© UNDP/Abed Zagout Women walk along destroyed streets in Gaza.
united nations —
More than 600 million women and girls are now affected by war, a 50% increase from a decade ago, and they fear the world has forgotten them amid an escalating backlash against women’s rights and gender equality, says United Nations general secretary.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a new report that amid record levels of armed conflict and violence, progress over the decades for women is vanishing and “generational gains in women’s rights hang in the balance around the world.”
The U.N. chief was assessing the state of a Security Council resolution adopted on Oct. 31, 2000, that demanded equal participation for women in peace negotiations, a goal that remains as distant as gender equality.
Guterres said current data and findings show that “the transformative potential of women’s leadership and inclusion in the pursuit of peace” is being undercut — with power and decision-making on peace and security matters overwhelmingly in the hands of men.
“As long as oppressive patriarchal social structures and gender biases hold back half our societies, peace will remain elusive,” he warned.
The UN recorded at least 33,443 civilian deaths in armed conflicts in 2023, representing a 72 per cent increase compared with 2022, and the proportion of women and children killed doubled and tripled, respectively.
The majority of recorded deaths, 70 per cent, occurred in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel – the deadliest conflict for civilians in 2023.
Women in war zones are also increasingly suffering from restricted access to healthcare, the report said.
For example, every day, 500 women and girls in conflict-affected countries die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. By the end of 2023, 180 women were giving birth every day in war-torn Gaza—most without necessities or medical care.
“Women continue to pay the price of the wars of men,” said Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women.
“This is happening in the context of a larger war on women. The deliberate targeting of women’s rights is not unique to conflict-affected countries but is even more lethal in those settings.”
UNFPA Sudan
The inclusion of women in political processes will benefit all Sudanese people, the UN says.
No women, no peace
The report comes nearly 25 years after the UN Security Council adopted a landmark resolution on women, peace and security.
Resolution 1325 (2000) recognized women’s vital contribution to the prevention and resolution of conflicts. It called for warring parties to ensure the safety of women and girls, and for women’s full involvement in peace processes.
Yet despite commitments made over the years, women comprised less than 10 per cent of negotiators in more than 50 peace processes worldwide in 2023. This is occurring even though studies show that when women are involved, peace agreements last longer and are better implemented.