Marking the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, UNDP and partners convened a series of events both as a celebration of progress and a call to reinvigorate global efforts. 

“Global peace and stability are at their lowest in decades, jeopardizing our hard-won development gains,” said Shoko Noda, UNDP Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Crisis Bureau. “The WPS agenda is key to turning this around, as societies with greater gender equality are less prone to conflict.” 

Across discussions, leaders called for renewed accountability, stronger financing, inclusive leadership, and data-informed programming to build durable peace. 

Financing gender equality, investing in peace 

Financing Economic Recovery for Gender Equality, co-hosted by UNDP, the United Kingdom, and the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone, highlighted how financing is the missing link between rhetoric and action, urging flexible, direct funding for women peacebuilders and entrepreneurs.  

Panelists with public and private financing backgrounds discussed barriers such as weak linkages between fiscal policies and expenditure to gender equality outcomes, fragmented donor coordination, and a lack of inclusive financial instruments.  

Innovative approaches like gender bonds and gender-responsive budgeting were presented as pathways to unlock private capital and sustain women-led recovery. UN Women emphasized how women must be the decisionmakers around economic allocations and more investment in areas that advance human security in the face of raising military budget.  

From gender-responsive conflict analysis to peace action  

UNDP, UN Women, IOM, and DPPA/PBSO convened over 100 participants from across the UN system and beyond—including DPO, UNIDIR, the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), and the World Bank—for a technical roundtable on translating Gender-Responsive Conflict Analysis (GRCA) into peace and recovery action, and to launch UNDP’s guidance note on GRCA.  

Through thematic sessions from Turning GRCA into Practice and Addressing Barriers to Uptake, to Working with Local Women Peacebuilders and Financing for Peacebuilding, speakers shared concrete examples of how GRCA findings are informing programming and institutional change. Discussions underscored the need to go beyond sex-disaggregated data to unpack underlying power dynamics, identify the structural drivers of conflict and exclusion, and connect analysis to funding and policy decisions. 

Participants highlighted the importance of breaking silos across humanitarian, development, and peace pillars; ensuring institutionalization of GRCA tools and approaches; and strengthening partnerships with local women peacebuilders and women-led organizations to ensure that conflict analysis reflects lived realities and informs sustainable, locally owned solutions. 

Women reclaiming disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration 

UNDP, the Folke Bernadotte Academy and the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the United Nations hosted a multimedia exhibition HE[R]EAL – Her Reality: Reclaiming Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) Through Women’s Eyes to showcase the lived experiences of women formally associated with armed forces and groups and challenge the persistent marginalization of women in DDR processes.  

Alongside the exhibition, an action talk was held with women leaders engaged in reintegration processes in Cameroon, Colombia, Somalia, and Ukraine. The speakers emphasized the unique and effective role women play in engaging communities to usher reintegration of ex-combatants and in preventing recruitment through early warning analysis and networks, also calling for clear, centralized policies that enable women’s participation even in socially restrictive contexts. 

Resetting the compass: Urgency for gender justice  

Co-hosted by UNDP, UN Women and the Permanent Missions of the Netherlands, Chile, Colombia and the United Kingdom, the event on Advancing Gender Justice and Accountability was held under the Gender Justice Platform framework. Co-led by UNDP and UN Women, the Platform exemplifies how strategic alliances – including with civil society – can catalyze reform and foster accountability.  

Justice and accountability are non-negotiable foundations for peace. The panel spotlighted efforts to end impunity for conflict-related sexual violence and stressed the importance of centering local voices, especially women peacebuilders, in peace processes. Examples included Colombia’s work on gender-inclusive peacebuilding and Kenya’s efforts to deliver justice after the 2007-2008 post-election violence. Another key issue was reproductive violence, with cases highlighted from Myanmar and Gaza. 

A collective call to action 

Across all events, one message resonated: sustaining the WPS agenda demands resources, inclusion, and political will.  

After 25 years, the WPS agenda continues to guide the global pursuit of peace—anchored in the conviction that women’s full and equal participation is not symbolic, but essential to building just, inclusive, and lasting peace.