GIHR participated in the launch of the third edition of the global Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Index which provided a comprehensive measure of women's status across 170 countries, co-hosted by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security , the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security (PRIO GPS), and the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations.
Panelists included : Amb. Mona Juul (Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations), Dr. Jeni Klugman, Managing Director (Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security), Paivi Kannisto (Chief of UN Women’s Women, Peace and Security Unit), Ms. Daphne Jayasinghe (International Rescue Committee Director of Policy, Europe) Ms. Mariam Safi (Founding Director, Organization for Policy and Research Studies) Dr. Torunn L. Tryggestad (Deputy Director, PRIO & Director, PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security)
Moderator: Amb. Melanne Verveer (Director, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security)
During the conference, expert panelists discussed global and regional trends, prevalent and new gaps, as well as illuminated on how critical the Index is as a tool for policymakers, practitioners and activists.
Within that framework, the WPS Index illuminated that the global progress on women’s status has slowed and disparities have widened across countries.
Similarly, this year’s report placed a focus on organized violence. The collected data has demonstrated that while the number of deaths are below the 2014 peak, the number of conflict events have been rising, due to non-state violence.
Moreover, the report placed a highlight on displacement and covid-19 on women and girls, particularly in regards to inclusion and security. Women’s employment has declined in over 100 countries, falling by over 20% in 20 countries. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that occupational segregation has jeopardized the economic state of women, with informal women workers facing even larger barriers. A heightened risk of violence during the pandemic has also been identified.
Nevertheless, despite the decline in the advance within the women, peace and security agenda, global efforts in response to the pandemic has resulted in positive results. Data has shown that 3,000 out of the 13,000 global policy responses have been classified as gender sensitive, addressing violence against women, unpaid care and economic security.
View the WPS Index Report : https://giwps.georgetown.edu/the-index/