Published on: 2026-06-17
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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“When we strive for peace but do not take into account women’s voices in this, our efforts will not bring lasting peace,” said the Executive Director of the “UN Women” entity, Sima Bahous, speaking at the open debate of the UN Security Council on the theme “Women, Peace, and Security.”
The meeting titled “Decisions on peace are made together with women: conflict resolution through women’s participation” is being held today under the chairmanship of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Rosy Villarreal.
“More than two decades have passed since the adoption of the agenda ‘Women, Peace and Security’ under resolution 1325 (year 2000),” Bachelet recalled. According to her, during this time a wealth of evidence has accumulated showing that women’s participation is directly linked to the sustainability of peace. “When women are involved in security, societies become more peaceful,” she said.
Research shows: where women are excluded from public life and access to the labor market is restricted, the risk of conflicts increases. The participation of women in the security structure and peacekeeping operations, on the contrary, increases the effectiveness of such units and the level of transparency and accountability. Restricting women’s rights often becomes an early signal of an impending conflict and the strengthening of authoritarian tendencies.
The chapter “UN Women” cited examples from various regions of the world. She mentioned Sudan, where, according to her, atrocities against women and girls “disgrace humanity,” and also noted that only men were represented in the negotiations on Ukraine. According to her, a similar trend is observed in Lebanon, Palestine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other countries. “Peace negotiations and mediation processes proceed without women,” Bachelet said.
At the same time, it is women who remain the most numerous and most reliable support of the world. “Excluding them from the decision-making process at the moment when we need them more than ever, we are letting down not only women – we are letting down everyone,” she said.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee called on members of the Security Council to engage more actively with local women’s organizations already at the early stage of peacekeeping missions. “Please, please, please, stop funding us on a residual basis,” she said. “You can’t spend millions on war and expect to build peace for pennies.”
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