Women and the Making of Global Peace: Between the International Normative Framework and the Faltering of Actual Representation
Authors
Abstract
This paper examines the evolving role of women in the making of global peace, tracing the development of the international normative framework — from the United Nations Charter and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and its successor resolutions — governing women's participation in peace and security processes. It analyzes how conflicts and wars disproportionately affect women, drawing on United Nations and UNHCR data concerning poverty, illiteracy, unpaid care work, political under-representation, and refugee status. The paper reviews national action plans adopted by the United Nations, Nepal, and Sweden to operationalize the Women, Peace and Security agenda, and identifies the principal obstacles that continue to constrain women's substantive participation in peace negotiations — including limited representation, divisions among women, the narrow scope of their participation, logistical obstacles, political co-optation, and the weakness of feminist civil society. It concludes by proposing mechanisms — education, economic empowerment, and context-sensitive engagement in crises — for strengthening women's future role in achieving comprehensive and sustainable peace.
Keywords
WomenPeace and SecurityUNSCR 1325PeacebuildingGender EqualityNational Action PlansPeace NegotiationsConflictWomen's Political Participation
References
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https://www.ohchr.org/ar/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-economic-social-and-cultural-rights -
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) –
https://www.ohchr.org/ar/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-elimination-all-forms-discrimination-against-women -
Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) –
https://www.ohchr.org/ar/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child -
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How to Cite this Article
Khaled Fayyad (2026). Women and the Making of Global Peace: Between the International Normative Framework and the Faltering of Actual Representation. RPPSS, 1(2), 1-12.
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