Back in October 2017, the U.S. Congress passed — and
the president signed — legislation that identified the active
participation of women as crucial to maintaining peace and security
around the globe.
"The meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and
conflict resolution processes helps to promote more inclusive and
democratic societies and is critical to the long-term stability of
countries and regions," reads the "Women, Peace, and Security Act of
2017," or WPS, which was signed into law on Oct. 6 of that year.
Lawmakers and the president even agreed U.S. policy should not just
identify women as being critical to conflict resolution and the
preservation of peace, but should also promote their participation.
"It shall be the policy of the United States to promote the
meaningful participation of women in all aspects of overseas conflict
prevention, management, and resolution, and post-conflict relief and
recovery efforts, reinforced through diplomatic efforts and programs,"
the law continues.
The law specifically directs the Defense Department to ensure, among
other things, training for personnel in conflict prevention, peace
processes, mitigation, resolution and security initiatives that address
the importance of participation by women, as well as strategies and best
practices for ensuring meaningful participation by women.
Stephanie Hammond, the acting deputy assistant secretary for
stability and humanitarian affairs, said the department is thoroughly
onboard with the intent of the law and is on track with implementing its
requirements.
"DOD very forcefully supports the whole-of-government implementation
of the WPS Act and strategy," Hammond said during a virtual presentation
today at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. "The United States
faces an increasingly complex global security environment ... the United
States and our partners must be better prepared to meet these security
challenges, which means we cannot afford to overlook half the
population."
In June, she said, the department launched DOD's strategic framework
and plan for implementing the Women, Peace, and Security Act.
"In recognition of the relationship between our own ability to
implement the intent of the WPS mandate abroad and how we organize,
train and equip our own forces, our plan acknowledged the need for the
department to model and employ the WPS principles it advises other
partner nations to uphold," she said.
In implementing the plan, she said, the department has a network of
WPS advisors and subject matter experts who advise and train senior
leaders, commanders and staff on how to integrate WPS principles into
policies, plans, operations and partner-nation engagements.
"To date, we have engaged with more than 50 partner nations to
demonstrate the value of women's meaningful participation to national
security and to share best practices on the recruitment, employment,
development, retention and promotion of women in military forces," she
said.
The department has also developed a number of formal training
programs as part of its WPS implementation efforts, Hammond said. These
training programs are aimed at WPS advisors, but development is also
underway on training for senior defense leaders and augmenting existing
training programs — such as the defensewide training on combating human
trafficking — with relevant WPS material.
Hammond also said the department is working with the Defense Security
Cooperation University to put WPS material into that school's
curriculum.
Plans for the future, she said, involve more closely integrating WPS
concepts not just into department policies, plans, doctrine, training
and education, but also into the department's security cooperation,
guidance, training and activities with partner nations.
"We've made a tremendous amount of progress on WPS implementation in
these past few years, and the department has an opportunity and the
momentum and capacity right now to carry this work much further,"
Hammond said.
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