United Nations – India strongly supported and committed to the inclusion of women in peacekeeping and peace processes during the June 17, 2026 UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) titled “Peace is decided with women: Emerging from conflict by enhancing their participation”.
Chaired by Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, the meeting was briefed by UN Women Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous and two women civil society representatives.
The meeting was subsequent to the Secretary-General’s September 2025 report about a very small percent of women in peacekeeping worldwide. Through the initiative “Common Pledge for Women’s Full, Equal, and Meaningful Participation in Peace Processes” launched during the 2024 annual open debate on WPS, the Secretary-General had invited member states, regional organizations, and others, to commit to concrete steps to advance women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in all peace processes of which they are a part.
India took a stance at the meeting that sustainable peace is impossible without the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women. “The road to lasting peace cannot be walked without women,” said India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, P.Harish, also stressing the need for empowerment of women for post-conflict recovery.
Advocating for women-led development, grassroots political representation, and increasing female representation in international peacekeeping operations, Harish highlighted India’s women-led development model, reaffirming India’s commitment to significantly increase women peacekeepers in upcoming deployments.
India’s Commitment – India’s commitment has been recognized in the series of UN gender advocate awards won by Indian Women Peacekeepers in 2019, 2024 and most recently by Maj. Abhilasha Barak in 2026, Harish said. These women peacekeepers were recognized for their role in connecting with local communities, empowering women and implementing women-centric initiatives, he added.
Importance of Women in Peace Process – Harish presented India’s argument for the importance of women in peacekeeping with a reference to the UNSC Resolution 1325, which attests that women’s meaningful participation in peace processes is a pre-requisite for durable peace. Harish then highlighted the special skills women bring to peacekeeping efforts.
Community Building – Women build trust in communities, Harish said, adding they give hope to vulnerable populations, particularly women and children. They serve as visible symbols of women’s agency in maintaining peace and security. Most critically, they help address gender-based violence and ensure that peace processes reflect the needs and perspectives of all segments of society, Harish pointed out.
He outlined their deep understanding of local grievances, and their trusted role as caregivers and community anchors which make them uniquely effective mediators at a human level, binding communities fractured by violence.
Collective Empowerment – India stressed women’s economic empowerment, education, development, reduction of inequality; and the eradication of poverty as essential for both gender equality and peace. Harish said that Communities in which women are economically self-reliant, politically represented, and socially respected, recover faster from conflict and are more resistant to its recurrence. He said that for peace efforts to be effective, women need to be empowered politically, financially and socially.
Indian Women in Peacekeeping – Focusing on India’s pioneering contributions to female deployment and its domestic model of women-led development, Harish discussed the core elements of India’s stand.
Pioneering Female Peacekeeping: Highlighting India’s legacy as a major troop contributor, Harish reminded the Council that India made history by deploying the first all-female Formed Police Unit (FPU) to UN Peacekeeping in Liberia in 2007, also inspiring 1000s of Liberian women to join their national police.
Active Deployment: Over 160 Indian women peacekeepers are currently deployed, with a major contingent recently sent to UNISFA in early 2026. India routinely champions UN Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy initiatives, Harish said.
Capacity Building-Training & Empowerment: Harish pointed out that India trains international female officers at the Center for United Nations Peace Keeping (CUNPK), building capacity and empowering women. India hosted last year the Conference for Women Peacekeepers from the Global South, bringing together women peacekeepers from 35 countries. Also last year, India hosted the UN Women Military Officers Course for women from 15 countries.
Domestic Model & Grassroots Leadership: Harish highlighted women-led development in India, referencing 1.3 million elected women in local governance. The 2023 Women’s Reservation Act reserving one-third of seats in national and state legislatures for women imparts a greater political agency, Harish said. It also promotes financial inclusion, direct benefit transfers, and skills development.
Elaborating India’s policies on Women’s Empowerment further, Harish said no peacekeeping efforts can yield lasting results “unless women are genuinely empowered: politically, financially and socially. Peace is a journey – for which women must be enabled to contribute.”
Along with empowerment, there is also a need to harness new technologies to foster inclusion while guarding against online threats and disinformation in fragile environments, Harish said.
India concluded reiterating its continued commitment for more women in peacekeeping.
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