Enhancing Regional Implementationof the Women, Peace and Security Agenda

Memorandum No. 35

Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP)
Study Group on Women, Peace and Security

November 2023

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CSCAP MEMORANDUM NO. 35

Enhancing Regional Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda

I.

Introduction

The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Securityin October 2000. The resolution acknowledges the role of women in the prevention andresolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian
response and in post-conflict reconstruction. Indeed, it underscores the importance of women's
involvement in all peace and security initiatives. UNSCR 1325 therefore urges all actors toincrease the participation of women, eliminate sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV), andto incorporate gender perspectives in all peace and security efforts. Over two decades later,Women, Peace and Security (WPS) has developed into a major global security agenda
encompassing 9 additional resolutions that have expanded the promotion of gender equality
along the conflict continuum.1 As of September 2023, 107 countries–roughly 55 percent of UN
member states–have adopted a WPS National Action Plan (NAP). Additionally, regionalorganizations have begun to develop action plans for implementation; the European Union, thePacific Island Forum, and on November 16, 2022, ASEAN launched its first Regional Plan ofAction (RPA) on Women, Peace and Security.2 However, many of these NAPs and RAPs stillrequire full ratification or need to be updated.
In 2020, USCSCAP, CSCAP Indonesia, and CSCAP New Zealand launched the CSCAP Study
Group on Women, Peace, and Security. The WPS Study Group has focused on theadvancement of the WPS agenda in the Asia Pacific, and has aimed to augment the progressalready being made on implementing the WPS agenda in the region at the Track-1 level, as
well as within CSCAP.
Four Study Group meetings were held to discuss regional approaches and attitudes toward WPS
throughout the region. The CSCAP WPS Study Group convened in June 2021, September
2021, September 2022, and March 2023 to encourage CSCAP member committees andsupporting experts, researchers, and policymakers to identify challenges and opportunities inthe implementation of the WPS Agenda within the Asia-Pacific region. The following are thegroup’s findings and recommendations on furthering the development of the WPS agenda
within the Asia-Pacific.
II.

Variations of WPS Implementation

1UN Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008), Resolution 1888 (2009), Resolution 1889 (2009), Resolution
1960 (2010), Resolution 2106 (2013), Resolution 2122 (2013), Resolution 2242 (2015), Resolution 2467(2019), and Resolution 2493 (2019)
2
The ASEAN RPA on WPS builds on the region’s earlier commitments to further the rights of women
including: Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in the ASEAN Region (2004), the HaNoi Declaration on the Enhancement of the Welfare and Development of ASEAN Women and Children (2010),
the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Elimination of Violence Against Children(2013), the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the ASEAN
Community Vision 2025 including the ASEAN Political-Security (APSC) Blueprint 2025 (2015), the Joint
Statement on Promoting Women, Peace and Security (WPS) in ASEAN (2017), and the establishment of theASEAN Women for Peace Registry (AWPR) (2018).

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The WPS agenda consists of four pillars: Participation, Protection, Prevention, and Relief andRecovery with NAPs as the instruments of implementation at the national level. In the Asia
Pacific, only 12 countries have adopted NAPs, while others either still aspire to develop one orhave actively chosen not to do so.3 The presence or absence of a NAP does not guarantee
meaningful progress on WPS, as both approaches have strengths and limitations. All countries
have faced challenges in efforts to support WPS objectives.
Many countries with a NAP (including Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Indonesia, Japan,Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste4)
argue that NAPs provide legal instruments as policy foundations for both national and foreign
policies. Nevertheless, their success depends on champions from all sectors, clear
accountability, and dedicated funding. The ownership of a NAP among a broad cross-sectionof society is seen as critical for capturing issues that matter to everyday peace and security but
have yet to be included in state agendas. Countries have employed different mechanisms tohelp ensure participation and representation, including collecting sex-disaggregated5 andgender-sensitive data, and through localization processes that enable governments toimplement WPS differently in response to communities’ distinct needs. Still, there is a greatvariety in the metrics employed for success and levels of awareness within and across statebureaucracies, which hampers effective NAP implementation. Moreover, WPS NAPs often
overlook demilitarization and scaling down the global arms trade.
Other countries, including Malaysia, India, Singapore, China, Lao PDR, and Russia, have madethe case that not having a NAP can allow for a broader understanding of security and addressinter-sectoral concerns, such as economic development. Participants suggested that the absenceof a NAP does not indicate a lack of support for WPS, but rather a different interpretation of
how to ensure that the goals and visions embedded within WPS pillars are successfully
integrated in all areas of life. States, for example, may not want to engage with the language
and specific mechanisms entailed in implementing a WPS NAP due to concerns of scrutiny
into domestic affairs, or they may find particular issue areas too politically sensitive.
Importantly, many argue that not having a NAP may allow for a more holistic approach tosecurity, such as including gender within development spheres, or when it is easier to integrate
WPS agenda goals into existing laws, politics, and frameworks, than it is to create a separate
NAP on WPS. On the other hand, some felt without a NAP, governments may lackaccountability, resourcing, and advocacy for WPS issues.
With or without a NAP, common limitations in WPS implementation include inadequate andunsustained resourcing and a lack of gender-responsive budgeting. Furthermore, there is often
a problematic gap between how WPS is implemented at home and abroad, with virtually allstates struggling to address domestic SGBV issues alongside international security concerns.
Implementation approaches vary, with some countries primarily focusing on the security sector
while others prioritize broader ownership and civil-society-led efforts. Thus, WPS can beimplemented inwardly or outwardly, in domestic laws, as foreign policy, or both.
Study group discussions highlighted the importance of contextualisation and acknowledgementof intersectional concerns in WPS implementation. Adapting to emerging needs and pressures
is crucial, and WPS should not be seen as “fixed” or “static.” The intersectionalities6 of gender,
3UN Women Asia Pacific, National Action Plan, February 2023, https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/focusareas/peace-and-security/national-action-plans
4
PeaceWomen: National Action Plans by Region: https://1325naps.peacewomen.org/index.php/nap-overview/
as of September 4, 2023.
5
Sex-disaggregated and gender-sensitive data are produced when gender is systematically included as a variable
at the moment of individual-level data collection and tabulation.
66
Associated with the work of Kimberlé Crenshaw, the concept accounts for the ways in which multiple forms
of inequality compound one another, leading to complex experiences of discrimination.

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racial, class, and religious inequalities were emphasized, along with the need to represent
women as active participants in problem-solving and decision-making rather than as victims orclustered as “vulnerable groups.” As such, just as there is no single homogenous ‘women andgirls’ category that describes all women or all women’s experiences, rather than referring to ahomogenous WPS agenda, it is more accurate to consider the localization of WPS agendas.
WPS implementation–both globally and domestically–has been successful when it is
responsive to different security issues and adapted to national or local dynamics. This is true
for subnational, national, and transnational WPS implementation, including through regional
bodies such as ASEAN, NATO, and the Pacific Island Forum.
III.

WPS Issues of Concern

Despite the evolution of a variety of WPS agendas in the region, all CSCAP members facecommon problems. Regional experts and policymakers engaged in this Study Group raised anumber of key concerns, including:
A. Backsliding on Sexual- and Gender-Based Violence
Although perennial, rates of sexual- and gender-based violence have significantly increased inrecent years due to pandemic-related lockdowns, increased financial volatility, naturaldisasters, and job losses. Important progress had been made in recent decades, but data fromthe global WPS Index7 has shown that progress has since slowed and in some cases lost ground,with many countries facing increasing resistance to eliminating violence against women.
B. Gendered Economic Inequalities
The COVID-19 pandemic has also widened structural gender inequalities as governments haveprioritized economic recovery, focusing on physical infrastructure rather than social or careeconomy infrastructure, with women predominantly picking up both the burden of care andunpaid labor and being disproportionately impacted by job losses.
C. Gendered Post-Conflict and Disaster Relief and Recovery
Conflicts and natural disasters result in genderedsuffering, which frequently affects women
disproportionately. In post-disaster relief and recovery, there is limited attention to women’s
resilience or agency; similarly, men’s insecurities are often ignored or downplayed due togender roles and norms. Most planning for disaster relief and recovery is rooted in militarized(masculine) decision-making, focusing primarily on technical knowledge and logistics, while
simultaneously lacking a focus on social welfare concerns, such as health and education
conditions; access to bank services (saving accounts, credit cards, loans, electronic transfers,
digital/mobile money, etc.); access to crime reporting services and judicial processes; mental
health support; environmental recovery; provision of community and political services; and soon.
D. Gender and Climate Security
Similarly, climate security concerns are increasing in frequency and severity, exacerbating
gendered insecurities in both development and natural disaster contexts. Lack of access to foodand water, failing economies and governments, or migration and asylum-seeking due to climatechange, for example, all have gendered implications. At the national level, few, if any,
countries in the Asia-Pacific are adequately prepared for climate-related crises. Nevertheless,at the scale of communities, where the disasters impacting villages and towns are often
extreme, recurrent and intersecting, local knowledge is often far more advanced in terms of7

https://giwps.georgetown.edu/the-index/

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crisis preparedness and response.8 Without strategies for addressing the ways such disasters
will impact genders differently, these crises are likely to intensify gender inequalities.
E. Gendered Tech-Enabled Cyber Crime
The gendered nature of tech-enabled harms has become an increasing concern. Within the
cyber realm, women often experience misogynistic hate speech; online / tech-facilitatedviolence spreading to real-life violence; data breaches that impact privacy (on sexual andreproductive health, human rights, dignity, and self-development); and sexual and gender
discrimination.
F. Gender and Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism
There is a need to adopt an intersectional lens in understanding gender issues in preventing andcountering violent extremism, remembering each woman is a unique single entity, and thatthere is great diversity among women exposed to and involved in violent extremism. If thesecurity sector ignores gender, women’s unique roles in facilitating and countering terrorist
acts may be overlooked.
G. Women in Leadership at All Levels, In All Sectors
Throughout the region, more should be done to encourage women to meaningfully inhabit
leadership roles at all levels of government and society. Women’s representation must increasein political, media, academic, and think tank spheres, including CSCAP.
H. Women in Security Forces
Including women in security forces has the potential to dismantle patriarchal norms, stimulate
positive attitudes toward women, create inclusive security and influence other sectors,
particularly with an awareness of intersectional concerns and the need for implementation ofinstitutional culture change. Participants further emphasized the need for women to be at all‘security tables’ - in diplomacy, in intelligence gathering and analysis, in policy development,
and in decision making.
I. Gender Norms and Equality, Foreign and Domestic
Gender norms that continue to underpin power imbalances between women and men inevitably
result in a vicious interplay between structural and institutional inequalities, gendered unequalcare burdens, and SGBV, manifesting as community fragility. Traditional gender norms exist
within the transnational domain and domestic government and security structures, which
reinforce gender inequalities at the household, community, national, and international levels,resulting in unstable societies. Foundationally, effective advancement of the WPS agenda
within the Asia-Pacific must include challenges and alternatives to prescribed norms for
women and men at all levels of society, both at home and abroad, in order to build genderequality and achieve more just, secure communities.
J. Gender-Sensitive Data and Funding
The region cannot achieve progress on the above issues without consistent tracking,measurement, and reporting of sex-disaggregated and gender-sensitive data, nor without
adequate and sustainable gender-sensitive funding.
IV.

Recommendations

8See for instance Rachel Clissold, Karen E. McNamara, Ross Westoby & Vaine Wichman (2023) Experiencing
and responding to extreme weather: lessons from the Cook Islands, Local Environment, 28:5, 645-661, DOI:
10.1080/13549839.2023.2169912

5Based on the foregoing WPS Issues of Concern (which are noted in brackets for each
recommendation below), the following recommendations are made to:
The CSCAP Secretariat and CSCAP Member Committees
1. Commit to measuring and reporting sex-disaggregated and gender-sensitive data,

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

including that for CSCAP member committees, CSCAP leadership, event participation,subject matter experts and speakers, and other contributors, and use this data to createbaselines and goals for increasing women's participation at all levels of CSCAP. [WPSIssue G, H, I]
Create a plan for reaching gender parity on all speaker panels and committees. Thiscould be supported by using the Pacific Forums roster of expert female speakers. [WPSIssue I]
Ensure CSCAP members have a basic working knowledge of the WPS agenda byproviding regular training at the General Conference. [WPS Issue I]
Encourage the application of a gender perspective on all panels and in all CSCAP StudyGroups. [Especially important for panels and Study Groups related to Issues A-I]
Provide an option for hybrid attendance at events where feasible to make meetings moreaccessible to those with heavy care burdens. [WPS Issue B, I]
Develop a plan to actively recruit women (and youth) to participate as CSCAP member
committee representatives. [WPS Issues G, H, and I]
Provide supplemental financial resources for women (and young people) to fully
participate in CSCAP activities and seek their input in agenda creation and direction ofthe organization. [WPS Issues G, H, and I]

ASEAN Regional ForumThe Study Group would like to commend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on developing
their RPA to support the WPS agenda in the region. To strengthen WPS efforts, the Study
Group recommends the following to:
The ASEAN Regional Forum Experts and Eminent Persons
1. Devote a session to the WPS agenda at all annual meetings, and add a gender

perspective to all or most other sessions going forward. [WPS Issues G and I]
2. Devote discussion at the next meeting to considering how the EEP can practicallycontribute to moving the WPS agenda forward in the region. [WPS Issues G and I]
The ASEAN Regional Plan of Action (RPA) on WPS Committee
8. Mainstream climate security within the ASEAN WPS RPA. [WPS Issue D]
9. Encourage all ASEAN countries to track, measure, and publish progress on a common

set of WPS goals. Countries with WPS NAPs should include such metrics in future
NAP documents. Non-NAP ASEAN countries that support WPS should define, adopt,and track a set of parameters aligned with RPA data goals, and create a plan to enhance
the scope of such progress. [WPS Issue J]
10. Develop formal mechanisms whereby ASEAN countries (with and without NAPs) cancontinue to share experiences and best practices on implementation of WPS issue-areas
addressed in/related to the RPA. [WPS Issue J]
11. Ensure subsequent ASEAN RPA discussions robustly address the need to bridge thegaps in the domestic and international implementation of WPS. [WPS Issue I]
12. Encourage all countries to commit to a minimum investment percentage in WPS
implementation, from both defense and domestic development agencies. [WPS Issue J]613. Amplify support for women’s leadership in the security sector and peace processes byusing the ASEAN media platform(s) to highlight women’s impact through securityrelated success stories from the region. [WPS Issues G, H]
14. Stress the importance of understanding women as having complex identities: encourage
understanding of the intersection of multiple inequalities with gender (including race,ethnicity, age, class, socioeconomic, and religion) and the need for contextualization of
WPS principles. [WPS Issue B, I]
15. Be more deliberate and explicit about applying WPS principles to the RPA on thefollowing issues: [WPS Issues A, C, D, E]- Sexual- and gender-based violence- Gender-transformative distribution of development, disaster relief, andhumanitarian assistance- Gender-inclusive peacebuilding and conflict responses- Tech-enabled cyber-crime
16. Encourage alignment of WPS relief and recovery pillar language with disaster
preparedness and response in both domestic and regional contexts. [WPS Issues C, D]
The ASEAN Committee on Women (ACW)
17. Mainstream climate security, digital security, and women in security forces within theACW. [WPS Issues D, E, H]
The ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women andChildren (ACWC)
18. Mainstream climate security, digital security, and women in security forces within theACWC. [WPS Issue D, E. H]
The ASEAN-USAID Partnership for Regional Optimization with the Political-Security andSocio-Cultural Communities (PROSPECT)
19. Develop a deliberate approach to increasing women’s participation by emphasizing

women’s ‘meaningful participation’ in ASEAN’s male-dominated Political andSecurity Pillar. [WPS Issues G, I]
20. Expand the definition of "security" within the "Political and Security Pillar" to include"human security" through practical changes such as more emphasis on the livedexperiences of insecurity by vulnerable groups. [WPS Issues A, B, C, D, G, H, I]

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