Women, Peace, and Security Working Group in the Arab States Region
January 27, 2025
Summary
The 25th anniversary of the landmark WPS agenda in 2025 presents a critical opportunity to assess its effectiveness and redefine its relevance in the evolving context of the Arab Region. Despite the progress made on the adoption of the WPS agenda in the region, significant challenges and gaps remain in achieving its full implementation and potential, particularly when it comes to conflict affected areas within the region. This necessitates a renewed focus on (but not limited to) 1) Ensuring women’s meaningful participation in peace processes and decision-making at all levels; 2) Addressing the specific needs and priorities of women in conflict and post-conflict settings and; 3) Adapting the WPS agenda to address the changing security landscape in the region.
Objectives of the WPS Working Group
To address the above issues, the WPS Regional Hub at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, through its partnership with UN Women ROAS and together with a consortium of other regional and global partners have established the WPS Working Group in June 2024 with the aim of creating a regional mechanism to influence and inform WPS policy spaces in preparation for the 25th anniversary of the agenda. To achieve this, a series of consultations with a diverse group of WPS stakeholders from the region will be undertaken in 2024-2025 with the aim of analyzing existing WPS frameworks and identify gaps in implementation.
The main outcome of the working group is to develop concrete recommendations for strengthening the implementation of the WPS agenda in the Arab Region through a white policy paper, targeting the annual debate of the UN Security Council on WPS in October 2024, and throughout the 2025 anniversary year of UNSCR 1325. In addition, the working group aims to facilitate enhanced regional cooperation and collaboration among group members on WPS issues in the region, including by encouraging joint advocacy. Finally, the working group will aim to increase visibility and influence of the Arab Region in global WPS discourse.
Gallery
