NAP Development

The Fourth Italian National Action Plan (2020-2024) was developed through a process led by the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Women, Peace and Security, itself led by the Inter-ministerial Committee for Human Rights (page 9). The development process included a number of virtual meetings that the NAP states included civil society, academia, trade unions, and other actors. These stakeholders are listed in Annex 2 of the Plan.

NAP Implementation and Monitoring

The implementation of the NAP will similarly be conducted through this multi-stakeholder mechanism, including the Working Group, civil society, and other stakeholders. There will be progress reporting that will be conducted with some civil society organizations (page 10). The OEWG is ultimately responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the NAP, and will meet at a minimum every four months. The NAP will also be reviewed on an annual basis in light of emerging issues and agendas and lessons learned. The NAP implementation will be monitored on a consistent basis, including in parliament. 

WILPF

Patrizia Sterpetti, President of WILPF Italia, is cited in the NAP as one of the stakeholders and experts who contributed to developing the Plan. She represented the Section in this role.

The National Action Plan will be implemented for four years, from 2020 to 2024.

The NAP positions itself within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had disproportionate impacts on women and girls and severely impacted Italy in the beginning of the pandemic. It aims to strengthen existing actions, strengthen an integrated approach, and broaden the scope of WPS actions in line with more recent resolutions and developments in the agenda.

The NAP has four stated objectives:

“Objective 1 - Strengthen – on a continuous and lasting basis - the role of women in peace processes and in all decision-making processes, also increasing synergies with civil society, in order to effectively implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325(2000) and the WPS Agenda 

Objective 2 - Continue to promote a gender perspective in peace operations and enhance the presence of women, in particular in the Armed Forces and Polices Forces, strengthening their role in decision-making processes relating to peace-keeping missions and in peace conferences 

Objective 3 – Contribute to promote gender equality, empowerment and protection of women and children, especially girls and boys, as well as respect for human rights of women and children, especially girls, in conflict and post-conflict areas, increasing synergies with civil society, in order to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325(2000) and the WPS Agenda 

Objective 4 – Strengthen strategic communication and result-oriented advocacy, by bolstering the Italian participation in relevant fora, conferences and mechanisms (eg UN system, Red Cross, OSCE, NATO, EU, OECD, Council of Europe), to further support the implementation of the WPS Agenda while continuing to ensure the enhancement of information and training at all levels, on the various cross-cutting issues of UNSCR 1325(2000), in particular for the personnel participating in peace operations, including by increasing synergies with civil society and universities, in order to effectively implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325(2000) and the WPS Agenda.”

There are a number of specific actions identified under each of the four activities above. These are provided in detail in the implementation framework, starting on page 11 of the NAP.

Under Objective 1, examples of actions include: “1.2. Continue to support the growing presence of women in peace and reconstruction processes - also with regard to the drafting of new Constitutions - and in all sectors of society, particularly in the transitional justice and economic-financial sectors.” and “1.5. Strengthen the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network (MWMN).”

For each of these actions, the stakeholder responsible for implementation, specific indicators, and the timeframe of implementation is identified.

The NAP contains a series of indicators, which have been derived from other relevant frameworks including the UN Secretary-General’s report on WPS, and the EU approach and plan for WPS implementation

Examples of indicators include “11. Expenditures and proportion of resources of development cooperation programmes in partner countries as allocated for the WPS Agenda, gender equality, prevention and combat violence against women, peace-building and conflict prevention and N# of CSOs that participate in these programmes”, and 19. N# of women HRD, women peace-builders and women mediators who received support. 

The NAP states that it is envisioned as a 'living document', with the ability to adapt to the changing needs and obstacles experienced in the implementation process. Italy will publish an annual progress report, which will be prepared by the Interministerial Committee on Human Rights (CIDU).

The NAP does not identify a specific number for the budget, but there are numerous indicators that assess progress towards the NAP as being linked to financing. These include:

• “9. Proportion of financed projects and initiatives relating to the WPS Agenda, which include relief and recovery programmes.” 
• “11. Expenditures and proportion of resources of development cooperation programmes in partner countries as allocated for the WPS Agenda, gender equality, prevention and combat violence against women, peace-building and conflict prevention and N# of CSOs that participate in these programmes.”
• “12. Total of expenditures, N# and details about projects that implement support services with regard to SGBV and other forms of violence against women, including information and services in the field of sexual and reproductive health.”

Under Objective 1, there is one action related to disarmament that is listed. This is Action 1.1: “Promote the direct, formal and meaningful participation of women and youth in peace processes and in all decision-making processes related to peace and security, as well as to international policy, disarmament and development, also in the light of the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda.

NAP Process

The development of Italy’s NAP was inclusive, participatory and included input from civil society organisations. Numerous meetings were held involving relevant stakeholders, including CSOs, academia, NGOs and other relevant institutional actors.     

WILPF Italy did not participated in the development process of the third NAP. 

The present Plan has been elaborated on the basis of the following principles: transparency, dialogue and a multi-stakeholder approach. To this end, a national open-ended (inter-ministerial and participatory) Working Group (OEWG) on WPS has been established and will be led by the Inter-ministerial Committee for Human Rights (CIDU).                       

NAP Implementation

Civil society organisations will be present in the process of NAP implementation. Progress reporting will be conducted with relevant civil society groups in order to guarantee operational effectiveness and a more holistic and synergetic approach.

Given the importance of this Plan, Italy is committed to implementing it through a close collaboration between the above-mentioned Working Group, civil society and the most relevant actors, in a multi-stakeholder fashion. This multi-stakeholder mechanism will oversee the implementation of the current NAP with progress reports conducted with relevant CSOs in order to guarantee operational effectiveness.

NAP Monitoring and Evaluation

The open-ended Working Group (OEWG) will be responsible of the monitoring of this Plan. To this end, it will establish a permanent coordination mechanism with CSOs and other relevant actors. The OEWG will meet at least every four months, and will provide information to the members of the CIDU. The OEWG will revise existing Goals, commitments, actions, indicators, the EU comprehensive approach, emerging issues, and policy agendas relating to WPS as identified under the monitoring process annually  in light of lessons learned.

The open-ended Working Group (OEWG) will be also responsible for the application and monitoring of this Plan. The OEWG will meet at least every four months and will provide information to the members of the CIDU. The OEWG will revise existing Goals, commitments, actions, indicators, the EU comprehensive approach, emerging issues, and policy agendas relating to WPS as identified under the monitoring process annually in light of lessons learned.

Timeframe

The implementation period for the National Plan of Action is three years (2016-2019).

Objectives

The Italian NAP’s primary objectives are focused on Seven Goals:

• Strengthen the role of women in peace processes and in all decision-making processes;
• Continue promoting a gender perspective in peace operations;
• Continue ensuring specific training on the various and cross-cutting aspects of UNSCR 1325 (2000), in particular to personnel taking part in peace operations;
• Further enhance women’s presence in the national Armed Forces and within national Police forces by strengthening their role in decision-making processes related to peace missions;
• Protect human rights of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict areas;
• Increase synergies with civil society to implement UNSCR 1325 (2000);
• Strengthen strategic communication and result-oriented advocacy

Action/Activities

Each area of work has different actions assigned. For example, Goal 1 (Strengthening the role of women in peace processes and in all decision-making processes) includes the following actions:

• Continue promoting women’s participation in decision-making processes, including in international policy development;
• Continue building the capacity of women and their CSO groups to engage in prevention and response efforts for national peace processes and reconstruction;
• Create a Network of women mediators from the Mediterranean area and organise events to promote the Network and its members, within the framework of the Italian membership of the UN Security Council and of the Italian Presidency of the G7;
• Continue building the capacity of women and their CSO groups to engage in prevention and response efforts for representation and participation at the senior decision-making and leadership roles, especially in sectors such as DDR, electoral processes, justice and finance;
• Support local young women’s and men’s participation, also for sustainable peace;
• Promote information-sharing and learning from relevant women’s experience to highlight their transformative role.

Indicators

Each strategic objective has a number of listed indicators. For example, the first objective of Goal 1, “Continue promoting women’s participation in decision-making processes, including in international policy development”, has two indicators: 1. Number of projects in/ for peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected areas that integrate the participation and involvement of women or work with key stakeholders; 2. Percentage of women in executive-level roles in relevant Government of Italy administrations and departments. 

Monitoring and Evaluation

The open-ended Working Group (OEWG) will be also responsible for the monitoring of this Plan, including application and monitoring. The OEWG will meet at least every four months and will provide information to the members of the CIDU. The OEWG will revise existing Goals, commitments, actions, indicators, the EU comprehensive approach, emerging issues, and policy agendas relating to WPS as identified under the monitoring process annually  in light of lessons learned.

Budget

The third Italian NAP does not allocate a dedicated budget for each objective or action point, although a budget was separately allocated and information on this is publicly available. 

Disarmament

Italy's third NAP did not include disarmament efforts.