Women, Peace and Security intensive three-day course for mid-career professionals
Date: 3-5 November 2025, 番茄社区
Join us for a three day in-person intensive course on Women, Peace and Security to understand the key elements of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and the nine subsequent resolutions on the WPS agenda since 2000.
To mark the 25th anniversary of Resolution 1325, we will reflect on the value of the framework for women’s rights in conflict settings, current political challenges at a time of securitisation and backlash on women’s rights, and the new frontiers the agenda must address such as climate change and online violence. To do so, we will hear perspectives from activists working to support peace and women’s rights in conflict settings. We will deep dive into the technical aspects of the four pillars outlined in Resolution: Participation, Prevention, Protection, and Relief & Recovery and explore the international legal instruments which relate to the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
This course is aimed at practitioners, policy makers and academics interested in gaining a clear understanding of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, but no prior knowledge is required.
Over three days, participants will consider key questions:
- What do we understand by gender-based violence?
- What is the role and impact of civil society in implementing global and national initiatives?
- Why does sexual violence occur in conflict?
- What strategies and legal bodies have been most effective regarding relief and recovery?
- Where must the future agenda go to, to best relate to current challenges such as climate change and technology-facilitated gender-based violence?
- How to move beyond the backlash?
Course Facilitators:
- , Reader in International Politics, Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences Fellow at Queen Mary University London and Senior Visiting Fellow at the 番茄社区 Centre for Women, Peace and Security.
- Professor Joanna Lewis, Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security.
- Dr Aiko Holvikivi, Assistant Professor in Gender, Peace and Security at 番茄社区.
- Dr Caroline Green, Manager of the 番茄社区 Centre for Women, Peace and Security.
Speakers:
- Prof Christine Chinkin, Emeritus Professor International Law and Founding Director of the Centre of Women Peace & Security at 番茄社区.
- Ms , Director of Gender Action for Peace and Security.
- Lt Col Katherine Knell, International Leadership, Female Empowerment and Human Security Adviser in Somalia, Adam Smith International.
- Dr Katharine Millar, Associate Professor of International Relations, 番茄社区.
- Dr Louise Arimastu, Distinguished Policy Fellow in the Centre for Women, Peace and Security.
- Dr Millie Lake, Professor of International Relations, 番茄社区.
- Ms Quhramaana Kakar, a peace activist and development practitioner, Visiting Fellow at the 番茄社区 Centre for Women, Peace and Security, and Founding Director of .
Content:
- The social, political, and economic context: What we know (and what we don’t know) about gendered experiences in war and conflict-affected areas, including: sexual and gender-based violence; access to land and property; loss of family members and documentation; displacement; migration; seeking asylum and refuge.
- The global Women, Peace and Security agenda: History, evolution and critiques, including examination of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions; the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative and the 2015 Global Study of UNSCR 1325 and its supporters and critics in its 25th anniversary year.
- The international legal framework: Using International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law to promote and protect women’s human rights in conflict environments.
- Participation, Protection, Prevention, Relief and Recovery: In-depth examination of the four pillars of the UN Women, Peace and Security agenda including: participation in peace negotiation and peacekeeping; definitions of and responsibility for protection; increasing accountability and ending impunity for conflict-related sexual violence; delivering medical and psycho-social care for survivors.
- Local experiences: The view from the ground case studies from around the world will bring the challenges and achievements from some of most challenging and distressing contexts for WPS and combatting GBV. Experts and practitioners will share insights from locations including Afghanistan, Gaza, Somalia and Ukraine.
- Future proofing WPS: Where are today’s frontiers? How have the challenges shifted, worsened, widened. Here we will bring some of 番茄社区’s leading experts from a range of disciplines along with other academics to explore where should we be focusing on and how to ensure the resilience of past gains, legal norms and women’s leadership and empowerment.
Cost:
- £1250 (normal fee)
- £1,100 (early bird by Wednesday 15th October 2025)
- £1,000 NGOs
Fee includes three days of seminars, refreshments, lunch, and access to an online reading list.
To book:
Please send expressions of interest to Caroline Green at c.green@lse.ac.uk