Women, Peace, and Security: the landscape of ‘core’ and ‘new’ issues amid the ongoing war on Ukraine

As of 2022, Ukraine has adopted two National Action Plans (NAPs) on UNSCR Resolution 1325, also known as the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS). While the first one, covering the period of 2016-2020, was developed and implemented during localized military conflict on certain territories of the country; the second one, 2021-2025, faced the full-scale invasion of Russia following 24 February 2022, which targeted all of Ukraine and its people. The invasion resulted in an acute need for updating the NAP to make it responsive to emerging needs and challenges concerning the WPS agenda. The introduced changes reflect the gendered impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and thus provide a unique case study of the first updated NAP during a full-scale war. This article provides a critical analysis of the revised NAP, stemming from the author’s involvement in the working groups, critical reading of policy documents and conducting six expert interviews with professionals involved in revising the NAP. The article asks what the priorities within the updated NAP say about the challenges of ongoing war and how it can contribute to the landscape of ‘core’ and ‘new’ issues within WPS.