Development

The Interinstitutional Working Group, created by Ministerial Resolution 296/20 on July 29th, 2020, developed the NAP. It included personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Interior Ministry, the National Defense Ministry, the Human Rights Secretariat, and the Women’s National Institute; it was supported by staff from Inclusive Security and UN Women.

Implementation

The Foreign Affairs Ministry, National Defense Ministry, Interior Ministry, Human Rights Secretariat, and the Women’s National Institute in the Social Development Ministry are responsible for the implementation of the NAP. 

Monitoring and Evaluation

The Interinstitutional Working Group that created the NAP is responsible for monitoring and evaluation as well.

Civil Society Organizations

The Interinstitutional Working Group that formulated the NAP is not reported to have included the participation of CSOs, although there are some mentions of CSOs throughout the document.

The timeframe for the implementation of the NAP is from 2021 to 2024.

Due to the Uruguayan national experience as well as the principles that led their foreign policy, and their participation in international organizations, three objectives were outlined for the NAP.

• Promote a gender perspective in all peace and security activities.
• Promote a focus on human security, with a gender perspective.
• Strengthen the capacity for responsiveness on the international level in relation to the WPS agenda and Protection of Civilians in Peace Operations, in order to make societies more fair, peaceful, and inclusive.

The NAP outlines a number of proposed actions and activities, which span across the four pillars of the WPS agenda. 

As the participation of Uruguay in Peacekeeping Operations is a key element of their foreign policy, there are several proposed actions to include the WPS agenda in this work, including:

• Increasing women’s participation in Peacekeeping operations
• Developing specific actions to overcome obstacles and increase women’s participation in Peacekeeping Operations and public life.
• Broadcasting Uruguay’s experiences, lessons, and good practices in Peacekeeping Operations
• Promoting humanitarian and human rights focus on civil society protection in Uruguay, particularly in the context of armed conflict.

The WPS agenda is considered a key topic for international cooperation and Uruguay seeks to promote it through its foreign policy, with actions such as:

• Promote conflict resolution and conflict prevention abilities and capabilities in international fora, like the participation in the Network of Women Mediators of the Southern Cone.
• Promote regional and international initiatives about the WPS agenda. 
• Sharing experiences and good practices on the WPS agenda with regional and international partners, including gender equality, GBV prevention, and the WPS agenda in bilateral dialogue and promoting the WPS agenda through active participation in regional and international forums 

At the national level, Uruguay’s NAP is focused on: 

• Promoting the WPS agenda at the national level for all Government institutions, through the promotion of courses on Gender-awareness for the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Interior, the provision of  education on WPS and other related issues within the Government personnel, and the incorporation of training and qualification on the WPS agenda for diplomats and members of the MFA
• Include gender analysis in all State activities related to peace and security
• Promote the human security focus with a gender perspective in government institutions.
• Promote the WPS agenda at the national level through the broadcasting of the NAP through a media plan and the promotion of activities about the WPS agenda in the International Relations major in Uruguay’s Universities.
• Promote cybersecurity with a gender perspective among youth

To ensure the implementation of the Action Plan, Uruguay proposes a series of means of verification as key indicators of the execution of the proposed actions. Due to the wide spectrum of activities proposed, the means of verification are also diverse, and include: 

the minutes of activities carried out, such as conferences, workshops, bilateral and multilateral meetings, etc; the lists of training attendees and graduates of courses, trainings and workshops; the number of research articles on WPS published between 2021 and 2024, the number of spots or advertising campaigns focused on the diffusion of the WPS at the national level, the number of reports of the implementation of the NAP, etc.

The Interinstitutional Working Group, who is the responsible actor for the M&E of the implementation of the NAP, has three main tools to realize such task:

• The digital platform SIMORE will be used to evaluate the implementation of the planned actions and their short-term results. On this platform it is possible to establish the activities for all government levels and the timeframe to execute them, and as the information is provided by local authorities, it facilitates reporting. 
• Mid-term reports will be delivered every six months, as a result of the follow up of the Interinstitutional Working Group on the implementation of the NAP.
• A final report will be further used to structure the next NAP for Uruguay.

There is no specific financing or budget for each activity, as each Government office is responsible to realize their activities with their general budget, however, the NAP states that the MFA must identify extra funding opportunities.

Although there are no specific proposals on disarmament, Uruguay considers that the support to disarmament mechanisms is a key principle of their national defense policy that also supports the Uruguayan Foreign Policy, along with the support for the maintaining of international peace and security, the proscription of the threat or use of force, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and support for dialogue and peace.