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    Women Underrepresented in Peace & Security

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    Stockholm (NordSIP) – According to the recently launched SHEcurity Index, women remain underrepresented in the field of foreign and defence policy. The Index rates the gender equality between male and female representation in national parliaments, ambassadorships, diplomatic corps, the armed forces and the police from the EU countries and the G20.

    The index aims to track the progress since these countries committed themselves to the Women, Peace and Security Agenda 20 years ago, when the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. According to the UN, the resolution “reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security”

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    According to the report‘s foreword by Dr Hannah Neumann, the “idea behind this Index, and the corresponding database, is to collect all data available in one place, to do everything possible to fill (the many) gaps, to share the index with everyone and to run a few analyses myself.”

    The report ranks Sweden at the top of gender equality in ambassadorships, with almost a 50% share of women. Finland comes in 3rd place, Denmark in 11th. The Finnish diplomatic corps is dominated by women, who represent almost 70% of the staff. Sweden comes in 4th place with approximately 60%, while in Denmark they represent marginally more than 55%. Hungary, Australia and Slovenia have the highest share of women in the armed forces between 10% and 20%, while Lithuania, Estonia and the Netherlands have the highest shares of women in the police. Sweden comes in at 4th place with 30%, Finland in 15th place and Denmark in 18th.

    “I hope the publication of the first #SHEcurity Index will encourage governments to gather and share more data and will fuel the debate on the role of women in peace and security. This overview and the corresponding data set can only be a start towards this end and I want to thank everyone who contributed to it,” Neumann adds.

    “Resolutions, Action Plans and Strategies are important tools towards this end. Data and knowledge about the progress we make are equally important. Now it’s time to really speed things up and change the reality out there. Because peace needs women, more and fast,” Neumann concludes.

    Image by Ink Drop © Shutterstock

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