The malicious use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) such as offensive cyber operations and Internet and telecommunications shutdowns are a reality of contemporary armed conflict, featuring regularly in international wars between States and in internal civil conflicts. As the malicious ICT conduct in conflict has grown, so have the calls for its inclusion among issues to be negotiated in peace processes.

This (2024) UN DPPA, DPO and UN Women Options Paper provides UN senior leadership, including (D)SRSGs, and RCs/HCs, options and illustrative examples on how the UN system can advance tangible results in women’s participation in peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding by 2030, as part of achieving the Secretary-General's (2020) Women Peace and Security goals for the decade (see: S/2020/946, para 113).

This brief addresses the importance of women’s full, equal and meaningful participation to an effective pandemic response and to peacemaking efforts, and how the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda can provide a critical framework for inclusive decision-making and sustainable solutions.

The Colombian peace process and its 2016 Final Peace Agreement are widely held to be an international model for gender-sensitivity and the inclusion of women’s rights. The United Nations (UN) played an active role, along with others in the international community, first

The Colombian peace process and its 2016 Final Peace Agreement are widely held to be an international model for gender-sensitivity and the inclusion of women’s rights. In many respects, that Agreement embodies the vision and principles reflected in UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (WPS),1 although it includes no explicit mention of them.

The Mediation Support Unit (MSU) in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) serves as the UN system-wide focal point on mediation expertise and support.