Around 676 million women lived within 50 kilometres of deadly conflict last year the highest figure since the 1990s.
More women must have a role in shaping peace agreements, security reforms and post-conflict recovery plans, UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres told the Security Council on Monday.
UN Deputy-Secretary General Amina Mohammed has acknowledged the Chinese capitals enduring association with the fight for womens rights and gender equality, 30 years on from the adoption of the landmarkBeijing Declaration, a foundational international treaty.
Thatsone of the key findingsof the UN Secretary-Generals annual report on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) published on Monday.
Thereporthighlights the role that women play as peacemakers, describes how conflict affects women overall, and outlines the UN Secretary-Generals goals for the key agenda.
Women and girls are being killed in record numbers, shut out of peace tables, and left unprotected as wars multiply. Women do not need more promises, they need power, protection, and equal participation, commented Sima Bahous, Executive Director ofUN Women.
25 years on
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the WPS agenda andSecurity Councilresolution 1325, a landmark decision adopted by the international community at the turn of the century, affirming the importance of womens participation in conflict prevention and peace processes.
Since its adoption, there has been a growing consensus supported by real world examples from Colombia to Liberia and the Philippines that women's participation makes peace agreements more likely and durable, according to the report.
But problems persist. Implementation of WPS goals requires funding, and since last years report, women-led organizations are in need more funding as conflict and crisis put them at risk.
Women still under-represented
Women can play an instrumental role in mediating conflict. As part of negotiations to finally end Yemens long civil war, women leaders managed tonegotiateaccess to natural resources.
Data collected from 2020-2024 found that womens representation as negotiators, mediators and signatories in peace processes is far below the target set by the UN.
Last year,women made up only seven per cent of negotiatorson average worldwide, andnearly nine out of ten negotiation tracks included no women negotiatorsat all, said the report.
Women wereslightly more represented in mediation roles, averaging 14 per cent but still, two-thirds of mediation efforts did not include women.
In the annualopen debateon the WPS agenda earlier this month, UNSecretary-General Antnio Guterreswarned that while progress has been made over the past quarter century, gains are fragile and very worryingly going in reverse.
Unfulfilled promises
Presenting the report on Monday, UN Women Deputy Executive Director Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda stressed that while civilian casualties among women and children quadrupled compared to the previous two-year period and sexual violence also increased many womens organizations working on the frontlines are scaling down or closing due to lack of funding.
These numbers tell a story, one of unfulfilled promises, she said.
Sarah Hendriks, the agencys Policy Division Director, warned that if the current trend continues, progress made on womens rights over the past two decades risks being erased.
She reiterated the reports call for binding targets and quotas for womens participation, accountability for gender-based crimes and violence in conflict and other recommendations.
The evidence is clear: when women lead and when their organizations are resourced, peace is more possible, recovery is faster, and societies are stronger, she concluded.
