Bangladesh starts building its next-generation Women, Peace and Security national action plan

Authors: Julie Marks and Shararat Islam

Bangladesh initiated a road map for developing its next-generation National Action Plan to advance the representation and participation of women in peace and security processes following a joint workshop organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Bangladesh and UN Women.

Held in Dhaka from 6–7 September 2026, the workshop featured collaborative reflections on contemporary peace and security challenges and national priorities, leading to concrete steps for drafting the country’s new National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS).

Bangladesh was one of the pioneering nations to promote the WPS agenda following the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 1325 in 2000.

The Government of Bangladesh launched its first NAP on WPS in November 2019 for the period 2019–2025.

Chief Guest Shama Obaid, State Minister of Foreign Affairs, said: “Advancing the Women, Peace and Security agenda is not only a global commitment, it is also a moral imperative and a shared responsibility. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains committed to advancing this agenda in close cooperation with all concerned stakeholders.”

Against this backdrop, the workshop brought together all members of the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group, comprised of 16 ministries, departments and divisions, and two civil society organizations (CSOs) to align the next-generation framework with national and global contexts.

Gitanjali Singh, UN Women Representative in Bangladesh, underlined that a new NAP should not simply renew commitments: “Bangladesh has an opportunity to build on its solid foundation and demonstrate what a next-generation WPS agenda can achieve, moving from commitment to implementation, from participation to leadership and from plans to measurable results.”

A compelling presentation on Bangladesh and the WPS agenda by Md. Kamruzzaman, Director General, United Nations wing at MOFA, set the context for two days of collaborative thinking that were made possible with the support of the Australian Government through the UN Women Regional Framework for Governance, Peace and Security.

Reiterating the commitment of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Dr. Rowsan Ara Begum, its Secretary, said it stands ready to partner with MOFA, UN Women, CSOs and development partners:

“Let us ensure our next-generation National Action Plan is not only well designed but fully financed, properly coordinated and ultimately owned by the women it serves.”

Regional and global specialists engaged in the UN Women-facilitated sessions on emerging trends and issues, such as the impacts of climate change and cybersecurity and artificial intelligence on peacebuilding.

Norul Mohamed Rashid, UN Women Regional Policy Advisor for Governance, Peace and Security in Asia and the Pacific, highlighted a sharp increase in the number of women and girls affected by conflict globally, rising militarization and military spending, and overcoming challenges to effective implementation of WPS NAPs.

Tania Sharmin, UN Women Bangladesh Planning, Monitoring and Reporting Analyst, led a discussion on youth involvement in peace processes and provided an overview of the outcome document from the youth-led Asia-Pacific regional Gen-Forum platform on 7 September 2026. Photo: UN Women/Samiul Bashir Shimul

The participants also explored youth involvement in peace processes as well as new models of women's leadership, disability inclusion, intersectionality and localization practices from across the region.

The workshop closed with a commitment from Bangladesh to develop a second-generation national action plan that is, in the words of Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam, the Secretary (Bilateral) of Foreign Affairs, “ambitious in vision, practical in design and effective in action”.