Japan and UN Women to forge partnerships for peace

English | 日本語

A Japanese-funded UN Women programme underscores the importance of forging partnerships to accelerate the meaningful participation of women in peace and security decision-making and processes at all levels in Asia and the Pacific, and globally, amid concern over stalled progress.

The “Partnerships for Peace – Commemorating 25 Years of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda” programme is timely as the global community’s commitments under UN Security Council resolution 1325 – which laid the foundations for the WPS agenda in 2000 – come under heightened scrutiny.

In recent years, the annual reports of the UN Secretary-General on WPS have warned of stagnation and regression across key indicators.

Japan is a long-standing champion of the WPS agenda and partner of UN Women since the entity’s establishment. This latest cooperation aims to advance collaborative efforts among Member States at the global and regional level, and to support the advancement and implementation of the WPS agenda in the Asia-Pacific region.

Under the programme’s global component, UN Women is supporting Japan’s leadership and contribution to global WPS decision-making and coordination processes, primarily Japan’s role as co-chair of the WPS Focal Points Network in 2025, in partnership with the Government of Norway.

For example, more than 200 government officials, peacebuilders and civil society representatives from over 90 countries attended the Seventh Capital-Level Meeting of the WPS Focal Points Network in Tokyo on 4-6 February, jointly hosted by the Governments of Japan and Norway, with support provided through the programme.

Further, the Government of Japan is supporting UN Women’s Liaison Office in Tokyo, to facilitate project coordination and the formation of new partnerships within Japan on WPS.

The Asia-Pacific component is being implemented by the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, guided by a five-year Regional Framework Towards Peaceful, Inclusive Societies, which outlines strategies to effectively meet traditional and emerging peace and security challenges across Asia and the Pacific.

Under the programme, UN Women is providing tailored technical support, research and data to regional bodies and national governments in Asia and the Pacific to meet their needs for improved capability to implement collective and national commitments under the WPS agenda.

Normative standard-setting, regional solidarity, and networking and localization of the WPS agenda to specific contexts through the development and operationalization of regional frameworks on WPS are other key areas of UN Women’s support.

As the lead UN entity on the WPS agenda in the Asia-Pacific region, UN Women provides technical support to women and young women to participate in and lead in policymaking to implement the WPS agenda and build resilience at regional, national and local levels.

See Also

• In Focus: 25 Years of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Asia and the Pacific in 2025
• UN Secretary-General’s 2024 report on women, peace and security