Women Peacebuilders Forum

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27-29 January 2026
Bangkok, Thailand

UN Women and our partners marked 25 years of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in 2025. This milestone presented an important opportunity to reinvigorate action by centering the voices, expertise and leadership of women peacebuilders – particularly those in civil society who have been the frontline drivers of change.

Regional collaboration and solidarity among women-led organizations remain essential to translating WPS commitments into real, sustained impact across South Asia.

Against this backdrop, the Women Peacebuilders Forum: Promoting Peaceful, Inclusive and Resilient Societies through the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in South Asia served as a vital platform for women peacebuilders and other stakeholders across South Asia to collectively reflect on the progress made, examine emerging challenges (such as climate resilience, digital harms and social cohesion) and identify inclusive, intersectional and innovative approaches and solutions to advance peaceful societies in distinct contexts.

Women peacebuilders and representatives of civil society and women’s networks with diverse backgrounds from South Asian countries shared their experiences during panel discussions, expert presentations, working groups and plenary session, as well as a reception.

The participants contributed insights from regional and global initiatives, underscoring the value of multi-stakeholder partnerships and sustained international support in fostering transformative, inclusive and resilient peacebuilding efforts. The importance of collective action and networking across borders, and of intergenerational learning emerged as strong themes.

This UN Women-convened forum was generously supported by the Government of Japan, a long-standing champion of the WPS agenda, under the Partnerships for Peace initiative.

View the Women Peacebuilders Forum Flickr album.

Context

Over the past two decades, South Asia has made significant strides in advancing the WPS agenda. Countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka have developed National Action Plans to implement this global agenda. Many are troop and other contributing countries to UN Peacekeeping, with increasing numbers of women.

Across the Asia-Pacific region, UN Women supports governments, women-led organizations and civil society at all levels to advance the WPS agenda. UN Women promotes inclusive, whole-of-society processes that centre women’s diverse contributions and tackle emerging security threats, such as climate change and cybersecurity, while working to ensure that women are heard, empowered and included in all aspects of peace.

See also:

• Partnerships for Peace: Commemorating 25 Years of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda
• In Focus: 25 years of the Women, Pe: ace and Security agenda in Asia and the Pacific
• National Action Plans for Women, Peace and Security