Large Print - 10th Report - Peace under pressure: Protecting Women, Peace and Security

Key findings

• The UK failed to convene a single dedicated WPS session during its February 2026 UN Security Council presidency, representing a missed opportunity despite penholder responsibilities and stated commitments.
• The Government has reduced Official Development Assistance from 0.7% to 0.3% of GNI, disproportionately affecting Women's Rights Organisations (funding reduced by two-thirds) and cutting 20 million women and girls from UK-funded programming.
• Development and gender expertise in the FCDO has been significantly reduced through merger with the Foreign Office, with 60% of development advisor positions vacant as of November 2025; gender advisors requested for Sudan and Gaza operations were never provided.
• Women's meaningful participation in peace processes remains critically low at 9.6% of negotiators despite evidence that meaningful female participation reduces agreement failure by 64% and increases likelihood of lasting peace by 35%.
• No integrated cross-government system exists for monitoring WPS expenditure, impact, or outcomes; it is impossible to track how much the UK has spent on WPS over the last fifteen years.

Recommendations

• The UK should strengthen the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda by using its international clout to advocate for WPS in multilateral forums, holding the line on gender-sensitive language in resolutions, and prioritising deliverability of commitments into actions.
• The Government should explain why it did not convene a dedicated WPS session during its February 2026 UNSC presidency and set out specific WPS-related actions achieved in country-specific sessions in the last year.
• The UK should convene a dedicated session on Women, Peace and Security the next time it holds the UNSC presidency.
• The National Action Plan refresh must prioritise meaningful participation and the contribution of women and marginalised groups in conflict prevention and related processes, particularly given rising global conflicts.
• The UK should take a more active role in peace processes to ensure women can meaningfully participate, working with organisations to embed accountability for WPS breaches and prioritising gender equality in conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding.
• The FCDO must not lose development or gender expertise; it should commit to maintaining development experts on WPS with local ground connections and provide gender advisors to support organisations like GAPS in-country, with specific detail on achieving this in the Government response.

Key actors

Sarah Champion (Chair, International Development Committee), Chris Elmore (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Multilateral, Human Rights, Latin America and the Caribbean), Fawzia Koofi (former Afghan Member of Parliament), Reem Alsalem (UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls), Eva Tabbasam (Director, Gender Action for Peace and Security), Yvette Cooper (Foreign Secretary), Archie Young (UK Ambassador to the General Assembly)