Women were just 5% of peace negotiators in 2025, UN report finds
By Priya NairLeadership & Growth Editor, Peepals Shakti
File photo: Patrick Gruban (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons
The UN's Women, Peace and Security report, released October 26, finds women were 5% of negotiators in 57 peace processes in 2025 and a quarter of civilians killed.
What Happened
Women made up only five per cent of negotiators across 57 peace processes in 2025, down from seven per cent in 2024, according to the United Nations Secretary-General's annual report on Women, Peace and Security, released on Monday, October 26, 2026. The report, published ahead of the UN Security Council's yearly open debate on the subject, also finds that women and girls made up one in four of the more than 37,000 civilians killed in armed conflict in 2025, a share that UN Women says has doubled since 2021.
Key Facts
- Released on October 26, 2026, ahead of the Security Council's annual open debate on Women, Peace and Security.
- Women were 5 per cent of negotiators across 57 peace processes in 2025, against 7 per cent in 2024.
- More than 37,000 civilians died in conflict in 2025; one in four were women or girls.
- UN Women says at least 25 women and girls were killed every day in conflicts.
- An estimated 756.1 million women and girls, 18.8 per cent of the world's total, lived within 50 km of at least one armed conflict event in 2025, up from 676 million in 2024.
- Reported cases of sexual violence in Haiti rose 163 per cent, UN Women says.
- The report links rising military spending and sharp cuts to UN funding to weaker help for survivors.
Why It Matters
The Women, Peace and Security agenda goes back to Security Council Resolution 1325, which asked governments and the UN to bring women into peace talks, peacekeeping and post-war rebuilding. Each year the Secretary-General reports on progress. This year's numbers point in the wrong direction on both fronts: more women are being harmed by war, and fewer are at the table where wars are ended.
The negotiator figure matters because peace agreements decide who gets land, jobs, security posts, justice for crimes and a place in new institutions. When nearly all negotiators are men, the needs of women can be left out of the final deal. A fall from seven to five per cent in one year, across 57 processes, means the gap is widening rather than closing.
The casualty figures show why the question is urgent. One in four civilian deaths in conflict were women or girls in 2025, and the number of women and girls living close to fighting rose by about 80 million in a single year. The report also warns that money for services such as shelters, medical care and legal help for survivors of sexual violence has been cut as UN agencies lose funding.
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Women as share of negotiators (57 processes in 2025) | 7% | 5% |
| Women and girls living within 50 km of conflict | 676 million | 756.1 million |
| Women and girls among civilian conflict deaths | not stated | 1 in 4 |
Impact
Short-term: The report frames the Security Council's open debate, where member states will set out their responses to the findings on women negotiators and survivor funding.
Long-term: Unless the share of women negotiators rises, more peace deals will be written with little input from the women most affected. The funding cuts the report describes could also reduce support for survivors in conflict zones for years.
Who is affected: Women and girls living in or near conflict zones, women mediators and peacebuilders, UN agencies, countries that contribute peacekeepers, and the governments negotiating peace deals.
Key Takeaway
The UN's 2026 Women, Peace and Security report finds women's share of peace negotiators fell to five per cent in 2025 even as women and girls made up a quarter of civilians killed in conflict.
Questions and Answers
What does the 2026 UN Women, Peace and Security report say about women in peace talks?
It says women made up only five per cent of negotiators across 57 peace processes in 2025, down from seven per cent in 2024.
How many women and girls were killed in conflict in 2025?
The report says more than 37,000 civilians died in conflict in 2025 and one in four were women or girls. UN Women says at least 25 women and girls were killed each day.
How many women live near armed conflict?
About 756.1 million women and girls, or 18.8 per cent of the world's total, lived within 50 km of at least one armed conflict event in 2025, up from 676 million in 2024.
What is the Women, Peace and Security agenda?
It is the UN framework that began with Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls for women to take part in peace talks, peacekeeping and rebuilding after conflict, and for women and girls to be protected in war.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Priya Nair, Leadership & Growth EditorCovers Leadership & Growth and more for Peepals Shakti. All stories by Priya Nair
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Priya Nair is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
