Validation meeting of the Bangladesh National action plan on Women, Peace and Security, 2019. Photo: UN Women/Activation Ltd
National action plans (NAPs) are practical documents that detail the actions a government is taking to meet its obligations under the ten UN Security Council Women, Peace and Security (WPS) resolutions and other internationally agreed-upon resolutions. NAPs ensure that governments translate these commitments into concrete policies and programmes. NAPs also provide valuable accountability tools for states and civil society.
NAPs provide opportunities for national stakeholders to convene around a planning tool that identifies priorities, determined responsibilities, allocates resources and initiates strategic actions within a defined timeframe to deliver policies and programmes that respond to the needs and priorities of conflict and crisis-affected women and communities from a gender perspective.
Over the past five years, UN Women has provided technical and financial support to governments, women-led organizations and CSOs at the national and local levels in several countries in the region. This targeted support helped develop, implement and monitor NAPs WPS through inclusive processes that reflected women’s diverse experiences, priorities and voices. Recently, there has been an increased interest in including emerging and non-traditional WPS issues such as climate change and cybersecurity in NAP on WPS.
As of February 2023, 105 countries have adopted NAPs, including 12 in the Asia and the Pacific region and several other countries in the region are currently developing NAPs. As of 2020, worldwide, 17 states had WPS NAPs that directly include mention of climate change.
The following countries in the Asia and the Pacific region have formulated NAPs:
- Afghanistan (2015-2022 | Phase I: 2015-2018, Phase II: 2019-2022)
- Australia (2012-2018) and 2nd NAP (2021-2031)
- Bangladesh (2019-2022)
- Indonesia (2014-2019) and 2nd NAP (2020-2025)
- Japan (2015-2018) and 2nd NAP (2019-2022)
- Nepal (2011/12 – 2015/16)
- New Zealand (2015-2019)
- The Philippines (2010-2016) and 2nd NAP (2017-2022)
- Republic of Korea (2014-2017), 2nd NAP (2018-2020) and 3rd NAP (2021-2023)
- Sri Lanka (2023-2027)
- Solomon Islands (2017-2021)
- Timor-Leste (2016-2021)
At the regional level, there is a Pacific Regional Action Plan (2012–2015), which has finalized its term. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has adopted in late 2022 a Regional Plan of Action.
The priorities and actions identified within NAPs in the WPS framework commonly integrate the four pillars of the WPS Agenda. These pillars encompass women’s participation at all levels of decision-making in the peace and security sphere; incorporate gender perspectives into conflict-prevention initiatives; protect the rights of women and girls; and ensure that gender considerations are integrated into relief and recovery efforts. Within these pillars, context-specific provisions could address the following areas:
- Conflict Prevention at all levels
- Constitutional and Electoral Reform
- Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) of Combatants
- Humanitarian Response: Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
- Peace Negotiations and Peace Agreements
- Peacekeeping Operations
- Post-conflict Rehabilitation, and Truth and Reconciliation
- Preventing and Responding to Gender-Based Violence
- Security Sector Reform
- Women’s meaningful participation and leadership
- Gender, security and climate change
- Gender and cybersecurity and the digital space