processes. In 2024, available global data indicate that on average, women made up only 7 per cent of negotiators and 14 per cent of mediators in formal peace processes worldwide – and many peace talks still include no women at all. [6] Women’s representation among signatories to peace agreements was comparatively higher at 20 per cent. However, the proportion of women signatories drops to 7 per cent when agreements in Colombia are excluded. These figures are similar to earlier datasets (1992–2019) [7] and remain far below the minimum one third target set by the United Nations and the parity goal for decision-making recommended by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. [8]
• UN-led, co-led, or supported processes:  In 2024, the United Nations led or co-led four active peace processes: the Geneva International Discussions, two processes relating to Libya, and one process in the Sudan. Two women served as lead mediators in three of these processes. In all processes, women civil society organizations were consulted, and gender expertise was provided. In 2024, the United Nations also provided support to two peace processes in Colombia and the constitution-making processes in South Sudan and Somalia – and continued to support the women’s advisory boards in Iraq and Syria. In 2024, in peace- and constitution-making processes led, co-led or supported by the United Nations, women represented, on average, 18 per cent of negotiators or delegates across negotiators – a drop from 19 per cent in 2023 and 23 per cent in 2020. [9]
• Gender provisions in peace agreements: The percentage of peace agreements with gender provisions has increased since the 1990s. Between 1990 and 2000, only 12 per cent of peace agreements included references to women. In 2024, 31 per cent peace and ceasefire agreements mentioned women, girls or gender. However, the agreements with gender provisions were limited to only four processes in three countries: Colombia, South Sudan, and the Sudan. The recent peace processes between the Colombian government and armed groups drove most gender references, in large part due to the presence of women contributing to the agenda-setting of the peace process from the outset. [10]
• Women in informal peace processes: A 2020 study of informal peace efforts found that in three quarters of cases (27 of 38), women’s groups were actively involved in grassroots-level peacebuilding.  
• Women leading local peace efforts: Despite women’s exclusion in most formal peace efforts, women play key roles in local peacebuilding. For example, women peacebuilders in Ethiopia, Liberia and Kenya influenced peace processes and agreements at local, regional and national levels. In the African Great Lakes, the United Nations, the African Union and women’s organizations successfully advocated for the inclusion of two women mediators in the joint East African Community-South African Development Community peace initiative. Women in Yemen negotiated for civilian access to water. In the Sudan, UN Women supported the formation of a coalition of women peacebuilders and their efforts to shape a peace agenda, contributing to their indirect participation at the peace talks in Geneva in 2024. In Côte D’Ivoire, local women mediator platforms deescalated inter-community conflict in the Cavally region, leading to the signing of a local peace agreement and the designation, for the first time, of women as guarantors of its follow-up. [11]
• Exclusion of women’s groups in peace processes: In many peace processes, those igniting wars are invited to the negotiating table, while those seeking true peace, such as women’s groups, are sidelined. In 2024, only peace agreements reached in South Sudan included representatives of women’s groups as signatories.  
• Of the 113 Women Peace and Security National Action Plans adopted by June 2025, only 55 per cent have included explicit commitments on women’s participation in peace processes, and 42 per cent have a dedicated commitment to support women mediators. [12]
• New policy initiatives have been launched to accelerate progress on commitments to women’s participation in peace processes. For instance, the UN Secretary-General’s Common Pledge for Women’s Full, Equal and Meaningful Participation in Peace Processes was launched at the UN Security Council’s open debate on women, peace and security in October 2024. As of September 2025, 37 adopters, including Member States, international and regional organizations and other mediating actors, have signed the Pledge, committing to concrete steps to advance women’s participation in all peace processes in which they are involved.

The 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action set a global target for equal political participation between men and women. However, three decades later, gender equality in politics is still far off, and many conflict-affected countries are lagging even farther.

• Women heads of state: Notable historic firsts were achieved in 2024, including the first directly elected women Presidents in Mexico, Namibia and North Macedonia. Yet, as of July 2025, women lead only 29 countries. As of September 2025, 102 countries worldwide have never had a woman serve as Head of State or Government. [13]
• Women in the UN Security Council: Between 2015 and 2024, only 23 per cent of the Permanent Representatives of the Member States represented in the Security Council were women. In 2024, 5 of the 15 (33 per cent) UNSC Members had a woman Permanent Representative.
• Women lawmakers: In 2025, 27 per cent of national parliamentarians worldwide are women. This share drops to just 20 per cent in conflict-affected countries. [14]
• Women in cabinets: In 2025, women hold 23 per cent of cabinet positions, compared to 21 per cent in conflict-affected countries. [15]
• Women in local governments: In 2024, women held 36 per cent of elected seats in local governments. That share drops to 18 per cent in conflict-affected countries.[16]
• Gender quotas for equality: The United Nations continues to push for temporary special measures, like gender quotas, to accelerate equality between men and women in politics. The UN gender quota project provides information on quotas in parliaments worldwide. In 2025, in conflict-affected countries with gender quotas, 25 per cent of parliamentarians were women. In countries without quotas, women make up only 14 per cent of parliamentarians.[17]

• Climate change as a threat multiplier: UNHCR estimates that 90 million forcibly displaced people live in countries with high-to-extreme exposure to climate-related hazards, and nearly half of them are bearing the burden of both conflict and climate change. These include countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Lebanon, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. A growing body of research shows how the climate crisis amplifies existing gender inequalities and risks, and poses unique threats to women’s and girls’ livelihoods, safety and security.
• Environmental conflicts involving women: Women who stand up for the environment and climate face significant attacks and violence. As of January 2022, there were at least 3,545 environmental conflicts worldwide,  and 842 of them involved women environmental defenders as visible leaders. In 81 of these conflicts, women environmental defenders were assassinated.
• Violence against women environmental defenders: Since 2012, more than 2,200 land and environmental defenders were killed or disappeared. Many women defenders have been subjected to silencing tactics including death threats, surveillance, sexual violence, or criminalization – emphasizing the need for comprehensive protection.
• Climate change in women, peace, and security policies: Climate change is increasingly being included in Women, Peace and Security policies. National Action Plans that include climate references have increased from 43 in 2023 to 53 in June 2025. [18]

In many parts of the world, efforts to suppress gender equality and undermine women’s rights have intensified, sparking devastating impacts for women and girls.

• Backlash against women’s rights: In early 2025, Member States reported backlash on women’s rights in nearly a quarter of all countries seeking to implement the Beijing Platform for Action. This translates into increased discrimination, weaker legal protections, and reduced funding for supportive policies and programmes, including non-discriminatory sexual and reproductive healthcare. [19]
• Rising attacks on women leaders and human rights defenders: Women leaders, human rights defenders, and peacebuilders are facing a wave of threats and attacks. Between May 2024 and April 2025, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights documented 96 cases of reprisals and intimidation for cooperation with the UN, affecting at least 39 women and girls. In 2024, OHCHR documented killings of 56 women human rights defenders, journalists, and trade unionists in conflict-affected countries – likely only a fraction of actual cases. [20]
• Reprisals against civil society representatives: A UN Women survey among the 55 women civil-society representatives who had briefed the UN Security Council in 2024, 7 of 25 (28 per cent) respondents reported a reprisal against them, including smear campaigns, cyberattacks and raids in their offices. [21]
• Political violence targeting women and girls: 2024 data show that women and girls were the main targets in nearly 3,000 incidents of violence worldwide, and about 40 per cent took place in conflict-affected countries.[22]
• Women get weak protection from human rights institutions: In 2024, among 30 conflict-affected countries and territories with data, only 18 (60 per cent) had national human rights institutions fully or partially compliant with the Paris Principles, which set out the minimum standards for protecting and promoting human rights. [23]

Gender-based violence continues to surge in conflict and crisis zones, placing women and girls in increasingly perilous and life-threatening situations.  

• Conflict-related sexual violence: The United Nations verified over 4,600 reported cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2024, an increase by 87 per cent from 2022. [24]
• Child marriage in conflict zones: In 2024, 1 in 5 women aged 20–24 years was married before age 18, reflecting a moderate decrease since 2014 (22 per cent). Child marriage in conflict-affected countries is 14 per cent higher than in non-conflict settings.  
• Intimate partner violence: Globally, 1 in every 8 women aged 15–49 was subjected to sexual and/or physical violence by an intimate partner. In conflict-affected countries, the proportion rose to 1 in every 7 women.

• Women’s access to justice is crucial for rebuilding post-conflict societies and holding perpetrators of gender-based violence accountable. But significant obstacles persist.
• Increased representation of women in judiciary: As of April 2025, women occupy 44 per cent of positions in 102 international and regional bodies linked with international law – compared to 32.5 per cent in 2015.
• Justice for sexual and gender-based violence survivors: Since 2010, UN Women has deployed more than 200 gender experts – investigators, legal advisors, forensic experts and others – to virtually every UN-mandated human rights investigation. These efforts have been pivotal in documenting sexual and gender-based violence, giving survivors a greater chance to access justice and ensuring that these crimes are recorded in historical records.
• Women’s role in transitional justice: Women’s participation in transitional justice processes is key to addressing gender inequality. In 2024, women represented 52 per cent of (20 out of 38) magistrates in the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia, showcasing the importance of representation in post-conflict legal proceedings.
• Strengthened justice and women’s participation in it: For the 30-year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, 37 per cent of countries reported having strengthened the institutional capacities of the justice system, including transitional justice, as part of conflict response. These efforts include initiatives to increase women’s participation in the justice sector and train professionals across the justice chain. [25]
• Backtracking in women’s participation in justice: Every woman judge in Afghanistan has been removed from the judiciary since the Taliban took power in 2021, erasing decades of progress in women’s representation in the legal system. In Haiti, no women were appointed to the new Superior Council of the Judiciary in 2024. [26]

• Initiatives such as Canada’s Elsie Initiative and the Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations (EIF) – a United Nations Trust Fund – are helping to increase the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in peacekeeping roles. By the end of 2024, most targets set by the United Nations Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy (UGPS) 2018–2028 had been met or exceeded, except on military contingents and staff officers. [27] Women accounted for:                                         
  • 40 per cent of justice and corrections personnel (UGPS target 30 per cent)  
  • 31 per cent of individual police officers (UGPS target 25 per cent)   
  • 23 per cent of military experts on mission and staff officers (UGPS target 21per cent)  
  • 17 per cent of formed police units (UGPS target 14 per cent)  
  • 8 per cent of military contingents (UGPS target 11 per cent)   
• In a study of 30 countries, the proportion of women in national armed forces increased to 14 per cent in 2022, compared with 11 per cent in 2016.

• Gender and terrorism: In 2015, the UN Security Council recognized the link between gender and terrorism through resolution 2242, calling for the integration of the Women, Peace and Security agenda with efforts to combat terrorism and violent extremism. 
• Sexual violence as weapon of war: Terrorist groups, other armed groups and criminal networks use sexual violence as a tactic to incentivize recruitment and gain control over territory and lucrative natural resources.
• Misuse of counter-terrorism laws: Counter-terrorism laws and measures continue to be routinely misused to target civil society actors – including human rights defenders – as terrorists, and to prosecute them for terrorism-related offences with a view to obstructing their work. Women’s rights organizations and women human rights defenders are particularly affected by such practices.

• Record military spending: In 2024 global military expenditure reached a new high of USD 2.7 trillion, the steepest year-on-year rise since at least the end of the Cold War. Surging military spending stands in direct opposition to Article 26 of the United Nations Charter, which calls for international peace and security with minimal diversion of resources – economic and human – to armaments. It also contradicts the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action (Strategic objective E.2.) which called for a reduction of excessive military expenditures and control of the availability of armaments.
• In the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (E/CN.6/2025/3), only 3 per cent of countries and territories reported taking steps to reduce military expenditure or to control the availability of armaments. Just 1 per cent have reallocated funds from military spending to social and economic spending, including for gender equality and the empowerment of women.
• Increased representation of women in disarmament forums: It is critical to ensure women’s participation in international forums where critical issues – including threats of nuclear weapons, increasing military expenditures, the proliferation of arms and ammunition and the weaponization of new technologies – are debated. The proportion of women participating in disarmament diplomacy in the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, for instance, has grown steadily from 15 to 38 per cent between 2000 and 2024.[28] Only once in 79 years has a woman led the First Committee – the body that deals with issues of disarmament and international security.
• Integrating arms control and disarmament in National Action Plans: Of the 113 Women Peace and Security National Action Plans adopted by June 2025, 38 plans (34 per cent) include references to arms control, ammunition management and disarmament in their monitoring frameworks. [29]
• Gender dimensions of armed violence: Women and men are affected differently by the proliferation and use of weapons and armed violence. Of the 61 UN General Assembly resolutions on disarmament and weapons issues, 23 resolutions recognize the gender dimensions of weapons or call for involving women equally in disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control processes. [30]
• Weapons and sexual violence in conflict: The availability of small and light weapons in conflict zones fuels systematic and widespread sexual violence. UN data reveals that 70 to 90 per cent of sexual violence incidents in conflict settings involve the use of weapons.
• The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and gender-based violence: The ATT is the first legally binding international agreement to recognize the connection between international arms trade and gender-based violence. Under Article 7 (4) of the treaty, State Parties are required to consider the risk of arms “being used to commit or facilitate serious acts of gender-based violence or serious acts of violence against women and children” when conducting export assessments.
• Reporting under the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons shows that the number of States integrating gender considerations in national arms control has consistently increased over time (74 per cent of reporting States in 2024).[31]

• National Action Plans (NAPs) are important tools that help countries implement global commitments on the Women, Peace and Security agenda within domestic politics. These plans show how countries prioritize the agenda and how activities are managed, financed and monitored. Since the first WPS NAP adopted by Denmark in 2005, the number of countries with NAPs has grown to 113 countries as of June 2025. [32] Of these:   
  • Budget allocation: only 29 NAPs (26 per cent) included a budget at adoption.
  • Monitoring progress: Of these NAPs, 90 (80 per cent) include monitoring frameworks with indicators, which are key to tracking the government’s progress.
  • Regional action plans: Thirteen regional and sub-regional organizations have adopted action plans or strategies and improved monitoring of results with member countries.
  • Local action plans: As of 2025, at least 13 countries have developed and implemented local action plans: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Philippines, Serbia, Somalia, Ukraine and Uganda.
• The Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action provides a path for Member States, United Nations entities, regional organizations, private sector actors and civil society – including women-led and youth organizations and academic institutions – to drive Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action from 2021 to 2026. As of 2025, the WPS-HA Compact has reached 242 signatories and is tracking over 1180 actions on advocacy, financing, policy and programming in over 150 countries and territories.
• Feminist foreign policy: As of August 2025, 15 countries – Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Liberia, Libya, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, and Brazil – have committed to apply a feminist lens to their foreign policy, promoting gender equality and women’s rights.

• Bilateral aid for gender equality: The latest data shows bilateral aid to contexts with high and extreme fragility stood at USD 50 billion on average per year in 2022–2023, a drop from USD 52.8 billion in 2020–2021. Of that amount, 49 per cent (USD 21 billion) was allocated to support gender equality, an increase from 44 per cent previously. However, only USD 2.5 billion (5 per cent) was dedicated to gender equality as a principal objective.[33]
• The United Nations System-Wide Gender Equality Acceleration Plan, launched in 2024, aims to establish a standard that 15 per cent of UN expenditures be dedicated towards gender equality by 2026, with plans in place to reach this target by 2030. The Plan also recommends that all new multi-partner trust funds establish a 40 per cent target for gender equality programming, and mobilize USD 300 million for women’s organizations operating in conflict and crisis settings.

• Bilateral aid for women-led feminist organizations in crisis contexts has remained strikingly low. In 2022–2023, only 0.4 per cent of bilateral aid to conflict-affected contexts – about USD 186 million per year – was directed to these organizations, a further drop from USD 205 million in 2020–2021.[34] This share remains below the minimum allocation of 1 per cent of ODA recommended by the United Nations. 
• Challenges in funding allocation to women’s groups: A recent study examining the levels of funding reaching women’s organizations in conflict and crisis settings found it has decreased three years in a row:   
  • Funding initiatives are often concentrated among a few donors and in some cases may simply repackage existing allocations rather than provide new funding.  
  • A significant share of aid goes to international NGOs rather than directly to local women’s organizations.  
  • Donors are familiar with the minimum 15 per cent financing target for gender equality, but they are less aware of the 1 per cent goal for women’s organizations specifically, which was first proposed by the UN Secretary-General during the 20th anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000) and reiterated in the New Agenda for Peace.  
  • The shift in focus towards humanitarian aid has reduced the resources available for women’s organizations in conflict settings. Only 17 per cent of humanitarian aid targets gender equality, compared to 50 per cent in the peace and security sector.  
• Commitments to ramp up financing of women’s rights: In 2024, the OECD Development Assistance Committee adopted a Recommendation on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of All Women and Girls in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance. This includes increasing financing for local women’s rights and women-led organizations, feminist movements and women’s funds, and government partners to promote gender equality.

• The United Nations Peacebuilding Fund: There is a noticeable drop in voluntary contributions at a time when requests for support for peacebuilding and prevention efforts have increased. In 2024, the Fund approved USD 116 million (compared to USD 202 million in 2023) in support for peacebuilding initiatives in 32 countries and territories, of which 43 per cent (USD 49.9 million) was allocated to gender equality, compared to 95.8 million (47.3 per cent) in 2023. The Fund’s usage of the gender equality marker is a model for other funds.[35]
• The United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF): This is the only global financing mechanism dedicated to supporting local and grassroots women’s organizations in conflict and crisis settings. Since 2016, the Fund has supported over 1,600 local women’s organizations across 49 crisis-affected countries. In addition, as of August 2025, the Fund has mobilized USD 123 million in new financing for local women’s organizations facing increasingly complex crises through its Invest-In-Women global campaign, which will run until the end of 2025.    
• The Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations (EIF): This innovative funding mechanism aims to increase the safe, equal and meaningful participation of uniformed women in UN peace operations. Since 2019, the EIF has mobilized $52 million and supported 24 security institutions in 15 Troop and Police Contributing Countries to tackle barriers preventing equal participation.  
• Country-based pooled funds (CBPFs) and Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) : In 2024, the CBPFs allocated USD 935 million (94 per cent of total funding) and the CERF allocated USD 545 million (74 per cent of total funding) to projects that contributed to gender equality across age groups. [36]

• Since 2000, the UNSC has adopted 10 resolutions that form the foundation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda:  1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019), and 2493 (2019).
• Increasing attention to gender issues in UNSC decisions: In 2024, over 60 per cent of the decisions adopted by the UNSC included gender-related language, almost fifty percentage points higher than in 2000. [37]
• Women’s voices: Since the very first woman representing civil society was invited in 2004, more than 350 have briefed the UNSC. In 2024, there was gender parity among the 464 people invited to brief the Security Council under rule 39. The representation of women in expert panels of sanctions committees is now approaching parity, as well. [38]
• Sanctions for sexual violence: A 2024 report found that out of 676 individuals and 193 entities subjected to sanctions adopted by the UNSC, only 25 individuals and 2 entities were sanctioned for sexual violence and other violations – with none facing sanctions exclusively for this reason.