Conditioning support for peace processes based on inclusive participation can offer an influential pathway for ensuring inclusion is a political priority backed by power rather than one seen as “nice to have” but rarely a priority at the peace table. 

In February 2025, government and civil society representatives from around the world met in Tokyo, Japan for the WPS (Women, Peace, and Security) Focal Points Network meeting, hosted by Japan and Norway, to discuss the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on WPS, which will soon mark its 25^th anniversary. This meeting focused on how national governments can step up commitments to include women and their perspectives across the security sector. Notably, the final session of the meeting centered on mechanisms for enhancing the perspectives of young people to link the related Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) agenda with those focused on women and peace.  

Yet, it was a difficult moment for many in the room. The US had just frozen many of its international engagements abroad and for the first time, had not sent representatives to the WPS meetings. At the same time, the US, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and other countries have begun to pull back on investments in the agenda either directly or indirectly through foreign aid cuts. The meeting served as a stark reminder that ensuring remaining funds reach women and young people in conflicts will be critical for peace. 

Representatives present at these meetings, including delegations from the Middle East, expressed their sense of urgency about the effort to support women and young people in conflict. They called for support for their roles as peacemakers and not just humanitarian recipients. As the world emerges from 2024—the deadliest year for civilians in over a decade with conflicts raging on in Sudan, Israel, Gaza, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and elsewhere—2025 is set to potentially be even more deadly with deteriorating security conditions in the Middle East topping risk scenarios. In many conflicts in the region, the voices of women and young people have diminished as negotiations continue to falter, further undermining peace prospects.  

A peace strategy for MENA 

“It should not be us again here at the table in the next year, or five years, or ten years” one young person shared in the final session focused on intergenerational perspectives on peace. “The same people discussing the same problems never drives innovation… so we need to support for bringing new voices to the table,” she explained. These words ring true for observers of peace in the Middle East where business as usual negotiations have failed to pay dividends.  

Indeed, a critical factor determining prospects for peace in the region may be the ability of states to make good on growing commitments to represent the perspectives of women and young people in security. Inclusive peace strategies are a known multiplier for peace prospects, and their decline in the Middle East should cause alarm for those interested in conflict reduction and national security. Peace efforts that bring women to the table in meaningful ways are known to expand the likelihood of peace agreements lasting  and by 15 years by at least 35%. While equivalent quantitative studies do not yet exist for YPS, evidence indicates that peace processes that include civil society including youth organizations also strengthen peace outcomes. 

Conflict-related research finds that a number of pathways underscore the importance of women’s and youth inclusion in peace. For youth, their exclusion often fuels resentment and instability, which can fuel further violence. Research with former child soldiers and young ex-combatants in Colombia and Sierra Leone, for example, found that youth engagement in peace processes can help reduce violent recidivism. Women’s inclusion is also linked to more holistic and comprehensive peace deals, helping ensure meaningful attention to social concerns during post conflict reconstruction. 

And yet, with violence raging on in Sudan, Yemen, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and elsewhere in the Arab region, women, youth, and broader civil society representation in peace efforts has been on the decline. Sudanese women, who were once at the forefront of the toppling of the Al Bashir regime in 2019, report a sidelining in ongoing political processes just as reports find 12 million Sudanese are at risk of sexual violence. Women’s representation in efforts to negotiate peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has also been on the decline, undermining past progress. International donors, despite stated commitments, have remained reticent to support women’s associations and youth organizations. Even in the heyday of international aid, less than 1% of official development assistance supported women’s rights organizations. 

Youth organizations also face ongoing barriers, despite their importance for peace. Reports in 2024 saw that 5% of ODA directly reached people under 18, but that every dollar spent on children can generate a total “value” of $10, indicating the potential high payoff of such investments. In MENA, USAID’s past work on youth and women’s entrepreneurship helped support conditions for peace through empowerment. 

Making remaining aid work 

Aid-funded WPS and YPS programs offered promise to help support civil societies in inclusive peace processes as a strategic measure to advancing security in the region. WPS programs led by the US Department of Defense, for example, have helped the US gain strategic wins to help build community resilience and counter violent extremism through women’s mentorship programs. In Jordan and Iraq, YPS Coalitions offer promise for enhancing inclusion and security outcomes in the region. But these efforts in WPS and YPS remained relatively fragmented, with ongoing calls to be better integrate and synergize approaches. 

As the US moves to cut 83%, work to ensure the remaining 17% of aid spending focuses on supporting civil society in the Arab region with a specific focus on women and young people would offer a strategic opportunity. Offering any lifeline for those groups—now increasingly constrained for funds—could ensure remaining spending is as impactful as possible.  

International actors can also do more to track support for women and young people in the Middle East the in face of shifting aid priorities. While the OECD has formal measures to quantify cross-national levels of gender-related aid spending, there are not equivalent metrics to track how global aid reaches young people, making it more difficult to measure on a global and regional level. Work to increase this tracking can help advance WPS, YPS, and work at their nexus. 

Beyond aid, the US and international partners can also do more to yield political influence to pressure warring parties to commit to greater inclusion of women and civil society, including young people, as a strategic objective to improve prospects for peace. Conditioning support for peace processes based on inclusive participation can offer an influential pathway for ensuring inclusion is a political priority backed by power rather than one seen as “nice to have.” In Colombia’s 2012-2016 peace process, for example, the international community’s advocacy for women’s participation in peace talks helped ensure the development of a dedicated commission that focused on women’s inclusion that helped secure productive peace. 

As experts warn of deteriorating security conditions in the Middle East, where some 59 million people in the region already face humanitarian need from ongoing and escalating violent conflict, there is an opportunity to center focus on effective pathways beyond business-as-usual for securing peace prospects. The US and its partners cannot forget women and young people as they rethink their foreign policy strategies. Instead, centering remaining energies on broadening the inclusion of demographic parties for any conflict-related activities is a most promising tactic to secure peace.  

The views represented in this piece are those of the author and do not express the official position of the Wilson Center.