publication

Between contested narratives and transformative actions digitalization discourse, policy, and practice in the Women, Peace and Security agenda

Authors:
Agnieszka Fal-Dutra Santos
Outi DONOVAN
2025
In recent years,“digitalization” has made its way into the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. While none of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) on WPS mentions digitalization, it has increasingly entered the discourse, policy, and practice around the agenda. In this article, we cast an initial eye on the conceptualization and implementation of digitalization within the WPS agenda. We do so through a three-step analysis of discourse, policy, and practice. Our preliminary findings suggest that United Nations member states’ discourse on digitalization within the WPS agenda has moved from an instrumentalist perception of technology as a tool to support one-off initiatives related to the agenda to a more holistic view of it as an integral part of the environment in which the agenda is implemented. Yet, an analysis of WPS policy and practice suggests that transformative intentions are often not operationalized, resulting in a piecemeal implementation of the WPS–digitalization nexus. Further, while states lead on shaping the discourse around this nexus, the implementation is primarily driven by civil society actors. Finally, we suggest that, rather than being a linear process, the incorporation of digitalization into the WPS framework occurs through multiple and at times contrasting pathways, reflecting a broader trend in the evolution of the WPS agenda.