The role of the women, peace and security agenda in light of global health threats

On the twenty-fifth anniversary of Resolution 1325, this contribution examines the role of the “Women, Peace, and Security” (WPS) Agenda in safeguarding women’s health. Armed conflicts, natural disasters, and health emergencies particularly undermine this right. These events, which frequently occur concurrently, expose women to greater vulnerability and discrimination. The lack of access to prenatal care, contraception, safe abortion, and post-violence medical support severely affects women’s fundamental rights. At the same time, environmental degradation caused by conflicts can have lasting impacts on women’s physical and mental health in affected areas. This is a crucial issue, as health is a fundamental precondition for the full enjoyment of rights and for women’s meaningful participation in peace processes, in accordance with all the pillars of the WPS Agenda. This contribution, therefore, considers how international law, and particularly the WPS framework, protects women’s health rights nowadays, and how such protection can be strengthened. It also highlights the persistent fragmentation in health protection during armed conflicts, especially regarding sexual and reproductive health, which is often confused with the protection of victims of gender-based violence, a separate and independent issue. After tracing the evolution of the concept of human security and identifying gaps in international law, the chapter examines the normative corpus of the WPS Agenda, emphasizing the limitations of current resolutions and the urgent need to update them in line with World Health Organization standards and recommendations from across the UN system.