The Global South writes 1325 (too)

Abstract

The passage and subsequent implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 at the international level tend to be associated with efforts of governments, non-governmental organizations and international organizations that are based primarily in the Global North. While such skewed dynamics of global governance are not unique to women, peace and security (WPS) issues, widely shared assumptions about the Global North being the conceptual, material and (not least) institutional home of the resolutions appear to inform debates on UNSCR 1325 in ways that limit its potential. In response, this article seeks to bring attention to the Global South’s contributions to the evolution of the international WPS agenda. The agency of actors – governmental and non-governmental – in the Global South is identified in both implementation and ‘non-implementation’ of the WPS resolutions. The actors are seen to actively contribute to ‘writing’ UNSCR 1325, the follow-up resolutions, and indeed the broader discourse on women, peace and security.