NEW DELHI: A quarter century after the UN Security Council first linked gender equality to peace and security, women still make up less than one in ten soldiers and fewer than one in three civilian staff in multilateral peace operations. The 2025 report “Women in Multilateral Peace Operations: What Is the State of Play?” published by SIPRI, finds that while there are signs of progress, parity remains far off.
At the UN, women’s participation among troops reached only 8.8% in June 2025, well short of the 12% target set for this year. Women account for 23% of military experts and staff officers, narrowly above the 2025 goal of 22%. Nepal remained the largest contributor of women soldiers, followed by Rwanda, Bangladesh and Ghana. Only one of eight UN force commanders was a woman.
Women now make up 31% of individual police officers, sustaining the UN’s parity goal achieved in 2021. Among formed police units, women’s share rose to 18%, above the 15% target. Smaller missions continue to show the highest proportions of women; half of the police in the Western Sahara mission (MINURSO) are women, compared with 17% in the much larger Central African Republic mission (MINUSCA).
The share of women among UN civilian personnel stands at roughly one-third, up by less than one percentage point from last year. Only the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon’s office (UNSCOL) achieved gender parity, with women forming 56% of its staff. Seven of the 23 heads of peacekeeping and political missions were women, unchanged from 2024.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) showed the sharpest improvement. Women now form 45% of staff in its field operations, a rise of 7.8 percentage points—the largest annual gain in a decade. Five missions, including those in Ashgabat, Kosovo and Serbia, achieved near parity. A quarter of OSCE field heads are women, up 17 points from last year.
Progress in the European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy missions has been slower. Women make up 24% of civilian personnel and only 8.8% in military operations. The number of women declined slightly due to the closure of two missions, though their proportion rose modestly. Only one EU mission, the border assistance mission in Rafah, reached the 40% target set under the renewed Civilian CSDP Compact. Three of 20 mission heads are women.
Across all organisations, leadership representation remains uneven. Women now lead one UN force, one-fifth of UN police components, nearly one-third of UN civilian operations, a quarter of OSCE missions, and 15% of EU operations. Despite steady policy commitments and gender strategies, structural barriers persist in recruitment, promotion and workplace safety.
The SIPRI report cautions that counting women is not enough. Many are still excluded from decision-making or deployed in junior roles. It calls for better working conditions, equitable career pathways, and a shift from numerical parity to meaningful participation.
