Women accounts for only five per cent of negotiators across 57 peace processes reviewed in 2025, down from seven per cent in 2024, according to the United Nations. UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous, disclosed this while presenting the Secretary-General’s annual report on Women, Peace and Security at an open debate of the United Nations Security Council.
Bahous said the decline was happening at a time when women’s leadership was increasingly needed, particularly as military spending rises and humanitarian assistance reduces. She noted that women made up 22 per cent of participants in the three peace processes led or co-led by the United Nations. However, this remained below the minimum one-third target.
According to the report, nearly 80 per cent of active peace negotiations in 2025 took place without a single woman participating, despite 26 years of commitments under UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Bahous blamed the situation on institutional barriers, unequal power relations and long-standing gender norms that limit women’s involvement in peace negotiations. She also revealed that almost 40 per cent of women and girls living in extreme poverty were in conflict-affected areas, where displacement and disruptions to essential services increased their exposure to gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
On funding, Bahous said a survey of women’s organisations in crisis-affected areas showed that 61 per cent were in a worse financial position than the previous year, while 45 per cent had less than six months of funding remaining. She warned that inadequate funding could weaken the ability of these organisations to protect rights, support communities and promote peace. To address the situation, she called for women to make up at least one-third of participants in peace processes supported by UN member states. She also urged donors to direct at least 15 per cent of official development assistance to conflict-affected countries towards gender equality, with at least one per cent specifically allocated to women’s organisations.
The UN Women chief further called for an end to impunity for crimes against women and girls, including killings, rape, sexual and gender-based violence, and gender persecution. She urged governments to protect women peacebuilders, human rights defenders and humanitarian workers from attacks and reprisals. Bahous stressed that the international community must move beyond repeated promises and take practical steps to ensure women have a meaningful role in decisions affecting peace and security.
