conflict

The twentieth anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) is in October 2020. It is a landmark resolution on women’s role in peacebuilding, but progress on women’s rights and leadership in peace and security decision making continues to fall short.

While intra-Afghan talks have started, sustainable peace is still a distant reality in Afghanistan. Ongoing peace efforts ignore women’s meaningful participation: women are included in only one in every five meetings. Evidence shows that when women have a meaningful role in peace negotiations, peace is more sustainable.

According to the latest statistics, an estimated 9.3 million people in Syria are now food insecure. This is almost half of the population in a war-torn country whose lives and livelihoods have been affected by the economic impact of coronavirus, with the most vulnerable hit the hardest. 

This paper explores the lessons learned by the Norwegian Refugee Council and Oxfam in more than ten years of combined operational experience from Damascus which can inform and improve the overall aid response in Syria.

Civil society has a vital role in advocating for inclusive, people-centred security provision which meets the everyday safety and security needs of all. This is especially crucial in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, characterized by high levels of insecurity.

We cannot effectively respond to a global pandemic when millions of people are still caught in warzones. We cannot treat sick people when hospitals are being bombed. We must have a global ceasefire, and we must put our collective resources behind making that ceasefire a reality. 

When conflict and crisis strike displacement, hunger, and poverty follow. But, all too often, it is women’s rights that become the early casualties of war. As they flee conflict, travel, and settle in refugee camps they are highly vulnerable to all forms of violence. Throughout the world, Oxfam works to advocate for change that will transform women’s lives.