Women, Peace, & Security

 
What Is "Women, Peace, and Security"?

Through the passage of the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017, the United States became the first country in the world with a comprehensive law on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS). The U.S. Government released the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security in 2019, and the State Department Implementation Plan in 2020, which has strengthened the U.S. priorities of promoting gender equity and equality in efforts to prevent conflict, promote peace, and countering violent extremism. The Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues serves as the lead coordinating office for the Department of State's WPS efforts.

The guiding principles for the Department of State’s WPS Implementation Plan are:

• The Department of State is uniquely positioned to reinforce America’s global leadership in promoting the
  Women, Peace, and Security agenda through policy, diplomacy, partnership, and modeling transformation.

• The priority areas of engagement are partner countries that are currently experiencing armed conflict, violent
  extremism or gross, systemic abuses of women and girls; emerging from such conflict, violence, or abuse;
  and most at risk of such conflict, violence, or abuse. Countries with histories of atrocities with severe incidences
  of sexual violence and/or systemic and widespread discrimination against women are of particular concern.

• The implementation of the WPS Strategy is inextricably linked with all gender equity and equality efforts
  across the Department, including women’s economic security, and preventing and responding to gender-based
  violence. Therefore, the Department’s implementation of WPS is consistent and informed by related strategies
  and National Action Plans.

U.S. Department of State website Women, Peace, and Security