Malaysia Launches First National Women, Peace & Security Plan

• The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda was founded by the United Nations Security Council in 2000
• It identifies women as not just victims of war, but as powerful catalysts for permanent solutions
• Women need to be in leadership roles, be participating and be protected in order to have sustainable peace

In 2000, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) initiated the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda, which recognizes women as active agents in delivering sustainable solutions to conflicts rather than just victims. The participation, protection, and leadership of women are critical for sustainable peace.

The Minister for Women, Family and Community Development, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, reiterates the results of the United Nations research, which states that peace talks that involved women had larger probabilities of lasting for 15 years and above. ‘’When it comes to gender equality and peace, you can't have both''.

Malaysia has a proud record of contributions to global peacekeeping. Malaysia has contributed personnel – armed forces, police and medical teams – under the UN's banner on peacekeeping operations and missions and peacekeeping contracts in operations in Lebanon, Congo, Namibia and Timor-Leste.

A major achievement was made in Lebanon, as women are currently occupying 10.5 percent of Malaysia's battalion within the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), nearly double the world average for peacekeeping missions.

Malaysia deployed its highest number of female peacekeepers last year with 85 members in Unifil. The achievement was celebrated at the 2025 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin.

Malaysia engaged with the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Focal Points Network since 2016 as a platform for best practice exchange and coordination among government, regional bodies and UN entities.

Regionally, in 2022, ASEAN approved the Regional Plan of Action on WPS (RPA-WPS) that promoted the incorporation of gender perspective into peace, security, and humanitarian action in Southeast Asia, with a strong gender focus.

Malaysia is a member state engaged in the development of these regional processes, and is an active member of the ASEAN Advisory Group on WPS which includes governmental representatives, civil society and experts.

Minister Nancy Shukri stressed that it is not possible for governments to provide peace and security alone and demanded that women and the voice of the people must be included at the grassroots level.

Malaysia will also be hosting the ASEAN 2025 WPS Summit in Kuala Lumpur on September 9 and 10 as another demonstration of commitment to the agenda.

The government is also implementing a National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP WPS) through whole-of-government and whole-of-society consultation. The plan will include the input of civil society, academics, youth, the security sector, and others and be launched during the ASEAN WPS Summit 2025.