Leveraging the Women, Peace and Security Agenda to Advance the Arms Trade Treaty

Thursday 28 August 2025  |  13:15 - 14:50 CEST

Centre International de Conférences (Room B) | Geneva, Switzerland

The Permanent Missions of Ireland, Brazil, Chile, the Philippines, Namibia, Canada and Mexico, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), and the Small Arms Survey are pleased to invite you to a side event of the 11th Conference of State Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, a landmark framework that has catalyzed action in over 100 countries through the adoption of one or more National Action Plans (NAPs). The WPS Agenda emphasizes the prevention of armed conflict, the protection of women and girls’ human rights, including from gender-based violence (GBV), the promotion of their full, equal, and meaningful participation in peace and security processes and the strengthening of women’s capacity to act as agents of change in post-conflict relief and recovery processes.

Shortly after the first WPS Resolution 1325 was adopted by the Security Council in 2000, negotiations began on establishing the ATT. The political momentum on addressing gender-based violence, as well as the support for the process by women’s rights organizations such as WILPF, resulted in the inclusion of Article 7(4), which was the first time the international community recognized the link between the international arms trade, gender-based violence and violence against women and children.

At CSP11 and as the ATT enters its second decade, efforts are focusing on treaty universalization. Given the influence of WPS actors and advocates in establishing the ATT, this side event will explore how the ATT can better engage with WPS actors to promote universalization, noting that most current and potential future states parties are net arms importers. It will also examine how the ATT can serve as a tool to operationalize WPS commitments, particularly from the perspective of States with high levels of gender-based violence.

Speakers

Opening remarks

Ambassador Claudia Fuentes Julio, Permanent Representative of Chile to the UN

Panel discussion

   Hana Salama, Researcher, Gender and Disarmament Programme, UNIDIR
   Maria Pia Devoto, Director of Association for Public Policies

Concluding remarks

   Jason Robinson, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ireland to the Conference on Disarmament

Moderator: Callum Watson, Gender Coordinator, Small Arms Survey

*A light lunch will be served at 13:00 CEST.