Shaheen-Capito Bipartisan Legislation to Promote Women's Participation in Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding Sent to Senate Floor
** Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously passed the Women, Peace, and Security Act to further the U.S. commitment to women's leadership in peace and security efforts worldwide **
(Washington, DC) – Today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously passed legislation reintroduced by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) to ensure the United States promotes women’s meaningful inclusion and participation in mediation and negotiation processes undertaken in order to prevent, mitigate, or resolve violent conflict. The Women, Peace and Security Act would further the commitments contained in the United States’ National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security. The legislation will now go to the Senate floor.
“This is an encouraging step forward in our effort to ensure that women have a meaningful role in peace talks, conflict prevention, and conflict mediation,” said Senators Shaheen and Capito. “Women are disproportionally affected by violence and armed conflict around the world, yet far too often they are under-represented in the peace process. We urge our Senate colleagues to pass this important bipartisan legislation.”
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, between 1992 and 2011, women represented fewer than 4 percent of signatories to peace agreements and 9 percent of negotiators. In 2015, only 3 percent of UN military peacekeepers and 10 percent of UN police personnel were women.
The National Action Plan released in December 2011 expresses the United States’ commitment to empower women as equal partners in preventing conflict and building peace around the globe. The Women, Peace, and Security Act would ensure that the goals and objectives of the National Action Plan are integrated into future foreign policy decisions and that the United States continues to lead in promoting to women’s participation in peace and security efforts for years to come.
