womenindiplomacyday

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Focus on understanding the importance of gender equality in negotiations.

This interactive workshop will focus on understanding the importance of gender equality in negotiations, the barriers that currently prevent women from fully participating in negotiations, and how to make changes within organizations to augment women's participation.

Including women in negotiations and other peacemaking processes has been recognized as being critically important to many of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. This interactive workshop will focus on understanding the importance of gender equality in negotiations, the barriers that currently prevent women from fully participating in negotiations, and how to make changes within organizations to augment women's participation. Participants will also learn tools they can use to self-advocate, as well as to support women in the diplomatic arena.

Watch UNITAR X Columbia Law School - Fall 2024 "Empowering Women in the Peace Process"!

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Women at Peace Tables in a Changing Geopolitical Context: Lessons from Sudan, Ethiopia and Libya.

Despite substantial advocacy for increased women's representation in peace processes, significant gaps persist in achieving gender-responsive, let alone transformative, peace and ceasefire efforts, and women in conflict continue to face significant risk of violence and reprisals for their work. This panel discussion aims to shed light on the crucial role of women in peacemaking within the African context, focusing specifically on the experiences and contributions of women from Sudan, Ethiopia, and Libya.

Watch Women at Peace Tables in a Changing Geopolitical Context: Lessons from Sudan, Ethiopia and Libya!

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Annual Meeting of The Women, Peace and Security Focal Points Network.

The United States of America, Romania, Switzerland, and South Africa, as the 2024 Leadership Quad of the WPS Focal Points Network, and UN Women as Network Secretariat, are pleased to invite you to the Sixth Capital-Level Meeting of the Women, Peace and Security Focal Points Network, which will take place on October 21-22 in New York, United States under the theme, "Reclaiming Women, Peace and Security: Defining a Path Forward."

Watch the Annual Meeting of The Women, Peace and Security Focal Points Network!

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24th anniversary of the UN Security Resolution 1325.

Effective civil society advocacy that informs the UN and Member States' policymaking and policy implementation on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) greatly benefits from research on factors shaping the effectiveness of women's peacebuilding, conflict prevention and conflict resolution efforts.

To address this need, the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) and the New York University Center for Global Affairs (NYU CGA) have collaborated through student practicums to conduct research relevant to GNWP's advocacy and activism that began five years ago. The GNWP-NYU CGA collaboration provides GNWP with data and analysis relevant to its ongoing efforts to identify best practices and enhance the strategic capabilities of women peace activists, including through the humanitarian, development and peace nexus. It also provides students with invaluable experience in problem-solving and real-world political and strategic challenges women peacebuilders face.

Event hosted by the Permanent Mission of Austria and the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders

Concept Note

Watch the Informing the UN and Member State Policymaking on Women and Peacebuilding: Academe-Civil Society Research Collaboration!

Panel discussion on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the UN Security Resolution 1325

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Platform of Women Leaders.

The meeting of women Heads of State and Government is convened during the High-Level week of the UN General Assembly each September to discuss priority issues on the international community's agenda and to identify solutions to today's complex and interlinked challenges. The meeting benefits from the presence of women world leaders in New York and amplifies their voices during the high-level week.

Platform of Women Leaders.

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Women's Leadership in Multilateral Diplomacy.

Watch the Commemorative Event to mark the International Day of Women in Diplomacy 2024!

Theme: Women's Leadership in Multilateral Diplomacy.

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Invest-in-Women Global Summit.

The WPHF Invest-In-Women Global Summit will convene governments, civil society leaders, UN entities, celebrities, philanthropists and the private sector at UN Headquarters on the sidelines of the UNSC Open Debate on Women Peace and Security in October 2023.

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Women's participaion in International Peace and Security: from theory to practice.

Remarks by the United Nations Secretary-General on the open debate held at he United Nations Security Council Chamber on October 25th.

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From "Meaningful participation" to "Intentional Women-Led Mediation". Insights from Intersecting Crises.

Building on the impetus from the Secretary General's New Agenda for Peace, the panel discussion will bring together the members of the Global Alliance of Regional Women Mediator Networks, representatives of Permanent Missions of the UN Member States and the donor community to facilitate an exchange of experiences among women mediators' networks in addressing intersecting crises, such as climate change, intensifying natural disasters, and the recent COVID pandemic. 

Based on shared experiences, participants will jointly explore evidence-based recommendations through which women-led mediation work can be intentionally and effectively supported in policy and practice using the opportunities presented by the annual UNSC Open Debate on WPS, the New Agenda for Peace, and the upcoming 2025 UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review (PBAR).

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Launch of the WPS-HA Compact 2022 Accountability Report: Action, Accountability, Collaboration

UN Women together with WPS-HA Compact Board Co-Chairs, Norway and the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), and WPS-HA Compact Board and Catalytic members and Signatories will gather for the launch of the Accountability report and to discuss opportunities for continued and strengthened action, accountability and collaboration.

The release of the inaugural 2022 WPS-HA Compact Accountability Report reviews the implementation of Signatory actions in 2022. As military expenditure continues to skyrocket, and financing for gender equality in conflict and crisis contexts and women's organizations remains severely inadequate in proportion to the need. Fifty-nine per cent implemented actions in a country where peace has declined from 2021 to 2022.

Seventy-one per cent reported on the Compact's principles of transformation, which foster localization, intergenerational action, inclusivity and intersectionality, a multistakeholder action across the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus. The report shows that Signatories have made commendable progress, and their reporting contributes to increased accountability, stronger coordination and evidence-guided strategies for sustainable peace.

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Celebrate the remarkable contributions of Women in Diplomacy.

As we celebrate the remarkable contributions of Women in Diplomacy, we look forward to your participation in meaningful discussions on our common journey forward in the promotion of leadership and advancement of women in decision-making. International Day of Women in Diplomacy 2023.

United Nations Trusteeship Council

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Strengthening the Rule of Law, Human Rights, Justice and Security for Sustainable Peace and Development

Lives and livelihoods are being irrevocably changed by violent conflicts, now at their highest levels since 1945.

Strengthening the Rule of Law, Human Rights, Justice and Security for Sustainable Peace and Development

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Why women matter in diplomacy?

Women have been playing a crucial role in global governance since the drafting and signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945. Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential. Women bring immense benefits to diplomacy. Their leadership styles, expertise and priorities broaden the scope of issues under consideration and the quality of outcomes.

Research shows that when women serve in cabinets and parliaments, they pass laws and policies that are better for ordinary people, the environment and social cohesion. Advancing measures to increase women’s participation in peace and political processes is vital to achieving women’s de facto equality in the context of entrenched discrimination.

Out of the 193 Member States of the United Nations, only 34 women serve as elected Heads of State or Government. Whilst progress has been made in many countries, the global proportion of women in other levels of political office worldwide still has far to go: 21% of the world’s ministers, 26% of national parliamentarians, and 34% of elected seats of local government. According to a new UN report, at the current pace of progress, equal representation in parliament will not be achieved until 2062.

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the world’s largest yearly meeting of world leaders. While the UNGA has been the setting for several historic moments for gender equality, much has yet to be achieved regarding women’s representation and participation. Just four women have been elected President of the UN General Assembly in its 77 years.

The 15-member UN Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. While women currently represent slightly over a third of the Security Council's members — far higher than the average — it is still far from enough. Explore the participation of women at the Security Council.

International Day of Women in Diplomacy.

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High level panel discussion on ''Women in Diplomacy''.

Women, as we all know, are realists, but they are also realists who, while they keep their feet on the ground, also keep their eyes on far horizons.

Global norms and standards play a key role in establishing benchmarks for the international community to abide by, and for countries to implement.

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Network of women diplomats?

There exists a very rich literature about networking, ranging from simplified guides to well researched studies. But if we try to be more specific and relate networking to diplomacy, we enter uncharted territory. Even leaving “networking” aside, very little has been written or said on women diplomats. Networking women diplomats? Ladies, today we are writing history. Please bear with me while I try to get our ideas straight. What is networking? Do we need it? And if so, how are we to achieve it?

Definition According to the MICROSOFT electronic encyclopaedia ENCARTA, networking is the building up or maintaining of informal relationships, especially with people whose friendship could provide such advantages as job or business opportunities. Launched in the 1990´s among people working in the business world, networking is today actively pursued in virtually all professional and social activities. Networking is a two-way process, involving both giving and taking. It is actually more “give” than “take”, or at least it always starts with giving.

3 - Do women in diplomacy need networking?

The question boils down to the main concept underlying this Seminar, which is the quest for the means of advancing our goals. We have to set the goals clearly, prioritise objectives and identify possible contacts. For instance

FACTS

There are far fewer female than male diplomats

A tiny percentage of women occupy the top positions (eg as ambassadors)

Male diplomats are actively networking (and have been doing so since the very outset of diplomacy). It works!

GOALS

Increase female participation

Promote the appointment of women

React to men networking

(In fact, two groups in diplomacy engage in active networking, that is to say male diplomats and their female spouses (who even have their own international association). Collective goals like the ones mentioned above can be combined with individual goals, which thereby reinforce each other. Examples of individual goals are:

Tapping other women’s experience‘

Promoting solidarity

Seeking support and advice in difficult situations

Facing similar problems with tried and tested solutions

Receiving early warnings

Expanding interests, circles of friends and careers.

How to network We may network individually or collectively with other women diplomats. We must keep one very important thing in mind, namely that networking works informally, and must be kept informal.

Set goals

Identify contacts

Take the initiatives

Within our own ministry or organisation

Across ministries and organisation

Practical suggestions a. Involve the participants in this Seminar in a networking exercise. In fact, this Seminar serves the initial purpose of alerting women diplomats to the need to network actively at various levels. b. Set up a reference source for women diplomats and international civil servants, to be managed by the Council of Europe. Such an initiative could begin as an informal, voluntary facility taking the form of a list of contacts. We are certain that it would quickly develop into a useful tool to help women diplomats promote solidarity and mutual cooperation. c. Encourage the organisation of a special training course for high-ranking women diplomats willing and able to serve as mediators/facilitators in conflict prevention, crisis management and conflict resolution situations worldwide. The aim would be to set up the first ever Inter-European Corps of Facilitators, made up exclusively of women professionals. At the initial stages, the corps would consist of a list from which interested parties could choose facilitators. The Council of Europe, which has for half a century been the source of innovative approaches to promoting international peace and consolidating democracy, is the optimum organisation for launching this initiative. Governments of member States capable of providing the requisite expertise and financial support, might possibly assist in planning and implementing this project

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Cooperation between women diplomats and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Women working in the diplomatic sphere can undeniably extend their efforts to helping NGOs develop political power and exercise genuine leadership in addressing such vitally important issues for the entire region as human rights, peace-building and conflict resolution. Indeed, NGOs can team up with women diplomats and, through a shared sense of mission, play a crucial role in the complex diplomatic agenda of our days. Before going into the subject of co-operation between NGOs and women in diplomacy, we would like to make it clear that we will avoid the old, historic conception of diplomacy, ie official diplomacy, or what is now referred to as ‘first-track diplomacy’, and try instead to review an alternative diplomatic approach, that known as ‘public diplomacy’, which includes dialogue, conferencing and other forms of management of international relations. This will provide a broader angle for a review of NGO involvement in diplomacy and participation by specifically female NGOs, or, in other words, of the whole issue of women in international decision-making. We will consider all kinds of interaction by women at the international level under this general framework of women in diplomacy. This is a justifiable approach, given that the world is now slowly but surely shifting from bilateral to multilateral diplomatic relations.

Women are now acknowledged peace-builders and will continue their enthusiastic efforts until the conflict is finally settled. Peace cannot be achieved by men or women on their own, since conflict is a ‘gendered’ issue, that is to say an issue to be solved by the whole of society.

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Contribution of women diplomats in the prevention and resolution of conflicts.

In conflict situations, women are no longer simply victims in need of the support of the international community, they now take part in negotiations, they advise, they actively contribute to the establishment and maintenance of peace steady. They should be mobilized so that they participate even more actively in the prevention of political, economic and humanitarian crises in the making. Efforts to prevent conflict would not be comprehensive if women were not involved. Women diplomats are likely to trace new perspectives in the prevention of conflicts, right from their initial phase. We must encourage these creative and innovative efforts to increase the potential of women in conflict prevention and peacekeeping. Let us try to define the measures, the orientations, in a personal framework, with a view to increasing the presence of women diplomats in conflict prevention, the post-conflict period, to find women whose voices are heard in the field and to collaborate with them. A few words on UNESCO's activities in the field of the defense of women's rights. Since its creation, UNESCO has worked to improve the status and role of women in society. She has focused her efforts on the promotion of gender equality and the implementation of women's rights through the analysis of social mechanisms, social and cultural practices that are at the root of the inferior status of women in society. In order to influence public policies in the field of equality, participation and of women’s rights, UNESCO has developed the “Gender Equality and Development” program which promotes the exchange of knowledge and critical reflection. The program is committed to strengthening women's access to the mechanisms of democracy and to eliminate all forms of discrimination. Following the Beijing Conference and to integrate the notion of gender into the project "Towards a culture of peace", a vast program entitled "Women and the culture of peace" was established for the years 1976-2001, whose main activities include:

support for women's initiatives for peace;

support for women's participation in democratic processes; a contribution to socialization and training to establish partnerships around non-violence and equality.

The program works through the creation of networks of opportunities for women and spaces for dialogue between women and their male counterparts. Thus, during the Pan-African women's conference for a culture of peace and non-violence (1999), an African women's movement for peace was launched and the Zanzibar declaration "Women of Africa for a culture of Peace” as well as the Women's Agenda for a Culture of Peace were adopted. In 2003, the publication “Women and Peace in Africa: Case Studies on Traditional Practices of Conflict Resolution” appeared. » In the year 2000, UNESCO organized the Asian Women's Peace Conference. The Hanoi Declaration and the Asian Women's Plan of Action for the Culture of Peace and Sustainable Development were adopted on this occasion. Quality education is an essential element in building democracy; it is also the means favored by UNESCO to ensure that the culture of peace becomes a reality. It is with this objective that the training manual entitled “Education for a culture of peace: taking gender into account” was published in 2001. Other UNESCO activities include a campaign on women's rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as intellectual support for the Forum of Women Artists of the Mediterranean Basin for a Culture of Peace.