Disarmament and gender

People are differently involved in and impacted by weapons, armed conflict and security based on their gender and other factors. Analyzing disarmament processes and policies through a gender lens casts them in a new light and suggest more effective and sustainable solutions.

In 2000, the Security Council adopted the first resolution on women, peace and security (WPS) acknowledging the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and girls and calling for women’s full involvement in all peace and security efforts. The General Assembly, in its resolution 65/69 (2010) and subsequent resolutions on women, disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control, also encourages better understanding of the gendered impact of armed conflict and calls for equal opportunities and increase in the participation of women in disarmament decision-making.

Nevertheless, women remain underrepresented and make up only approximately one third of participants in multilateral disarmament meetings; even fewer are heads of delegations.

Moreover, disarmament is central for achieving global gender equality, which has been affirmed in the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 1979 and in the 1995 landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on women’s rights. Linking disarmament and efforts for gender equality is also key for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, including goal 5 on gender equality.

UNODA Gender policy

The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) Gender Policy provides a framework for the Office facilitate progress on gender-responsive disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation and contribute to gender equality and elimination of gender-based violence. The Policy outlines the roles and responsibilities of all UNODA personnel at all duty stations and seeks to provide them with common commitments and priorities for gender-responsive programmes, initiatives and institutional practices. The Policy aims to:

Enhance diversity and enhance gender parity and women’s equal, full and effective participation and leadership in disarmament and arms control bodies and discussions.
Advocacy and build capacities for gender perspectives in all areas of disarmament and arms control and integration of disarmament in gender equality and WPS frameworks
Strengthen UNODA’s internal capacity for gender analysis and gender mainstreaming

~~UNODA Gender Policy (2021)~~

UN accountability framework on gender mainstreaming

UNODA reports annually on the United Nations accountability framework for gender mainstreaming – the UN-SWAP. The framework consists of seventeen performance indicators based on intergovernmental mandates. uses a five-point rating scale ranging from “not applicable” to “exceeds requirements” for every indicator. This allows progress to be defined uniformly, measured progressively, and articulated aspirationally.

UNODA UN-SWAP Report Card 2020Download

UNODA results UN-SWAP 2021

Gender parity in UNODA

Blue represents women and gray represents men in the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, professional levels in April 2022

UNODA implements the UN Strategy on Gender Parity to achieve parity for all UN staff by the year 2028. UNODA set its own targets and implement Temporary Special Measures and report according to ST/AI/2020/5 in combnation with inclusive recruitment practices, targeted talent management, and to create an inclusive and empowering work environment in line with UN Enabling Environment Guidelines. UNODA is committed to not only achieving gender parity, but fostering a more diverse workforce and inclusive culture.

un secreteriat gender parity dashboard

Gender Balance in Disarmament Meetings

Women remain underrepresented in arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament processes and diplomacy. Women make up only one third of participants in larger meetings and only about one fifth in smaller forums with fewer than 100 participants. Gender equality is a fundamental human right, and failing to involve women undermines their right to participate in shaping policies applicable to all. There is also wide recognition that equal, full and effective participation of women and men is vital to the maintenance of sustainable peace and security. Diverse partnerships and inclusive decision-making are catalysts for more effective and sustainable action.

* Including one-person delegations. Owing to COVID-19, physical presence in the sessions was reduced. *Source*: First Committee list of participants (A/C.1/75/INF/2)
** Out of a total of 64 delegations. Source: Conference on Disarmament list of participants (CD/INF.79/Rev.2)

UNIDIR, Still Behind the Curve 2019
UN, Secretary General Disarmament Agenda Actions 36 and 37 (2018) on women’s equal participation disarmament and arms control
UNLIREC, Forces for Change IV (2020) on the role of women in disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
UNIDIR, Gender in Cyber Diplomacy

Women, Peace and Security and Disarmament

Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions on women and peace and security (WPS), acknowledge the differentiated impact of armed conflict on women and that women’s participation is vital to broader objectives for international peace and security. Disarmament and arms control intersect with all four pillars of the WPS agenda on participation, protection, prevention, and relief and recovery.

In the 2021 annual open debate in the Security Council on WPS, ten Member States and groups that addressed the Council mentioned disarmament or reductions in military spending – four of them current Security Council Members. In the 2020 Open Debate, three of the 15 Council Members mentioned disarmament and arms control, compared to two in 2019 and none in 2018 and 2017 respectively.

The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs is a members of the UN standing committee on WPS.

National Action Plans

According to Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, 98 UN Member States (51 percent) have adopted a National Action Plan on WPS, and 31 current action plans (32 percent) include references to and specific actions towards disarmament.

Military expenditures

In the 2020 report on WPS to the Security Council, the UN Secretary-General (SG) identified disarmament and reduction of excessive military expenditures as one of five key goals for the next decade of WPS action. In 2021, the SG report on WPS had a thematic focus on military spending and recommends advocacy for people-centered policies with a view to encouraging greater investment in the social and human security.

The Beijing Declaration (1995) includes military spending as a key area of action to enhance social development and gender equality. The Generation Equality Compact on Women, Peace and Security (2021) invites States, academia, civil society to sign on to the compact action on military’s expenditures, as well as States to ratify the Arms Trade Treaty.

UNIDIR study Connection the Dots on WPS, arms control and disarmament (2020)
Opinion Piece by Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and H.E. Amb. Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, former Chair of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, Women around the globe share an immense stake in ending armed violence (2020)
Opinion piece by Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former Executive Director of UN Women, For a safer and more resilient world, put people before runaway military spending (2021)
UNODA Occasional Paper 35 (2020) chapter on “A feminist approach for addressing excessive military spending” by Ray Acheson and Madeleine Reesm on the link between gender, militarism and unconstrained military spending.

Gender in Disarmament Resolutions and Treaties

Disarmament and arms control treaties addressing gender

Three multilateral arms control treaties that have been signed since 1945 have gender provisions:
The Arms Trade Treaty (2013)
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (2017)
The Convention on Cluster Munitions (2018)

General Assembly First Committee resolutions addressing gender

General Assembly (GA) resolution 65/69 (2010) and subsequent resolutions on Women, disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control recognize the need to facilitate and increase the participation of women in disarmament and promote equal opportunities in decision-making. These resolutions also encourage better understanding of the gendered impact of armed conflict.

The number of other GA First Committee resolutions on disarmament that incorporate gender references has increased from three resolutions in 2010 to nineteen resolutions adopted in 2021 that included language on women or gender covering numerous areas including nuclear weapons, biological weapons, cluster munitions, ammunition stockpiles, small arms and light weapons (SALW), regional disarmament, and youth.

Some resolutions address substantive gender perspectives such as the differentiated impact of weapons or gender analysis of the issues addressed by the resolution. More common is that the resolution refer to the equal participation of women and men in decision-making or other processes.

Newsfeed

2024

July 2024

The acquisition, use and impact of small arms and light weapons have distinct gender dimensions, and women’s voices are critical to developing effective responses.

Read about progress made towards gender-responsive small arms control at #RevCon4 :

🔗https://t.co/SbLxY8C1Ro pic.twitter.com/pjLqPOMHyf
— UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (@UN_Disarmament) July 19, 2024

2023

August 2023

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1671530500366770185&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fdisarmament.unoda.org%2Ftopics%2Fgender%2F&sessionId=b5cbf531ac253d0b7f9172bcb8507460a2067cb6&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px

June 2023

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1673949705485574144&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fdisarmament.unoda.org%2Ftopics%2Fgender%2F&sessionId=b5cbf531ac253d0b7f9172bcb8507460a2067cb6&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px