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Inquiry · 7 March 2025 → 10 June 2026

Women, peace and security

From: International Development Committee

Closed4 documents4 evidence sessions

What this inquiry is asking

The inquiry examines whether the UK is delivering on its legal commitments under UN Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security) 25 years after the resolution's adoption. It investigates: how effectively women are included in peace processes; whether UK funding, staffing and diplomatic resources support this agenda; and what monitoring systems exist to track progress—against a backdrop of global conflict escalation, gender equality backsliding, and UK aid budget cuts.

Headline findings

  • Women's participation in UN-led peace delegations has declined to only 14% (2022) and dropped further to near-zero in Afghanistan post-Taliban; the UK has failed to uphold international commitments despite holding the UN penholder role for WPS
  • FCDO staffing cuts of 15-25% under FCDO 2030 restructuring threaten to eliminate gender advisers and development expertise needed to implement the National Action Plan; no dedicated budget, baseline or monitoring plan exists for the fifth NAP (launched 2022)
  • Sexual and gender-based violence is systematically weaponized as a tool of war in Sudan, Gaza, and Afghanistan; accountability mechanisms (ICC, ICJ, Human Rights Council) exist but lack enforcement and political will—UK has not taken leadership on accountability cases
  • UK increased WPS funding by £3.5m this year despite broader ODA cuts from 0.5% to 0.3%, but experts characterise this as insufficient given the scale of crises and contradiction with stated commitment to women's rights leadership
  • Women peace-builders face severe online harassment and intimidation; UN Security Council briefings by women fell from 62 (2021) to 20 (2025); international community retreating from supporting women's participation due to safety risks

Why it matters

The UK holds a formal leadership role (UN penholder) for women's rights in conflict, but evidence shows it is failing to deliver on commitments at a time when women and girls face weaponised sexual violence and systematic exclusion from peace processes that determine their own futures.

Tone arc

Opened cooperatively with government outlining programmes; shifted sharply to adversarial when expert witnesses testified that commitments are rhetorical and unmatched by resources, with specific failures in Afghanistan and Sudan. Final ministerial session showed tension between government claims of 'root and branch' integration and committee scepticism about adequacy given budget constraints.

Themes

women-participation-failuresexual-violence-weaponisationaccountability-mechanismsfunding-and-staffing-cutsuk-leadership-gap

Key witnesses

Fawzia Koofi (former Afghan Deputy Speaker, peace negotiator), Hanin Ahmed (Sudanese women's rights activist), Professor Toni Haastrup (gender and security expert), Reem Alsalem (UN expert witness), Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (UK government spokesperson), Stephanie Siddall (Women for Women International), Al Carns MP (Ministry of Defence representative)

Outcome verdict

Government accepted commitment to ensure female mediators in future multinational forces and to revise national action plan by spring 2026, but rejected committee's implicit finding that current resourcing is adequate—acknowledging FCDO 2030 staffing reductions will proceed despite WPS staffing risks remaining unclear.

Outcome

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

The government partially accepts most recommendations. It fully accepts the need for a robust monitoring framework (Rec. 86) and agrees on principles of meaningful WPS participation (Rec. 45, 46, 71). However, it 'disagrees' with the recommendation to convene a dedicated WPS session during Council Presidencies, arguing that country-specific briefings integrating women's voices are more effective. On funding, the government 'partially agrees' with ring-fencing commitments (Rec. 61, 70), defending instead a mainstreaming approach where gender equality is embedded across 90% of bilateral ODA by 2030. It 'partially agrees' that the FCDO must retain gender expertise (Rec. 48), committing to evolve advisory models and create new specialist communities rather than guarantee dedicated roles. Throughout, the government asserts it remains 'unwavering' in WPS commitment despite structural changes and ODA reductions.

Read the government’s full response →

Reports & Government Responses

Witness sessions

Themes & actors

Topics across publication summaries

international-development ·4gender-equality ·4women-peace-security ·3multilateral-diplomacy ·2conflict-prevention ·2foreign-policy ·1un-security-council ·1conflict-and-peace ·1women-rights ·1public-finance ·1

Top organisations & named entities

Source · parliament.uk inquiry record ↗