Denmark launched its first National Action Plan (NAP) in 2005, making it the first country to develop a NAP. In 2008, Denmark revised its NAP for the period 2008-2013. The revised NAP was developed by the Inter-Ministerial Working Group composed of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Danish National Police. There is no Civil Society representation in this body. In 2014, Denmark revised their national action plan again and adopted a third NAP for the period of 2014-2019.
Denmark has no recent history of conflicts within its own borders and the Danish NAP has been interpreted in a largely international way, seeking to further mainstream Women, Peace and Security in the context of Denmark’s Humanitarian and peace operations, and peacebuilding and conflict prevention activities at the national, regional (European Union) and international levels.
From a recent academic analysis on Denmark’s second National Action Plan: The revised Danish NAP is much more extensive and includes a section on ‘Achievements and Lessons Learned 2005-2007’. Amongst other lessons, it mentions that the first NAP was not monitored comprehensively and thus advocates for systematic monitoring through an inter-ministry working group. Another key lesson drawn was that the first plan focused mainly on the protection of women and devoted less attention to promoting women’s active participation in conflict solution and peacebuilding. Thus, their second NAP attempts to pursue a more balanced approach in supporting protection and participation. (Miller, Pournik, & Swaine, 2014)