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Progress Report on Canada’s National Action Plan 2017-2022 for the Implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security Fiscal Years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023

Table of content

  1. Introduction
  2. Results
  3. Improving the Government of Canada's capacity to implement the Action Plan
  4. Conclusion and next steps

Acronyms

2SLGBTQI+
Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, plus
CAF
Canadian Armed Forces
CFLI
Canada Fund for Local Initiatives
CIRNAC
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
CNAP 2
Canada’s Second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security
CNAP 3
Canada’s Third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security
CRSV
Conflict-related sexual violence
CSC
Correctional Service of Canada
CSO
Civil society organization
DND
Department of National Defence
ECOSOC
United Nations Economic and Social Council
FCAS
Fragile and conflict-affected states
FFP
Feminist foreign policy
FIAP
Feminist International Assistance Policy
GAC
Global Affairs Canada
GBA Plus
Gender-based Analysis Plus
GBV
Gender-based violence
HOM
Head of mission
IPP
International Police Peacekeeping and Peace Operations Program
IRCC
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
ISC
Indigenous Services Canada
MTR
Mid-term review
NGO
Non-governmental organization
OECD-DAC
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – Development Assistance Committee
OPCW
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
PS
Public Safety Canada
PSEA(H)
Prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (harassment)
PSOP
Peace and Stabilization Operations Program
RBM
Results-based management
RCMP
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
SEA
Sexual exploitation and abuse
SGBV
Sexual and gender-based violence
UN
United Nations
UNFPA
United Nations Population Fund
UNGA
United Nations General Assembly
UNICEF
United Nations Children’s Fund
WAGE
Women and Gender Equality Canada
WHRD
Women human rights defenders
WPS
Women, peace and security
WPSN-C
Women, Peace and Security Network of Canada
WRO
Women’s rights organization
WVL
Women’s voice and leadership

Foreword

This edition of the Cross-Government Progress Report on Canada’s Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security is a “bridging” report that summarizes work carried out over 2 fiscal years (2021-2022 and 2022‑2023). It is based on individual progress reports prepared by each of the 9 federal partners under Canada’s Second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (CNAP 2). The reports outline partners’ achievements, progress, and challenges in meeting the objectives and targets set out in the Action Plan and the accompanying departmental implementation plans. This summary and the progress reports themselves are tabled together in Parliament.

This report is informed by the mid-term review (MTR) of Canada’s Second National Action Plan and consultations with federal Action Plan partners and civil society. Global Affairs Canada agreed to coordinate and produce this 24-month report to close the reporting gap between CNAP 2 and the launch of the renewed Action Plan (CNAP 3), while still meeting the requirement for annual reporting. This also allowed officials responsible for CNAP across federal Action Plan partners to play a more active role in CNAP 3’s development. This report includes improvements in line with the recommendations made in the MTR, such as featuring more case studies and focusing on challenges and systemic barriers.

Over the reporting period, the world saw a rise of authoritarianism, as well as the continuation or outbreak of violence, conflict and unrest in contexts ranging from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the Taliban’s seizure of power and the overthrow of the elected Government of Afghanistan, to Ethiopia’s Tigray crisis and the ongoing instability in Haiti. Each of these crises disproportionately affected women and girls, as well as marginalized and underserved groups, including Indigenous Peoples, members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, and persons with disabilities.

Progress in changing the culture of traditionally male-dominated spaces continued to be slow. Women’s participation in peace and security efforts remained low, despite the unique experiences and expertise they bring to the table. When women did join the political or security sectors, they often faced significant barriers, harassment and other forms of unequal treatment. In Canada and in countries that are fragile or affected by conflict, there has been an increase in the level of political violence targeting women leaders, including women human rights defenders and peacebuilders. Accordingly, we have witnessed:

In an interconnected world, no region has been spared this instability, and for many countries, addressing these challenges in isolation has been overwhelming, if not impossible. Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy and its suite of accompanying policies (including the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) and the Defence Policy – Strong, Secure, Engaged) recognize not only the need to engage in building and sustaining peace in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS), but also the key roles of women, girls, 2SLGBTQ2I+ persons and other historically marginalized groups in decision-making and peace processes. Canada places gender equality, empowerment and human rights at the centre of decisions on humanitarian action, development assistance, and peace and security interventions. Integrating gender into our cross-government peace and security engagements remains critical: from early warning tools to disaster response, and from defence and security capacity building to peace operations and stabilization.

Canada’s Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) framework is also critical to implementing the WPS agenda at home, where key populations of women, girls, 2SLGBTQ2I+ persons and other historically marginalized groups continue to face barriers and challenges to having their human rights respected. To be a genuine leader in this space, Canada recognizes that work must also be done at home, and several implementing partners made strides in this regard over the reporting period.

Federal Action Plan partners successfully advanced Action Plan priorities during the reporting period and achieved concrete results. These included supporting local women’s rights organizations (WROs) and feminist movements in FCAS to meet identified WPS-related needs, improving the recruitment and retention of diverse women in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), removing barriers to Indigenous women’s participation in processes that impact them; continued advocacy and support for the United Nations’ (UN) zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and assault (SEA); launching a new refugee stream for human rights defenders; continued efforts to prevent human trafficking and deliver gender‑responsive humanitarian assistance; chairing the WPS Chiefs of Defence Network, and furthering the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations.

Taking stock of progress has also allowed us to reflect on the challenges faced along the way. While some challenges were external and difficult to anticipate and plan for (for example, the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing anti-gender campaigns), others were internal to our organizations. These included a lack of capacity to deliver adequate support to all implementing partners and Canada’s mission network on WPS and, importantly, workplace cultures and norms that were inherently at odds with a feminist approach. These internal and cultural challenges will take determination and courage to address, and all implementing partners have and will continue to work hard to implement meaningful internal changes.

1. Introduction

Launched in 2017, Canada’s second National Action Plan outlined a cross-government approach to improving security, promoting gender equality, preventing conflict, and building sustainable peace. It aimed to ensure a coherent response and to work with partners to advance the WPS agenda both at home and abroad. The second and third national action plans remain central to Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy.

To ensure concerted action and meet the high level of ambition, Canada’s second National Action Plan was implemented by 9 federal departments and agencies with both international and domestic mandates:

  1. Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
  2. Department of National Defence (DND)/Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)
  3. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
  4. Public Safety Canada (PS) (with contributions from the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC))
  5. Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE)
  6. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
  7. The Department of Justice (DOJ)
  8. Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC)
  9. Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)

This report and the accompanying departmental progress reports outline achievements and challenges in meeting the objectives and targets outlined in the Action Plan and related departmental implementation plans.

Canada’s commitments

Under its second National Action Plan, Canada committed to:

These objectives are applied to all of Canada’s engagements across development, diplomacy, humanitarian, and peace and security efforts abroad, as well as domestic efforts within Canada related to these issues. All federal implementing partners of the Action Plan were responsible for delivering on the objectives relevant to their mandates. Each federal department’s specific commitments can be found in their departmental implementation plans and annual departmental reports, annexed to this summary report.

Canada’s Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security

In 2019, through an Order-in-Council, the Prime Minister appointed Jacqueline O’Neill as Canada’s first Ambassador for WPS.  Her mandate was renewed in 2022, extending her term until the end of March 2025. The Ambassador’s primary role is to provide confidential advice to ministers engaged in the implementation of Canada’s National Action Plan on WPS and to advise on how Canada can continue to demonstrate global leadership in this area. Through these functions, the Ambassador reinforces efforts for the comprehensive implementation of the National Action Plan across the Government of Canada and to broaden implementation of the WPS agenda within Canada and abroad.

During the reporting period, the work of the Ambassador and her office focused on the following areas:

i. Strengthening and expanding the network of federal Action Plan partners

Ambassador O’Neill continued to advance coordination and information sharing across the federal government, with Parliament, and with civil society.

In June 2021, she convened all federal ministers responsible for the Action Plan, as well as the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Commissioner of the RCMP, resulting in a ministerial commitment to develop a third National Action Plan. Together with the team working on the development of Canada’s third National Action Plan, she convened focal points from each department to share information, reflect on progress and challenges, and look ahead to the next National Action Plan.

Ambassador O’Neill continued to reinforce the government’s efforts to broaden the domestic focus of the WPS agenda and the range of security threats to be addressed by all departments. This contributed to an increase in the number of federal departments and agencies engaged in planning for Canada’s Third National Action Plan, from 9 under the second Action Plan to 10 partners under the third.

In November 2022, Ambassador O’Neill appeared before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development’s Subcommittee on International Human Rights as a witness on the situation of women human rights defenders, including the risks that they face in conducting their work.

She continued to engage regularly with members of civil society, including through quarterly meetings with the WPS Network-Canada, and a range of additional engagements on thematic and geographic issues and situations with women peacebuilders, academics, 2SLGBTQI+ activists, and youth. 

To further the work on relationship building on WPS with Indigenous Peoples, Ambassador O’Neill committed to translating key components of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 into 5 Indigenous languages spoken in Canada: Algonquin, Cree, Dene, Inuktitut and Ojibwe. These translations were produced by Indigenous women in different regions of Canada and disseminated on social media and through GAC’s website. 

ii. Supporting the creation of customized tools, resources and guidance

Ambassador O’Neill supported Canadian personnel across government to develop the specialized skills and knowledge needed to deliver on Canada’s Action Plan commitments and sustain global leadership, including by: 

iii. Bolstering ambitious Canadian initiatives

In her capacity as a high-level representative of the Government of Canada, Ambassador O’Neill promoted WPS at an average of over 135 meetings and events per year in Canada and abroad, including at the following:

She also participated in high-level visits to boost engagement on WPS, including by: 

The Women, Peace and Security Ambassador continues to bolster Canadian initiatives and interests, including advocacy for the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations, and engagement with Global Affairs Canada implementing partners, including many civil society organizations.

Challenges

Pervasive challenges remained to fully implementing the WPS agenda both at home and abroad. Just as promises of the COVID-19 pandemic being the “great equalizer” dissipated, so did any indications that the recovery from the pandemic would be inclusive and equitable. In fact, the world saw an intensified and deliberate push back on gender equality and women’s rights, including increases in gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). Meanwhile, with the changing nature of crises—including climate change and the rising prevalence of disinformation (including tech-facilitated gender-based violence)—there were real threats to the hard-won gains of the WPS agenda to date.

External challenges

Canada, alongside its allies, faced challenges in bilateral efforts, multilateral forums and at home, which included:

Highlight box: Challenges in Colombia

Despite renewed efforts by the new Colombian government to achieve “total peace” within the country and with all armed groups, the security situation in Colombia remained very difficult, with some statistics showing a deteriorating situation. This meant that women and girls continued to be victims as a result of the conflict and that it remained difficult to reach these vulnerable populations.

Although the frequency of attacks against public forces had decreased, illegal armed groups had also taken advantage of the government’s shift in priorities to expand their social and territorial control. The pandemic affected many families economically and schools were closed, leaving many girls and boys vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups. This led to an increase in forced displacement, forced confinement, disappearances and homicides, mainly impacting Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities and Venezuelan migrants and refugees. Boys were most likely to be recruited for military purposes, while girls were at risk of sexual grooming, exploitation and use in domestic services. In this challenging context, Canada has worked to deliver programming that meets the needs of those in vulnerable situations in pursuit of the WPS agenda.

Internal challenges

Canada’s commitment to the WPS agenda extended to its internal practices. Given the systemic and cultural nature of some of the internal challenges encountered, there remains a need for continued and determined work. Challenges ranged from internal capacity and resources to factors much larger than the government bureaucracy, such as sexism and misogyny:

Highlight box: Mid-term review of Canada’s second National Action Plan

To identify key challenges and lessons learned in the implementation of Canada’s second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, the Government of Canada commissioned a mid-term review (MTR) conducted by Gender Associations International Consulting GmbH (GAIC). The review focused on the reporting and coordination process for Canada’s second National Action Plan, covering the period from September 2017 to March 2020. Key findings were divided into 3 areas: the reporting process, indicators and coordination. On the reporting process, findings include that while the Action Plan reporting process deepened the attention of various government actors to Canada’s commitments as a global WPS leader, aligning departmental activities with the Action Plan’s strategic objectives was a major challenge. For some supporting departments, the Action Plan is still perceived as predominantly internationally focused and therefore not a priority. Furthermore, the MTR found a lack of training and knowledge in results‑based management (RBM) among focal points, which limits the effective monitoring of the Action Plan’s implementation. In terms of indicators, the MTR found that the lack of common measures and benchmarks jointly developed and shared by the implementing departments had resulted in the reporting process being a siloed system, with indicators focused solely on accountability. Other issues raised during the review included too many indicators, lack of human resources and lack of measurable outcome-level indicators. It is worth noting that this is echoed in the 2023 Office of the Auditor General’s Audit of International Assistance in Support of Gender Equality – Global Affairs Canada, which found, among other things, that Global Affairs Canada needs to report more thoroughly on the cumulative impacts of international assistance projects. Finally, on coordination, the MTR found that efforts across departments appeared to be almost exclusively focused on reporting and that opportunities to deepen coordination between federal implementing partners had not been seized in a strategic way.

The MTR included wide-ranging recommendations, which included the following:

While many of these recommendations can only be considered in the context of developing Canada’s third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, GAC has attempted to incorporate a number of the recommendations in this summary progress report.

2. Results

The full results of Canada’s efforts to implement the Action Plan for fiscal years 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 are presented in the departmental progress reports of each federal implementing partner. These departmental reports provide detailed results on progress and complement this whole-of-government summary report. As a summary report, this report and this section highlight selected examples of results from the departmental progress reports to demonstrate how the entire Government of Canada is working to advance the WPS agenda.  

Objective 1 - Increasing the participation of women, women’s organizations and networks in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict state-building

Recognizing Canada’s responsibility to promote the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in all their diversity in peace and security both at home and abroad, Canada advocated for the meaningful inclusion of women from the earliest phases of peace and security processes, and advanced women’s participation through its programming, diplomacy, deployment and policy efforts. Examples of Canadian efforts from the past 2 fiscal years included the following:  

Highlight box: Sumita Dixit Internship in International Security

Sumita Dixit, a Canadian diplomat, advocate and activist, spent her career at GAC advocating for greater representation of women of colour and women with disabilities in international peace and security. Sumita spent her final posting as Canada’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). During that time, she advocated for gender mainstreaming at the OPCW and in the broader implementation of chemical weapons disarmament. Following Sumita’s passing in October 2022, her colleagues at the Canadian Embassy in the Netherlands carried on Sumita’s legacy, including advancing the first gender mainstreaming paper at the Chemical Weapons Convention Fifth Review Conference in May 2023. Sumita’s initiative moved the needle on issues such as equitable representation, the gendered impacts of chemical weapons, and the need for gender-transformative policies both in the Organization and for all states. The paper was co-sponsored by 62 states from all regional groups and has already increased reporting on gender equality efforts in the OPCW Technical Secretariat. Sumita leaves a lasting legacy in The Hague and in the department. In 2023, Global Affairs Canada launched the Sumita Dixit Internship in International Security to hire, train and mentor young women of colour and women with disabilities.

Highlight box: Women’s Voice and Leadership Program

The Women’s Voice and Leadership (WVL) program is a flagship initiative of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) to support local WROs and 2SLGBTQ2I+ groups working to advance the rights of women and girls and promote gender equality in developing countries. As of March 2023, there were WVL projects in 12 fragile and conflict-affected countries, where WROs and 2SLGBTQ2I+ groups were working for peace and security among their other identified priorities. WVL flexibility has allowed the project in Ukraine to quickly adapt to the humanitarian impact of Russia’s illegal invasion, supporting urgent, life-saving initiatives while also building strategic alliances and partnerships that have increased the capacity of WROs in the regions heavily affected by the hostilities. In South Sudan, the WVL project strengthened partners and networks’ advocacy capacity and leadership in humanitarian and WPS decision-making mechanisms. Networks members undertook policy monitoring to advocate for 35% women’s representation in governance bodies at both state and national levels under the Revitalized Peace Agreement. Local partners raised public awareness of the content of the peace agreement and the 35% quota through radio talk shows in local languages, communiqués and seminars on the implementation of the peace agreement. Many WVL projects, including those in Myanmar and Ukraine, have built-in funds to support women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and feminist activists to ensure their own safety and well-being, including mental health. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a WVL project has contributed to strengthening and sustaining the technical and organizational capacities of several women’s organizations to bring about progressive change and promote women’s and girls’ rights as well as strengthen gender equality in 6 provinces of the DRC. As of 2023, 15 women’s associations have initiated actions on GBV and have succeeded in obtaining the commitment of the military and police authorities in the fight against harassment and sexual violence against young girls. 258 community mechanisms against SGBV have been put in place and became operational as of March 2023, compared to 110 in 2021 to 2022.

Highlight box: Canada’s Anti-Crime Capacity Building Program

Canada’s Anti-Crime Capacity Building Program (ACCBP) continued to support the meaningful participation of women in the criminal justice systems and law enforcement agencies in the Americas in partnership with the Organization of American States (OAS). Through the project “Gender Equality in Counterdrug Law Enforcement Agencies (GENLEA Phase II)”, 28 out of 34 OAS Member States have committed to improving gender-inclusive practices and policies, to developing a more gender inclusive workforce, and to enhancing the effectiveness of female drug control law enforcement officers. In fiscal year 2021 to 2022, 6 in-person meetings took place, resulting in those countries drafting an action plan whose objectives were implemented throughout 2023. For each of the countries, the Action Plan included modifying domestic policies to ensure they are gender inclusive. To help address continued gender imbalances in Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission at the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission’s (CICAD) Supply Reduction Unit designed a virtual “Introduction to Gender Equality” course, which will be on offer.

Objective 2 - Preventing, responding to, and ending impunity for sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) perpetrated in conflict and SEA by peacekeepers and other international personnel, including humanitarian and development staff

Preventing conflict-related SGBV, supporting survivors and ensuring accountability was a top priority for the government, as violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law remained consistently high around the world. This included addressing SEA by peacekeepers and international assistance personnel who are entrusted with protecting the most underserved and marginalized. During the reporting period, Global Affairs Canada advanced this objective through actions including the following: 

In addition to GAC, other government departments have taken this objective forward during the reporting period, including domestically:

Highlight box: Stepping up to deliver on SGBV—the use of CFLI programming

Responding to needs as they evolve is central to a localized and feminist approach, and the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) is one of the tools that allows Canada to respond flexibly. Canada continued to provide support for SGBV through the CFLI program, for example by funding a project to increase the provision of and access to justice and healing for survivors of SGBV in remote regions of Kenya. The project provided legal services, psychological support and representation to GBV survivors and improved help-seeking behaviour among survivors through awareness activities on prevention and response. The project enhanced accountability from duty bearers, specifically the judiciary.

Objective 3 - Promoting and protecting women’s and girls’ human rights and gender equality, and empowering  women and girls in fragile and conflict-affected settings

In a global context of pushback on gender equality and women’s rights, including shrinking civic space and resources for women’s rights organizations and feminist movements, deliberate and consistent action continued to be needed over the reporting period. Canada promoted and protected the human rights of women, girls and marginalized peoples in the following ways:

Highlight box: Story of Change—Wi’am organization in the West Bank

One of the 407 participants of Wi’am’s training program on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and UNSCR 1325 shared: “When I told my friends I was joining a women’s human rights training, they said why, are you crazy, what will you do with it? I was hesitant at first. I heard many bad things about the CEDAW, especially that it went against our Islamic life. I was invited by my neighbour, and went to my first meeting and loved it. The training taught me many things, most importantly that these conventions are here not to force me to live a certain way, but to ensure that I always have the right to choice in my life. I was not forced out of religion, but instead had the right to practice it at home, in my community and society, during war or any conflict. I have rights always and I plan to keep them. I work at home, but now I want to work with others, including our municipality, to adopt CEDAW and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and to teach and respect these rights, especially in communities where they are attacked. The thing that shocked me the most is that these trainings have changed the way I speak with my children and family. I am both more confident, but also more understanding because I am confident and know my rights as a woman. And that is how I want my kids to be.”

Highlight box: Canada and Afghanistan

Prior to August 2021, Canada’s “Women’s and Girls’ Rights First” approach to development programming in Afghanistan provided financial and capacity-building support directly to Afghan partners, including women’s rights organizations. Programming in this sector focused on increasing women’s economic opportunities, promoting their meaningful inclusion in the peace process and local peacebuilding, improving their health and that of their children, promoting their reproductive rights, and increasing their access to quality basic education.

On August 15, 2021, the Taliban forcibly took control of Afghanistan. The de facto authorities have since severely curtailed the rights of women and girls, limiting their freedom of movement, dress and expression, as well as their access to education, employment opportunities and justice. While the Taliban takeover has impacted Canada’s ability to deliver development assistance, Canada has continued to work closely with select partners to support basic service delivery in health and education, with a particular focus on providing needed assistance to women and girls, in compliance with Canada’s Criminal Code and in line with Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy.

Since August 2021, Canada has played a strong advocacy role, taking every opportunity to urge the Taliban to uphold the rights of Afghan women and girls and other marginalized groups. This has included coordinated messaging to the Taliban along with like-minded countries, and joint statements with a cross-regional array of countries. Between August 15, 2021 and August 15, 2023, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs joined 11 statements condemning the situation facing women and girls in Afghanistan, including joint statements alongside other women foreign ministers. Canada’s Special Representative for Afghanistan is engaged on social media to deliver strong messaging in response to the systematic repression of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

Canada’s strong advocacy for the promotion and protection of Afghan women and girls extends to our participation at the UN. Since the Taliban takeover, Canada has delivered 13 statements at the UN on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan and co-sponsored 5 Afghanistan-specific resolutions, including the powerful speech on the situation of Afghan women and girls delivered by Canada’s Women, Peace and Security Ambassador at the UNSC Open Debate in October 2022. On September 19, 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs co-sponsored a side event organized by Ireland and Afghan civil society activists on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. As Chair of the Group of Friends of Afghanistan at the UN, Canada plays a valuable convening role for frank and constructive dialogue and discussion on Afghanistan while enhancing coordination between member states. Moreover, Canada’s Permanent Representative to the UN has delivered powerful remarks at the General Assembly condemning the Taliban’s actions and reiterating Canada’s unconditional support for the full realization of Afghan women and girls’ rights, as well as advocated for the inclusion of Afghan women in the Secretary-General led political discussions.

Canada’s engagement and messaging on the rights of Afghan women and girls is guided by the voices of Afghan women, both inside Afghanistan and the in Afghan diaspora in Canada. For example, on  International Women’s Day on March 8, 2023, Canada’s Special Representative for Afghanistan met virtually with women civil society leaders from inside Afghanistan and Canada to collect their views, needs and recommendations for Canada and the international community’s response to the human rights crisis. This engagement builds on the February 2023 round table discussion the Minister of International Development hosted with the Women, Peace and Security Ambassador and some of these same civil society activists now residing in Canada, in which they discussed their concerns about women’s exclusion from public life and their recommendations for action.

Objective 4 - Meeting the specific needs of women and girls in humanitarian settings, including upholding their sexual rights and their access to sexual and reproductive health services

Canada continued to demonstrate global leadership in promoting gender-responsive humanitarian assistance, and upholding sexual rights and access to sexual and reproductive health services, in line with the Feminist International Assistance Policy. During the reporting period, efforts included the following: 

Highlight: The Assistance to Women at Risk flag

Within the Refugee Resettlement Program, Canada uses the Assistance to Women at Risk (AWR) flag, which referral organizations and IRCC officers may attach to refugee referrals and case files, to identify women or girls that are in perilous or permanently unstable situations, and in situations where urgent or expedited processing may be necessary. AWR recognizes the particular risks faced by refugee women and girls due to patriarchal social norms and practices, and sexual or gender-based violence where local authorities are unable to ensure their safety. AWR allows the Government of Canada to provide expedited and effective protection to women and girls in need, including in conflict or post-conflict contexts. In recognition of the discrimination that women face, refugees resettled under AWR are exempt from the usual requirement to demonstrate an ability to establish themselves. They may also be eligible for additional settlement support services in Canada through the Joint Assistance Sponsorship Program, which provides refugees with support over a longer period (up to 36 months) and combines support from the Government of Canada and private sponsors. Additionally, gender-based persecution is one of the grounds upon which Canada grants refugee protection. In 2021, Canada resettled 995 vulnerable refugee women and children through AWR. In 2022, 2,088 resettled refugees were flagged as AWR.

Objective 5 - Strengthening the capacity of peace operations to advance the WPS agenda, including by deploying more women and fully embedding the WPS agenda into CAF operations and police deployments

Through the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations, Canada worked to increase the meaningful participation of uniformed women:

Canada continued to work to embed the WPS agenda into its own operations, including through the following:

3. Improving the Government of Canada’s capacity to implement the Action Plan

Action Plan partners have committed to improving their own internal capacity to implement Canada’s National Action Plan objectives. While challenges remain and systemic change is slow, there are some strong examples of walking the talk on gender equality, inclusion and WPS within the Government of Canada:

Highlight box: Indigenous Professional Experience Program

Working in Guatemala, where most of the interlocutors and participants in Canada’s programming are Indigenous, requires specialized knowledge and awareness to ensure culturally relevant programming and results in a post-conflict society. However, Indigenous Peoples, especially women, continue to face significant barriers in acquiring the skills needed to work for donors, including Canada, and partners. This creates a deficit of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in the international community and can undermine efforts to establish community trust in Indigenous territories where grave human rights violations occurred during the internal armed conflict. The Indigenous Professional Experience Program (IPEP) represents a concrete commitment to integrate an Indigenous worldview into our work and to advance the Government of Canada’s policy on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, as well as advance the Women, Peace and Security agenda. GTMLA has benefited from the incorporation of 6 Indigenous professionals (5 women and 1 man) in the mission between 2017 and 2022. Each has brought a part of themselves and their culture to our daily work.

4. Conclusion and next steps

Despite an ever-evolving global security landscape and an increasingly hostile context for gender equality, women’s rights and inclusion, Canada continued its global leadership on WPS and feminist approaches, advocating strongly for the promotion and protection of gender equality and women’s rights in key multilateral forums on security and other related issues. This leadership extended on the ground in FCAS, where Canada’s international assistance, humanitarian and PSOPs programming responded to the basic needs of those in situations of vulnerability, brought by transformative change to harmful gendered societal norms and practices. Domestically, Canada made more linkages than ever before to the WPS agenda - from refugee integration, to CAF and international peace operations deployments, to the implementation of the National Action Plan on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. All implementing partners made concrete progress in furthering the WPS agenda in the interest of Canadians.

Challenges are inevitable when pursuing such an ambitious goal across numerous federal departments with different mandates. Action Plan partners experienced challenges to fully implement the Action Plan across all of Canada’s policies, programs and interventions. The Women, Peace and Security Ambassador was instrumental in socializing the Action Plan to all partners, encouraging them to be ambitious, and bringing them together regularly to share ideas.

During the reporting period, the Government of Canada worked to develop its third National Action Plan, titled Foundations for Peace, with the aim of strengthening its cross-government approach and the Plan’s domestic outreach. The plan will once again be coordinated by GAC and will involve 10 federal partners. Each partner prepared an implementation plan or statement of support to demonstrate how they will further Foundations for Peace: Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security under their respective mandates. Moreover, Foundations for Peace: Canada’s National Action Plan takes into account the findings of the MTR and provides an opportunity to address the challenges and critical gaps in the implementation of the WPS agenda. To go further, Canada will use the opportunity presented by Foundations for Peace: Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security to explore how the WPS agenda can be used to address the legacy of colonialism, thereby strengthening the domestic focus of the Action Plan while continuing to take the lead in advancing the agenda globally. This will also be an opportunity to address the root causes of violence and discrimination, including by applying an anti-racist and intersectional lens to respond to global and systemic discrimination. The third National Action Plan has been developed in close collaboration and engagement with various stakeholders, including civil society and Indigenous Peoples. 

While the present whole-of-government summary progress report marks the close of the second National Action Plan chapter, the tangible progress made and lessons learned have been invaluable as Canada moves forward with the development, launch and implementation of Foundations for Peace: Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. Sustained high-level interest and dedication to the WPS agenda and Canada’s National Action Plan will be a necessity as we move forward to maintain Canada’s global leadership in this space, and ultimately, to contribute towards a more peaceful and sustainable world for all.

Annexes

Annex A: Definitions

These definitions can be found in Canada’s National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security. These definitions are formulated and compiled to help readers understand the terms as they are used in the Action Plan.

Child, early and forced marriage (CEFM): The term “child marriage” refers to a marriage in which at least one of the parties is a child. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child is “every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”. “Early marriage” is often used interchangeably with “child marriage” and refers to marriages involving a person aged below 18 in countries where the age of majority is attained earlier or upon marriage. Early marriage can also refer to marriages where both spouses are 18 or older but other factors make them unready to consent to marriage, such as their level of physical, emotional, sexual and psychosocial development, or a lack of information regarding the person’s life options. A forced marriage is any marriage that occurs without the full and free consent of one or both of the parties and/or where one or both of the parties is/are unable to end or leave the marriage, including as a result of duress or intense social or family pressure.

Fragility is characterized as the accumulation and combination of risks combined with insufficient capacity by the state, system, and/or communities to manage, absorb, or mitigate its consequences. This situation of exposure to risk can lead to negative outcomes, including violence, armed conflict, protracted political crises, and chronic underdevelopment. Risks and coping capacity are measured in five dimensions to include political, societal, security, economic, and environmental aspects. (Source: the OECD)

Gender refers to socially-constructed roles, behaviours, expressions and identities of girls, women, boys, men and gender-diverse people.  It influences how people perceive themselves and each other, how they act and interact, the distribution of power and resources in society, and people’s social, health and economic outcomes.

Sex refers to a set of biological attributes in humans and animals. It is primarily associated with physical and physiological features including chromosomes, gene expression, hormone levels and function, and reproductive/sexual anatomy. Sex is usually categorized as female or male but there is variation in the biological attributes that comprise sex and how those attributes are expressed.

Gender equality refers to equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for women, men and gender-diverse people. Equality refers to the state of being equal while equity refers to the state of being just, impartial or fair. However, equality of opportunity by itself does not guarantee equal outcomes for women, men and gender-diverse people.

Gender mainstreaming means ensuring that gender perspectives and attention to the goal of gender equality are central to all activities, such as policy, programming and advocacy, and in all phases: planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) is an analytical tool to support the development of responsive and inclusive initiatives, including policies, programs, and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue being addressed by the initiative and how; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is also an ongoing process that does not stop once an initiative has been developed. It is an analytical tool that can and should be applied to all stages of initiative development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Applying GBA Plus early in the policy development process ensures that diversity considerations are embedded in the decision-making process, allowing for responsive and inclusive initiatives that meet the needs of diverse groups of people. Since 1995, the Government of Canada has committed to the application of gender-based analysis in all federal government decision-making. In 2011, the government added the “Plus” to emphasize the need to consider many factors when undertaking the analysis.

Gender-responsive policies or programs are developed with the consideration of gender norms, roles and inequalities with measures taken to actively address them.

Gender-sensitive indicates a cognitive awareness of gender differences, but appropriate action may not have been taken. However, the terms gender-responsive and gender-sensitive are often used interchangeably.

Gender transformative interventions go beyond gender responsiveness and specifically aim at transforming unequal gender relations to promote shared power, control of resources, decision-making, and support for women’s and girls’ empowerment.

Multiple and intersecting discrimination: Individuals have layered identities based on intersecting identity factors such as gender, ethnicity, race, religion, age, sexual orientation and ability. The discrimination they face is multidimensional and its various components cannot be addressed separately.

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV): Gender-based violence (GBV) is violence perpetrated against someone based on their gender expression, gender identity or perceived gender. Specifically, GBV includes any act of violence or abuse that can result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering. It affects every society and every social class and occurs in both private and public life. Whether the context is the use of rape as a tool of war, sex trafficking, intimate partner violence, female genital mutilation, or other forms, GBV is a violation of human rights in all cases. It is a disempowering force that erodes a person’s self-dignity, health and ability to participate in social, economic and political life. GBV is a barrier to gender equality, sustainable development and peace. GBV is rooted in gender inequalities and is intensified by other forms of discrimination, including racism, colonialism, disability, homophobia, transphobia and poverty. It is often exacerbated in conflict settings.

Sexual violence is a prevalent type of GBV. Sexual violence in conflict includes rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy and forced sterilization or abortion. The international legal framework clearly establishes that rape and other forms of sexual violence may constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Many states have laws that punish these acts, either as the specified crimes or as ordinary crimes under national law. The International Criminal Court in The Hague will in some instances have jurisdiction. Some international treaties and, arguably, customary international law, oblige states to either prosecute or extradite persons who commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The international regime and many states agree that amnesty cannot be granted for these serious violations of international law.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) include: age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education; reproductive health services; family planning services, including contraception; safe and legal abortion services and post-abortion care; prevention and management of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections; prevention of and response to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), including the prevention of harmful practices such as child and early forced marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting and the provision of psycho-social services for SGBV survivors; training of health care professionals in the provision of sexual and reproductive health care services and family planning; advocacy activities of women’s, youth, Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ2I+ civil society groups; addressing social norms that limit women’s and adolescents’ control over their bodies and reproductive decision-making; and removal of judicial and legal barriers to the fulfillment of sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Women’s and girls’ empowerment is the ability of women and girls to take control over their lives, which includes setting one’s own agendas and goals, gaining skills and developing self-reliance. Policies and programs can support these processes. Women and girls can be empowered by creating conditions in which women can decide about how to use resources and income (economic empowerment); have access to good quality education (social empowerment); and can participate in political life (political empowerment).

Annex B: Theory of change

Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2017-2022 (CNAP 2)

Canada leads in implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent WPS resolutions.

Impact

Women participate in peace and security efforts, women and girls are empowered, and their human rights are upheld in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS).

Outcomes (objectives)

Women participate in peace and security efforts, women and girls are empowered, and their human rights are upheld in FCAS.

Intermediate outcomes

Positive changes in behaviour, social norms, institutionalized practices and legal systems, including customary and religious laws, in relation to gender equality, sexual and gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers and other international personnel.

Immediate outcomes

National and local governments, civil society, donor states, the UN and other multilateral organizations working in and in relation to FCAS have increased capacity and motivation to take a gender-responsive and gender-transformative approach and promote and protect women’s and girls’ human rights, their empowerment and gender equality, and engage men and boys in these efforts.

Actions (What we do)

Diplomacy and political leadership

Programming

Strategic approach

A gender-responsive, human rights-based and whole-of-government approach to peace and security interventions and the situation of women and girls in FCAS.

Context

Despite evidence that women’s participation is vital to achieving and sustaining peace and that women are critical change agents, often leading peace movements and driving community recovery after conflict, they are largely excluded from peace negotiations and processes. SGBV in conflict, constraints on women’s ability to participate in conflict resolution and violations of women’s and girls’ human rights remain urgent issues requiring action in order to achieve progress toward more inclusive, equal and stable societies.

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