The below is an excerpt from an entry in the the April 2021 newsletter of the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium written by VCDNP Project/Events Manager and Research Associate Mara Zarka.
"The international community has increasingly recognised the importance of women’s participation in peace and security issues and the benefits of applying a gender perspective in policy development. The adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the emergence of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, have contributed to the growing international norm acknowledging the impacts of various weapons systems on gender and the need to engage women in policy decisions. However, work remains to be done to achieve the goals laid out in several international agreements ranging from the Arms Trade Treaty to the recently in force Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Efforts must continue to increase female representation in disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control fora and at negotiating tables where women are consistently underrepresented.
Though not always acknowledged, women have been engaged in disarmament efforts since the early 1900s when nearly 1200 women advocated for the end of WWI and for international disarmament. Throughout the twentieth century women’s movements have made an impact on the disarmament discussion and even led to the removal of cruise missiles from the UK Greenham Common site."
