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Women, Peace and Security

SDDirect recognises the distinct and disproportionate impact crises have on women and girls. The breakdown of the rule of law, the circulation and availability of small arms, and the breakdown of family structures all contribute to exacerbated human rights abuses against women in these settings. These abuses include - but are not limited to - increased sexual violence by armed groups, intimate partner violence, human trafficking, and forced marriage. These risks are exacerbated for women and girls with disabilities, religious or ethnic minorities, and members of the LGBTQI+ community.

Ukrainian soldiers marching, backs to their camera, female soldier in centre

What is Women, Peace and Security?

 

At Women, Peace and Security, we take an intersectional approach in all our work, that recognises the diversity of women and girls’ experiences in these contexts.

We are committed to working in some of the most hard-to-reach and volatile contexts to help protect and uphold human rights. We have a wealth of experience supporting bilateral donors, multilateral entities, national governments, and civil society organisations to ensure humanitarian aid is designed and delivered inclusively and equitably. We recognise that strengthening gender equality and social inclusion is critical to achieving peace and stability, and to achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We pride ourselves in and designing, delivering, monitoring, and evaluating interventions that help facilitate women and other marginalised groups’ participation and leadership in humanitarian response, stabilisation, early recovery, peacebuilding, and state-building efforts. We also have extensive experience working in conflict-prone environments to build accountable governance

Our work in this area

 

Our expertise in this area includes:

  • Safeguarding against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH) in crisis contexts 
  • Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention, risk mitigation and response in crisis contexts 
  • Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) in humanitarian action 
  • Gender and conflict analysis 
  • Women’s participation and leadership in conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts 
  • The design, monitoring and evaluation of national action plans to advance United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

If you would like to hear more about our work on Women, Peace and Security, please reach out to Emma Haegeman, Head of Governance and Inclusive Societies Portfolio, at EmmaHaegeman@sddirect.org.uk.

Overcoming the barriers to an interlinked three-track peace process in Yemen

This learning brief explores the potential to pursue an interlinked three-track peace process in Yemen. It brings together the experiences of actors working in the three peacebuilding ‘tracks’ to identify the barriers at each level, and draws on the knowledge of these actors to set out clear, relevant and actionable recommendations for the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen (OSESGY) and the donor community. To our knowledge, this is the first report of its kind for Yemen.

Evaluation of the Danish National Action Plans for the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security

This evaluation looked at Denmark’s second and third Danish National Action Plans (NAPs) for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on women, peace and security (WPS) (2008-13 and 2014-19). The evaluation's aim was to collate learning from past implementation and inform the development and direction of the fourth Danish NAP. The evaluation is forward-looking and hopes to provide constructive discussion about Denmark’s engagement with the broader WPS agenda.

Eighteen years on: assessing the implementation of the UNSCR 1325 Women, Peace and Security Agenda in the Arab States region

The United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) was unanimously adopted by the United Nations Security Council on the 31st of October 2000. For the first time, this resolution recognised the ways in which conflict disproportionately and distinctly affects women, and how their contributions to peace efforts are consistently undervalued. This report was comissioned by UN Women to take stock of progress, challenges, and opportunities for implementing this WPS Agenda across the Arab States region. It is structured into three sections:

Women as Peacebuilders in Yemen

This research sought to understand how women in Yemen are engaging in conflict prevention, peace and stability activities in three target governorates (Ma’rib, Ta‘iz and Lahij) and investigates how their capacities and opportunities to engage are affected by their experiences of conflict, insecurity and changes in the wider social and governance environment. This report was produced as part of the CSSF Yemen project.

Threats and opportunities for civil society during the COVID-19 pandemic

Civil society organisations are playing an indispensable role in the pandemic response, but the context presents real dangers. Civic space, civic rights, citizen voice and civil society resourcing must all be defended. Future resilience to shocks like COVID-19 depends on a robust civil society sector and a fundamental pivot by all sectors in the direction of a more equal, inclusive world – in which active citizenship for all is valued and nurtured.

Implementing the Danish National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security

SDDirect was contracted by the Danish Government to produce a Guidance Note to support the rollout and implementation of their new National Action Plan (2021-2025) to advance United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. The guidance covers: 

  • Preventing and responding to gender-based violence (GBV)

Women leaders' COVID-19 response from the grassroots to government: perspectives from Yemen

As public interest in women’s leadership in response to COVID-19 grows, Noha Yehya of the Yemeni Women Union (YWU), and Michelle Spearing and Laura Martineau-Searle of SDDirect reflect on the roles of women in the COVID-19 response and draw lessons from Yemen to highlight the importance of women’s leadership at the grassroots in respond

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