Championing the WPS Agenda?

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article draws on official sources to investigate how New Zealand interpreted its Women, Peace and Security obligations through the development and implementation of its first National Action Plan (NAP) in 2015. Existing beliefs that New Zealand was already a ‘world leader’ in this field yielded an unambitious document. Government agencies such as the New Zealand Police (NZ Police) and New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) have gone on to make some gains under the narrow remit of the NAP, but resourcing and accountability are lacking. Moreover, this focus on perceived existing strengths, and the drawing of objectives from these, meant that New Zealand missed an opportunity to initiate the kind of deeper structural changes initially envisaged by WPS advocates. This article therefore closes with a discussion of how two broader processes – ‘re-gendering’ and ‘de-othering’ – could help New Zealand to better serve the original intent of the WPS agenda.