Introduction: Why Women’s Participation Is Essential for Lasting Peace
Peace and security provide the conditions for stable societies. This enables them to uphold their human rights obligations and advance sustainable development effectively. Too many people suffer the devastating impact of armed conflicts and violence. Most of them are women and girls. Governments and international actors have started steps to advance women’s rights. Yet, a great deal remains undone.
Women in conflict-affected areas are frequently trapped between the worst bombs of war. They are on the front lines of war. They lose their homes and are separated from their families. They face violence and lose access to education, health services, and employment. Often they are absent at the peace negotiations while they are most concerned by the outcomes.
In response to these issues, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1325 in 2000. It established the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. This was the first time a UN resolution recognized the role of women in conflict prevention and recovery efforts. It also highlighted women’s participation in peace processes and peacebuilding.
And over a quarter of a century later, the urgency of this agenda is even greater.
Source: UN Women’s Report: Facts and Figures: Women, Peace, and Security (26 October 2026) The world is alarmingly off track. Conflicts are on the rise. Millions of women and girls live close to the epicenters of violence. Funding for groups defending women’s rights is declining.
All of this is a reminder of the vital role for NGOs, nonprofits, humanitarian organizations, and grassroots organizations. Their role cannot be limited to delivering humanitarian aid. It must foster opportunities for women to take leadership roles, encourage economic independence, and empower access to justice. Their voice should shape the choices that affect their future.
However, for the nonprofit sector, the Women, Peace and Security agenda is about more than just being an international policy. It is an opportunity to bring about transformation through community engagement, advocacy, awareness raising, humanitarian aid, and development programming.
Understanding the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda
The Women, Peace and Security agenda was introduced through United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, adopted unanimously in October 2000.
It was an important development in international efforts to recognize the relationship between gender equality, human rights, and global security. Before this resolution, discussions about armed conflicts and peace negotiations frequently overlooked the experiences and contributions of women.
Resolution 1325 changed this approach by recognizing that women are not simply victims of conflict. They are also peacebuilders, community leaders, negotiators, human rights defenders, and important contributors to rebuilding societies.
The agenda focuses on four major areas:
Participation: Women must have equal and meaningful chances to engage in conflict prevention, peace talks, and related processes. They should gain equal access to political decision-making, peacekeeping, and post-conflict recovery.
Protection: Governments and international organizations must strengthen protection for women and girls during conflicts. They must address gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, abuse, and other human rights violations.
Prevention must address the root causes of violence and inequality. It should advance women’s leadership to prevent conflicts and foster peaceful communities.
Relief and Recovery: Humanitarian aid, reconstruction, healthcare, education, and economic programs should meet the needs of women and girls. They should address women’s and girls’ experiences across sectors.
Over the years, additional United Nations Security Council resolutions have strengthened this framework. Together, these resolutions have established a foundation for international cooperation on women’s participation, protection, and empowerment.
However, having policies in place does not automatically guarantee progress. Their effectiveness depends on proper implementation, sufficient funding, accountability, and the involvement of local organizations.
This is where NGOs have an important role to play.
Rising Armed Conflicts Are Increasing the Risks for Women and Girls
The alarming news we saw in the 2026 UN Women report is the increased number of conflicts globally.
In 2025, there were more than 185 armed conflicts recorded worldwide, including 65 state-based conflicts, the most since 1946.
The impacts are felt well beyond the front lines. Conflict weakens health systems and dislocates livelihoods. It shatters homes and schools, undermining public institutions. This forces whole communities to flee their homes.
Women and girls are at further risk due to pre-existing inequalities, financial constraints, and barriers to access.
The report states that 756 million women and girls experienced conflict within 50 km of a conflict event in 2025. This accounts for about 19 percent of the world’s female population. This is the highest number and percentage reported since the 1990s.
According to the United Nations, there were also more than 37,000 deaths among civilians in 20 of the world’s armed conflicts in 2025. Women and girls represented a quarter of all victims.
What these numbers show is the extent of impact conflict has on civilians, specifically women and children.
For humanitarian NGOs, the expanding scope of conflict presents a number of operational challenges. Going to meet the needs of emergency food needs, displacement, destroyed infrastructure, limited access to healthcare, and protection issues with fewer resources.
Research further highlights the need for us to better understand the specific experiences of different groups in emergency situations. A young girl who is separated from her family, an elderly woman living alone, or a displaced woman with young children all need different kinds of support.
Thus, in a humanitarian setting, attention must be paid to age, gender, and disability, as well as other vulnerabilities, including economic status and individual protection needs.
NGOs can take the lead in these processes by carrying out needs assessments, identifying vulnerable households, creating safe pathways for distribution and requiring women’s input into humanitarian interventions.
It is not enough just to provide emergency aid; the real goal is that aid should be properly targeted, providing help where needed, and properly distributed.
Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: A Growing Challenge for Humanitarian Organizations
Gender-based violence continues to be a gravest concern for the peoples living in areas of conflict globally.
During conflict situations, women and girls are often at risk of sexual violence, exploitation, forced marriage, trafficking, domestic violence, and other forms of abuse. Displacement, insecurity, and the collapse of national legal and social institutions can further increase these vulnerabilities.
Sexual violence associated with armed conflict is especially destructive in that its impact tends to outlast the actual violence that triggered it.
They suffer physical injuries, psychological trauma, ostracism, economic hardship, and difficulties in seeking justice. In communities where they are stigmatized or discriminated against, survivors can find it very difficult to report abuse.
UN women said the UN documented 9,788 incidents of sexual violence related to conflict in 2025. This was twice the number documented in 2024 and nearly four times the number in 2022.
Crucially, these figures do not even show the full extent of the problem. There are many more cases that are not recorded because women and girls are unable to seek help or report them.
This places a major burden on the shoulders of humanitarian and women’s rights groups.
Offer discreet counselling services. Offer women medical help. Give women access to legal services. Find safe places for women to turn to for help, who will treat them without prejudice.
In addition, organizations can collaborate with community leaders, healthcare professionals, local government, and international agencies to enhance prevention and response measures.
We must provide services that preserve the dignity, privacy, autonomy, and safety of survivors. We should not use programming practices that place survivors at greater risk or require them to disclose trauma they may not be ready to share.
NGOs play an advocacy role as well. They can record instances of violence carefully and responsibly, educate people about safety issues, and pressure governments and other international agencies to hold themselves more accountable.
Eliminating conflict-related sexual violence requires a sustained investment in prevention, justice, health, education, and social services, not just immediate response.
Women Are Essential to Peace Negotiations and Conflict Resolution
One of the central messages of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda is the need to make the process of creating and maintaining peace inclusive of women.
If things go as they have in the past, those involved in peace negotiations are more likely to be political and military authorities and interested parties, while women from civil society groups, local communities, and grassroots organizations are absent.
Nevertheless, women can offer important insights in preventing and resolving conflicts.
They are familiar with the tensions within communities, the difficulties faced at the family level, community ties, and the social and economic impact of violence. Women-led organizations often keep these ties with local communities when no other actor has access in times of instability.
Involving them can prevent possible conflicts, prompt communications between the counteracting masses, and involve alternate solutions that are based on the needs of each population.
According to the UN Women report, a peace agreement with women signatories is more likely to be implemented and sustainable.
Another example: peacebuilding activities carried out in the border areas of Mali and Niger. The number of women involved in preventing conflict rose between 2020 and 2022, from 5 per cent to 25 per cent, helping to end more than 100 conflicts over local natural resources.
This shows how women’s engagement can generate tangible changes at the community level.
Even so, their role in formal peace processes is still very limited.
In 2025, women negotiated as part of their delegations in 13 out of 57 peace processes, representing on average only 5% of negotiators (down from 7% in 2024).
Which then leads us to ask the question: How can peace agreements ever respond to the needs of the communities that are affected when women are almost absent from the bargaining table?
This gaps can be countered by ensuring programming and activities that work with women leaders; trainings in negotiations and mediation; engaging women in leadership position and influencing inclusive peace processes.
They can also initiate local peace committees to enable women to learn about the issues faced in their community and to identify risk factors and challenges and work with local authorities and authorities on solutions.
Not tokenism for women’s voice at the table. Women’s engagement must be inclusive in both tokenism at the table and a game-changer in decision-making.
Education Is at Risk as Conflicts Disrupt the Future of Young Girls
One of the most powerful ways to close the gap and unlock opportunity for women and girls over the longer term is through education. But conflict often threatens to deprive millions of children the chance to learn in safe and secure environments.
Schools might be destroyed or damaged, teachers might be displaced, and families might be displaced. Sometimes, children are displaced because of economic reasons, as their families cannot afford the cost of going to school.
Girls may face extra challenges due to gender discrimination, concerns for safety, early marriage, and restrictions on their freedom.
Per the 2026 UN Women report, a minimum of 9,259 attacks on education took place during 2024-2025. This was a 50% rise from 2022-2023. At least 10,600 students and education staff were either killed or injured.
In addition, 127 million children and adolescents of the 273 million included in the Global out-of-school report from UNESCO live in crisis-affected countries. Girls make up 51% of out-of-school children and adolescents.
Afghanistan, where, since September 2021, girls and women have been prohibited from continuing their secondary education past Grade 6. Around 2.2 million girls had their secondary education precluded by March 2025.
The impact of losing your education can be generations. Girls who can’t complete their studies may have fewer chances of a job, less independence and more control by others.
NGOs and educational non-profit institutions may be one of the solutions to avoid setbacks like this.
Create interim learning centres, distribute learning materials, connect learners with digital learning where access exists, back up displaced teachers and create community-led initiatives that enable girls to keep attending school.
Some organizations might collaborate with communities and families to identify and resolve social or economic obstacles that make it difficult for girls to remain in school.
Education initiatives have to be safe and accessible. In conflict-affected areas, girls should not have to trade off safety against an education.
When NGOs invest in girls’ education, they are in effect investing in the future women leaders, experts, entrepreneurs and decision-makers of the community.
Healthcare Access for Women Is Becoming Increasingly Difficult
Healthcare access is another significant issue.
Emergency: Patients may be forced to leave hospitals and health centres damaged during emergencies. Medical supplies may be not available and health staff may find it difficult to reach the communities.
The created chaos poses dangerous risks to women, including pregnant women, mothers and babies, sexual violence survivors, and people who need ongoing treatment.
In 2025, more than 1,400 healthcare incidents were reported in 20 countries in complex humanitarian emergencies, including more than 3,100 deaths and injuries.
Ukrainian, Gaza, Myanmar, and Sudan were among the nations and territories mentioned in the report.
The destruction of medical infrastructure also has long-term implications. Women may no longer have access to prenatal visits, emergency obstetric care, reproductive health, and other vital medical care.
The report further estimates that 160,000 women died of preventable maternal causes in fragile and conflict-affected settings in 2023. For every woman giving birth in a fragile and conflict-affected country, a woman in a stable country was five times more likely to die from maternity-related causes.
This just goes to show why it’s so essential to bolster the provision of maternal and reproductive care in humanitarian settings.
NGOs can help by providing mobile health clinics, creating emergency medical referral networks, and sharing medical supplies and working with local doctors.
May also inform you about health, nutrition, hygiene and healthcare services available to the mother.
But a larger, more strategic health solution should be the goal of any humanitarian health programmes. While short-term medical camps are effective, long term solutions rely on stronger local health systems, local staff and supply chains and (importantly) ongoing investment.
For NGOs in this field establishing relationships with hospitals, government health office and other health workers or agencies may assist in the delivery of services.
Food Insecurity and Malnutrition Are Deepening Women’s Vulnerability
Food insecurity is yet another challenge for women and girls.
Conflict may also be a cause of agricultural production disruption, livelihood destruction, market access limitation and disruption of transportation networks. Families can also lose their income and become dependent on humanitarian aid.
In 2025, 266 million people in 47 countries and territories were affected by high levels of acute food insecurity, based on the 2026 Global Report on Food Crises information available to UN Women.
Children and women are especially at risk of hunger in these crises.
In the context of five consecutive years of three percent global growth, the report forecast 9.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women were acutely malnourished in 2025 and 35.5 million children under five were acutely malnourished.
Poor maternal nutrition during pregnancy poses potentially serious health threats to mothers and children. For young children, missing out on sufficient nutrition has negative effects on their growth, health and learning.
NGOs may also consider helping through provision of emergency food aid, community nutrition activities, maternal nutrition and sustainable food-related projects.
They can also help to empower women farmers through food production at a community level, by offering agricultural training, access to resources and better farming practices.
Food assistance programmes need to ensure they are aware of intra-household inequalities Food within a household does not necessarily reach women and girls.
Hence, women should be empowered to participate in assessment of community needs, planning for food distribution, and evaluation of the programmes.
Ensuring long-term food security involves a mix of emergency support, restoring livelihoods, agricultural development and robust local food systems.
Economic Independence: Helping Women Rebuild Their Lives After Conflict
Economic independence is strongly linked to gender equality and women’s safety, dignity and ability to recover from conflict.
As businesses fold, markets destabilize, and jobs vanish, women may also lose their economic independence. Displaced women, in particular, are usually more vulnerable because they have been stripped of their homes, places of work, land, and professional networks.
In 2026, UN Women reported that 426.4 million women and girls worldwide lived in extreme poverty. 162.9 million of these women and girls lived in a conflict-affected situation.
The employment gender gap is similarly large. Globally, in 2025, 46.5% of women of working age were in employment, compared to 69.6% of men.
In countries affected by conflict, women’s levels of employment were even lower 37% of working-age women were employed, compared with 65.2% of men.
Additionally, 79% of employed women in conflict-affected countries work in informal employment, frequently with no protection of labour rights or social security, or decent working conditions.
This highlights why economic recovery packages and plans should be targeted to the needs of women.
NGOs have the capacity to provide people with employment by means of vocational training, entrepreneurship development, financial literacy programmes, microenterprise support and livelihood programmes.
For instance, a non-profit that works with internally displaced women may offer a vocational training programme that teaches tailoring, food processing, digital skills or other areas that are relevant to the local economy.
But training is not always sufficient. Women also require business resources and markets, in addition to financial services, childcare, and working environments.
Hence, it is advised that organizations should develop programmes that help overcome all barriers rather than investing on a programme targeted on improving skills alone.
Advancing women’s economic empowerment is good for society. When women have the opportunity to earn an income, they provide additional income to their families, support their children’s education, help local businesses and become more engaged in community growth.
Climate Change and Conflict Are Creating Additional Risks for Women
Another key focus of the Women, Peace and Security agenda is the linkages between climate change, resource scarcity and conflict.
AChanging climate may exacerbate water scarcity, agricultural impacts, temperature extremes, flooding and droughts, and in these ways place additional stress on some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
In regions experiencing political instability or conflict, these environmental constraints can be more acute.
Women are especially vulnerable as they may have less control over land ownership and use, access to agricultural inputs and credit.
According to a UN Women report, 13 of the 15 most climate-vulnerable countries experience violence.
But women continue to have an underrepresentation in climate planning and decision-making.
Only 6% of 4,164 climate actions outlined in national climate pledges and adaptation plans in 24 countries mention women, according to an FAO assessment.
This is a big gap because women are very involved in farming, natural resource use, household food security and local environmental protection.
NGOs can play a role in tackling this challenge by bringing forward women-led climate adaptation initiatives, supporting sustainable agriculture, enhancing water management practices and engaging women in decision-making processes around the environment.
They can also assist women as they defend the environment, who often face threats and violence while defending land, forests and natural resources, and the people around them.
Engaging girls and women in climate programming is crucial for the empowerment and resilience of the community.
Women Human Rights Defenders Are Facing Growing Threats
Have you wondered what it takes for women to stand up for justice and equality? It’s not just a matter of speaking up. If you’re a woman human rights defender, journalist, activist or community leader, you’re likely to face intimidation, harassment and even violence on a regular basis.
It might seem like digital technology is really helpful in spreading the word. But unfortunately, that’s not the whole story. A recent report by UN Women found that a huge 70 percent of women in these positions experienced online violence as a consequence of their work – and a worrying 24 percent said that the violence was generated using artificial intelligence.
So, how does this affect you and those around you? These attacks can discourage women from speaking out in public spaces or from advocating for themselves.
NGOs should be ready to step up and protect these courageous women. NGOs can provide online safety training, legal and emergency protection, and secure communication guidance, as well as safety networks for these women. Furthermore, they should campaign for tougher legislation to combat online abuse.
Women human rights defenders aren’t only in need of protection – they’re essential to democracy, accountability, peace and social justice. Why can’t we afford to support them?
The Funding Crisis Facing Women’s Rights Organizations
NGOs-particularly those working with women and girls-are feeling the pinch of the increasing weight of responsibilities. Why is it that local women’s organisations are the first to respond to humanitarian crises? They are familiar with the territory, connected with the communities and can identify needs that larger agencies might not be aware of.
A lot of these grassroots groups depend on or are just existing on short-term grants and project-based funding. When the funder stops the funding the group has to discontinue programs, lay off staff and sometimes even curtail services. What are all these issues leading to?
As UN Women reports in 2026.2019 findings, it’s also been a concerning decline in aid for gender equality organizations in fragile or conflict-affected states. Aid to these fragile states for women’s rights NGOs fell from 215.4 million to 167.9 million in 2024, a mere 0.4% of all aid to bilateral countries. The burden falls mostly on the more outlying, more inaccessible areas.
Here are some startling figures from the 2026 UN Women report on aid cuts: 63% of women’s organisations have been forced to cut back services in hard-to-reach areas 45% are running out of funding in less than six months 77% have had to cut jobs Can you spot the contradiction? International actors are calling for greater female leadership, but the groups that do this work are losing vital resources.
It’s a vicious circle of insecurity for small and grassroots NGOs. They spend more time on grant writing, donor requirements and chasing new funding than in doing the work of the community. So funding methods need to change.
Donors, foundations and philanthropists should consider providing multiyear flexible funding to local organizations. It’s more than funding specific activities; it’s also funding things like salaries, administration and technology. Donors should remember that capacity-building is equally important as programmatic implementation.
Why Donors Must Invest More in Grassroots Women’s Organizations
Ever thought about why local NGOs have the edge over international NGOs? It’s because they understand their populations. International NGOs may have money, logistical expertise and a tonne of humanitarian access. But local NGOs can be in tune with things like: the culture, the community, the language barriers, the day-to-day hardships of women.
Presence in the community allows them to identify problems and implement solutions that are relevant to the specific context. For example, consider a women-led organization in a conflict-affected area of a rural country. They may be aware of the reasons that women don’t go to the nearest health facility. Is it transportation costs, safety concerns, social restrictions or an absence of female healthcare professionals?
So how do they do it? Partly, grassroots organizations make sure that the community has a voice in designing and implementing programs. But they can only do this if they have the financial and institutional resources to do so.
What can donors do to strengthen grassroots groups? Think longer-term funding cycles, with fewer application and reporting demands for small groups, invest in local leadership, and support capacity building in areas like financial management, program delivery and monitoring. Support organizational development and core costs, and establish a dedicated funding pipeline for women-focused programs.
Isn’t it time humanitarians and development funds began to find the people closest to the people in need?
How NGOs Can Turn the Women, Peace and Security Agenda into Practical Action
The Women, Peace and Security agenda provides an important international framework, but its success depends on how effectively it is implemented at the local level.
NGOs can contribute through several interconnected approaches.
1. Strengthening Women-Led Community Organizations
NGOs should prioritize partnerships with local women’s groups, community networks, and grassroots organizations.
These groups can identify local challenges, organize community discussions, provide support services, and represent women’s interests in local decision-making.
International nonprofits can strengthen these organizations through funding, technical assistance, training, and long-term partnerships.
2. Promoting Women’s Participation in Peace Committees
Community peace committees can help identify local disputes before they escalate into violence.
NGOs can encourage women’s participation in these committees and provide training in negotiation, mediation, leadership, and conflict resolution.
The objective should be to ensure that women have genuine influence over decisions rather than simply being included to meet representation targets.
3. Improving Access to Education and Skills Development
Education programmes should remain a priority during humanitarian emergencies.
NGOs can support temporary schools, learning centres, scholarships, digital education, vocational training, and programmes for girls who have experienced interrupted education.
Skills development should also be connected to actual employment and livelihood opportunities.
4. Expanding Healthcare and Protection Services
Humanitarian organizations should strengthen access to maternal healthcare, reproductive health services, psychosocial support, and survivor-centred assistance.
They can also establish referral networks with hospitals, legal professionals, and specialized protection agencies.
5. Supporting Women’s Economic Independence
Livelihood programmes can help women recover financially after displacement or conflict.
NGOs should consider providing vocational training, entrepreneurship support, access to financial resources, business development assistance, and market connections.
These initiatives can help women become more financially independent and reduce their vulnerability to economic exploitation.
6. Strengthening Advocacy and Accountability
NGOs can document human rights concerns responsibly, advocate for stronger protection policies, and encourage governments to fulfil their commitments under the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
They can also monitor whether international commitments are reflected in actual budgets, programmes, and local policies.
7. Improving Monitoring and Evaluation
Organizations should measure more than the number of people reached through their programmes.
They should also evaluate whether women are participating in decisions, accessing essential services, improving their livelihoods, and experiencing safer conditions.
Community feedback and transparent reporting can help NGOs improve their programmes and demonstrate their impact to donors.
Local Action Plans Show How Women’s Participation Can Create Change
The UN Women report also highlights examples of how the Women, Peace and Security agenda is being implemented through local and national initiatives.
These examples demonstrate that meaningful participation is possible when governments, civil society organizations, and local communities work together.
Uganda: Increasing Women’s Representation in Peace Committees
In Karamoja, women’s representation in district and sub-county peace committees increased from 17% in 2022 to 46% in 2025.
The report also notes that 21 districts had local Women, Peace and Security action plans, with some committing 1% of local budgets to implementation.
This demonstrates how local planning and budget commitments can strengthen women’s participation in conflict prevention.
Kenya: Strengthening County-Level Peacebuilding
By early 2025, Kenya had 19 county-level action plans on Women, Peace and Security.
The report also highlights observed declines in local conflicts involving water and other resources.
This example demonstrates the importance of addressing community-level disputes through inclusive planning and local participation.
Ukraine: Women Contributing to Community Recovery
In Ukraine, 34 women’s self-help groups are contributing to local recovery.
These groups use community gender profiles to develop recommendations that have been taken up by local authorities.
This illustrates how women can participate directly in rebuilding communities and influencing recovery decisions.
Philippines: Integrating Gender Equality into Local Planning
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao adopted an executive order requiring Women, Peace and Security programmes to be integrated into the development plans and budgets of regional ministries and agencies.
This provides an example of how international commitments can be translated into local institutional planning.
These initiatives offer useful lessons for NGOs. Effective peacebuilding requires local ownership, inclusive decision-making, institutional support, and adequate resources.
International Funding and Policy Commitments: Is Progress Enough?
Over the years, several international mechanisms have been introduced to support women-led peacebuilding and humanitarian initiatives.
One important example is the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF).
It is a global financing mechanism dedicated to supporting local and grassroots women’s organizations working in conflict and crisis settings.
Since 2016, the fund has mobilized more than $276 million and supported over 1,800 local women’s organizations and 1,251 women human rights defenders across 49 crisis-affected countries.
However, its fundraising figures also reveal financial challenges. In 2025, the fund raised $30.4 million for local women’s organizations and activists, compared with $65.9 million in 2024.
Another important mechanism is the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund.
In 2025, it approved $124 million for initiatives in 28 countries, allocating more than $47 million, or over 38%, to gender equality.
However, this represented a decline from the $49.9 million allocated in 2023, when gender equality received 43% of the fund’s approved financing.
These funding trends demonstrate why long-term financial commitments are necessary.
International organizations may establish strong policies and announce ambitious targets, but without adequate financial support, local NGOs cannot consistently deliver services or expand their programmes.
The development sector must therefore move beyond recognizing the importance of women’s participation and focus on ensuring that the organizations responsible for implementing these commitments have the resources to succeed.
The Role of NGOs in Connecting Humanitarian Aid with Long-Term Development
One of the biggest challenges in humanitarian work is ensuring that emergency assistance leads to sustainable recovery.
During conflicts, NGOs often focus on immediate needs such as food, shelter, healthcare, clean water, and protection. These services are essential for saving lives.
However, once the immediate emergency passes, communities still need support to rebuild their livelihoods, restore education, strengthen institutions, and recover economically.
For women, this transition can be particularly difficult.
A woman who has been displaced by conflict may receive temporary shelter and food assistance but still lack access to employment, financial resources, education, or legal documentation.
Therefore, NGOs should connect humanitarian programmes with long-term development initiatives.
For example, an emergency programme supporting displaced women could gradually introduce livelihood training, financial literacy, entrepreneurship opportunities, and community leadership activities.
Similarly, an organization providing educational assistance to girls could develop partnerships with local schools and authorities to support their continued education.
This integrated approach helps ensure that women are not left behind once emergency funding ends.
It also strengthens the overall resilience of communities and reduces their dependence on repeated humanitarian assistance.
What the Future of Women, Peace and Security Means for the NGO Sector
The findings from the 2026 report suggest that the next phase of the Women, Peace and Security agenda will require stronger cooperation, better funding mechanisms, and more meaningful participation from local organizations.
NGOs will need to respond to increasingly complex challenges, including armed conflicts, forced displacement, food insecurity, climate-related risks, digital violence, and economic inequality.
Organizations will also need to strengthen their internal capacity.
This includes improving project planning, developing measurable programme objectives, building stronger donor relationships, maintaining transparent financial records, and evaluating the long-term impact of their work.
For small NGOs, these responsibilities can be particularly challenging because many operate with limited staff and resources.
Technology and digital tools can help organizations simplify certain administrative processes, improve documentation, organize project information, and prepare funding applications. However, technology should support human expertise rather than replace local knowledge, community participation, or responsible decision-making.
Most importantly, NGOs must ensure that women from affected communities remain at the centre of programme design and implementation.
The future of peacebuilding should not be determined only by international institutions or political leaders. It must also be shaped by the experiences, priorities, and leadership of women working at the grassroots level.
Conclusion: Investing in Women Is Investing in Lasting Peace
The Women, Peace and Security agenda has established an important international foundation for recognizing women’s rights, participation, and leadership in conflict prevention and recovery.
However, the findings from UN Women’s October 2026 report demonstrate that significant challenges remain.
Millions of women and girls continue to live near armed conflicts, conflict-related sexual violence is increasing, education and healthcare services are being disrupted, and women-led organizations are struggling with declining financial support.
These challenges cannot be addressed through policies and commitments alone. They require consistent action from governments, international institutions, donors, NGOs, and local communities.
For NGOs and nonprofit organizations, the responsibility extends beyond providing emergency assistance. It includes supporting women’s leadership, strengthening economic independence, improving access to justice, protecting human rights, and creating opportunities for women to influence decisions that affect their lives.
Donors must recognize the importance of grassroots organizations and provide them with the financial resources and institutional support required to continue their work.
Women must also be recognized as active participants in peacebuilding, not simply as vulnerable groups requiring protection.
The future of peaceful and inclusive societies depends on whether women have the freedom, resources, and opportunities to contribute to shaping them.
Peace is not simply the absence of conflict. It is the presence of equality, security, opportunity, and justice. And lasting peace cannot be achieved without women’s meaningful participation.
