Public Law 115–68: To ensure that the United States promotes the meaningful participation of women in mediation and negotiation processes seeking to prevent, mitigate, or resolve violent conflict.

Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017

Around the world, women remain under-represented in conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and post-conflict peace building efforts.

Women in conflict-affected regions have achieved significant success in—

Research suggests that peace negotiations are more likely to succeed and to result in durable peace agreements when women participate in the peace process.

the meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and conflict resolution processes helps to promote more inclusive and democratic societies and is critical to the long-term stability of countries and regions;

the political participation, and leadership of women in fragile environments, particularly during democratic transitions, is critical to sustaining lasting democratic institutions; and

the United States should be a global leader in promoting the meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention, management, and resolution, and post-conflict relief and recovery efforts.131 STAT. 1203

integrate the perspectives and interests of affected women into conflict-prevention activities and strategies;

encourage partner governments to adopt plans to improve the meaningful participation of women in peace and security processes and decision-making institutions;

promote the physical safety, economic security, and dignity of women and girls;

support the equal access of women to aid distribution mechanisms and services;

collect and analyze gender data for the purpose of developing and enhancing early warning systems of conflict and violence;

adjust policies and programs to improve outcomes in gender equality and the empowerment of women; and

monitor, analyze, and evaluate the efforts related to each strategy submitted under section 5 and the impact of such efforts.

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and again four years thereafter, the President, in consultation with the heads of the relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and make publicly available a single government-wide strategy, to be known as the Women, Peace, and Security Strategy, that provides a detailed description of how the United States intends to fulfill the policy objectives in section 4. The strategy shall—

Each strategy under subsection (a) shall include a specific implementation plan from each of the relevant Federal departments and agencies that describes—

The President should promote the meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention, in coordination and consultation with international partners, including, as appropriate, multilateral organizations, stakeholders, and other relevant international organizations, particularly in situations in which the direct engagement of the United States Government is not appropriate or advisable.

It is the sense of Congress that the President, in implementing each strategy submitted under subsection (a), should—

The Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall ensure that all appropriate personnel (including special envoys, members of mediation or negotiation teams, relevant members of the civil service or Foreign Service, and contractors) responsible for or deploying to countries or regions considered to be at risk of, undergoing, or emerging from violent conflict obtain training, as appropriate, in the following areas, each of which shall include a focus on women and ensuring meaningful participation by women:

The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that relevant personnel receive training, as appropriate, in the following areas:

(2)

The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development may establish guidelines or take other steps to ensure overseas United States personnel of the Department of State or the United States Agency for International Development, as the case may be, consult with appropriate stakeholders, including local women, youth, ethnic, and religious minorities, and other politically under-represented or marginalized populations, regarding United States efforts to—

The Secretary of State should work with international, regional, national, and local organizations to increase the meaningful participation of women in international peacekeeping operations, and should promote training that provides international peacekeeping personnel with the substantive knowledge and skills needed to ensure effective physical security and meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and peace building.

Not later than 1 year after the date of the first submission of a strategy required under section 5, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and the Secretary of Defense, shall brief the appropriate congressional committees on existing, enhanced, or newly established training carried out pursuant to section 6.

Not later than 2 years after the date of the submission of each strategy required under section 5, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that—

The term “” means—

The term “” means—

The term “” means non-governmental and private sector entities engaged in or affected by conflict prevention and stabilization, peace building, protection, security, transition initiatives, humanitarian response, or related efforts.