The “ancient, universal power imbalance between women and men” remains “glaring” and demands urgent action, the Security Council heard today, as the 15-member organ opened its annual open debate on women, peace and security.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, addressed the theme of “Women, peace and security in the next quarter century: fulfilling the promise through implementation” , affirming that the story of crises confronting the world is one of power: “Who holds it – and who is denied it.”
Despite the legacy of Council resolution 1325 (2000), he said “the plague of gender inequality persists”, with women absent from negotiating tables, peacebuilders underfunded and “women and girls caught within the hell of conflict”, enduring “horrific acts of violence – including sexual violence”.
Noting “positive strides”, including over 110 countries adopting national action plans on women, peace and security, he called for a minimum target of one third for women’s participation in UN peace processes and gender parity across all senior leadership, Headquarters and Professional staff “for the first time in history”.
With the world facing the highest number of conflicts since the Second World War, the number of UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence has sharply increased, reaching over 9,700 last year, with girls denied education and facing severe restrictions in Afghanistan, Mali, Yemen and Somalia.
Meanwhile, with global military expenditures skyrocketing to almost $2.9 trillion last year, foreign aid continues to plummet. Noting that women represented just 5 per cent of negotiators across 57 peace processes last year, he urged all States to live up to official development assistance (ODA) commitments. “Equality is not a dream,” he stressed. “It’s a decision.”
Exclusion of Women Not Accidental
Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), said that, after 26 years of commitments, it is indefensible that nearly 80 per cent of active peace negotiations last year took place without a single woman at the table. “This exclusion is not accidental,” she said. “It reflects persistent institutional barriers, unequal power relations and deeply entrenched gender norms that continue to deny women their rightful place in shaping peace.” Not 1 of 13 ceasefire agreements reached in 2025 included substantive references to women and girls and not one prohibited sexual violence, she recalled.
Echoing the Secretary-General’s call for action, she urged that at least 15 per cent of ODA be earmarked to conflict-affected countries, specifically to advance gender equality. Further, impunity for crimes against women and girls must end, sanctioning and holding accountable those responsible. “The question now is whether we have the courage to share power,” she stressed.
Tamana Zaryab Paryani, human rights activist, said women in Afghanistan are forced out of public life as their rights are routinely violated, without access to mechanisms to hold violators accountable – a reality extending to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Myanmar and beyond. Gender justice and women’s rights must be integrated throughout the Council’s work, she stressed, and the targeting of women and marginalized groups should be treated as a threat to international peace and security. The international community must refuse to normalize these violations, she added, voicing alarm over several countries that have handed over diplomatic recognition to the Taliban. “Women’s rights must be the number one priority in any engagement with the Taliban,” she stressed, calling on the international community to define gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.
As the floor opened for debate, the representative of the United States recalled that the country is “the biggest single donor to the humanitarian system” and understands the imperative of protection assistance for women and girls in conflict and disaster settings – particularly victims of sexual violence. “It is after all the twenty-first century, we all deserve better,” she stressed, urging Member States “to match words with deeds”. She then called it “unacceptable” for Afghanistan to deny girls education, reversing decades of hard-won progress, further denouncing pervasive sexual violence in Haiti, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and South Sudan.
Conflict Prevention, Root Causes Must Be Central to Women, Peace and Security
From an African perspective, Somalia’s delegate emphasized that “conflict prevention must be central to the women, peace and security agenda”, addressing the root causes that allow conflict to persist – “including prolonged occupation, political exclusion, discrimination and violations of human rights”. Liberia’s delegate said his country’s experience with conflict left it questioning “how women can help bring a war to an end yet still struggle for influence over the peace that follows”.
The representative of Nigeria noted women’s meaningful participation in mediation must become the norm rather than the exception, with “a seat at the negotiating table”, while national justice systems must hold perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence accountable. “Survivors, including women and girls formerly held captive by terrorist groups, must have access to medical care, psychosocial assistance and economic opportunities to rebuild their lives,” he said. The representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo called on the Council to systematically include a gender analysis in mandates, improve follow-up on women’s participation in peace processes, and strengthen oversight of commitments made by Member States. He further called for support to networks of female mediators, training programmes and mentorships.
Escalating Conflicts, Violence Demand Shift from Commitments to Implementation
Georgios Gerapetritis, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece and Council President for October, affirmed the UN Sanctions Committees’ role as crucial in ensuring that sexual and gender-based violence is included as a standalone designation in all criteria against sanction regimes. Victims and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence must have safe and unhindered access to sexual and reproductive healthcare and psychosocial support. As conflicts and violence against women escalate, Bahrain’s delegate said shifting from commitments to actual implementation is critical. “The lesson is not in the multiplicity of decisions, but in the extent to which they are implemented and their impact on the lives of women and girls,” he said.
The Russian Federation’s delegate noted the country is a G20 leader in the proportion of women in leadership positions, calling the status of women globally a “litmus test” for broader trends. Condemning Ukraine as a country of harsh censorship and repression, she noted it has been five years since appointment of the presidential ombudsperson on children’s rights – reuniting parents of Ukrainian and Russian children who were separated because of the crisis.
However, Oleksandr Karasevych, State Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, cited the recent Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report documenting 892 cases of conflict-related sexual violence “perpetrated by representatives of the Russian Federation”, including 151 cases against women and 14 cases against girls. He stressed the report “confirmed that sexual violence was used as a method of torture and other forms of cruel inhuman or degrading treatment.”
