Women, peace and security

Women’s inclusion and the potential positive impact of their involvement in peace and security matters continue to be on the margins of public policy related to mainstream peace and security issues. Research demonstrates that peace discussions across the world are more sustainable when women have been involved. Yet, women and girls continue to be a target in armed conflict, bear a higher toll and are often left to pick up the pieces in communities afterwards.

This #CriticalThinkingLive focuses on these issues in conversation with Jacqueline O’Neil, Canada’s first Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Ambassador, and will also feature Naomi Izabela, the face of Canada’s #SheLeadsHere campaign, which aims to bring young female leaders to the decision-making table.

Canada is the global leader in championing gender equality, empowering women and girls in conflict-affected areas and promoting more inclusive, gender-sensitive peacebuilding processes. This discussion will reflect on the implementation of Canada’s WPS National Action Plan and the country’s feminist foreign policy framework in the light of the Russia-Ukraine War, mobilisation for women’s rights in Iran sparked by the murder of Mahsa Amini in police custody and increasing use of sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon of war.

The interview will also touch upon the different ways in which multilateral security institutions and processes can be re-modelled to produce more gender-sensitive solutions that are responsive to the needs of women and girls and the risks that they face.

This event will be livestreamed. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook, and join the #CriticalThinkingLive!

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