AUSTRALIA
Australia’s latest NAP was published in 2021 for a 10-year tenure to 2031.
Objectives/Aims:
1. Support women and girls’ meaningful participation and needs in conflict prevention and peace processes. Indicators of this objective include:
- the proportion of positions in public institutions (national and local legislatures, public service and judiciary) compared to national distributions
- percentage of conflict prevention efforts that are gender-sensitive
- number and quality of programs that support women’s meaningful participation in local, sub-national and national decision-making structures
- number and percentage of women mediators, witnesses and signatories in formal peace negotiations
- percentage of peace agreements with substantive gender provisions
- Reduce sexual and gender-based violence. Indicators of this include:
- the proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age
- participation rate of youth and adults (sex disaggregated) in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months
- number of countries that have more inclusive social institutions in relation to gender, and percentage improvement
- number of countries that have national laws that criminalise sexual and gender-based violence
2. Support resilience, crisis response, and security, law and justice sector efforts to meet the needs and rights of all women and girls. Indicators of this include:
- number and percentage of countries that have laws and regulations that restrict women’s ability to participate in society and the economy relative to men
- maternal mortality ratio
- number of women and men, girls and boys, provided with lifesaving assistance in crisis situations
- percentage of women and men, girls and boys affected who report they are satisfied with the opportunities they had to influence the response
3. Demonstrate leadership and accountability for the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Indicators of this include:
- the number of meetings held by Australian posts with women and women’s rights organisations as mediators and participants to peace processes
- the number and percentage of missions and operations with mandates and planning documents that include clear references to Women, Peace and Security issues and report on this
- number of times Australia leads/sponsors statements on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and women’s participation in UN and multilateral fora
- number and percentage of countries where the Australian aid program is directly supporting a National Action Plan or an equivalent
Civil Society:
Consultations with civil society were conducted when formulating the NAP, and strengthening partnerships with civil society organisations is highlighted as a key aspect of implementing the NAP. Advice and accountability are foregrounded as priorities for the civil society-government relationship, with the government looking to civil society for policy guidance and as a mechanism for transparency.
Women in Peacekeeping:
Although Australia strongly advocates the women`s equal participation and full involvement in UN peacekeeping operations, women remain under represented in Australian deployments to peacebuilding missions. To illustrate, Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Defence Force (ADF) provided peacebuilding support to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) operations in between 2003 and 2017, approximately 18 percent were women. However, Australia`s constructive and positive attitude towards issue encourages more women to be a part of security-based roles in peacekeeping and peacebuilding activities in the near future.
UN Peacekeeping Statistics:
Although Australia strongly advocates the women's equal participation and full involvement in UN peacekeeping operations, women remain under-represented in Australian deployments to peacebuilding missions. As of September 2021, Australia provides 27 peacekeepers, of which only 4 are women.
References:
Australian Government (2012). Australian National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2012–2018. Australian Government Office for Women at UNSCR1325, pp.1-64.
PeaceWomen (n.d.). National Action Plan: Australia. [online] Peacewomen.org. Available at: http://www.peacewomen.org/nap-australia [Accessed 9 Feb. 2018].
UN Peacekeeping (2017). Summary of Contributions to UN Peacekeeping by Country and Post. [online] Peacekeeping.un.org. Available at: http://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/summary_of_contributions_to_un_peacekeeping_by_country_and_post.pdf [Accessed 9 Feb. 2018].
