Dear Ambassadors,

Ahead of this year’s annual open debate on women, peace and security (WPS), and one year before the 25^th anniversary of Resolution 1325 (2000), we write to you as civil society organizations dedicated to peace, women’s rights and gender equality to urge you to redouble your efforts to fulfill the highest ideals of the WPS agenda.

Today, we are confronted with record levels of armed conflict, militarization and military spending, which undermine gender equality, threaten to reverse decades of progress on women’s rights, and jeopardize global efforts for peace. Women and marginalized groups bear the brunt of conflicts and crises, including conflict-related sexual violence, poverty, forced displacement and hunger. Increased militarization has been accompanied by multi-pronged assaults on universal norms, especially international human rights and humanitarian law; on women human rights defenders and civil society space; and on democracy itself. Further, an escalating global backlash against gender justice and the human rights and bodily autonomy of women and LGBTQIA+^[1] people, compounded by their systematic exclusion from international decision-making and peacemaking, means that those most adversely affected by armed conflict are also those whose voices are most marginalized.

The WPS agenda’s vision of peace and equality^[2] has never been so important — or so under threat.

The cost of the international community’s failure to fully implement the WPS agenda over the past 24 years can be measured in lives lost, rights denied and conflicts prolonged. Yet, feminist movements continue to fight back against misogyny and repression for a more just and peaceful future. They refuse to accept anything less than their rights — and neither should you.

The UN Security Council cannot afford to let another anniversary pass without meaningful progress on protecting women’s rights in conflict. We therefore urge you to take decisive action in the following 10 areas and implement them in all crises on its agenda^[3]:

1. Prevent, avert and end conflict. Ending violence is the most effective means to protect the rights of women and girls in all conflicts and crises. As enshrined in the UN Charter, it is the primary responsibility of the Security Council to maintain peace and security. Conflict prevention requires addressing the gendered drivers of conflict, including patriarchy; all forms of inequality, including socioeconomic inequality; multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination; exclusion; and violation of human rights. There is no situation in which gender equality and women’s rights are not relevant. We therefore urge the Security Council to ensure that the rights of women and girls are fundamental to all international peace and security processes, including its own decisions, without exception. Further, the Council must uphold international human rights and humanitarian law, and all relevant Security Council resolutions, including on WPS, and step up preventive diplomacy to ensure inclusive, gender-responsive, long-term and peaceful resolution to all conflicts.
2. Reform the Security Council. The credibility of the Security Council to meaningfully fulfill its mandate has been fundamentally shaken by its inability to effectively address conflicts, including, most recently, Israel’s brutal war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both of which have had devastating consequences for the rights of women and marginalized communities. We urge you to commit to Security Council reform in order to build a more representative, transparent, democratic and accountable multilateral system that can effectively deliver on the UN Charter’s promise of peace. This should include credible, timely and decisive Security Council action to prevent or end the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and lead to ending the use of the veto on resolutions aimed at stopping mass atrocities. We further urge you to sign the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group’s Code of Conduct, thereby pledging not to vote against a credible draft resolution before the Security Council aimed at stopping such crimes.
3. Stop arms transfers when there is a substantial risk that they may be used to “commit or facilitate serious acts of gender-based violence or serious acts of violence against women and children,” or if Member States have knowledge or should have known at the time of authorization that they would be used in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects, or other war crimes, in line with the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Compliance with obligations and norms on disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation^[4] is critical to conflict prevention, and backsliding on disarmament commitments risks future violence. States have a legal obligation to comply with arms embargoes imposed by the Security Council. We further urge you to cut military spending and instead increase funding for gender equality and global humanitarian responses to ensure no needs go unmet.
4. Defend women’s human rights. Women’s civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, as enshrined in international law and Security Council resolutions, are the foundation of the WPS agenda.^[5] The Security Council must therefore center human rights, especially the rights of women, girls and LGBTQIA+ people, in all peace and security discussions, processes and decisions; take coordinated action to counter gender backlash; and reject any outcomes that undermine women’s rights. Council members must also consistently, and publicly, demand that warring parties and other relevant actors immediately abolish any laws, policies or practices that prevent or restrict the full enjoyment of women’s human rights in accordance with international standards.
5. Advance reproductive justice. Reproductive autonomy, and the right to live in safe, peaceful and sustainable communities, is essential for women in conflicts and crises everywhere. We urge Security Council members to protect and uphold sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in accordance with international standards, including relevant WPS resolutions, in all conflict situations on its agenda.^[6] We further urge you to politically and financially support comprehensive, high quality and non-discriminatory SRHR services, including access to contraception, safe abortion and maternal health care, and fully integrate these rights into crisis prevention, response and recovery plans.
6. Insist on women at the table. Women have the right to full and equal representation.^[7] Politically and financially support the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation and leadership of diverse women^[8] at all levels and stages of decision-making, with the target of 50%.^[9] In particular, we urge you to prioritize women’s direct participation in formal Track 1 or high-level peace and political processes, especially the meaningful representation of women human rights defenders, peacebuilders and feminist movements. Women must be able to influence the outcome and implementation of negotiations, across all issues. Further, demand the equal, direct and influential participation of women as a standard requirement across all UN-supported peace processes and convenings.^[10] The Security Council, the UN and Member States must not endorse, facilitate, participate in or support peace or political processes where women are excluded.
7. Support principled humanitarian action. Ensure gender-responsive, locally-led humanitarian action, and safe, unhindered humanitarian access to affected populations of all genders and diversities, as required by international humanitarian law. A principled humanitarian response is only possible when it centers non-discrimination and the fundamental human rights and participation of diverse women.^[11] Allowing discriminatory laws, policies and practices to determine or impose constraints on how humanitarian actors operate — such as by deploying male-only response teams or denying access to services based on sexual orientation and gender identity — undermines humanitarian principles, limits access to diverse women and girls, reinforces exclusion and further threatens women’s rights. Support diverse women’s participation in the design and implementation of, and all decision-making on, humanitarian action.
8. Demand justice and accountability. All violations of women’s rights, including all forms of gender-based violence, conflict-related sexual violence and attacks against women human rights defenders, must be publicly condemned, thoroughly and swiftly investigated, and perpetrators held accountable. Respect for international humanitarian and human rights law, including compliance with provisional measures of the International Court of Justice (ICJ); upholding the obligation to prevent genocide; and ending impunity, are paramount obligations of Member States and essential for securing justice for survivors. We urge you to pursue accountability strategies that center gender, including by considering codifying gender apartheid, supporting prosecutions of gender persecution at the International Criminal Court, and ensuring accountability for violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) at the ICJ. All justice and accountability efforts, including reparations processes, must be rights-based and survivor-centered, in order to avoid replicating harm, promote recovery and address root causes of violations, such as discrimination and inequality.
9. Stand with feminist movements, the heart of the WPS agenda. The UN and all Member States must commit to and fully implement a zero-tolerance approach^[12] to any form of attack, intimidation, retaliation or reprisal against diverse women for their political participation, human rights and humanitarian work, peacebuilding activities or cooperation with UN mechanisms, including the Security Council. However, protection must never compromise participation. It is critical that independent and diverse women civil society and human rights defenders continue to inform all peace and security policymaking, including Security Council discussions;^[13] that their independent selection and views are fully respected; and, most importantly, that their recommendations are acted upon.
10. Fund peace, not war. Increase funding to local women-led, women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ organizations, networks and movements, and support initiatives that promote gender equality and feminist leadership. Provide direct, accessible, long-term and flexible funding to, and promote partnerships with, women civil society, in order for them to work safely, sustainably and effectively, free of impediments.^[14] Meet the minimum target of earmarking 15% of funds for programs that advance gender equality and allocate a minimum of 1% of overseas development assistance for women’s rights and women-led peacebuilding organizations by 2025 with a firm commitment to increasing it in the future.^[15] We further urge you, as donors, to support the independence and integrity of civil society organizations, especially organizations working on contested issues, to ensure that they are able to sustain their indispensable work, free of obstacles or interference.

Over the last 24 years, women civil society, including human rights defenders, peacebuilders and feminist movements, have stood on the frontlines of conflict: advocating for peace, elevating the voices of affected communities, and speaking truth to power — all while charting a clear path toward more just, equal and peaceful societies. Ahead of the 25^th anniversary of Resolution 1325, the women, girls and LGBTQIA+ people of Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Western Sahara, Yemen and all other crises on the Security Council’s agenda will be looking to you to deliver on 25 years of promises.

Originally published by the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security – https://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/

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The report also shows that almost one out of every five adult women in Israel was harmed by violence or a crime against them in 2023. More than half a million women, who make up 17.5% of all women aged 20 and over, reported that they were harmed last year by crimes of various types. The CBS data indicates that there is no difference in the rate of victims of sexual harassment between the religious and traditional public and the secular public.

Also according to the data, in 2023 32 women were murdered on criminal grounds or due to their gender – femicide, in 11 of the cases the suspect of the murder is a spouse (34%), in seven cases the suspect is another family member (22%) and in 14 cases the suspect is not relative (44%)

It should be noted that since the beginning of the war, a significant increase in the frequency and intensity of violence against women has been identified in the Vizo organization. The consequences do not remain only in the home arena but affect everyone who comes in daily contact with the victims, especially colleagues at their workplace. In light of the survey data conducted by the organization Witzo launched a campaign calling on employers to take an active part in the fight against the phenomenon under the title “Domestic violence is your business”.

In response to a question addressed to victims of domestic violence in a Vizo survey, it appears that 73% of them “feel protected from violence when they are at work.” 35% report that the violence at home greatly affects their ability to get to work, and many of those who do manage to maintain a work routine report fatigue and lack of concentration, avoidance of professional relationships, decreased work capacity and multiple absences. Only 23% of them asked for assistance from their workplace.

The Edva Center and the Public Housing Forum also published a document on the occasion of the International Day of the Struggle for the Prevention of Violence Against Women, centered on: the difficulty of women and children in the circle of violence to obtain a safe roof over their heads – which is a major barrier against leaving violent relationships. In the absence of a policy that would create alternatives and solutions in the field of housing for these women and their children, many women are forced to continue living in a house that has become dangerous.

In the position paper, the organizations demand the expansion of housing assistance mechanisms for women victims of violence and their children, which was submitted this year to the Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women and Gender Equality in the Knesset.

The joint document calls on the government to recognize victims of domestic violence as entitled to public housing and to significantly expand the rent assistance amounts to which female victims of violence are entitled and to recognize a larger circle of victims of violence as entitled to housing assistance. The government is also required to act actively to exercise rights among victims of violence in general, and among victims of violence in Arab society in particular. It is also proposed to establish that women victims of violence will be entitled to an additional living allowance – until their economic independence is guaranteed.

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It was an honor to participate in your Zoom meetings and get to know the work and accomplishments of the Pakistan Department of Peace.

Pakistan has a great role to play in the world on the issue of peace, being a nuclear power and occupying a strategic position in South Asia, near the Middle East and the nuclear powers of India and China. Just as Pakistan and the United States have a close military relationship, it is important that the Pakistan Department of Peace and the US Department of Peace, being in the ‘belly of beasts’, have a close working relationship to mitigate the military presence of our respective countries.

We thoroughly enjoyed reading your manifesto, and learned a great deal from it about the important issues of economic justice, women’s empowerment, denuclearization/demilitarization, climate action and youth. We look forward to working closely with you and participating in your webinars on these issues. We also look forward to visits by Ali Muhammad Khan and other leaders of the Pakistan Department of Peace to us in the US, and hope to have an opportunity to visit you in Pakistan.

At this historical juncture the US and China, two of the world’s biggest nuclear powers are at odds with each other. India and Pakistan, two other large nuclear nations are in conflict. And the US military is now-in, now-out of Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East creating so much destabilization and war. The role of the Pakistan Department of Peace is globally critical, so we hope together with US Department of Peace to be able to march forward with these three points:

1. The Pakistan Department of Peace and the US Department of Peace working together to encourage other countries to establish their own Departments of Peace
2. Then all Departments of Peace affiliating and jointly opening an office in the United Nations with consultative status;
3. Each respective national Department of Peace leading their government to abide by their own Department of Peace Manifesto/Mission/Vision to carry on the work in their country.

Peace and Economic Justice for the whole of humanity.

Nuri Ronaghy — Co-Founder, US Department of Peace
Alan Shorb — Co-Founder, US Department of Peace

To download the original PDF of this letter, click here.

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