Developments and trends, 2024

In adopting the Pact for the Future in September (General Assembly resolution 79/1), Member States agreed to a set of actions to advance their commitments on women, peace and security, while advancing implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. They recognized women’s essential role in achieving sustainable peace and committed to ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all decision-making levels. States also pledged to take targeted and accelerated action to eradicate sexual and gender-based violence. In considering the risks and opportunities of new and emerging technologies, States agreed to address barriers to women’s participation in science and technology, and to address gender- related challenges emerging from the use of technologies, including bias, discrimination and gender-based violence. Underscoring a tension noted consistently in United Nations contexts, States also expressed concern over rising military expenditures and their impact on investments in sustainable development and peace.

Global military expenditures continued to rise throughout 2024. In his annual report to the Security Council on women, peace and security (S/2024/671), the Secretary-General reported that global military expenditures had increased for the ninth consecutive year in 2023, reaching an unprecedented $2.44 trillion. This represented a 6.8 per cent increase in real terms from 2022, further diverting resources from other global priorities, including gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The General Assembly adopted by consensus a revised version of the biennial resolution on “Women, disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control” (resolution 79/57),^[1] although it was notably subject to 12 paragraph votes, a record. Through the resolution, the Assembly encouraged States to address the gendered impact of armed violence and recognized, for the first time, women’s contribution in all aspects of arms control and disarmament efforts, including weapons of mass destruction, and the need to facilitate and promote women’s leadership in disarmament efforts. Approximately 34 per cent of disarmament resolutions adopted during the General Assembly’s seventy-ninth session contained references to gender, including several resolutions introduced for the first time.^[2] Additionally, Member States provided inputs to the Secretary-General’s report to the General Assembly on “Women, disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control”, sharing information on their national efforts to incorporate gender perspectives into their national disarmament policies and programmes.

The connection between disarmament and conflict-related sexual violence was further reinforced as a key theme in 2024. In his annual report to the Security Council on conflict-related sexual violence (S/2024/292), the Secretary-General stressed that the illicit proliferation and widespread availability of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition directly facilitated incidents of sexual violence. He further noted that weapons proliferation, by fuelling armed conflict, contributed to creating environments conducive to perpetrating sexual violence with impunity.

On 23 April, the Security Council convened its annual open debate on conflict-related sexual violence (S/PV.9614, S/PV.9614 (Resumption 1) and S/PV.9614 (Resumption 2)). Chaired by Malta, the meeting focused on the theme “Preventing conflict-related sexual violence through demilitarization and gender-responsive arms control”. In her briefing to the Council, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict advocated for using measures imposed by United Nations sanctions regimes to stop the flow of weapons into the hands of perpetrators of sexual violence. A civil society representative, from Darfur Women Action Group, addressed the situation in the Sudan, emphasizing how the spread of weapons had enabled the current levels of sexual violence and highlighting continued violations of the Security Council’s arms embargo. During the debate, numerous Council members underscored the importance of preventing the illicit circulation of small arms and light weapons and ammunition, reducing military spending and enforcing arms embargoes to stop conflict-related sexual violence. The Russian Federation, however, expressed opposition to linking the prevention of such violence to disarmament initiatives under the women, peace and security agenda.

In a joint statement, 11 Council members — Malta, Ecuador, France, Guyana, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States — urged all States to harness conventional arms control and disarmament treaties, instruments and measures to prevent conflict-related sexual violence. They called for States parties to the Arms Trade Treaty to fully and effectively implement and report on the instrument’s gender provisions. Similarly, they encouraged Member States to observe gender-related language in the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons and the Global Framework for Through-life Conventional Ammunition Management. The Security Council members reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring women’s full, equal, meaningful and safe participation in all United Nations- facilitated peace negotiations, ceasefire negotiations and security sector reforms, while advocating for explicit provisions prohibiting conflict-related sexual violence in those agreements and their monitoring frameworks.

The High Representative for Disarmament Affairs addressed some of these issues on 23 October at a commemoration marking the fifteenth anniversary of the establishment of the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict by Security Council resolution 1888 (2009). In her remarks at the event, the High Representative emphasized that disarmament, arms control and demilitarization must form a key part of efforts to prevent conflict-related sexual violence, describing the proliferation of weapons as both a driver and enabler of conflict-related sexual violence.

In his annual report to the Security Council on women, peace and security (S/2024/671), the Secretary-General highlighted the impact of militarization and of the spread of weapons and ammunition on civilians, particularly women. He called for the adoption of gender- responsive measures related to small arms and light weapons, as well as human-centred

disarmament approaches. During the Security Council’s debate on women, peace and security in October (S/PV.9760 and S/PV.9760 (Resumption 1)), several States continued to advocate for effective gender-sensitive disarmament measures as a means to prevent conflict and protect women’s rights.

In his annual report to the General Assembly on current developments in science and technology and their potential impact on international security (A/79/224), the Secretary-General noted that emerging technologies, including those in the area of lethal autonomous weapons systems, rely on data sets that could amplify social bias, including gender bias. He encouraged Member States to integrate ways to identify and examine such risks into review mechanisms for new and emerging technologies. Meanwhile, the Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters called for a holistic consideration of technological advances in the military domain, including from a human rights perspective, emphasizing the particular need to consider gender equality in this context (A/79/240).