In 2020, we commemorate 20 years of the Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in October 2000. The UN Secretary-General’s 2019 Annual Report on WPS highlighted the important role of regions in developing innovative, ‘context-specific’ approaches to the WPS agenda and in identifying practical and measurable steps for fully implementing the agenda.

In anticipation of the UN Security Council Open Debate on WPS in late October, it is fitting that experts from Indonesia and Australia, countries that are both champions of the WPS agenda, come together to mark the 20th anniversary of #1325 and to discuss the next decade for ‘Women, Peace and Security’.

Co-hosted by Monash Gender Peace and Security Centre and AMAN Indonesia, the dialogue will focus in particular on how both Indonesia and Australia can further promote and support women’s meaningful participation with the aim of bringing greater security to the Indo Pacific region. It will be 2 pm  to 3:30 pm AEDT (+10 UTC)

Ruby Khalifa, of AMAN Indonesia, is also an IPTI alum from MBBI. Read more about the IPTI program here.

Government, research and NGO leaders will discuss the peace and security challenges facing the region – including armed conflict, climate-induced disaster, rising violent extremism and the COVID-19 pandemic – and the relevance of the WPS agenda framework in addressing these challenges.

Both Indonesian and Australian governments are about to adopt their second National Action Plans for Women, Peace and Security so this is an opportune time to discuss the next decade of WPS action and how Indonesia and Australia can collaborate further on, inter alia, increasing women’s presence in peace and security decision-making, enhancing the capacity for gender-responsive policy and programming; amplifying the agency of young women and supporting women’s civil society networks and their participation in sustaining peace.