Introduction

In 2000, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) officially integrated gender perspectives into the security sector by passing Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325). UNSCR 1325 serves as the foundation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda and has drawn attention to the inclusion of women’s rights and equitable decision-making in activities related to security, peace and conflict resolution. This marked a turning point in a traditionally masculine sector that had, up until this point, relied on patriarchal narratives. As such, the WPS Agenda has supported women’s involvement in peace negotiations, including in Colombia, Liberia, and Timor-Leste, ensuring that gender-specific provisions were included and that women held a seat at the table. In addition, campaigns such as the Canadian Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations have been established to increase the number of women UN peacekeeping personnel. However, since 2000, the WPS has faced numerous challenges and backlash, resulting in lingering questions about the agenda's continued momentum. For example, aid budgets to support gender equality programs have steadily dropped, while the United States and other countries actively oppose “gender ideology” at home and abroad.[i] Anti-gender and disinformation campaigns have led to the active creation of alternative narratives, while critiques of “woke” agendas are resonating with military circles and contributing to a backlash of both diversity and feminism. With this in mind, what strategies for peace can help re-engage the international community to maintain and revive the momentum of the WPS agenda?

Emerging from the contemporary challenges facing the WPS Agenda, a workshop entitled Feminist Resilience for Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Community of Practice was assembled to bring together academic researchers, practitioners, and policy advocates. The purpose of this workshop was to collaboratively develop strategies for safeguarding feminist data, research and expertise. Over two days in Brussels, participants examined contemporary challenges, identified strategic responses, and explored next steps for a future feminist archival initiative.

In anticipation of current and emerging challenges that threaten the progress the WPS Agenda has made over the past twenty-six years, the group questioned whether the current resistance to gender initiatives represents a fundamental transformation. There is a significant risk that the multilateral system is facing a potential collapse, particularly as major states increasingly disengage from multilateral diplomacy. This potential collapse threatens the primary venues for WPS advocacy (such as the United Nations) and threatens the access points and structured engagement that civil society organizations have relied on. As such, this potential collapse necessitates considering new alliances and advocacy strategies outside traditional, professionalized institutions. As feminist thinkers know, the current challenges we face are not entirely new. Feminist movements have always contended with limited resources and government support, even more so for underrepresented scholars and activists. Yet, it is unclear how the WPS agenda can survive and adapt if the multilateral institutions that have historically supported it continue to weaken or collapse. However, there are lessons to be learned from how past activists, particularly those from the Global Majority, navigated these obstacles.

This policy brief intends to provide a background on WPS before discussing the themes from the aforementioned workshop. These themes include current challenges tied to this moment of backlash, strategies to respond to anti-gender narratives and actions, and cross-sectoral connections. Next, a brief discussion will analyze the Community of Practice on WPS, including who its members are and why it is an important component in maintaining momentum. Building on this discussion, the brief will propose a series of recommendations for moving forward, including enhancing public understanding of WPS, supporting the next generation of WPS experts, and the best ways to preserve gender-related data. Overall, this brief will demonstrate the need for WPS experts, advocates, and policymakers to come together as a community of practice to safeguard the WPS agenda and the feminist resilience therein.

Background on WPS

The WPS agenda rests on four pillars: participation, protection, prevention, and relief. Each of these pillars represents calls for greater participation of women to ensure that peace is both achievable and long-lasting. Since its introduction in 2000, the WPS agenda has grown to encompass a body of knowledge and has become a normative framework with core themes such as the inclusion, participation, and contributions of women. National Action Plans (NAPs) were developed to support the implementation of the four pillars at the national level and to help countries determine how to support WPS at home and abroad. NAPs contain goals, objectives, and activities, supported by monitoring instruments and tools, to help achieve gender equality in the peace and security sector. While NAPs are optional, as of February 2026, 116 countries have adopted at least one NAP. And yet, 13 Global North states have not renewed their NAPs since the last version expired, reflecting what has become a broader trend if deprioritizing the WPS agenda in international security spaces.[ii] In a similar vein, many countries have adopted feminist foreign policies (FFPs) to integrate WPS and gender mainstreaming into policymaking. FFPs are intended to introduce inclusive policies across all sectors, such as trade, development, and employment. Yet, once again, many countries have since scaled back on these frameworks, including so-called leaders of gender: Canada, Germany and Sweden.

Key Themes from the Workshop‍ ‍

Current Challenges‍ ‍

The biggest challenge facing WPS is the significant backlash against diversity and feminism. To set the context, the workshop approached this backsliding from a Western perspective. However, this is not a new phenomenon, and not all regions were directly impacted by the backlash in the same manner, as seen in the African Union (AU) region, where institutional commitments to WPS remain quite strong, particularly as the AU celebrates the 25th anniversary of the adoption of UNSCR 1325. Moreover, the AU further endorses WPS work through the incoming appointment of the AU Special Envoy on WPS. Thus, consistent support remains for these institutional practices, but regional contexts provide insight into a different set of setbacks as they relate to gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights within Africa.

With this approach in mind, WPS backlash permeates in certain contexts where donors retreat and anti-gender movements emerge to create alternative narratives, services and materials to fill the gaps left behind. Sentiment against “woke” culture is being used strategically to produce more extreme, authoritarian ideas under the guise of rejecting progressive language and policies. These sentiments are strengthened further as institutional commitments to gender are exposed as shallow, revealing the fragility of support and how easily it can be withdrawn. While challenges to feminist movements of all kinds are not new (including limited resources and contentious government support), there is the risk that people, states and other actors will remain complicit in the dismantling of progressive policies as long as their own comfort is not directly threatened.

Despite decades of feminist critique, a central puzzle is the enduring appeal of traditional, state-centric, and military-focused security concepts, especially during crises. Militaries often act as the ‘eye of the storm’ for the patriarchy and patriarchal policies. A shift to hard security and an increase in military spending has led to rising conflict, increased violence and attacks on women’s health, education and voices. According to UN Women, in 2024 alone, there were over 185 armed conflicts recorded, with 676 million women living within 50 km of a conflict. These are the highest numbers since the WPS agenda was established. While the United Nations continues to retain signatories of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the rise in conflict demonstrates the perils faced by millions of women worldwide. Yet, if the UN or other multilateral institutions that maintain this normative framework at the international level continue to weaken or collapse, it is unclear how the WPS agenda can survive and adapt.

Furthermore, policy shifts in the U.S. defence sector have contributed to the rapid normalization of exclusion and uncertainty across alliances, institutions, and public narratives, while unsolved economic pressures continue to propel populism’s popularity. For example, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has introduced many controversial anti-gender policies, including “male standard” combat policies, banning transgender individuals from service, and declaring that diversity as a strength is an “insane fallacy.” Continued funding cuts and the removal of programs on WPS and related issues not only contribute to ongoing misunderstandings of these issues but also contribute to the appeal of populist agendas and patriarchal framings of peace and security. Furthermore, when people experience material instability, they may be frustrated by what they perceive as a political focus on symbolic or identity-based issues, rather than concrete economic solutions.   

Strategies to respond to anti-gender narratives and actions‍ ‍

Anti-gender narratives and resistance to WPS in organizations such as NATO are cyclical and often procedural or definitional. This resistance also tends to intensify around key events, such as elections, when gendered information operations intensify. Actions that target gender can include “information flooding,” where gendered disinformation is weaponized in cyberspaces. As one activist, Ljubica Fuentes explains, “the patriarchy understood how to change in order to reach people inside their homes.” Combatting this kind of violence must include a wide variety of strategies. For example, WPS is gaining recognition as a stable and legitimizing element of multilateral information and communication technologies (ICT) and cybersecurity agendas, helping keep gender issues on the table despite broader political contestation. Engagement with the private sector, supporting community-led networks and protecting feminist tech principles, including encryption and internet access, are also central to responding to hostile actors.

Academics also have a role to play in responding to anti-gender narratives. Publishing in military-focused outlets can have an outsized practical impact by feeding into training and academy curricula, thereby influencing behaviour. In addition, well-timed inquiry into fluid policy environments can shift institutional willingness to act on WPS. This ties in with framing WPS as essential to collective defence or civil-military relations, which can neutralize resistance by aligning with core military priorities and make discussions more palatable and effective within institutions facing political pressures. However, these strategies can only succeed if the wider WPS community of practice navigates internal critiques while maintaining critical engagement with institutions. Ultimately, it is a delicate balance to navigate institutional limitations while preserving substance and advancing WPS objectives.

Maintaining a Community of Practice on WPS

A community of practice (CoP) is a group that influences ideas through shared practices and knowledge. Experts in WPS can be grouped into a CoP due to their common interests, related goals, and the knowledge sharing that occurs among members. Members of this group include experts from all sectors, including academics, civil society organizations, private-sector actors, policymakers, and more. What matters most in membership is a commitment to feminist strategies of WPS and maintaining this community. Community members are from around the world, and this is central to effective feminist strategies. There is also a wide range of practices associated with the CoP on WPS, including hosting workshops and conferences to share ideas, training on security protocols, sharing information through publications and email newsletters, and more. Central to this community is a shared commitment to ensuring WPS remains centerstage in the peace and security realm.

Critically, WPS must be rooted in local visions to remain legitimate and effective. For example, community-based feminist resilience in fragile contexts offers alternative knowledge and security practices. Furthermore, there are lessons to be learned from the global South, including how best to engage with public audiences, forms of resistance, and how to protect knowledge, including oral histories. Additional insight can be gained through the expansion of the community worldwide. In recent years, regions that have not traditionally engaged with WPS formally have begun to shift. Since 2017, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has gone from virtually no mention of WPS to the adoption of ASEAN’s Regional Plan of Action on WPS in 2022. While it may appear to be a quick transition, activists in the region have been consistently advocating for gender equality and feminist strategies for peace and security. The inclusion of activists is a central component of the CoP. Feminist advocates from around the world have worked to establish UNSCR 1325 and have been central to its implementation since. Ensuring activist voices are not only heard but also implemented remains critical to the goals of this CoP on WPS. 

Proposed Steps Moving Forward‍ ‍

Critically, the patriarchy relies on amnesia. This means that durable change requires systematic memory work, such as archiving, indexing, teaching and citable documentation. The following three recommendations set the stage for feminist resistance to backlash and propose ways to maintain the WPS agenda. Through the following three recommendations, we also highlight ongoing critiques of Western-centric knowledge collection, as any form of amnesia in archives is an active process of exclusion, not passive forgetting. Thus, the labour associated with memory work must not be invisible or marginalized but recognized as essential work.

1. Enhance Public Understanding of WPS‍ ‍

   Part of enhancing public understanding of WPS is cross-sectoral collaboration. For example, merging policy institutes with libraries and archives can create a living collaboration that integrates different forms of knowledge and therefore reaches diverse groups of people. Effective WPS work relies on diverse networks bridging academia, government, and civil society. This includes engaging with military institutions while being aware of the ethical dilemmas, such as redirecting funds for critical research against the risks of co-optation or legitimizing problematic systems. Other pathways include countering misinformation by advocating for strong policies and regulations to disincentivize the creation and spread of false or biased information and improve communication literacy.

   Challenges associated with enhancing understanding through partnerships include funding disparities, power imbalances, and ensuring equitable compensation for grassroots organizations. One way to counter disinformation and reach a broader audience through equitable means is to adopt innovative strategies, such as using visual media and collaborating with popular culture. For example, the United Nations partnered with Rwandan artist and genocide survivor Rupert Bazambanza to design a graphic novel, Tugire Ubumwe – Let’s Unite!, to promote respect for diversity and reconciliation. Working with artists is one such way to connect with a broader audience and enhance understanding of gender issues. 

2. Support the Next Generation of WPS Experts‍ ‍

   Maintaining the momentum of the WPS agenda and facing current and future challenges must include the continued expansion of WPS experts. In conversation with emerging academics, three main areas of support were outlined. First, the continuation of mentorship and community. Building supportive networks and scholarly communities is vital for career development, resilience, and the navigation of academic challenges. To successfully do this, mentorship must also be expanded to under-resourced regions, and transnational dialogue should be fostered to broaden perspectives. Second, there is the development of practical training. To diversify academic approaches and equip scholars for challenging environments, formalized mentorship, practical training, and courses in feminist research methodologies are needed. Third, emerging WPS experts, like others already in the field, will have to navigate ethics and hostility. Support can take the form of transparent, ethical applications that align with institutional expectations. In addition, avoiding shortcuts in ethics reviews and sharing resilience strategies can help mitigate risks in hostile environments. While these are only three examples of how to support the next generation of WPS experts, ensuring the door is open to those interested in joining the community of practice can help bring them into the fold.      

3. Preserve Gender-Related Data‍ ‍

   Access to data is a critical component of WPS, particularly to see how states are maintaining their commitments to gender-responsive policies, what type of monitoring takes place, and to ensure transparency. Since the second Trump administration took office, numerous websites have become inaccessible; data on gender in the military, WPS, and other related topics have been removed. As such, relying on the government as the sole caretaker can lead to the disappearance of crucial information, particularly with administrative changes. There is an urgent need to preserve gender-related data, which, as noted, is at high risk of being manipulated or erased. Furthermore, the key principles for archiving should include collaboration, acknowledging situated knowledge, promoting epistemic justice by challenging who is considered an expert, and employing feminist curiosity to look beyond official sources. Each of these principles contributes to preserving gender-related data in a way that proceeds with caution, listens continuously, and relies on clear, written agreements.

   There are also many challenges associated with preserving gender-related data that must be considered. First, the dominance of English in knowledge production means that vast amounts of work from other languages are lost or inaccessible. While translation is crucial for feminist resilience, it remains prohibitively expensive. Second, archiving contemporary materials from social media platforms is challenging due to the unique nature of the content alongside restrictions on data access. Third, securing funding for long-term archiving projects with no immediate output remains a challenge. This also includes the technical and logistical hurdles associated with modern data preservation and planning for the obsolescence of various digital formats. These are three concerns of many that must be considered to properly preserve gender-related data and ensure the next generation of WPS experts have access to the rich material already produced. Exploring existing models, such as the “Black Women Radicals” database, for instance, can help feminists better understand how digital curation and information sharing have been successfully established in other domains.

Ultimately, this community of practice must be based on establishing trust and meaningful relationships. This workshop was the first in what aspires to be a series of meetings where researchers can come together to share their experiences and build a community committed to the WPS agenda and to generating strategies for feminist peace.