UK statement at UN Security Council on women and peace

Peace talks can sound distant, as if they belong only to diplomats in New York. But who gets a seat at the table shapes whose safety, rights and future are taken seriously when war ends. That is the thread running through the UK’s statement to the UN Security Council, delivered by Ambassador James Kariuki on 17 June 2026 and published by GOV.UK on 18 June. The message was plain: 26 years after UN Security Council Resolution 1325, women are still being pushed to the edges of peace negotiations, even though the UN Secretary-General’s 2024 report found that nearly 90% of negotiation tracks had no women present. (gov.uk)

If Resolution 1325 feels like UN shorthand, here is the useful version. Adopted on 31 October 2000, it was the first Security Council resolution to say clearly that women must be involved in conflict prevention, peace talks, peacebuilding, humanitarian response and post-conflict recovery. It also called for stronger protection for women and girls from gender-based violence in armed conflict. (un.org) **What this means:** this is not a polite suggestion tucked away in UN paperwork. It is a long-standing international promise that peace and security decisions should not be made as if women are spectators to war rather than political actors inside it. (un.org)

The UK’s speech matters because it points to a problem the UN has been warning about for years. Reporting on the Secretary-General’s 2024 women, peace and security report said women made up only 7% of negotiators on average worldwide, and nearly nine in ten negotiation tracks had no women negotiators at all. (peacekeeping.un.org) UN Women says there is strong evidence that when women take part in peace processes, peace is more likely to last and to prove more resilient after conflict. So this is not only about fairness or visibility. It is about whether peace agreements are built to survive real life once cameras leave and outside attention fades. (unwomen.org)

The first thing the UK says must change is access. In the speech, the government argued that barriers to political power, funding and security still keep women out of decision-making, and that women-led civil society organisations should be treated as central partners in peace and security work. It also pointed to more than $4.7 million in support for women’s rights organisations operating in fragile and conflict settings. (gov.uk) That funding detail matters more than it might first appear. Local women’s groups are often the people documenting abuse, keeping community networks alive and pressing negotiators to pay attention to people outside the room. If they are left scrambling for resources, peacebuilding starts with a built-in weakness. (gov.uk)

The second priority is protection. The UK said women peacebuilders and women human rights defenders are facing rising intimidation, threats and violence, and called on states to protect them and hold attackers to account. It also said it will keep working with partners, including UN Women, to prevent and reduce those risks. (gov.uk) This is also where the speech connects to newer UK policy. In May 2026, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper launched an International Coalition to End Violence against Women and Girls, with the government saying the group is meant to drive political leadership and faster collective action. You cannot seriously ask women to help build peace while leaving them exposed to punishment for speaking. (gov.uk)

The third priority is about the changing shape of conflict and about who pays the price. The UK’s statement says women and girls are often hit hardest by war and disaster, yet are still blocked from life-saving support, including protection and reproductive health services. It also stresses that gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, remains a live threat rather than a side issue. (gov.uk) To show what action is meant to look like, the speech pointed to two examples. In February 2026, the Foreign Secretary announced more than $26 million in new support for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan. In Colombia, UK-backed work over the past decade has helped strengthen accountability and widen access to justice for survivors through the country’s transitional justice system, including the Special Jurisdiction for Peace. (gov.uk)

The wider lesson is worth keeping in view. Speeches at the UN can sound grand, but the real test is much sharper: who gets funded, who gets protected and who is allowed into the room when decisions are made. **What it means now:** the UK is arguing that women’s participation is not a finishing touch added after a ceasefire. It is part of the basic structure of any peace that claims to last. If nearly 90% of negotiation tracks still exclude women, then the problem is not a shortage of promises. It is a failure to act on what governments and institutions have already known for years. (gov.uk)