Lebanon’s Women, Peace and Security Agenda: 2022–2030 Update
Overview
Lebanon continues to advance its commitments under the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda through a combination of national strategies, action plans, and institutional reforms. While the country’s first dedicated WPS National Action Plan (NAP) covered 2019–2022, the government has since integrated WPS priorities into the National Strategy for Women in Lebanon 2022–2030 and its National Action Plan 2024–2026. Together, these frameworks strengthen women’s participation in peace and security, enhance protection from violence, and promote gender‑responsive security institutions.
Key Objectives
Lebanon currently has:
WPS National Action Plan (NAP) for 2019–2022 (UNSCR 1325 NAP)
A National Strategy for Women in Lebanon 2022–2030, with an accompanying National Action Plan 2024–2026—this is a broader gender equality strategy, not a WPS‑specific NAP
There does not yet appear to be a publicly available, updated WPS NAP for 2022–2030; instead, WPS is now embedded within the wider 2022–2030 strategy and its NAP.
Hence, the following are referenced
• The 2019–2022 WPS NAP, and
• The 2022–2030 National Strategy + 2024–2026 NAP, where WPS elements are mainstreamed.
Objectives relevant to WPS and security sectors
Objectives in the 2019–2022 WPS NAP
The WPS NAP is structured around five strategic priorities, each with goal statements. Key WPS‑relevant objectives include:
1. Women’s participation in decision‑making and security/defence sectors• Increase women’s participation and representation in local and national governance.
• Take measures to increase women’s participation in security and defence sectors.
• Promote women’s participation in conflict prevention, mediation, and negotiations.
2. Prevention of conflict and violent extremism• Ensure women play an active role in conflict prevention and tension reduction.
• Promote women’s roles in preventing violent extremism and in early‑warning systems.
3. Protection from GBV• Protect women, girls, boys from sexual and gender‑based violence, discrimination, trafficking.
• Adopt and implement laws and ensure access to multi‑sectoral services (shelter, justice, health).
4. Relief and recovery• Respond to women’s and girls’ needs in relief and recovery after conflict and disasters.
• Normative framework• Amend, adopt, and implement laws and policies to prevent discrimination and protect women from violence and exploitation.
These priorities map directly onto the WPS pillars: participation, prevention, protection, relief/recovery, and normative frameworks.
Relevant aims in the 2022–2030 National Strategy for Women
The National Strategy for Women in Lebanon 2022–2030 is broader (rights, economic participation, political life, etc.), but it:
• Builds on the WPS agenda, including commitments to:• Strengthen women’s participation in public life, decision‑making, and institutions.
• Promote gender mainstreaming across ministries, including security‑related institutions.
• Is implemented through multi‑year NAPs (e.g., 2024–2026), which are developed with wide stakeholder consultation (ministries, public institutions, international organizations, academia, unions, political parties, civil society).
So WPS‑type objectives (participation in security, protection, GBV, etc.) are now nested in this broader framework.
Lebanon’s current WPS‑related commitments focus on:
• Women’s participation in security and public life
- Expanding opportunities for women to serve in the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), Internal Security Forces (ISF), General Security, and other state institutions.
• Conflict prevention and community security
Supporting women’s roles in early warning, mediation, and preventing violent extremism.
• Protection from violence
- Strengthening legal frameworks and services that address gender‑based violence, trafficking, and exploitation.
• Relief and recovery
- Ensuring that crisis response and reconstruction efforts reflect the needs and leadership of women and girls.
• Institutional gender mainstreaming
- Embedding gender units, training, and sex‑disaggregated data systems across ministries, including security and justice sectors.
Civil Society Involvement
Civil society remains central to Lebanon’s WPS architecture.
• Under the 2019–2022 WPS NAP, Civil Society Organisation (CSOs) were part of the national steering committee and contributed to design, implementation, and monitoring
• For the 2024–2026 NAP, the government held extensive consultations with CSOs, communities, academia, unions, and political parties, ensuring that the plan reflects local priorities and lived realities.
• CSOs continue to lead on service provision, community protection, GBV response, and accountability.
This whole‑of‑society approach is essential in a context marked by political instability, economic crisis, and high levels of community‑level insecurity.
In the WPS NAP 2019–2022
Civil society is structurally embedded in the NAP:
• Steering architecture:• Led by NCLW, the steering committee included multiple ministries, civil society organisations (CSOs), and UN agencies.
• Roles of CSOs:• Agenda‑setting and consultation: Identifying priority issues (GBV, displacement, community security, legal reform).
• Implementation: Providing GBV services, legal aid, community‑based protection, and awareness‑raising.
• Monitoring and advocacy: Tracking implementation, documenting violations, and advocating for legislative change.
The NAP explicitly adopts a “whole‑of‑government and whole‑of‑society” approach, positioning CSOs as co‑owners rather than external observers.
In the 2022–2030 Strategy and 2024–2026 NAP
The newer framework maintains and broadens civil society’s role:
• Consultative process: The 2024–2026 NAP was developed through multiple discussion meetings bringing together ministries, public institutions, international organisations, CSOs, communities, academia, unions, and political parties.
• Ongoing partnership: The text emphasises that implementation and evaluation require continuous collaboration between state institutions, international partners, and civil society.
Women in Lebanon’s Security Sectors
Despite progress, comprehensive, publicly available statistics on women’s representation by rank and function remain scarce. Strengthening gender‑disaggregated data systems is a key priority for future WPS implementation.
Women’s roles in security sectors
Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)
• Trend: Women have been admitted to the LAF for several years, with gradual expansion of roles beyond administrative and support functions into operational and leadership tracks.
• Institutional developments:• Establishment or strengthening of gender units/focal points within the LAF.
• Participation in gender‑mainstreaming and WPS trainings (often in cooperation with UN entities and donors).
Internal Security Forces (ISF) and General Security
• Participation: Women serve in the ISF and General Security, including in policing, border management, and administrative roles, with numbers slowly increasing.
• Gender‑sensitive policing:• Establishment of specialised units or focal points for GBV and child protection.
• Training on human rights, GBV, and community‑oriented policing, often with CSO and UN support.
• Data gaps: As with the LAF, comprehensive, regularly updated statistics on women’s representation by rank and function are scarce in the public domain.
Peacekeeping (UNIFIL and beyond)
International peacekeepers in Lebanon:
• Lebanon hosts one of the UN’s largest peacekeeping missions. Women make up a growing share of international peacekeepers deployed to UNIFIL, supported by initiatives such as the Elsie Initiative Fund, which helps remove structural barriers to women’s deployment. UNIFIL deploys around 10,000 peacekeepers from dozens of countries; women constitute a small but growing share (roughly mid‑single‑digit percentage overall, higher in some contingents).
• Some troop‑contributing countries (e.g., Ghana) have reached double‑digit percentages of women in their UNIFIL contingents, supported by initiatives like the Elsie Initiative Fund, which finances gender‑responsive infrastructure and policies.
• Lebanon’s own contributions: Lebanon’s direct participation in UN peacekeeping is limited compared to larger troop‑contributing countries, but the WPS NAP encourages greater engagement of Lebanese women in regional and international peace and security roles.
Data landscape
• UN Women and NCLW have produced gender statistical profiles that compile available sex‑disaggregated data across sectors, but they highlight significant gaps in security‑sector statistics.
• Where data exist, they are often:• Fragmented (by project, unit, or year),
• Not systematically disaggregated by rank, function, or location, and
• Not regularly updated in public reports.
Data: Publicly available, up‑to‑date, disaggregated statistics (e.g., percentage of women in total LAF personnel, by rank) are limited and often appear only in project reports or speeches rather than consolidated official datasets
Why This Matters
Lebanon’s security challenges — from political instability to community‑level violence — require inclusive, accountable institutions. Increasing women’s participation in security and peacebuilding roles improves operational effectiveness, strengthens community trust, and supports more sustainable peace.
References:
WPS National Action Plan (NAP) for 2019–2022 (UNSCR 1325 NAP): https://1325naps.peacewomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Lebanon-NAP-2019-2022.pdf
A National Strategy for Women in Lebanon 2022–2030: https://nclw.gov.lb/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/National-Strategy-for-Women-in-Lebanon-2022-2030-I-EnglishI-Final.pdf
Contributions of Uniformed Personnel to UN by Country, Mission, and Personnel Type (March 2025): 05-Missions Detailed By Country: https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/05_missions_detailed_by_country_84_march_2025.pdf