AfP Recognizes U.S. Senators Capito and Shaheen with 2nd Annual Peacebuilding Champion Award
Washington, D.C., USA. – The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) is pleased to recognize Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) with the second annual Peacebuilding Champion Award for 2020 for their bipartisan championship of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Act of 2017 and the WPS agenda.
This year marked the 20-year anniversary of the United Nations Security Council’s landmark resolution on WPS (UNSCR 1325). The resolution reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, and more. It also stresses the importance of women’s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.
These WPS principles were codified into U.S. law when the U.S. Congress adopted the Women, Peace and Security Act of 2017. This law was successful thanks to the bipartisan championship from Senators Capito and Shaheen. This law affirms women’s political participation as essential to peace and security and was developed with the backing of over two decades of research. The goal of this law is to promote the participation of women in conflict prevention, management, resolution, and post-conflict relief and recovery efforts. It codifies practices adopted through regulations and policies under previous Administrations to enhance the role of women in peace processes abroad, protect and assist women threatened by violence and abuse from conflict and displacement, support women’s rights activists and movements abroad, and integrate gender into all aspects of its national security strategy.
AfP’s Vice President Liz Hume commented on the Senators’ leadership:
“The bipartisan enactment of the Women, Peace and Security Act requires the United States to develop a comprehensive strategy to increase and strengthen women’s participation in peace negotiations and conflict prevention. This legislation would not have been possible without the extraordinary leadership by Senators Capito and Shaheen. While implementation of the WPS is just getting started, we know we can count on their leadership to ensure meaningful inclusion of women and girls in peace and security and the Global Fragility Act.”
Three years after the adoption of the WPS Act of 2017, Senators Capito and Shaheen continue to champion the WPS agenda. They have hosted relevant roundtables and engaged with the development of the National Strategy on Women, Peace and Security of 2019. AfP looks forward to working with both Senator Capito and Senator Shaheen on ensuring meaningful implementation of the WPS Act and championing women’s issues and the WPS agenda.
Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by fragility and conflict and are often an overlooked part of stability solutions. An effective human security policy agenda requires the successful implementation of the WPS Act and a critical push for meaningful gender-informed implementation through the recently passed Global Fragility Act (GFA). It will also be important for the WPS Act to be integrated into the Global Fragility Strategy and subsequent country and regional plans.
AfP launched the Peacebuilding Champion Award in 2019 to honor global political leaders of the peacebuilding field.