Today marks the 24^th Anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). Since then, several “sister” resolutions have been adopted to complement the Resolution, often referred to as the “WPS Agenda”. Countries and other actors like UN agencies, the European Union (EU), and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have adopted action plans towards its implementation. Resources have been allocated. And, a plethora of activities have been undertaken towards the Resolution’s four pillars: I) Participation of women in decision-making in conflict and post-conflict situations, including peace-making processes and negotiations; II) Protection of diverse women and girls affected by conflict; III) Prevention of conflict and sexual violence; and IV) Relief and Recovery, ensuring diverse women and girls’ needs are met in conflict and post-conflict situations.  

Yet, as conflicts continue and even expand around the world, and as countries continue building and supplying weapons to support conflicts; 

As an estimated 117 million women, girls, boys and men continue to be displaced from their homes;  

As sexual violence continues to be used as a weapon of war by militant groups, as well as by those in positions of power, purportedly there to provide humanitarian aid;  

As impunity for conflict-related sexual violence continues; 

As women remain underrepresented in decision-making at all levels, including in peace processes; 

Every day, but especially today, we reflect on both the progress made and the widespread shortcomings of governments and other actors in implementing their commitments to Resolution 1325 and the WPS Agenda.   

Despite progress in some areas, we feel several failures firsthand from our experience in Kosovo, where:  

1. Participation: women have been consistently underrepresented in decision-making processes related to Kosovo’s state-building process and in negotiations with Serbia, despite government and European Union (EU) commitments to implementing Resolution 1325; 

2. Protection: while making progress in providing financial support to survivors, the UN, EU and governments all have failed to bring justice for the vast majority of survivors and victims of sexual violence, let alone reparations from perpetrators of this heinous crime; 

3. Prevention: while the NATO Kosovo Force remains present in Kosovo, and both Kosovo and Serbia have made commitments to the WPS Agenda, the continued lack of resolution to Kosovo’s political status contributes to fear of potential renewed conflict for people of all ethnicities living in Kosovo; insufficient efforts have been taken by both governments and the EU to prevent further conflict; and no known gender-responsive conflict analysis has been conducted to identify key factors contributing to conflict so evidence-based actions may be taken to prevent conflict; 

4. Relief and Recovery: while there have been improvements, due largely to women’s rights organisations’ engagement in gender mainstreaming government and donor policies and programs, further efforts can be taken to ensure women and girls in all their diversity benefit from relief and recovery efforts.  

For 24 years, the Kosovo Women’s Network’s (KWN) has monitored Resolution 1325’s implementation in Kosovo. Key recommendations from our more recent publications 1325 Facts and Fables (2022) and A Seat at the Table (2021) include the need for governments, the EU, and other stakeholders to: 

• Increase diverse women’s involvement in decision-making and peace processes, including related to Kosovo’s dialogue with Serbia (in both track 1 and track 2 diplomacy) in accordance with the Law on Gender Equality; as a facilitator of the dialogue, the EU has a key role to play in ensuring diverse women are meaningfully engaged.  

• Strengthen institutional commitments to fully implementing Resolution 1325 and the WPS Agenda via clear objectives, indicators, and targets in forthcoming strategies and action plans. 

• Ensure policies towards gender equality have adequate resources for implementation. 

• Focus on human security, investing more in quality education, health, women’s economic empowerment and women’s safety in their homes, streets, and institutions. Safeguarding diverse women and men’s wellbeing can enhance security and contribute to preventing conflict. 

For further details, see KWN’s book 1325 Facts and Fables, which outlines the challenges, successes, and victories of activists advocating for the UN, EU, NATO, and Kosovo institutions to implement Resolution 1325. We hope that others can learn from our experience in advocating for rights related to the WPS Agenda.