Tomorrow marks the 15th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), adopted 31 October 2000. For the first time it recognised the unique impact of wars on women, and their role in peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Yet a renewed focus on ‘hard security’ now threatens to exclude more women from peace processes worldwide. Fifteen years on, how much has the resolution achieved? PhD fellows Ortrun Merkle and Tamara Kool investigate. Above all, UN Security Coun...
Ahead of International Day of Peace, 21 September, fear and conflict are returning to Burundi, warns migration expert Dr. Sonja Fransen. Her research shows that conflict and forced migration have long-term effects — effects that trickle down to post-war generations. The International Day of Peace, 21 September, was pushed through the 1981 UN General Assembly with a view to “strengthening ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples”. Yet now, in 2015, the prospects for wo...