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

Key findings

• The UK, as UN Security Council penholder for WPS, failed to convene a single dedicated WPS session during its February 2026 UNSC presidency, representing a significant deprioritisation despite stated commitments.
• ODA cuts from 0.7% to 0.3% of GNI, coupled with aid reductions, have reduced funding for Women's Rights Organisations by two-thirds and resulted in 20 million fewer women and girls accessing UK-funded programming.
• FCDO staffing cuts in development and gender expertise—with ~60% of development advisor positions vacant in November 2025—are critically undermining conflict prevention work and meaningful women's participation in peace processes.
• Only 9.6% of peace negotiators globally are women, yet evidence shows women's participation makes agreements 64% less likely to fail and 35% more likely to last 15+ years; women's participation is declining domestically and internationally.
• There is no dedicated WPS budget, no cross-government integrated data system for WPS activity and spending, and no consistently applied WPS-specific indicators, making it impossible to assess impact or accountability.

Recommendations

• Gender equality must not become a footnote in UK diplomacy. The UK should use its international clout to strengthen WPS implementation through multilateral forums, holding gender-sensitive language in resolutions, and prioritising deliverability of commitments into actions.
• The Government must explain why no dedicated WPS session was convened during its UNSC presidency in February 2026 and list specific WPS actions achieved in country-specific sessions in the past year.
• The UK should convene a dedicated WPS session the next time it holds the UNSC presidency.
• The National Action Plan refresh must prioritise meaningful participation and women's contribution to conflict prevention despite the increasing number of global conflicts.
• The UK should take a more active role in peace processes to ensure women meaningfully participate and work with organisations to embed accountability for WPS breaches.
• The FCDO must retain development and gender expertise; maintain development experts on WPS with local connections; preserve gender advisor roles; and provide gender advisors to support in-country organisations like GAPS.
• The Government should provide clarity on how it will protect VAWG, WPS, and PSVI funding long-term and establish transparent, ringfenced budgets rather than non-binding 'protected' status.

Key actors

Sarah Champion, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), UN Security Council, Reem Alsalem, Eva Tabbasam, Fawzia Koofi, Chris Elmore, Yvette Cooper