United Nations

This document affirms the principles that guide the Australian Government and its stakeholders in international multiagency response efforts. It captures the best of the learning that has come from the Australian experience of contemporary operations overseas.

The United Nations’ Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has emerged over the past decade and a half as a significant cross-cutting thematic program for achieving global peace and security.

These Policy Proposals are the product of a three-year Australian Research Council-funded project on ‘Strengthening the Rule of Law through the UN Security Council’.

Between November 2018 and November 2019, the primary author conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 100 Syrian women in Jordan and Lebanon – host countries for large numbers of Syrian refugees (along with many Palestinian and Iraqi refugees) – and in Australia. The women were between the ages of 18 and 63; most were in their 30s and 40s. The primary author also interviewed people working with Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.

Women’s leadership and collective action have changed the world by combatting violence against women and building equality. Women’s leadership is central to reconciliation and conflict resolution and to peacebuilding efforts that bring results for families and communities.