*Originally published in 2024 and preserved as part of our archive project.Get E-International Relations delivered to your inbox, free of charge. As you sign up, consider becoming a paid subscriber to support our work.

On Friday 25 October, the UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO) launched its report ‘Towards Equal Opportunity for Women in Defence Sector’ during the United Nations’ 2024 Women, Peace and Security Week. Written by the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DECAF), with input on subsequent drafts from the DPO Office for the Rule of Law and Security Institutions and other experts working in the UN, the report presents a survey of successes and barriers to advancing women’s meaningful participation at all levels in defence sectors globally, and offers recommendations for next steps in achieving greater parity and inclusion.

The report includes seven ‘accelerators’ of gender equality in defence, based on good practice, identified as follows (Department of Peace Operations 2024, p.8):

Assess barriers to women’s participation.

Assess barriers to women’s participation.

Enhance recruitment strategies to attract more women.

Enhance recruitment strategies to attract more women.

Improve retention rates among women.

Improve retention rates among women.

Build a culture of diversity and inclusion.

Build a culture of diversity and inclusion.

Combat sexual discrimination, harassment, and abuse.

Combat sexual discrimination, harassment, and abuse.

Facilitate career development programmes for women.

Facilitate career development programmes for women.

Ensure equitable promotion for women service members.

Ensure equitable promotion for women service members.

Feminists and gender scholars have long had a difficult relationship with the idea of integrating women into the defence sector. Women, Peace and Security (WPS) is supposed to be about peace and many feel that women’s collaboration with the military contradicts this. Women’s inclusion does not align with the antimilitarist, decolonialist and peace activist positions that many scholars, activists and practitioners embrace. Yet women, like all marginalised groups, have a human right to engage in all areas of politics and society and should be able to influence decision-making........

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