Humanitarian Action

An introductory overview to support prevention and response efforts.

We need the powerful outcomes generated by the United Nations Security Council’s Women, Peace and Security agenda to assist us as we reconstitute our societies and institutions, and as we resist the temptation to allow conflict to take root in the uncertainty we are all facing.

This brief publication is an introduction to the complex business of civil-military-police integration. Hopefully, you will read it prior to an exercise, not an operation. But in either case it provides good advice. Many people have gone where you are going, and this is the distillation of their experience.

Women’s leadership and collective action have changed the world by combatting violence against women and building equality. Women’s leadership is central to reconciliation and conflict resolution and to peacebuilding efforts that bring results for families and communities.

Between November 2018 and November 2019, the primary author conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 100 Syrian women in Jordan and Lebanon – host countries for large numbers of Syrian refugees (along with many Palestinian and Iraqi refugees) – and in Australia. The women were between the ages of 18 and 63; most were in their 30s and 40s. The primary author also interviewed people working with Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.

The purpose of this report is to identify the lessons learned and emerging best practices of UN Member States committed to the implementation of this agenda through National Action Plans (NAPs).