Women, Peace and Security (WPS) promotes women’s full and equal participation in peace and security as a prerequisite to achieving sustainable peace. The United States is the only country to have both national WPS legislation, from the WPS Act of 2017, and a whole-of-government strategy on WPS. The Department of Defense released its WPS Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan in June 2020 that identifies the Department’s WPS objectives.

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) began institutionalizing WPS through a command instruction in 2017, followed by the establishment of an office of Women, Peace & Security in 2019. This office oversees command-wide implementation of WPS that includes gender mainstreaming throughout the command’s policies, plans, programs, exercises, and assessments; tailored education and training; partner nation engagement; research innovation and application; and guiding a growing network of trained Gender Advisors and Gender Focal Points. The Office of WPS employs a full-time command gender advisor, a WPS curriculum developer, a gender analyst, and a WPS planner.

Meaningful implementation of WPS provides unique insight into the operational environment, opens new opportunities for cooperation with regional allies and partners, and improves the command’s understanding of complex security challenges within the Indo-Pacific.  

Mission Statement:

The Office of Women, Peace & Security (WPS) implements the DoD WPS Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan by mainstreaming a gender perspective into theater plans, programs, and policies in order to enable the USINDOPACOM enterprise to develop inclusive security strategies that advance a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. 

Resources:

           Advancing WPS in the Indo-Pacific Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sxn6eSelo0·        

          DoD WPS Video: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/775738/women-peace-and-security

·         DoD WPS Roundtable: https://www.usip.org/publications/2021/03/toward-gender-inclusive-national-security-strategy

·         Email us at USINDOPACOM.WPS.fct@pacom.mil