What significance does the UNSCR 1325 or Women, Peace, Security (WPS) Agenda have in view of the growing gender backlash both internationally and in peacebuilding contexts? To mark the 25th anniversary of the resolution, Simone Wisotzki conducted an interview with expert Thania Paffenholz.
2025 marks 25 years since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). A milestone in recognizing that gender matters for achieving sustainable peace, the resolution became one of the most visible frameworks for promoting gender equality in global peace and security institutions. The WPS Agenda focuses on the 3Ps – prevention, protection, and participation of women – and integrates aspects of post-conflict reconstruction, humanitarian aid, and transitional justice.
Ten years ago, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada issued a historic report exposing the devastating colonial legacy of the Indian Residential School System. The Commission’s ‘94 Calls to Action’ promised healing, but a decade later, how much of that promise has been fulfilled? Have political promises been translated into progress, or faded into silence? How will the newly elected government and Prime Minister Mark Carney continue—or fail—to move forward on reconciliation? To mark the report’s tenth anniversary, this article reflects on the Commission's work, progress, and remaining challenges.
When Western voices described the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as an attack on the “rules-based” or “liberal” international order, it was always implied that it was Western states, and the USA in particular, that safeguarded international law after the Second World War. However, it was primarily Afro-Asian states that defended the rules-based order during the Cold War when aggressions challenged the inviolability of international borders. A closer look at this history can help to develop concepts for the validity of international norms – especially for a Europe that is in danger of becoming an object of great power politics in the future.
Wenn westliche Stimmen den russischen Überfall auf die Ukraine im Februar 2022 als Angriff auf die „regelbasierte“ oder „liberale“ internationale Ordnung beschrieben haben, schwang dabei stets mit, dass es westliche Staaten und insbesondere die USA waren, die nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg das Völkerrecht sicherten. Es waren jedoch vor allem afro-asiatische Staaten, die während des Kalten Kriegs die regelbasierte Ordnung verteidigten, wenn Aggressionen die Unverletzlichkeit internationaler Grenzen infrage stellten. Eine nähere Betrachtung dieser Geschichte kann helfen, zukunftsfähige Konzepte für die Geltungskraft internationaler Normen zu entwickeln – gerade für ein Europa, das Gefahr läuft, zukünftig zur Verhandlungsmasse der Großmächte zu werden.
The search for recognised political legitimacy and legality is integral to states which take part in the international system. As Moscow’s acts of aggression continue in Ukraine, the international community has not been able to end the war, nor appropriately address its illegality. With Russia’s actions strictly going against international law, the use of legal means to lock-in the status quo has been a key part of the Russian war strategy. This blog conceptualises lawfare and contextualises its uses by Russia at the UN level.
In December 2024, UN members will vote on a worldwide Cybercrime Convention negotiated since 2019. While the convention is problematic, this Spotlight shows why a conditional acceptance nonetheless seems the best way forward. For this purpose, we first present the different meanings of cybercrime and outline the existing regulatory framework. We then examine the UN negotiations and the possible human rights implications of the convention, showing that it reflects the contestation of human rights norms and a growing division in the UN, yet supporting the convention at this point also enables long-term influence on its implementation.
World leaders and international civil society will gather in New York on 22-23 September 2024 for the UN Summit of the Future. The Summit is an event where world leaders meet and address current international issues and challenges to find consensus on how to create a better and safer present and future. This blog article takes issue with how the climate-gender-conflict nexus is (not) discussed in the lead-up to the summit. Reviewing the summit documents, I argue that the (draft) Pact for the Future treats gender justice, climate crisis, and conflict as separate silos of challenges, overlooking their interconnectedness. Instead, I emphasize the need for the Summit of the Future to take the climate-gender-conflict nexus seriously, recognizing the climate crisis as a risk multiplier that exacerbates gender inequalities and conflict dynamics.
June 19th is the international day for the elimination of sexual violence in conflict. It is a day of silent remembrance, as the crime of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) is not a priority on political agendas. Survivors are often too traumatized to report, or experience further criminalization and stigmatization. The recent annual report of the UN Secretary General stresses the continuous prevalence and the global scale of this horrific crime. This blog summarizes its core findings.
The United Nations (UN) deploys peacekeepers worldwide to help build peace and security. Meanwhile, a serious problem persists: sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) perpetrated by peacekeepers. Despite extensive efforts, including codes of conduct, sanctions, and training, reports of sexual abuse by peacekeepers continue within mission contexts. By drawing on UN documents aiming at ending SEA by regulating peacekeepers’ behaviour, this blog article examines the gender dimensions of the rules. I argue that a military masculinity culture is reflected in the UN rules that perpetuate instead of fight the risk of SEA.
