The Women, Peace and Security Agenda established by the United Nations Security Council through Resolution 1325 in 2000 represents a transformative milestone in international policy. Initially conceived to address the unique impacts of conflicts on women and to promote their active participation in peace and security efforts, the WPS agenda has since expanded into a comprehensive framework designed to support women’s involvement in all aspects of public life, including during peacetime and in crises situations that do not involve armed conflict.
However, despite its broad scope and ambitions, the implementation of the WPS agenda has increasingly skewed towards militarized approaches, particularly through the development of National Action Plans.
This paper argues that the emphasis on integrating women into military roles in Jordan and across the Arab region, while important, is insufficient. Gender equality and meaningful participation can only be achieved with a paradigm shift towards more inclusive, non-militarized strategies that can empower women within and beyond military structures.
This paper presents a number of recommendations: integrating civil society into national security mechanisms, promoting cross-sectoral partnerships for peacebuilding, and encourage donors to prioritize funding for WPS programming that fosters collaboration between civil society organizations and the military.
