๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง, ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ (๐๐๐) ๐๐๐ฒ!!!
๐๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ? Today marks 25 years since the adoption of the landmark United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS). The adoption of the UNSCR 1325 on 31 October 2000 marked the first time the United Nations, through the Security Council, acknowledged that women are not only victims of war but that they are also vital actors in building and sustaining peace.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง, ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ค๐๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ฌ: ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ & ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ. Among many other things, UNSCR 1325 has reshaped the world’s understanding of peace and security. It stresses that sustainable peace is only possible when women are included in decision-making, conflict prevention, peace negotiation, and post-conflict reconstruction.
My own journey of learning about the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda began during my Masterโs Programme in History at the University of Ibadan, where I took a course on Women in Development. For my class presentation, I was asked to talk about the Beijing 1995 Conference and its impact on womenโs empowerment. That research exposed me to how international policy frameworks shape the realities of women globally. Through further readings, I came across UNSCR 1325, and it felt like discovering a missing link. The resolution gave language to what I have long observed but never fully articulated, which is that womenโs everyday roles in sustaining families, resolving disputes, and holding communities together are acts of peacebuilding in themselves.
Growing up in a largely polygamous setting, I saw firsthand how women often bore the weight of family responsibilities and ensured that there was peace and stability in the home. Even without formal titles, these women were peace shapers in their own right, serving in various capacities, including as market leaders, community mobilisers, and even informal mediators. So, when I discovered the existence of the WPS Agenda, it felt like a recognition of women that I knew, women who were already doing the hard work of peace every day but lacked the visibility and recognition that they deserve. I was fascinated by how the resolution connected grassroots women’s experiences to the international conversation on peace and security. Over the years, that understanding has shaped my work as a peacebuilding practitioner, researcher, and advocate for the localisation of the WPS Agenda.
As we mark 25 years since the adoption of the resolution, there is much for us to celebrate, especially in terms of progress and achievements. For instance, across the world, more women are now participating in formal peace negotiations, advocacy, decision-making, and mediation efforts. Furthermore, since 2000, many countries, including Nigeria, have developed National Action Plans to guide the implementation of the WPS agenda. We are also seeing more civil society organisations, particularly women-led groups, at the forefront of efforts to champion community peacebuilding and dialogue.
While these are essential steps that show a growing commitment to womenโs meaningful inclusion and participation in peace and security, much remains to be done. Globally, women peacebuilders continue to face challenges, including limited funding, insecurity, shrinking civic space for womenโs rights defenders, and tokenistic representation in formal decision-making spaces. Furthermore, the gap between policy and practice continues to hinder the full realisation of the WPS vision.
As we celebrate this significant milestone and move towards the next 25 years, we must move beyond declaration, symbolic inclusion, and commitments to deliver concrete support for womenโs peacebuilding efforts. This means investing in and increasing funding for women-led initiatives, especially at the grassroots level. There is also the need for the localisation of the WPS agenda so that it responds to community realities because the Agenda cannot succeed if it does not speak the language of the women it intends to serve.
These past 25 years have shown us that when women lead, peace follows, so let us continue to advance the WPS Agenda
Happy 25th WPS Anniversary