PORTUGAL
Portugal adopted its 4th National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) for 2026–2030 on 3 April 2026. It succeeds the 2019–2022 plan (which continued in practice until the new plan was adopted) and is coordinated by the Portuguese Government through an inter-ministerial approach led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Portugal’s fourth NAP continues the traditional WPS pillars but broadens them to reflect newer security challenges.
1. Prevention
The plan seeks to:
- integrate gender perspectives into conflict prevention;
- prevent gender-based and conflict-related sexual violence;
- strengthen early warning and crisis prevention mechanisms;
- address emerging threats, including cyber and hybrid security, through a gender lens.
2. Protection
Measures include:
- improving protection for women and girls affected by armed conflict;
- strengthening responses to sexual and gender-based violence;
- improving access to justice;
- ensuring accountability for perpetrators;
- improving assistance for refugees, displaced women and survivors of violence.
3. Participation
Portugal places particular emphasis on increasing women’s meaningful participation in:
- peace negotiations;
- mediation;
- diplomacy;
- defence policy;
- security institutions;
- international organisations.
The plan stresses leadership rather than simply increasing numerical representation.
4. Relief, Recovery and Humanitarian Action
Objectives include:
- gender-responsive humanitarian assistance;
- reconstruction after conflict;
- inclusion of women in recovery planning;
- supporting women peacebuilders in fragile contexts.
5. Institutional Mainstreaming
A notable feature of the fourth NAP is stronger emphasis on:
- integrating gender across all government action;
- improved data collection;
- measurable indicators;
- monitoring and evaluation;
- stronger coordination between ministries.
Civil society involvement
Portugal has generally been regarded as having relatively strong engagement with civil society in developing its WPS plans.
The fourth NAP was prepared through consultation with:
- women’s organisations;
- academic experts;
- human rights organisations;
- government ministries;
- development cooperation actors.
Civil society is expected to contribute to:
- implementation;
- monitoring;
- evaluation;
- awareness raising.
Portugal also continues to encourage partnerships with organisations working across the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), where Portuguese development cooperation frequently supports WPS initiatives.
Women in policing
The fourth NAP does not establish quotas for female police officers.
Instead it focuses on:
- gender-responsive policing;
- improving recruitment and career progression;
- increasing women’s leadership;
- specialist training on:
- sexual violence,
- conflict-related violence,
- protection of vulnerable populations,
- human rights.
Portugal’s main police services include:
- Public Security Police (PSP)
- National Republican Guard (GNR)
- Judicial Police (PJ)
The NAP encourages gender mainstreaming across these institutions rather than creating women-only policing structures.
Women in the military
The fourth NAP includes several commitments concerning the Portuguese Armed Forces.
These include:
- increasing women’s participation across the armed forces;
- promoting women into leadership positions;
- integrating gender advisers into planning;
- expanding gender training before overseas deployments;
- preventing harassment and discrimination;
- strengthening gender perspectives in operational planning.
Portugal has allowed women to serve in all military branches since the early 1990s, and the armed forces are now fully professional. The NAP focuses on improving career progression and leadership rather than opening new roles.
Peacekeeping
Portugal remains an active contributor to:
- UN peacekeeping;
- NATO operations;
- EU Common Security and Defence Policy missions.
UN Peacekeeping statistics:
As of March 31, 2025, Portugal has contributed 222 personnel for peacekeeping missions (of which only 14 are women).
Portugal's ranking as a contributor of personnel to UN peacekeeping missions: 46
2025 October Data (totals only available)
Experts on Missions 2
Formed Police Units 0
Individual Police 13
Staff Officers 5
Troops 210
Total 230
The fourth NAP commits Portugal to:
- increasing women’s participation in international deployments;
- ensuring all deployed personnel receive WPS training;
- strengthening gender expertise within missions;
- promoting protection of civilians;
- supporting implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in international operations.
Rather than setting numerical deployment targets, the emphasis is on improving operational effectiveness through gender-responsive peacekeeping.
Monitoring and implementation
Compared with earlier plans, the fourth NAP places greater emphasis on:
- clear indicators;
- regular reporting;
- inter-ministerial coordination;
- accountability mechanisms;
- integration into broader national human rights policies.
Implementation responsibilities are shared across ministries responsible for:
- Foreign Affairs;
- Defence;
- Internal Administration;
- Justice;
- Equality;
- Development Cooperation.
What’s new in the Fourth NAP?
Compared with Portugal’s previous plans, the 2026–2030 strategy places greater emphasis on:
- stronger accountability for violence against women;
- integrating gender perspectives across all state action;
- newer security issues such as cyber and hybrid threats;
- improved monitoring and measurable outcomes;
- enhanced coordination with civil society and international partners;
- strengthening women’s leadership in peace, security and defence institutions.
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References
No official document from the government is available at this point. Given the 4th National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) for 2026–2030 was only adopted on 3 April 2026, the Portuguese NAP, and then hopefully an English document will be made available.
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
UN data 2026
Information above in text from Chat GPT / AI sources 2026 searches