On October 12th the U.N. released the Global Study, a report that studies the relationship between violent conflict and women’s rights using examples of wars as case studies. The goal of the study was twofold, according to Salon. First, was to commemorate the 15th anniversary of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325, which brought attention to the impact of war on women’s rights. Second, was to further the understanding on empowering peace.
The study came to multiple conclusions. First, was the importance of women’s participation in peacekeeping efforts. Further involvement led to more effective humanitarian assistance, stronger protection efforts of peacekeepers, and speed up economic recovery, among other effects, according to Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, U.N. Women Executive Director.
The Global Study stated: “Peace is only sustainable if women are fully included, and that peace is inextricably linked with equality between women and men.”
Alaa Murabit, a member of the High-Level Advisory Group for the Global Study, stated, “What’s happened in peace and security is that we’ve completely neglected half the population, and so, we then become surprised that peace isn’t sustainable.” By virtually leaving women out of the scenario, the world has made it significantly more difficult for peace to be reached during a violent conflict.
The U.N. Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda called “for transformation, rather than greater representation, of women in existing paradigms of militarized response.” What this means is that while simply placing more women into the conflicts that already exist may help. The true solution would result from the invention of new policies that radicalize the current practices.
So what’s the takeaway? Essentially what we’ve known all along- women’s equal involvement in society makes the world a safer, better place, and now we have U.N. data to back it up.
Who run the world? Girls.