Explaining the global diffusion of the Women, Peace and Security agenda

The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) is the most significant international normative framework addressing the gender-specific impacts of conflict on women and girls including protection against sexual and gender-based violence, promoting women’s participation in peace and security and supporting their roles as peace builders in the prevention of conflict. In the decade since 2004 when the UN Secretary-General first called for Women, Peace and Security National Action Plans to implement the 1325 agenda in national-level peace and security institutions and policies, 55 countries have adopted them. This article analyses the global patterns of Women, Peace and Security policy diffusion, especially the effects of conflict, democracy and women in power on the propensity for states to implement Women, Peace and Security National Action Plans. Examining patterns of diffusion enables an assessment of how far the Women, Peace and Security agenda has spread and what the prospects are for the further diffusion of Women, Peace and Security.