In a war-torn world, some hope comes from growing commitment to women, peace and security plans. 

The world is experiencing more active conflicts than at any point in recent history. The number of armed conflicts involving States rose to 61 in 2024, compared to 59 in 2023. This forcibly displaced 123.2 million persons, 7 million more than in 2023. Around 676 million women lived within 50 kilometres of a deadly conflict in 2024, the highest recorded number and share since the 1990s. The death toll has been alarming and about four times more than in the previous biennium. Among them, 7 in 10 were killed in Gaza alone. 

Conflicts exacerbate gender-based violence, particularly for women and girls. Sexual violence in conflict zones rose sharply in 2024, increasing by a quarter compared to the previous year and women and girls made 92 per cent of victims. In the Lake Chad Basin, the scale of grave violations against girls perpetrated by terrorist groups has been particularly high, with 60 per cent more girls than boys being the victims of incidents verified by the United Nations in 2024. 

On the twenty-fifth anniversary of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325, women’s roles in peace-building, conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction remain crucial. Yet in conflict-affected countries, women’s access to justice is still precarious or non-existent. All women judges in Afghanistan has been removed from the judiciary since the Taliban took power, erasing decades of progress on women’s representation in the legal system. Across major peace processes, the shares of women negotiators, mediators and signatories linger far below the minimum one-third target set by the United Nations. National action plans on women, peace and security offer some hope to accelerate progress. As of June 2025, 113 countries and territories had adopted them, up from only 32 in 2011.

Women and girls living within 50 kilometres of armed conflict, number and percentage, globally, 1990–2024