More than two decades after Resolution 1325, the strategic presence of women in the ...
Women play a crucial role in the Armed Forces, demonstrating their importance especially in theaters of war. Yet in matters of International Peace and Security, more than two decades after the passage of UN Resolution 1325 on "Women, Peace and Security," women are still left on the margins of decision-making processes, leaving their potential unexpressed. This is what emerged from the conference L'impegno della Difesa Italiana per l'agenda "Donne Pace e Sicurezza" organized at the Comando Operativo di Vertice Interforze (COVI) and from the discussion during the Extraordinary Council on Security.
Despite the fact that they are present in every component of our military apparatus, from the Army to the Navy, from the Air Force to the Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza, and first officers have recently assumed command positions, women in the Armed Forces stand at only 7 percent of the total in Italy, reaching a maximum of 12 percent in other international realities.
At the diplomatic level then, only 26.2 percent of the total staff of EU civilian missions in 2022 are women and only 23.1 percent of ambassadors are women.
"The normative path of parity within the Defense Department is accomplished," explained Isabella Rauti, Senator and Undersecretary of State for Defense speaking at the conference at Covi, "while the aspects dedicated to integration take longer and the overcoming of logistical or operational aspects and criticalities.
"Like all in sectors in the world, unfortunately, substantive equality," she added, "must be won, reaffirmed and defended every day. When we have a woman Chief of Staff we will have reached a further milestone toward this process."
In the first two decades of Resolution 1325 argues Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women speaking at the Security Council-important firsts for gender equality have been achieved but "we have neither significantly changed the composition of the peace tables nor the impunity enjoyed by those who commit atrocities against women and girls." In light of all this and recent theaters of conflict, "a radical change of direction" is needed. Therefore, it is necessary not only to organize events that promote women's participation but, Sima Bahous argues, "to obligate them in every meeting and decision-making process in which we have authority," because women are agents of change and must be protagonists in peace processes and at negotiating tables.
However, data show that in peace policies, whether actively on the ground or at decision-making tables, the added value and potential represented by women remains untapped today.
"Different genders express different opinions and suggest different strategies and conclusions," explained Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, Chief of Defense Staff speaking at the Covi, "an enrichment in the definition of creative solutions, so it will be increasingly required to call on all the energies of our women, put in system with that of men to build complex responses.
The work done by military women engaged in humanitarian missions has shown how their role is critical in conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction. "Women are multipliers of security," the admiral adds, "as they are the only ones with access to the female population in cultures where women are not allowed to have relationships with men outside their families.
Their presence needs to become systemic across the board in international Peace and Security issues so that we can truly talk about gender equality and propose solutions that are inclusive, sustainable and effective over time because they are based more on peace practices typical of nonviolent conflict transformation (listening, dialogue, mediation) rather than political power or weapons.
It 
In