Eighth Capital-Level Meeting | 9–10 June 2026 | Rome, Italy
We, the members of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Focal Points Network, representing Afghanistan, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Romania, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Union for the Mediterranean, convened in Rome from 9 to 10 June 2026 for the Eighth Capital-Level Meeting under the theme: “Delivering on WPS: Consolidating Implementation and Accountability in a Fragmented Security Landscape,” alongside other participating United Nations (UN) Member States, territories, organizations, and women human rights defenders;
Hosted by Italy and the Philippines in their capacity as 2026 Co-Chairs, and with UN Women as Secretariat, and coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the Network, this meeting leverages the commemorative momentum of the twenty-fifth anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) in 2025 to safeguard the normative framework within the UN system and across all international and regional organizations, while advancing its forward-looking implementation at global, national, and regional levels, supported by adequate operational and financial commitments.
Building on the outcomes of the 2025 meetings in Tokyo and Oslo, we recognize that the current international peace and security landscape – characterized by protracted conflicts, geopolitical fragmentation, the undermining of multilateralism and multilateral institutions, increased military spending, shrinking civic space, narratives that undermine women’s rights and empowerment, negative impacts of climate change, and rapid technological change – requires urgent action, increased political engagement, sustained financial support to meet the scale of the need, and stronger integration of the foundational pillars of the women, peace and security agenda – prevention, participation, protection, and relief and recovery – into defence and security decision-making.
In this context, we reaffirm the principles of gender equality, inclusivity, and human dignity. These principles guide our efforts to ensure equitable access to adequate food, water, health services, shelter, and clothing; safeguard human rights and freedom of movement; and promote opportunities for education, healthy livelihoods, economic development, climate resilience and disaster risk reduction. Silence and inaction are not an option.
On the issues discussed during the meeting,
Participation
Recalling the 2025 communiqués, which expressed concern over the growing emphasis on transactional deal-making, we recommend that States remain steadfast in their commitment and redouble their efforts to ensure the full, equal, safe, and meaningful participation of women at every stage of peace and security processes, particularly in ongoing negotiations and processes where women continue to be excluded from decision-making.
We recommend that peace actors recognize and value the critical role of informal, local, community-based, and multi-track peace processes, as well as the active contributions of Indigenous Peoples’ communities, and those of local women peacebuilders, including young women, in preventing and managing conflict. This includes their engagement with men and boys, and with traditional and religious leaders, to foster inclusive and sustainable peace. These efforts should be adequately resourced, and peace mediators, negotiators, and facilitators should draw on the knowledge, expertise, and networks of local women peacebuilders as strategic entry points for advancing WPS priorities within formal peace processes and complex political contexts.
We value women mediators’ networks and recognize that they serve as a repository of skilled expertise that can be drawn upon to support both formal and informal peace processes. We recommend that these skilled women mediators be fully and meaningfully included at all stages of conflict prevention and mediation efforts and processes, whether formal or informal, and also be engaged in technical discussions on post-conflict recovery, including security arrangements, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, post-conflict political reform, security sector reform and resource-sharing, where their perspectives and expertise can contribute to more inclusive and sustainable outcomes.
Protection
We recommend that protection efforts move beyond reductive narratives of vulnerability and adopt survivor-centred approaches that recognize and support women’s leadership and participation in addressing the complexity of contemporary threats, including digital and transnational forms of violence. States should strengthen collaboration with women-led organizations and women human rights defenders to prevent, monitor, and respond to reprisals, recognizing that such acts contribute to the shrinking of civic space and undermine women’s full, equal, safe, and meaningful participation in public and political life.
We recommend sustainable and predictable financing investments to strengthen reporting, investigation, prosecution, and judicial mechanisms to ensure accountability for sexual and gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence. Cases must be effectively reported, thoroughly investigated, and brought before competent courts with the capacity to prosecute them in accordance with domestic and international law, as applicable.
We recommend strengthening of regulation and accountability of social media and digital platforms, in line with international human rights law, to address online harassment, hate speech, disinformation, artificial intelligence-generated abuse, doxxing, online recruitment and other forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, often targeted at women peacebuilders, and which creates a structural barrier to young women’s safety, participation and leadership.
Prevention
The increase in military spending, coupled with reductions in official development assistance (ODA) and declining institutional funding for the women, peace and security agenda and local women peacebuilders, was noted with concern. We suggest that States increase ODA and other funding allocations for gender equality and women’s groups and give due consideration to budget allocation for women, peace and security in the context of defence and security expenditures, including funding for conflict prevention, women’s participation, protection, and peacebuilding initiatives.
We recommend that prevention should be strengthened through the systematic integration of gender-sensitive early warning systems and conflict analysis into national and regional security architectures, addressing persistent institutional fragmentation and capacity gaps, recognizing local women human rights defenders as experts and drivers for peace. The potential use of artificial intelligence, strictly and directly informed by the women, peace and security agenda, should also be explored for possible use for prevention efforts, where appropriate.
We recommend that States strengthen the integration of disarmament measures, arms control, and non-proliferation within the women, peace and security agenda. Efforts to advance disarmament, arms control, and non-proliferation initiatives, including those addressing small arms and light weapons, landmines and explosive remnants of war, and nuclear weapons, should ensure the full, equal, safe, and meaningful participation of women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples’ communities in their design, implementation, and monitoring.
Relief and Recovery
We recommend that relief and recovery centralize local efforts, and should consistently embed gender-responsive budgeting, inclusive planning, and accountability mechanisms across humanitarian response, post-conflict reconstruction, and transitional justice processes.
We recommend increased funding for humanitarian aid to support maternal care, comprehensive medical, psychosocial, legal and socioeconomic support for victims and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence, food assistance for malnourished mothers and their children, and education opportunities.
Youth, Peace and Security
Recognizing that the women, peace and security agenda is intergenerational, we support practical actions that acknowledge the unique value of the women, peace and security and youth, peace and security agendas and encourage intersections between them, where beneficial, while supporting access and the inclusion of young women in peace and security decision-making. This includes systematically integrating gender- and youth- responsive approaches into peace processes, disaster risk reduction strategies, climate-related security policies, and digital governance frameworks, among others. We emphasize the value of intergenerational dialogue and shared leadership models that ensure continuity across generations while respecting the distinct contributions and perspectives of young women.
We recognize the importance of strengthening outreach to young men and boys on the women, peace and security agenda, including fostering their meaningful engagement as partners in advancing gender equality and women’s rights, particularly in light of growing concern about shifts in attitudes toward these issues among some young people.
National Action Plans
We welcome that the vast majority of Network members have adopted National Action Plans (NAPs), which indicate strong commitment from Member States to the advancement of the WPS agenda while significant disparities persist in their implementation. We recommend dedicated financing and strengthened commitments to the monitoring, evaluation and learning of NAP implementation, building on previous Network recommendations, and using the technical resources and tools already available.
We call for the exploration of the establishment of a voluntary multi-year peer-review modality within the Network to deepen cooperation among members, to facilitate cross-regional learning on WPS action plans and frameworks and the systematic exchange of best practices. We recommend the integration of WPS principles and commitments across all areas of government policy, including defence planning, security and foreign policies, climate action, disaster risk reduction, recovery, and development cooperation, to ensure coherence and avoid siloed approaches.
As we mark a decade of the WPS Focal Points Network, we welcome the growth of the Network from 45 founding members to 110 members including 100 UN Member States and 10 regional organizations. We call upon all members to anchor the WPS agenda firmly within national institutions and multilateral processes, recognizing it as a global framework revitalizing multilateralism, building more inclusive and effective institutions, and advancing sustainable peace. The outcomes and recommendations of the Rome meeting will inform deliberations at the annual ministerial meeting convened during the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly, ensuring that gender equality is embedded as a core pillar – rather than a peripheral consideration – within international peace and security policy and practice. We invite more Member States and regional organizations to join the Network.
Download the joint communiqué – English (PDF).
Download the joint communiqué – French (PDF).
Download the joint communiqué – Spanish (PDF).
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