Malta's commitment to Women Peace and Security in the UN Security Council
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Gender marker: G2-Promotes gender equality as a primary objective
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Implementing partners: Malta
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GAP III’s Areas:
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Women, peace and security
- The promotion of the participation of women in peace processes
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Malta launched its first National Action Plan to implement the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) in October 2020. The Action Plan was drafted in consultation with Ministry stakeholders, civil society and academia, and is being implemented by all stakeholders to ensure a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, and to foster ownership of this important agenda. An Oversight Committee composed of all stakeholders is in charge of the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the National Action Plan and meets periodically. Locally, outreach on Women, Peace, and Security has been conducted among university students, the Police Force, educators and NGOs. Moreover, Malta adopted the Gender Equality and Mainstreaming Strategy and Action Plan (2022 – 2027) and is in the process of developing the third strategy on Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence which will be launched in the coming months.
Besides local implementation of the National Action Plan, Malta is active on the Women, Peace and Security dossier within international fora. Women, Peace and Security is also one of the priorities for Malta’s two-year term on the UN Security Council between 2023 and 2024. Malta- together with fellow Council members, UN Member States, relevant UN Agencies as well as civil society organisations and other stakeholders – advocates for the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women in peace processes, improving women’s protection in conflict-affected areas, survivor and victim-centred approaches to conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence, and advancing a gender perspective in all conflict prevention and peace-building activities.
To walk the talk, Malta joined the “Women Peace and Security Shared Commitments” within the UN Security Council in 2022, partnering with likeminded Council members to drive forward implementation of the WPS normative framer by (1) supporting women’s full, equal, meaningful and safe participation in Council meetings; (2) including gender perspectives in Council meetings and products and (3) transparency in advancing the WPS Agenda through our working methods.
Amplifying the voices of women peacebuilders and human rights defenders is central to these commitments. In relation to Afghanistan, for example, Malta has convened informal briefings for Afghan women peacebuilders to engage directly with other Security Council members. It has also hosted and participated in numerous informal expert meetings with other Council members to hear from women peacebuilders, and environmental and human rights defenders from Colombia and Syria. During its presidency of the UN Security Council in February 2023, Malta brought a Women, Peace and Security focus to the Council's briefing on Somalia and organised a press stake-in prior to the discussion, together with the 10 other WPS shared commitment holders. As one of five countries on the Security Council with a woman Permanent Representative, Malta convened the ‘5W’ (the five women Permanent Representatives) in an informal meeting with legal experts and civil society representatives to strategise about how the Council can best respond to the women’s rights crisis in Afghanistan.
Moreover, on 26 June 2023, Malta organised its first Arria meeting on Enhancing the capacities of Member States to ensure a gender-responsive approach to counterterrorism at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Malta worked with the International Institute for Justice (IIJ) in the organisation of this meeting. The meeting considered the importance of building the capacity of Member States to ensure gender-responsive, human rights-compliant approaches to preventing and countering terrorism.
Additionally, Malta has been an active member of the Group of Friends of Women, Peace and Security since April 2021, and meets informally with like-minded Security Council members to better coordinate and advance the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. Malta is also a member of the WPS Focal Points Network.
Finally, Malta has also contributed financially towards the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda. By way of example, Malta has contributed to the implementation of the UN Women Afghanistan Country Office, the Rapid Response Window of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund and most recently to the UN Women’s WPS Global Facility.
