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Twenty-five years ago, on October 31, 2000, the United Nations unanimously adopted its landmark (WPS 1325). The resolution on reaffirmed "the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction." It also stressed the "importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security."

The significance of women to building sustainable peace is undeniable. has found that, on average, the incorporation of measures to include women in post-conflict society in a peace agreement reduces the probability of conflict recurrence by 11%. Even more significantly, if this process occurs alongside UN leadership, the probability of conflict recurrence is reduced by 37%.

So the anniversary of WPS 1325 should be a reason to celebrate. Instead, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, to the Security Council's annual debate on women, peace and security on October 6 with a warning. Guterres said the UN too often "falls short when it comes to real change in the lives of women and girls caught in conflict." He specifically noted the lack of inclusion of women in peace negotiations, the failure to protect women and girls from sexual violence, and the underfunding of women peacebuilders.

Over the past 25 years, the almost 1,000 resolutions related to WPS 1325. In 2015, aimed for the more systematic integration of the women, peace and security agenda into "all country-specific situations on the Security Council's agenda." To facilitate this, the UN Security Council set up an informal group of experts.

There is no doubt that the women, peace and security agenda has had a positive impact. Guterres that "gender provisions in peace agreements have become more common, and women's organizations have helped transform post-conflict recovery and reconciliation in communities worldwide." He declared that "women-led civil society and women peace builders … are the drivers behind holistic and sustainable peace."

Yet according to a , global cuts to foreign aid budgets make it harder for women to make these vital contributions to peace and security.

The situation is similarly challenging for UN peacekeeping. The in mid-2025 stood at almost US$2.7 billion (£2.04 billion), with the US, China and Russia the three largest debtors. Despite a significant decrease over the past decade in the peacekeeping budget from US$8.4 billion in 2014-15 to US$5.2 billion in 2024-25, the share of unpaid contributions has more than tripled from 13% to 41% over the same period.

If these two trends persist, the prospects for sustainable conflict resolution will dramatically diminish.

Women as peacebuilders

Aiming to explore how to prevent civil wars from recurring, we in recurrent civil wars. This analysis revealed that the UN, working with local women's organizations, was able to create and sustain multi-level coalitions committed to concluding, maintaining and implementing peace accords.

We then tested these findings statistically against concluded in violent conflicts worldwide. This confirmed that—together—UN leadership and the inclusion of women in post-conflict society significantly increase the odds of a peace agreement surviving for more than five years.

Finally, we conducted in-depth case studies of peace processes in the Bangsamoro region in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, as well as in Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone. This enabled us to establish how the UN and women-led organizations are able to help prevent civil wars from recurring.

What we found was that women's participation was able to make the needs and experiences of previously marginalized groups visible and address them in peace agreements. For example, , the UN development fund for women, sponsored an all-party women's conference at the margins of the in Burundi in 2000. This ensured that the subsequent peace agreement contained extensive provisions to enhance the socioeconomic inclusion of women in post-conflict society.

When the UN and women-led organizations work together, people who might have been left out of the peace process can be involved in its implementation. Liberia's (supported by UN Women) are a visible example of how women can contribute to sustaining peace. Adapted from the traditional Liberian system, peace huts provide spaces for dialogue, mediation of disputes and the sharing of information.

Cooperation between the UN and women-led organizations can also help provide early warning and action in response to local tensions. This can prevent them from escalating into renewed violent conflict. This dynamic was evident in the key roles played by women-led civil society organizations (often supported by the UN) in creating before, during and after agreements were signed across all the peace processes we examined.

Our research findings thus offer empirical support for many of the aspirations of . But they also show the risks of inaction and, worse, rolling back the fragile progress that has been made in the decades since this vision was formally adopted.

The UN comes in for a lot of criticism. But our findings suggest that it's probably the only organization able to leverage the diplomatic, financial and military resources to assist the conclusion and sustainable implementation of peace accords.

Our key finding is that civil wars can be prevented from recurring. But this won't happen if the very people that can build and nurture sustainable peace are disempowered. World leaders queued up at the annual UN in September to stress their commitment to peace and conflict resolution. But to demonstrate this commitment, they need to in peace processes through unwavering diplomatic and financial support. And they need to invest in local women's organizations that can facilitate sustainable and legitimate peace on the ground.