Description
Almost 20 years ago, the United Nations Security Council decided on Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). More than 70 countries around the world have adopted National Action Plans (NAPs) to implement the resolution. The existing literature on NAPs in the Global North is critical of how states use the WPS Agenda for traditional security goals and hardly include civil society in their policies. The Dutch NAP has not been studied yet although it builds on a different relationship between the government and civil society as Dutch civil society organizations are partners and signatories of the NAP. My analysis is based on interviews with NAP signatories and focuses on the governing structure of the Dutch NAP. I demonstrate that, on the one hand, the cooperative character of the governing structure has created a Dutch community around WPS and has led to more comprehensive understandings of security and gender in the NAP. On the other hand, the NAP is mainly a funding instrument only available to signatory organizations. The funding requirements have created competition between different civil society groups, rewarding large development and peace organizations and side-lining women’s rights and diaspora organizations.
