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Progress Report on Canada’s National Action Plan 2017-2022 for the Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security Fiscal Years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023

Table of content

• Acronyms
• Foreword

1. Introduction
   • Canada's commitments
   • Canada's ambassador for Women, Peace and Security
   • Challenges
2. Results
   • Objective 1
   • Objective 2
   • Objective 3
   • Objective 4
   • Objective 5
3. Improving the Government of Canada's capacity to implement the Action Plan
4. Conclusion and next steps

• Annexes
  • Annex A: Definitions
  • Annex B: Theory of change

Acronyms

2SLGBTQI+

Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, plus

CAF

Canadian Armed Forces

CFLI

Canada Fund for Local Initiatives

CIRNAC

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

CNAP 2

Canada’s Second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security

CNAP 3

Canada’s Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security

CRSV

Conflict-related sexual violence

CSC

Correctional Service of Canada

CSO

Civil society organization

DND

Department of National Defence

ECOSOC

United Nations Economic and Social Council

FCAS

Fragile and conflict-affected states

FFP

Feminist foreign policy

FIAP

Feminist International Assistance Policy

GAC

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GBA Plus

Gender-based Analysis Plus

GBV

Gender-based violence

HOM

Head of mission

IPP

International Police Peacekeeping and Peace Operations Program

IRCC

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

ISC

Indigenous Services Canada

MTR

Mid-term review

NGO

Non-governmental organization

OECD-DAC

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – Development Assistance Committee

OPCW

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

PS

Public Safety Canada

PSEA(H)

Prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (harassment)

PSOP

Peace and Stabilization Operations Program

RBM

Results-based management

RCMP

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

SEA

Sexual exploitation and abuse

SGBV

Sexual and gender-based violence

UN

United Nations

UNFPA

United Nations Population Fund

UNGA

United Nations General Assembly

UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund

WAGE

Women and Gender Equality Canada

WHRD

Women human rights defenders

WPS

Women, peace and security

WPSN-C

Women, Peace and Security Network of Canada

WRO

Women’s rights organization

WVL

Women’s voice and leadership

Foreword

This edition of the Cross-Government Progress Report on Canada’s Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security is a “bridging” report that summarizes work carried out over 2 fiscal years (2021-2022 and 2022‑2023). It is based on individual progress reports prepared by each of the 9 federal partners under Canada’s Second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (CNAP 2). The reports outline partners’ achievements, progress, and challenges in meeting the objectives and targets set out in the Action Plan and the accompanying departmental implementation plans. This summary and the progress reports themselves are tabled together in Parliament.

This report is informed by the mid-term review (MTR) of Canada’s Second National Action Plan and consultations with federal Action Plan partners and civil society. ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ agreed to coordinate and produce this 24-month report to close the reporting gap between CNAP 2 and the launch of the renewed Action Plan (CNAP 3), while still meeting the requirement for annual reporting. This also allowed officials responsible for CNAP across federal Action Plan partners to play a more active role in CNAP 3’s development. This report includes improvements in line with the recommendations made in the MTR, such as featuring more case studies and focusing on challenges and systemic barriers.

Over the reporting period, the world saw a rise of authoritarianism, as well as the continuation or outbreak of violence, conflict and unrest in contexts ranging from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the Taliban’s seizure of power and the overthrow of the elected Government of Afghanistan, to Ethiopia’s Tigray crisis and the ongoing instability in Haiti. Each of these crises disproportionately affected women and girls, as well as marginalized and underserved groups, including Indigenous Peoples, members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, and persons with disabilities.

Progress in changing the culture of traditionally male-dominated spaces continued to be slow. Women’s participation in peace and security efforts remained low, despite the unique experiences and expertise they bring to the table. When women did join the political or security sectors, they often faced significant barriers, harassment and other forms of unequal treatment. In Canada and in countries that are fragile or affected by conflict, there has been an increase in the level of political violence targeting women leaders, including women human rights defenders and peacebuilders. Accordingly, we have witnessed:

• the continued use of conflict-related sexual violence and the targeting of refugee and/or displaced women;
• increased humanitarian aid and protection needs, including to address gender-based violence and provide sexual and reproductive health services; and
• low levels of funding for women’s organizations in crisis and conflict-affected situations.

In an interconnected world, no region has been spared this instability, and for many countries, addressing these challenges in isolation has been overwhelming, if not impossible. Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy and its suite of accompanying policies (including the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) and the Defence Policy – Strong, Secure, Engaged) recognize not only the need to engage in building and sustaining peace in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS), but also the key roles of women, girls, 2SLGBTQ2I+ persons and other historically marginalized groups in decision-making and peace processes. Canada places gender equality, empowerment and human rights at the centre of decisions on humanitarian action, development assistance, and peace and security interventions. Integrating gender into our cross-government peace and security engagements remains critical: from early warning tools to disaster response, and from defence and security capacity building to peace operations and stabilization.

Canada’s Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) framework is also critical to implementing the WPS agenda at home, where key populations of women, girls, 2SLGBTQ2I+ persons and other historically marginalized groups continue to face barriers and challenges to having their human rights respected. To be a genuine leader in this space, Canada recognizes that work must also be done at home, and several implementing partners made strides in this regard over the reporting period.

Federal Action Plan partners successfully advanced Action Plan priorities during the reporting period and achieved concrete results. These included supporting local women’s rights organizations (WROs) and feminist movements in FCAS to meet identified WPS-related needs, improving the recruitment and retention of diverse women in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), removing barriers to Indigenous women’s participation in processes that impact them; continued advocacy and support for the United Nations’ (UN) zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and assault (SEA); launching a new refugee stream for human rights defenders; continued efforts to prevent human trafficking and deliver gender‑responsive humanitarian assistance; chairing the WPS Chiefs of Defence Network, and furthering the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations.

Taking stock of progress has also allowed us to reflect on the challenges faced along the way. While some challenges were external and difficult to anticipate and plan for (for example, the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing anti-gender campaigns), others were internal to our organizations. These included a lack of capacity to deliver adequate support to all implementing partners and Canada’s mission network on WPS and, importantly, workplace cultures and norms that were inherently at odds with a feminist approach. These internal and cultural challenges will take determination and courage to address, and all implementing partners have and will continue to work hard to implement meaningful internal changes.

1. Introduction

Launched in 2017, Canada’s second National Action Plan outlined a cross-government approach to improving security, promoting gender equality, preventing conflict, and building sustainable peace. It aimed to ensure a coherent response and to work with partners to advance the WPS agenda both at home and abroad. The second and third national action plans remain central to Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy.

To ensure concerted action and meet the high level of ambition, Canada’s second National Action Plan was implemented by 9 federal departments and agencies with both international and domestic mandates:

1. ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ (GAC)
2. Department of National Defence (DND)/Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)
3. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
4. Public Safety Canada (PS) (with contributions from the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC))
5. Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE)
6. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
7. The Department of Justice (DOJ)
8. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC)
9. Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)

This report and the accompanying departmental progress reports outline achievements and challenges in meeting the objectives and targets outlined in the Action Plan and related departmental implementation plans.

Canada’s commitments

Under its second National Action Plan, Canada committed to:

• increase the meaningful participation of women, women’s organizations and networks in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict peacebuilding
• prevent, respond to and end impunity for sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) perpetrated in conflict and sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by peacekeepers and other international personnel, including humanitarian and development staff
• promote and protect women’s and girls’ human rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in fragile, conflict and conflict-affected states (FCAS)
• meet the specific needs of women and girls in humanitarian settings, including upholding their sexual rights and their access to sexual and reproductive health services
• strengthen the capacity of peace operations to advance the WPS agenda, including through the meaningful deployment of more women and the full integration of the WPS agenda into CAF operations and police deployments

These objectives are applied to all of Canada’s engagements across development, diplomacy, humanitarian, and peace and security efforts abroad, as well as domestic efforts within Canada related to these issues. All federal implementing partners of the Action Plan were responsible for delivering on the objectives relevant to their mandates. Each federal department’s specific commitments can be found in their departmental implementation plans and annual departmental reports, annexed to this summary report.

Canada’s Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security

In 2019, through an Order-in-Council, the Prime Minister appointed Jacqueline O’Neill as Canada’s first Ambassador for WPS.  Her mandate was renewed in 2022, extending her term until the end of March 2025. The Ambassador’s primary role is to provide confidential advice to ministers engaged in the implementation of Canada’s National Action Plan on WPS and to advise on how Canada can continue to demonstrate global leadership in this area. Through these functions, the Ambassador reinforces efforts for the comprehensive implementation of the National Action Plan across the Government of Canada and to broaden implementation of the WPS agenda within Canada and abroad.

During the reporting period, the work of the Ambassador and her office focused on the following areas:

i. Strengthening and expanding the network of federal Action Plan partners

Ambassador O’Neill continued to advance coordination and information sharing across the federal government, with Parliament, and with civil society.

In June 2021, she convened all federal ministers responsible for the Action Plan, as well as the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Commissioner of the RCMP, resulting in a ministerial commitment to develop a third National Action Plan. Together with the team working on the development of Canada’s third National Action Plan, she convened focal points from each department to share information, reflect on progress and challenges, and look ahead to the next National Action Plan.

Ambassador O’Neill continued to reinforce the government’s efforts to broaden the domestic focus of the WPS agenda and the range of security threats to be addressed by all departments. This contributed to an increase in the number of federal departments and agencies engaged in planning for Canada’s Third National Action Plan, from 9 under the second Action Plan to 10 partners under the third.

In November 2022, Ambassador O’Neill appeared before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development’s Subcommittee on International Human Rights as a witness on the situation of women human rights defenders, including the risks that they face in conducting their work.

She continued to engage regularly with members of civil society, including through quarterly meetings with the WPS Network-Canada, and a range of additional engagements on thematic and geographic issues and situations with women peacebuilders, academics, 2SLGBTQI+ activists, and youth. 

To further the work on relationship building on WPS with Indigenous Peoples, Ambassador O’Neill committed to translating key components of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 into 5 Indigenous languages spoken in Canada: Algonquin, Cree, Dene, Inuktitut and Ojibwe. These translations were produced by Indigenous women in different regions of Canada and disseminated on social media and through GAC’s website. 

ii. Supporting the creation of customized tools, resources and guidance

Ambassador O’Neill supported Canadian personnel across government to develop the specialized skills and knowledge needed to deliver on Canada’s Action Plan commitments and sustain global leadership, including by: 

• providing strategic advice on implementing the WPS agenda to Ministers and working with senior officials, including Heads of Mission at Canadian missions abroad, and domestic departments and agencies, covering a range of international security crises
• facilitating training and context-specific discussions to deepen senior officials’ understanding of WPS, enhance their ability to apply an intersectional approach to WPS, and highlight its relevance to their daily work

iii. Bolstering ambitious Canadian initiatives

In her capacity as a high-level representative of the Government of Canada, Ambassador O’Neill promoted WPS at an average of over 135 meetings and events per year in Canada and abroad, including at the following:

• the UN Security Council’s annual open debates on WPS in 2021 and 2022, where she delivered Canada’s national statement and a statement on behalf of the UN’s Group of Friends of WPS
• meetings organized by civil society on issues relevant to the WPS agenda including, non‑traditional security threats such as cybersecurity and climate justice and security
• meetings of the global WPS Focal Points Network during Canada’s co-chairing with Uruguay from 2021 to 2022
• meetings with dozens of international visitors to Canada, including delegations of Ukrainian parliamentarians and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict

She also participated in high-level visits to boost engagement on WPS, including by: 

• accompanying the Minister of Defence to the Shangri-La Dialogue 2023 in Singapore, an inter‑governmental security conference attended by a large number of Defence Ministers and Chiefs of Defence Staff
• participating in a panel on gender equality with the Prime Minister at Global Citizen Now 2023 in New York, which included a discussion on the importance of supporting women peacebuilders
• accompanying Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff on an official visit to Ukraine in December 2021
• promoting WPS through official visits to Bangladesh, Belgium (to engage with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union), Latvia, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and the UAE
• serving as the representative from Canada to the G7’s Gender Equality Advisory Council and Canada’s Sherpa to the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse

The Women, Peace and Security Ambassador continues to bolster Canadian initiatives and interests, including advocacy for the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations, and engagement with ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ implementing partners, including many civil society organizations.

Challenges

Pervasive challenges remained to fully implementing the WPS agenda both at home and abroad. Just as promises of the COVID-19 pandemic being the “great equalizer” dissipated, so did any indications that the recovery from the pandemic would be inclusive and equitable. In fact, the world saw an intensified and deliberate push back on gender equality and women’s rights, including increases in gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). Meanwhile, with the changing nature of crises—including climate change and the rising prevalence of disinformation (including tech-facilitated gender-based violence)—there were real threats to the hard-won gains of the WPS agenda to date.

External challenges

Canada, alongside its allies, faced challenges in bilateral efforts, multilateral forums and at home, which included:

• the rise of anti-gender equality campaigns and movements, which had a particular impact in the WPS space. Increasing opposition to addressing GBV, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender equality language at key multilateral forums such as the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the United Nations General Assembly forced Canada and like-minded allies to work diligently to prevent backsliding on previously agreed language in resolutions, rather than actively introducing new language to further the WPS agenda.
• some WPS projects facing challenges in garnering community buy-in, particularly from men and boys. Approaches to mitigating risks and bolstering women and girls’ meaningful participation in decision-making processes included building alliances with influential men and community leaders: through allyship, they could help present initiatives to the broader community and promote the creation of space for women’s participation.
• the reception of WPS ideas remaining a challenge in certain communities. For example, it was difficult for projects dealing with money-laundering to be seen as appropriate for a gendered approach. In addition, there was enduring perception that a gendered approach to programming could be distilled into the inclusion of women in project activities. Efforts to promote the operational value of intersectional and gendered approaches within capacity building remained highly relevant, as did the continuing need for data and practical tools.
• the COVID-19 pandemic challenging traditional program delivery for partner organizations. For instance, mobility restrictions continued to pose challenges for some project activities. Access to beneficiaries was especially challenging given increased threats, violence (including SGBV) and assassinations of both women and men social leaders and human rights defenders, and reduced abilities for victims to access services. Ongoing security concerns in certain regions where survivors were located also created additional accessibility challenges. Some organizations were able to pivot and provide virtual services where possible, ensuring that those most likely to be left behind could be reached, while protecting social distancing requirements.
• At home, the COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges to refugee resettlement well into 2021. Travel restrictions and other public health measures in Canada and abroad, reduced flight availability and disruptions in the operations of key partners like the International Organization for Migration, UNHCR and service provider organizations were some of the major issues. Despite this, Canada safely resettled a total of 9,235 refugees via its Blended Visa Office-Referred, Private Sponsorship of Refugees, and Government-Assisted Refugees programs in 2020. Of all refugees resettled in Canada in 2021, 47% were women and girls.
• GAC, as well as the Canadian international cooperation sector, observed a slight decline in the momentum (investment of financial and human resources) to prevent and respond to SEA. The challenge was to mobilize leadership to ensure that PSEA remained a top priority for the sector at large. The sector also identified the following key challenges to the full integration of PSEA:
  1. staff and partner capacity;
  2. financing, including external funding and internal budgeting dedicated to PSEA;
  3. localized and intersectional approaches; and
  4. accessibility of resources (best practices guides, community of learning, sample policies, etc.)

Internal challenges

Canada’s commitment to the WPS agenda extended to its internal practices. Given the systemic and cultural nature of some of the internal challenges encountered, there remains a need for continued and determined work. Challenges ranged from internal capacity and resources to factors much larger than the government bureaucracy, such as sexism and misogyny:

• At Canada’s missions abroad, high turnover of staff and externally contracted coordinators, as well as heavy pressures on Foreign Policy and Diplomacy Services sections, made it challenging to find time for gender training. As a result, since 2020-21, there has been a 9% reduction in the rate of gender training for staff in charge of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives program.
• The COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges to program delivery, with Embassy teams operating at reduced capacity due to the departure of Canada-based staff in light of COVID-19 evacuations. This, combined with travel and meeting restrictions, made it difficult to conduct regular activities over this reporting period.
• Despite making significant progress to further a feminist approach within ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ, ensuring policy coherence across all streams of the department (foreign policy, trade and international assistance) remained an issue in some cases, as did building capacity and ownership across all teams to operationalize an intersectional feminist approach. For example, some programs at GAC lacked consistent access to gender expertise to assist them in integrating WPS/gender considerations into the program design, implementation and monitoring, and staff did not feel sufficiently empowered to have their teams undertake this work directly.
• Although women, along with other Employment Equity groups, were given priority processing in the CAF recruitment process to ensure that all qualified women applicants were selected, the CAF remained behind on its goal of 25% women across all levels/ranks by 2026. In addition, sexual misconduct within DND/CAF continued to be a challenge affecting recruitment and retention.

2. Results

The full results of Canada’s efforts to implement the Action Plan for fiscal years 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 are presented in the departmental progress reports of each federal implementing partner. These departmental reports provide detailed results on progress and complement this whole-of-government summary report. As a summary report, this report and this section highlight selected examples of results from the departmental progress reports to demonstrate how the entire Government of Canada is working to advance the WPS agenda.  

Objective 1 - Increasing the participation of women, women’s organizations and networks in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict state-building

Recognizing Canada’s responsibility to promote the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in all their diversity in peace and security both at home and abroad, Canada advocated for the meaningful inclusion of women from the earliest phases of peace and security processes, and advanced women’s participation through its programming, diplomacy, deployment and policy efforts. Examples of Canadian efforts from the past 2 fiscal years included the following:  

• As Chair of the UN Group of Friends of WPS in New York, Canada mobilized 67 Member States to advocate for and support women’s full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership, at all stages and at all levels, in political and peace processes. Over the reporting period, Canada delivered 8 joint statements on behalf of the Group of Friends to the UN Security Council or the General Assembly. At the Security Council Open Debate on WPS in 2022, Canada delivered a statement on behalf of the Group of Friends that reiterated its call for making women’s participation in UN-led peace processes a requirement, and urged all UN Member States to create a safe and enabling environment for women peacebuilders, women human rights defenders, women civil society leaders, women journalists and media workers, and advocates for gender equality to carry out their work.
• Over the reporting period, 265 local women human rights organizations in FCAS received funding from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), which directs funds towards small, local groups, given their strong understanding of the local context and needs. WROs play an important role in promoting women’s participation in community efforts on reconciliation and transitional justice; political, social and economic transformation; and counter-terrorism. The CFLI recognizes this and supports their ability to be drivers of change. For example, in 2021-2022, CFLI supported a local project in Pakistan to strengthen the capacity of 50 women on conflict prevention and peacebuilding through workshops. The project was successful in launching the Women Leaders Peace Network to ensure the continued participation of women in decision making, peacebuilding and conflict resolution across the region.
• The Canadian Armed Forces continued to develop and advance targeted and GBA Plus-informed recruitment initiatives (campaigns, events, and priority processing) for women, as well as special measures to ensure that all qualified female applicants are selected and that additional positions for women are established if needed. On average, applicants experienced a 20% reduction in the amount of time from application to enrolment. Female applicants represented 14.5% of total CAF enrolments in fiscal year 2022-2023. DND/CAF also continued to roll-out initiatives to ensure the retention of diverse women in the organization and an improved and inclusive work culture. The establishment of the Chief Professional Conduct and Culture, a new centre of expertise to unify, inform and coordinate culture change efforts across DND/CAF, and the creation of the Chief Military Personnel Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, are 2 examples of initiatives that will change the Defense Team’s WPS future landscape. Moreover, the “Policy and Appearance” chapter of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Dress Instruction was updated and came into effect in 2022, making the instruction more inclusive and less prohibitive, and giving members the freedom to make more personal choices. The last major update to standards for appearance took place over 50 years ago.

Objective 2 - Preventing, responding to, and ending impunity for sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) perpetrated in conflict and SEA by peacekeepers and other international personnel, including humanitarian and development staff

Preventing conflict-related SGBV, supporting survivors and ensuring accountability was a top priority for the government, as violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law remained consistently high around the world. This included addressing SEA by peacekeepers and international assistance personnel who are entrusted with protecting the most underserved and marginalized. During the reporting period, ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ advanced this objective through actions including the following: 

• Continuing to support the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women ($14 million, including $12 million for the COVID-19 emergency response), which reached about 16,215 refugee and internally displaced women and girls in 2021 alone.
• Supporting the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Program to End Child Marriage (Global Program): examples of results from the program in 2021 and 2022 showed that it reached over 170,000 boys and men in Burkina Faso to support positive masculinities and behavioural changes to protect girls from child marriage in their communities; despite the insecurity in Yemen, the Global Program exceeded its 2022 targets and provided non-formal literacy education to 1,900 marginalized girls (girls included child marriage survivors, adolescent girls who never went to school, and girls affected by conflict and displacement); and in Niger, over 60,000 adolescent girls received life‑skills training and information on sexual and reproductive health through door-to-door outreach visits.
• Canada’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva engaged with health and humanitarian agencies and in intergovernmental contexts to discuss corporate-level policies, processes and procedures including ombuds offices and other institutional integrity and accountability mechanisms. As a result of the Independent Commission on the review of sexual abuse and exploitation during the response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Canada and like-minded Member States advocated directly with the Director General of the World Health Organization to increase accountability and focus on a victim survivor-centred approach. Canada is a member of the Geneva Group of Friends to Eliminate Sexual Harassment, which focuses its efforts on addressing multilateral efforts to eliminate sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse.
• During the UN General Assembly High-Level Week in September 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs convened a high-level panel discussion on advancing survivor-centred justice processes and reparations for victims and survivors of CRSV. The event provided a platform for survivors of CRSV to advocate directly to the UN to support survivor-focused approaches to justice and accountability.
• Canada continued to be a strong advocate for the full implementation of the UN’s zero-tolerance policy on SEA, and urged troop- and police-contributing countries, as well as UN agencies and other international actors, to uphold their obligations to take measures to prevent SEA, to investigate allegations and to take action. Canada’s international leadership on PSEA, including at the OECD-DAC, supports a focus on coordination and coherence on all PSEA lines of effort. Coordinated efforts to prevent and respond to SEA as well as end impunity is possible at ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ in part due to the establishment of the PSEA Unit. The Unit continues to institutionalize PSEA within the department, namely by standardizing GAC’s expectations on PSEA in financial instruments for Canadian and international partners working in development and humanitarian assistance, as well as peacekeeping operations.
• Canada supported the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)’s Gender and Disarmament Programme to develop a Factsheet on Gender and the Arms Trade Treaty, which offers recommendations on the gendered impacts of armed violence, and provides information on gender equality in conventional arms control.

In addition to GAC, other government departments have taken this objective forward during the reporting period, including domestically:

• In June 2021, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan: Ending Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People was published, requiring all levels of government to address the Calls for Justice. ISC has made progress on implementing the Comprehensive Violence Prevention Strategy, which seeks to establish new shelters and transitional housing for Indigenous women, children, and 2SLGBTQI+ people facing gender-based violence across the country, as well as expand access to culturally relevant supports. Since the launch of the Indigenous Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative in collaboration with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, a direct product of the Comprehensive Violence Prevention Strategy, 47 projects have been selected as of spring 2024, including: 25 shelters and 22 transitional housing projects for funding.
• CIRNAC continues to work with Indigenous partners and government officials from Canada and Mexico to address the high rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls. In 2023, Canada hosted 2 important planning meetings bringing together Indigenous leaders from each of the 2 countries to share their expertise and discuss systemic issues that Indigenous women, young women, and Two-Spirit and gender-diverse peple face.
• Justice Canada provided funding in all provinces and territories to support projects that make independent legal advice and independent legal representation available to victims and survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence, including legal advice for victims and survivors involved in the criminal and family justice systems. The funding was intended for projects to support victims and survivors in making informed decisions about their particular circumstances, with a view to increasing their confidence and making their voices more effectively heard in the criminal and family justice systems.
• Public Safety Canada provided funding for a number of research products related to cyberbullying and cyberhate targeting girls, women and the 2SLGBTQI+ community, including working with subject matter experts to publish a and on existing cyberbullying literature, with a specific focus on 2SLGBTQ+, girls, and ethno-racially diverse youth; and funding a Statistics Canada titled “Online hate and aggression among young people in Canada”.
• Sexual misconduct within DND and CAF continued to be a challenge, and in 2021 DND/CAF redoubled its efforts to achieve a positive culture change and to meaningfully address and seek to prevent all forms of misconduct and support those who have been harmed. DND/CAF commissioned an Independent External Comprehensive Review of institutional policies, practices, procedures and culture, led by former Canadian Supreme Court Justice, the Honourable Louise Arbour. was published on May 20, 2022 and presented 48 recommendations. The Minister of National Defence welcomed all 48 recommendations, announced that work to implement 17 of the recommendations would begin immediately, and instructed DND/CAF to provide an assessment and path forward for the remaining recommendations. The Minister also tabled a report in Parliament in December 2022 outlining the path forward for the implementation of all 48 recommendations.

Objective 3 - Promoting and protecting women’s and girls’ human rights and gender equality, and empowering  women and girls in fragile and conflict-affected settings

In a global context of pushback on gender equality and women’s rights, including shrinking civic space and resources for women’s rights organizations and feminist movements, deliberate and consistent action continued to be needed over the reporting period. Canada promoted and protected the human rights of women, girls and marginalized peoples in the following ways:

• In 2021, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) launched a new refugee stream for , making Canada one of the few countries in the world with a dedicated, permanent immigration program for those who are targeted for their work to protect and promote human rights. The new stream was designed and implemented in close consultation with experts on the protection of human rights defenders and civil society, to ensure the program best meets the needs of those most at risk. Particular attention was placed on those who are less visible or marginalized, including women and 2SLGBTQI+ human rights defenders. IRCC signed memorandums of understanding with 2 human rights defender protection organizations, Front Line Defenders and ProtectDefenders.eu, who worked with their civil society partners and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to identify cases of human rights defenders in need of resettlement.
• As part of Canada’s National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking (National Strategy), Public Safety Canada continued to deliver the National Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign, and support the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline, as well as organizations across Canada who work to prevent and address human trafficking.
• As part of the CIRNAC supported Indigenous communities in re-establishing and revitalizing Indigenous cultural spaces. By investing in spaces for cultural activities that prioritize the voices of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people, this contribution program aimed to promote Indigenous cultures and identities to foster safe and secure communities for Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people; and to support Indigenous communities in advancing self-determination from the perspective of addressing the root causes of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. More than 340 applications were received across Canada, and 66 projects were accepted for funding.
• ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ continued to support women’s and girls’ rights and gender equality in a wide range of contexts. In the DRC, Canada supported the Panzi Foundation, a world-renowned centre working on the prevention of and response to SGBV, providing SRHR services and related community activities for populations living in high-risk areas. The centre enables survivors to obtain medical, psychosocial, legal and socio-economic integration care, so that they can regain their dignity as full participants in Congolese society. In Lebanon, through the Integrating Gender into Lebanese Institutions project, Canada was able to increase the capacity of Lebanon crisis response partners’ staff to promote and protect women’s and girls’ rights and deliver a more gender-based response to the impact of crisis in Lebanon, providing humanitarian and development practitioners with resources to conduct gender analyses and develop gender-responsive interventions.
• Canada’s mission network also worked diligently to promote and protect the rights of women and girls in various contexts and key forums. For instance, Canada’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva co-sponsored and led the drafting of several thematic and country resolutions of the Human Rights Council that promoted and protected the human rights of women and girls in FCAS. For example, in 2023, it led on drafting the resolution on the human rights situation in Venezuela and was part of the core-group for the resolution on the human rights situation in Nicaragua, both of which included strong language condemning sexual and gender-based violence, and emphasized the importance of accountability.

Objective 4 - Meeting the specific needs of women and girls in humanitarian settings, including upholding their sexual rights and their access to sexual and reproductive health services

Canada continued to demonstrate global leadership in promoting gender-responsive humanitarian assistance, and upholding sexual rights and access to sexual and reproductive health services, in line with the Feminist International Assistance Policy. During the reporting period, efforts included the following: 

• 99% of disbursements by ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ’s international humanitarian assistance bureau integrating gender equality considerations in both fiscal years 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023. This was achieved not only from the results of Canada’s commitment to gender-responsive humanitarian assistance and adherence to GBA Plus requirements, but also from the due diligence conducted by the department’s gender equality specialists.
• In 2021 to 2022, ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ provided over $376 million in sexual and reproductive health and rights programming in fragile and conflict-affected states. Some of this assistance went to support the work of UN humanitarian agencies addressing gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health, helping to prevent deaths, disease and disability related to unwanted pregnancies, obstetric complications, reproductive disorders and gender-based violence.
• Much of the work took place in country-specific projects. Through support for Jordan’s National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security, Canada helped increase the availability of gender-sensitive humanitarian services for both nationals and refugees in Jordan, increasing their awareness of how to report incidents and request GBV services. In Mali, the “Spotlight+” project implemented by UNFPA exceeded its annual targets for increasing women’s and girls’ use of comprehensive, quality, rights-based SRH services, helping to build the capacities of providers, decision makers, young people and women on gender-based violence and increase the number of new users of modern contraceptives. In Ethiopia, a project implemented by Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief increased access points for women and girls to receive SRH services while also broadcasting key SRHR messaging through local radio shows.
• While the majority of the work under this objective took place internationally, there were also a number of efforts that were conducted with a domestic focus: in the context of the National Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action 18-24, ISC worked closely with provincial and territorial partners to address the issue of health and sexual rights. Budget 2021 investments included $33.3 million over three years to improve access to culturally safe services, such as expanding support for Indigenous midwifery and doula initiatives.

Objective 5 - Strengthening the capacity of peace operations to advance the WPS agenda, including by deploying more women and fully embedding the WPS agenda into CAF operations and police deployments

Through the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations, Canada worked to increase the meaningful participation of uniformed women:

• Canada provided technical assistance and training to its 3 Elsie bilateral partners—Ghana, Senegal and Zambia—to address some of the barriers to women’s participation identified by a gender barrier assessment (the Measuring Opportunities for Women in Peace Operations, or MOWIP assessment). The Canadian Armed Forces, as well as security institutions in 16 other countries, had completed or were undergoing a MOWIP as of March 2023 (CAF released its MOWIP report in 2022). Among the assistance provided was a 2-week training course delivered by the RCMP in 2022 to Zambian policewomen to prepare them to pass the UN Assessment of Mission Services (AMS) exams required for deployment to UN peace operations. Fifty-five (55) of the 60 (91.7%) Zambian policewomen passed the UN exams, representing a huge leap from the previous 20% pass rate. Also in 2022, the CAF deployed a gender-balanced 4-member team to Ghana under Operation PRESENCE to support the Ghana Armed Forces, among other things, to collect data to establish a baseline formulation of a Ghana Armed Forces Gender Policy.
• Canada provided funding to the UN Secretariat for the design and implementation of gender-responsive camp accommodations, and in multilateral negotiations, Canadian leadership helped secure the inclusion of the first-ever gender-sensitive recommendations for the UN Contingent Owned Equipment (COE) manual, a document outlining requirements and reimbursement rates for troop- or police-contributing countries. The manual now includes provisions for properly fitting equipment and streamlining medical access for female personnel, including the provision of menstrual products. Canada also continued to champion the UN Women Elsie Initiative Fund, which launched and completed its second programming round. 

Canada continued to work to embed the WPS agenda into its own operations, including through the following:

• As part of the International Police Peacekeeping Program, Canadian police directly supported WPS principles while serving on international peace operations by preventing and/or responding to SGBV as well as advancing gender equality. Among key accomplishments were the following: the integration of WPS principles into pre-deployment training for all Canadian police personnel deployed to international peace operations; and the inclusion of GBA Plus practices into assessments, reporting tools, documents and processes.
• As Chair of the WPS Chiefs of Defence (CHoDs) Network—a network which aims to strengthen the implementation of the WPS agenda in national armed forces—the CAF developed an exportable WPS Curriculum Framework, “Mainstreaming Gender Perspectives in Operations”. The framework aimed to mitigate an identified gap in gender perspectives training and education opportunities for junior Officers and Non-Commissioned Members, thereby increasing awareness and capacity to integrate gender perspectives into military operational planning and missions.

3. Improving the Government of Canada’s capacity to implement the Action Plan

Action Plan partners have committed to improving their own internal capacity to implement Canada’s National Action Plan objectives. While challenges remain and systemic change is slow, there are some strong examples of walking the talk on gender equality, inclusion and WPS within the Government of Canada:

• In their role as Centre for Excellence on GBA Plus, WAGE continued to work closely with Canada’s second National Action Plan partner departments to increase their capacity to apply GBA Plus in a robust and intersectional manner, to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs, services, and other initiatives. WAGE provided training and resources and facilitated knowledge sharing on promising practices. This helped to ensure that women and women’s organizations were provided with the opportunity and means to engage in conflict prevention and resolution and post-conflict state building.
• CIRNAC and ISC were members of the interdepartmental GBA Plus Learning Advisory Committee, where they advised on and supported the integration of Indigenous considerations in the Canada School of Public Service and WAGE GBA Plus learning products. This included input into the development of a case study to ensure the inclusion of Indigenous culturally-competent GBA Plus considerations. CIRNAC and ISC jointly and independently developed and facilitated training and awareness sessions to enhance staff skills and competency in the application of robust intersectional and culturally-competent GBA Plus. Both departments also formalized GBA Plus governance structures to oversee the implementation of GBA Plus across all policies, programs, initiatives and decision making, ensuring that the impacts on diverse groups of First Nations, Inuit and Métis are considered.
• Canada’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York continued to implement its Gender Pledge, which calls for balanced gender representation in Canadian delegations, strong language on gender equality and women’s empowerment in resolutions, statements and side events; and regular consultations with women’s groups and groups promoting gender equality and the human rights of women and girls. For instance, to support the engagement of Indigenous women from Canada in UN discussions in sharing their priorities, Canada’s Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the United Nations engaged with the Assembly of First Nations National Chief and its Women’s Council Chair on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Indigenous women’s priorities at the UN.
• In 2021 to 2022, GAC’s Gender Equality Division finalized guiding documents on a feminist approach to climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa, and on gender transformative programming in SRHR. Similarly, in 2022 to 2023, the Gender Equality Division worked in close collaboration with the Environment Division to develop a guidance note on ‘’Incorporating Gender Equality into Climate Change and Biodiversity Programming: Integrated Result Statements”. These tools included advice on how to better support women and girls as powerful agents of change by suggesting ways to amplify their voices in decision making, leadership, governance, and peace and security efforts. They were developed in recognition of gaps in guidance materials to fully implement GAC’s feminist approach across all areas of work.

4. Conclusion and next steps

Despite an ever-evolving global security landscape and an increasingly hostile context for gender equality, women’s rights and inclusion, Canada continued its global leadership on WPS and feminist approaches, advocating strongly for the promotion and protection of gender equality and women’s rights in key multilateral forums on security and other related issues. This leadership extended on the ground in FCAS, where Canada’s international assistance, humanitarian and PSOPs programming responded to the basic needs of those in situations of vulnerability, brought by transformative change to harmful gendered societal norms and practices. Domestically, Canada made more linkages than ever before to the WPS agenda - from refugee integration, to CAF and international peace operations deployments, to the implementation of the National Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. All implementing partners made concrete progress in furthering the WPS agenda in the interest of Canadians.

Challenges are inevitable when pursuing such an ambitious goal across numerous federal departments with different mandates. Action Plan partners experienced challenges to fully implement the Action Plan across all of Canada’s policies, programs and interventions. The Women, Peace and Security Ambassador was instrumental in socializing the Action Plan to all partners, encouraging them to be ambitious, and bringing them together regularly to share ideas.

During the reporting period, the Government of Canada worked to develop its third National Action Plan, titled Foundations for Peace, with the aim of strengthening its cross-government approach and the Plan’s domestic outreach. The plan will once again be coordinated by GAC and will involve 10 federal partners. Each partner prepared an implementation plan or statement of support to demonstrate how they will further Foundations for Peace: Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security under their respective mandates. Moreover, Foundations for Peace: Canada’s National Action Plan takes into account the findings of the MTR and provides an opportunity to address the challenges and critical gaps in the implementation of the WPS agenda. To go further, Canada will use the opportunity presented by Foundations for Peace: Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security to explore how the WPS agenda can be used to address the legacy of colonialism, thereby strengthening the domestic focus of the Action Plan while continuing to take the lead in advancing the agenda globally. This will also be an opportunity to address the root causes of violence and discrimination, including by applying an anti-racist and intersectional lens to respond to global and systemic discrimination. The third National Action Plan has been developed in close collaboration and engagement with various stakeholders, including civil society and Indigenous Peoples. 

While the present whole-of-government summary progress report marks the close of the second National Action Plan chapter, the tangible progress made and lessons learned have been invaluable as Canada moves forward with the development, launch and implementation of Foundations for Peace: Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. Sustained high-level interest and dedication to the WPS agenda and Canada’s National Action Plan will be a necessity as we move forward to maintain Canada’s global leadership in this space, and ultimately, to contribute towards a more peaceful and sustainable world for all.

Annexes

Annex A: Definitions

These definitions can be found in Canada’s National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security. These definitions are formulated and compiled to help readers understand the terms as they are used in the Action Plan.

Child, early and forced marriage (CEFM): The term “child marriage” refers to a marriage in which at least one of the parties is a child. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child is “every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”. “Early marriage” is often used interchangeably with “child marriage” and refers to marriages involving a person aged below 18 in countries where the age of majority is attained earlier or upon marriage. Early marriage can also refer to marriages where both spouses are 18 or older but other factors make them unready to consent to marriage, such as their level of physical, emotional, sexual and psychosocial development, or a lack of information regarding the person’s life options. A forced marriage is any marriage that occurs without the full and free consent of one or both of the parties and/or where one or both of the parties is/are unable to end or leave the marriage, including as a result of duress or intense social or family pressure.

Fragility is characterized as the accumulation and combination of risks combined with insufficient capacity by the state, system, and/or communities to manage, absorb, or mitigate its consequences. This situation of exposure to risk can lead to negative outcomes, including violence, armed conflict, protracted political crises, and chronic underdevelopment. Risks and coping capacity are measured in five dimensions to include political, societal, security, economic, and environmental aspects. (Source: the OECD)

Gender refers to socially-constructed roles, behaviours, expressions and identities of girls, women, boys, men and gender-diverse people.  It influences how people perceive themselves and each other, how they act and interact, the distribution of power and resources in society, and people’s social, health and economic outcomes.

Sex refers to a set of biological attributes in humans and animals. It is primarily associated with physical and physiological features including chromosomes, gene expression, hormone levels and function, and reproductive/sexual anatomy. Sex is usually categorized as female or male but there is variation in the biological attributes that comprise sex and how those attributes are expressed.

Gender equality refers to equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for women, men and gender-diverse people. Equality refers to the state of being equal while equity refers to the state of being just, impartial or fair. However, equality of opportunity by itself does not guarantee equal outcomes for women, men and gender-diverse people.

Gender mainstreaming means ensuring that gender perspectives and attention to the goal of gender equality are central to all activities, such as policy, programming and advocacy, and in all phases: planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) is an analytical tool to support the development of responsive and inclusive initiatives, including policies, programs, and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue being addressed by the initiative and how; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is also an ongoing process that does not stop once an initiative has been developed. It is an analytical tool that can and should be applied to all stages of initiative development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Applying GBA Plus early in the policy development process ensures that diversity considerations are embedded in the decision-making process, allowing for responsive and inclusive initiatives that meet the needs of diverse groups of people. Since 1995, the Government of Canada has committed to the application of gender-based analysis in all federal government decision-making. In 2011, the government added the “Plus” to emphasize the need to consider many factors when undertaking the analysis.

Gender-responsive policies or programs are developed with the consideration of gender norms, roles and inequalities with measures taken to actively address them.

Gender-sensitive indicates a cognitive awareness of gender differences, but appropriate action may not have been taken. However, the terms gender-responsive and gender-sensitive are often used interchangeably.

Gender transformative interventions go beyond gender responsiveness and specifically aim at transforming unequal gender relations to promote shared power, control of resources, decision-making, and support for women’s and girls’ empowerment.

Multiple and intersecting discrimination: Individuals have layered identities based on intersecting identity factors such as gender, ethnicity, race, religion, age, sexual orientation and ability. The discrimination they face is multidimensional and its various components cannot be addressed separately.

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV): Gender-based violence (GBV) is violence perpetrated against someone based on their gender expression, gender identity or perceived gender. Specifically, GBV includes any act of violence or abuse that can result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering. It affects every society and every social class and occurs in both private and public life. Whether the context is the use of rape as a tool of war, sex trafficking, intimate partner violence, female genital mutilation, or other forms, GBV is a violation of human rights in all cases. It is a disempowering force that erodes a person’s self-dignity, health and ability to participate in social, economic and political life. GBV is a barrier to gender equality, sustainable development and peace. GBV is rooted in gender inequalities and is intensified by other forms of discrimination, including racism, colonialism, disability, homophobia, transphobia and poverty. It is often exacerbated in conflict settings.

Sexual violence is a prevalent type of GBV. Sexual violence in conflict includes rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy and forced sterilization or abortion. The international legal framework clearly establishes that rape and other forms of sexual violence may constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Many states have laws that punish these acts, either as the specified crimes or as ordinary crimes under national law. The International Criminal Court in The Hague will in some instances have jurisdiction. Some international treaties and, arguably, customary international law, oblige states to either prosecute or extradite persons who commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The international regime and many states agree that amnesty cannot be granted for these serious violations of international law.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) include: age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education; reproductive health services; family planning services, including contraception; safe and legal abortion services and post-abortion care; prevention and management of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections; prevention of and response to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), including the prevention of harmful practices such as child and early forced marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting and the provision of psycho-social services for SGBV survivors; training of health care professionals in the provision of sexual and reproductive health care services and family planning; advocacy activities of women’s, youth, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ2I+ civil society groups; addressing social norms that limit women’s and adolescents’ control over their bodies and reproductive decision-making; and removal of judicial and legal barriers to the fulfillment of sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Women’s and girls’ empowerment is the ability of women and girls to take control over their lives, which includes setting one’s own agendas and goals, gaining skills and developing self-reliance. Policies and programs can support these processes. Women and girls can be empowered by creating conditions in which women can decide about how to use resources and income (economic empowerment); have access to good quality education (social empowerment); and can participate in political life (political empowerment).

Annex B: Theory of change

Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2017-2022 (CNAP 2)

Canada leads in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent WPS resolutions.

Impact

Women participate in peace and security efforts, women and girls are empowered, and their human rights are upheld in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS).

Outcomes (objectives)

Women participate in peace and security efforts, women and girls are empowered, and their human rights are upheld in FCAS.

• Increased and meaningful participation of women and women’s organizations and networks in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict state-building
• Prevention of, response to and the end of impunity for sexual and gender-based violence perpetrated in conflict and for sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers and other international personnel
• Promotion and protection of women’s and girls’ human rights, gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment in FCAS
• Meeting the specific needs of women and girls in humanitarian settings, including the upholding of their sexual rights and access to sexual and reproductive health services
• Strengthened capacity of peace operations to advance the WPS agenda, including by deploying more women and fully embedding the WPS agenda into CAF operations and police deployments

Intermediate outcomes

Positive changes in behaviour, social norms, institutionalized practices and legal systems, including customary and religious laws, in relation to gender equality, sexual and gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers and other international personnel.

Immediate outcomes

National and local governments, civil society, donor states, the UN and other multilateral organizations working in and in relation to FCAS have increased capacity and motivation to take a gender-responsive and gender-transformative approach and promote and protect women’s and girls’ human rights, their empowerment and gender equality, and engage men and boys in these efforts.

Actions (What we do)

• Increase capacity to deliver.
• Consult and cooperate with CSOs in Canada and locally on WPS and Action Plan implementation.
• Conduct pre-deployment training for military, police and civilian experts on gender and WPS, including preventing SEA.
• Develop a Canadian Action Plan to address SEA by peacekeepers.
• Take measures to increase the number of Canadian women (military, police and civilian experts) available for deployment to multilateral peace operations and other stabilization efforts.
• Ensure that GBA Plus is undertaken and incorporated into policies, strategies, programs, projects and initiatives.
• Learn from domestic policies and programs such as countering radicalization to violence and preventing GBV.
• Engage with women’s rights CSOs and government officials responsible for gender issues in scoping and assessment missions.
• Make WPS and gender expertise available to staff working within and in relation to FCAS.
• Enhance training on gender, GBA Plus and the specific needs of women and girls in situations of conflict for staff working within and in relations to FCAS.
• Incorporate the Action Plan into departmental planning and reporting frameworks.
• Table annual Action Plan progress reports in Parliament.
• Conduct independent mid-term and summative Action Plan evaluations.
• Make use of available research and guidelines, including by CSOs, the UN, academia and other states, to ensure the adequacy of intervention.
• Monitor activities to evaluate efficiency and increase evidence-based interventions.

Diplomacy and political leadership

• Advocate at all levels to advance the WPS agenda in bilateral, regional and multilateral forums.
• Cooperate with the national and international actors and courts to end impunity for conflict-related sexual and gender-based crimes and bring perpetrators to justice.
• Demonstrate leadership by, for example, recruiting more women to the CAF and addressing workplace sexual harassment.
• Collaborate with other states and through participation in bilateral and multilateral forums on policy development, including to ensure that the agenda responds to the changing nature of conflicts.
• Consult with CSOs to ensure the adequacy of interventions and their participation in regional and international peace and security meetings.
• Engage men and boys, alongside women and girls, as agents and beneficiaries of change in advancing the WPS agenda.
• Assist national authorities, community leaders and other actors in exerting influence over parties to armed conflict with respect to addressing sexual violence.
• Advocate for a more active role by national, local and community leaders in sensitizing communities on sexual violence to help prevention, avoid stigmatization of survivors and assist with social reintegration.
• Nominate women for senior posts in the UN and other multilateral organizations.
• Promote the WPS agenda in the international community’s response to migration and refugees.
• Advocate for initiatives that address unequal power relations in FCAS, including girls’ access to education and women’s economic empowerment.

Programming

• Provide targetedsupport for WPS projects and mechanisms and mainstream WPS and gender into international assistance, including:
  • Supporting women’s participation in conflict resolution
  • Preventing, mitigating and responding to SGBV in conflict, including child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation and cutting
  • Support local women’s CSOs, including human rights defenders, Indigenous people and women in all their diversity
  • Increasing gender expertise and representation of women in international peace operations
  • Providing support for gender-responsive security sector reform
  • Improving women’s access to justice in FCAS and provide gender-responsive legal technical assistance and support for justice sector reform
  • Assisting the UN and other international organizations in carrying out WPS and gender transformative programming
  • Facilitating the development and implementation of national action plans to implement WPS
  • Promoting access to sexual and reproductive health services in conflict and humanitarian settings
  • Engaging men and boys in advancing the WPS agenda
  • Addressing gender dimensions and women’s participation in counterterrorism efforts and prevention of violent extremism and radicalization to violence
  • Giving special consideration to women and girls in refugee protection and Canada’s immigration processing, programs and services
  • Taking gender-responsive approaches to disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, to transitional justice and reconciliation, to small arms and light weapons, to mine action and to human trafficking
  • Supporting women’s economic empowerment and girls’ education in FCAS

Strategic approach

A gender-responsive, human rights-based and whole-of-government approach to peace and security interventions and the situation of women and girls in FCAS.

Context

Despite evidence that women’s participation is vital to achieving and sustaining peace and that women are critical change agents, often leading peace movements and driving community recovery after conflict, they are largely excluded from peace negotiations and processes. SGBV in conflict, constraints on women’s ability to participate in conflict resolution and violations of women’s and girls’ human rights remain urgent issues requiring action in order to achieve progress toward more inclusive, equal and stable societies.