Women key to maintaining world peace

Florida Reps. Michael Waltz (R) and Lois Frankel (D), both Co-Chairs of the Women, Peace and Security Caucus, released a statement on the newly-published implementation plans for the WPS agenda, discussing the importance of women’s inclusion in security efforts to maintaining world peace.

In the statement, both Florida lawmakers expressed that “in societies where women are healthy, educated, thriving economically and participants in important decisions, their communities are safer and more secure.” Moreover, “the Women, Peace and Security Caucus is grateful to see the United States proceed with implementing the Women, Peace and Security Act of 2017,” adding that they “look forward to carefully reviewing these implementation plans to ensure that progress towards women’s empowerment and inclusion is a strong priority of U.S. foreign policy.”

Both Waltz and Frankel created the WPS earlier this year, and the caucus supports the implementation of the WPS agenda to ensure their goals are considered national security and foreign policy priorities for the United States.

When the bipartisan caucus was launched in March, Frankel commented that the “social and political marginalization of women strongly correlates with the likelihood a country will experience conflict,” noting that “when girls and women are healthy, educated, and financially secure, their communities are more prosperous and peaceful.” She added that “as mothers, wives, women are uniquely situated to detect early signs of radicalization in youth,” mentioning that “research shows that when women and civil society groups participate in a peace process, the resulting agreement is much less likely to fail and more likely to last at least fifteen years.”

Echoing Frankel in his remarks, Waltz also pointed to his military background shedding light on his support for the initiative, explaining that “as a Green Beret, I’ve seen the importance of women in peace processes all around the world,” adding that “peace agreements last longer when women are included in negotiations – and our world is ultimately a safer place because of gender equality.”