Select committee: International Development Committee
Recommendation 2
10th Report - Peace under pressure: Protecting Women, Peace and Security
Published 23 Mar 2026
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee Women, peace and security All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Gender equality should not become a footnote in UK diplomacy. The UK must use its clout on the international stage to strengthen the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. This means using the tools it has at its disposal. The UK should be seen to advocate for Women, Peace and Security in multilateral forums, holding the line on gender–sensitive language in resolutions, promoting strong Women, Peace and Security positions in United Nations Security Council work and prioritising the deliverability of commitments into actions. (Recommendation, Paragraph 28)
From: International Development Committee, 10th Report - Peace under pressure: Protecting Women, Peace and Security (HC 782), 23 March 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 10 June 2026 (deadline 23 May 2026).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response is largely "Partially Agree" across the Committee's recommendations, restating its commitment to Women, Peace and Security while disagreeing with Recommendation 29 and agreeing only with Recommendation 86.
- On the Committee's request to explain why no dedicated Women, Peace and Security session was convened during the February 2026 Security Council Presidency (Recommendation 29), the government disagrees. It says inviting women to brief country-specific meetings "has proven more meaningful and impactful than holding generic discussions on WPS".
- On convening a dedicated session in a future Presidency (Recommendation 30), the government partially agrees. It says it "may decide that a dedicated WPS meeting is the best way to deliver this in a future Presidency but would not want to prejudge that at this stage".
- On monitoring (Recommendation 86), the government agrees. It says it is "reviewing the current monitoring and evaluation mechanism" as part of the 2026 National Action Plan refresh.
- On annual reporting to Parliament (Recommendation 96), the government partially agrees. It "will consider introducing annual reporting", notes that the plan commits to a biennial written report, and says the updated governance structure will be published in the 2026 refresh.