25th Anniversary of UNSC Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security
Feminist Peacebuilding in an Age of Backlash
The year 2025 marks two major milestones in the global struggle for gender equality and peace: the 25th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. UNSCR 1325 and its follow-up resolutions set a global precedent by recognizing the unique and disproportionate gendered impacts of conflict, and the essential role of women in preventing conflict, resolving disputes and building sustainable peace. Adopted on 31 October 2000, the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) established a foundational normative framework that not only addresses women’s rights and gender equality in conflict and post-conflict settings, but also, for the first time, formally recognizes the critical roles women play in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. This resolution, reinforced by nine subsequent resolutions, established a global normative framework for gender equality in peace and security processes.
Against the backdrop of a world increasingly affected by violent conflict, democratic decline, and intensified pushback against gender equality, anti-discrimination policies and feminist achievements, these anniversaries offer a timely and critical opportunity to reflect on both the progress made and the ongoing as well as emerging challenges facing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda.
This dossier explores whether the gains of the past 25 years have laid a resilient and transformative foundation for feminist and gender-transformative approaches in peacebuilding, as well as in foreign, security and development policy. The experts that wrote articles for this dossier invite us to zoom into concrete examples from different countries where the WPS agenda has been implemented.
No Women - No Peace: 20th Anniversary of UNSC Resolution 1325
On 31 October 2000, the UN Security Council adopted the Landmark Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. On its 20th anniversary, this dossier portrays women from 20 countries that make a difference in peace and security.
This dossier aims to present women from 20 different countries all over the world who are engaged in building peace in their countries, societies and communities. They work towards a more secure environment not only for women and girls, but for everyone. The portraits pay tribute to the dedication and engagement of these women who stand as representatives for many other women with the same goal.
At the same time, this dossier should serve as encouragement for other women wanting to become engaged in peace and security processes. It is also a call to further increase and strengthen structural participation of women in peace and security processes at all levels.
Women’s participation in peace processes is crucial for transforming and ending conflicts in a non-violent way. For women, peace and security is definednot only by the absence of violence, but also by the fulfilment of basic socio-economic needs. This ensures that peace lasts longer and is more stable. In short: No Women – No Peace.
Peacemakers: Portraits of women from 20 countries that make a difference in peace and security
Inna Ajrapetian (Chechnya, Russia)
No Women - No Peace: Inna Ajrapetian (Chechnya, Russia) - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union
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Inna Ayrapetyan is a human rights defender from Chechnya, Russia.
Kristin Lund (Norway)
Kristin Lund is a retired Major General in the Norwegian Army. She was the first women ever to be force commander of an UN peacekeeping mission.
Palwasha Hassan (Afghanistan)
No Women - No Peace: Palwasha Hassan (Afghanistan) - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union
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Palwasha Hassan is Executive Director at the Afghan Women’s Educational Center, working for women’s rights and women empowerment.
Claudia Paz y Paz (Guatemala)
No Women - No Peace: Claudia Paz y Paz (Guatemala) - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union
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Claudia Paz y Paz is former attorney-general from Guatemala, a lawyer, human rights advocate and university teacher.
Nivin Al Hotary and Sabah Al Hallak (Syria)
No Women - No Peace: Nivin Al Hotary and Sabah Al Hallak (Syria) - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union
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Nivin Al Hotary is a Syrian refugee woman displaced from Eastern Ghouta to Northern Syria, and human rights activist working on women's rights. Sabah Al Hallak from Syria is a women's rights activist.
Leymah Roberta Gbowee (Liberia)
No Women - No Peace: Leymah Roberta Gbowee (Liberia) - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union
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Leymah Roberta Gbowee is a Liberian peace and women’s rights activist and 2011 co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
On 31 October 2000 the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted unanimously the Landmark Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. It is the first UNSC resolution that mentions the specific impact of conflict on women and girls. It calls for including a gender perspective in all conflict and post-conflict phases in order to account for the needs of women and girls. Moreover, it demands the protection of women in conflict situations and the prevention of gender-based or sexualised violence. Additionally, it promotes women’s participation in all phases of peace-building and peacekeeping processes.
A lot has changed in the last 20 years: women are no longer seen solely as victims of conflict and war but also as actors in peace processes. There has been a female chief negotiator of a peace agreement, a female head of a peacekeeping mission and many women who are engaged on various levels of peace and security efforts. However, the potential that women have in engaging in peace processes and prevention of conflicts is still not sufficiently exploited, as women still have to struggle against patriarchal structures and attitudes. Very often, they face intimidation and repression when they get involved in peace and security, which many still consider as a male-only domain.