Monash GPS Supports the Call to Accelerate Action on International Women's Day

On this International Women’s Day 2025 (8 March), the Monash Global Peace and Security Centre (Monash GPS) stands in solidarity with the global call to Accelerate Action toward gender equality. This year’s theme reminds us that the time for incremental progress has passed—what we need now is bold, transformative action to dismantle systemic barriers and create a world where women can thrive in peace, security, and equality.

Gender equality is not just a moral imperative; it is a foundational element of global peace, security, and sustainable development. Women’s full participation in decision-making, conflict resolution, and leadership is essential to building peaceful, prosperous and inclusive societies. Yet, despite progress, women continue to face disproportionate challenges, from violence and discrimination to underrepresentation in critical sectors.

IWD

At the Monash Global Peace and Security Centre, we are committed to advancing gender equality through research, advocacy, and action. Our projects reflect this commitment:

  • Women’s Meaningful Participation in Peace Operations: Our research across UN peace operations and Troop and Police Contributing Countries, funded by Global Affairs Canada as part of the Elsie Initiative, is investigating ways to better support
    uniformed personnel with caring responsibilities to advance women’s meaningful participation in peace operations.
  • Women in Peacebuilding: Working collaboratively with representatives of international organisations engaged in peacebuilding (including the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva Centre for Security Sector
    Governance, and the Women, Youth Peace and Security Institute of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre) and global scholars (at the universities of Warwick, Sydney, Queensland and RMIT) we are advocating better support for peacebuilders with caring responsibilities to advance gender equality and sustainable
    peace.
  • Gender, Security and Care: Our research with partners in Cambodia (Women Peace Makers) and Argentina (Universidad Nacional de La Plata) is investigating synergies between care, peace and security and identifying barriers to women’s participation in peace and security efforts that arise through having caring responsibilities.
  • Supporting Young Women in Afghanistan: Through our research and training initiatives, and working alongside partners (Amplify Afghan Women, Intra Afghan Peace dialogue and the Initiative for Peacebuilding at the University of Melbourne), we are raising awareness and responding to some of the educational and other needs of young women in Afghanistan.
  • Women in Conflict and Crisis Response and Prevention: We are working to amplify the voices of women in conflict- and crisis-affected environments, ensuring their inclusion and leadership in preventative and response efforts.
  • Gender-Responsive Security Sector Reform: Our research informs policy changes that promote gender-responsive security frameworks and practices, advancing meaningful participation and attentiveness to the unique security needs of women, men, girls, boys and people of diverse gender identities.
  • The Gendered Dynamics of Intersecting Security Threats: Our work highlights the need to remain attentive to diverse needs of different genders and utilise their diverse capabilities and knowledge in order to be able to effectively address increasingly complex and intersecting security threats.

These initiatives are just a part of our broader mission to integrate gender equality into the global peace and security agenda. However, we know that achieving true equality requires more than isolated efforts and incremental change —it demands bold, transformative action. The theme Accelerate Action calls on us to move beyond rhetoric and into decisive, collective action. It challenges us to dismantle systemic inequalities, to invest in women’s and girls’ education and leadership, to amplify marginalised voices, to be attentive to the unique and often disproportionate harms suffered by women and girls during crisis and conflict, and to ensure that women and girls are at the forefront of shaping a more just and peaceful world.


This International Women’s Day, we call on governments, organizations, and individuals to join us in accelerating action, recognising that gender equality does not just benefit women and girls but benefits everyone and is a cornerstone of peace, security and sustainable development.


Monash GPS remains steadfast in its commitment to this vision. We invite you to stand with
us as we work toward a more just, peaceful, and equitable world for all.