Resolution to Act is a groundbreaking initiative providing unparalleled support and expertise to countries creating or implementing national action plans.
The idea driving Resolution to Act is simple. Good intentions aren’t enough. We must measure success by whether national action plans are making a palpable difference in people’s lives—for instance, increasing citizens’ trust in their police after a war, so that rule of law can prevail.
While it’s up to governments to transform their own security paradigm, they often need help. So do watchdog groups calling out corruption or ineffective policies.
That’s why we’re resolved to act. This initiative enables our partners and us to deploy experts who will offer realistic, practical guidance. With direct, sustained engagement and a pioneering tool to monitor NAP implementation, we’ll help countries move from a pro forma process to one that consistently delivers meaningful results, fostering greater buy-in among stakeholders such as ministries, community leadership, or minority groups.
Realizing the Promise of Resolution 1325
October 31, 2000, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, transforming the global security paradigm so that it takes into account the extraordinary ability of women to enhance stability.
Since then, 37 countries have developed “national action plans” to identify and implement critical changes in their practices, policies, and budgets—and many more are in the process of doing so. While the plans generally deal with government ministries and agencies, civil society uses them to hold governments accountable.
Yet key questions remain. To what extent has UNSCR 1325 translated into meaningful actions with measurable impact? Have the NAPs truly been effective in supporting the resolution’s goals? How many lives have been saved or improved in the last dozen years as a result of the resolution? To realize the promise of 1325, we must answer these and more questions.
About The Institute for Inclusive Security
Since 1999, the Institute for Inclusive Security has worked with more than 5,000 policymakers and 2,000 women leaders from 40 conflict regions to increase the participation of marginalized groups—particularly women—in preventing, resolving, and stabilizing after deadly conflicts.
Ambassador Swanee Hunt chairs the Institute, which is a program of Hunt Alternatives Fund. Since its founding in 1981, the Fund has contributed well more than $100 million to social change through a blend of grant making and operating programs.
Leveraging More Than a Decade of Experience in Conflict Zones
Women’s participation transforms the way peace processes work. According to social science and business management research, women as a group are generally more collaborative and open to compromise. Protestant and Catholic women in Northern Ireland won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize, marching together for an end to The Troubles.
Women address the needs of other marginalized groups, needs they learn about as they create networks across communities and divisions. Women played an expansive role in negotiating the Darfur Peace Agreement by raising previously neglected issues such as food security.
Since 2000, a large proportion of peace agreements have failed within five years. When women are included in negotiations, they can better reflect constituents’ priorities and earn fuller public buy-in. To end the 36-year war in Guatemala, one woman among 30 negotiators brought gender justice into the peace agreement, establishing new rights of women throughout the society.
Read more about Resolution to Act »
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