Deploy more women and increase their number in senior decision-making roles; has introduced recruitment targets for women in non-traditional roles; and is developing a gender adviser and female engagement team capability. The Australian Defence Force will also provide a Technical Expert for Women, Peace and Security to UN Women for five years from 2016.
Support new research to be conducted by Monash University in Melbourne on “Preventing Conflict and Countering Fundamentalism through Women’s Empowerment and Civil Society Mobilization”.
In the process of reviewing the NAP.
Financial Commitments
Committing an additional AUD 4 million over three years to the Global Acceleration Instrument on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action bringing total contribution to AUD5.5 million.
2016 Update!
Australia is currently “researching the role women play in combating extremism so that we can better understand how to tap into the valuable experiences of women to strengthen our approaches.”
The representative of Australia did not address whether the state was successful in deploying more women peacekeepers as promised in 2015.
2017 Update:
Australia is pleased that its $10 million commitment to the UN Peacebuilding Fund is helping countries build sustainable peace. Australia is leased to be the founding — and largest — supporter of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund, which supports civil-society organizations in contributing to conflict prevention, crisis response and peacebuilding.
Australia has increased the number of women officers serving as staff officers and military observers in United Nations missions to 25 per cent, exceeding the commitment made at the 2016 Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference.
Australia commends the Department of Political Affairs for its oversight of dedicated efforts across a range of special political missions in 2016, which resulted in a substantial increase in the deployment of gender expertise, with 25 gender advisers working across 11 field missions. Australia is pleased to have helped with that expansion by providing the first-ever military gender adviser to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. It has also seconded a senior military officer to UN-Women here in New York as a technical expert on Women, Peace and Security.
Commitment:
Australia made a statement affirming support for the WPS Agenda, but no specific commitment made.
2018 Update:
Towards an Inclusive Peace, an Australian-funded research project in partnership with Australia’s universities focuses on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in the Indo-Pacific region. Australia is proud to be the founding and largest donor to the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund in support of women’s grass-roots organizations. Australia is also researching the gendered dimensions of violent extremism in the region and the various roles that women play and could play in countering extremism and promoting stability and inclusion.
Australia has greatly progressed its military gender adviser capability. They have trained 101 Australian military gender advisers to deploy on operations and exercises, and has established 10 full-time gender adviser positions dedicated to mainstreaming and integrating a military gender perspective in Australia. Austalia has also established four permanent deployed gender-adviser positions, including the first Gender Adviser to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
Commitments:
Australia’s second national action plan is expected in mid-2019.