The United Nations has raised alarm over the rising toll of global conflicts on women and girls, describing the situation as the worst since World War II.

In a statement on Monday, UN Women said the 2025 UN Secretary-General’s Women, Peace and Security Report revealed that 676 million women lived within 50km of active conflict zones.

The report is issued annually, coinciding with the UN Security Council Open Debate on Resolution 1325.

The resolution calls for all parties to conflicts to ensure the safety of women and girls, and for women’s full involvement in peace processes.

According to the report, civilian casualties among women and children have quadrupled in the last two years, while conflict-related sexual violence surged by 87 per cent.

UN Women executive director, Sima Bahous, said the growing number of wars had left women increasingly vulnerable and excluded from decision-making processes.

“Women and girls are being killed in record numbers, shut out of peace tables, and left unprotected as wars multiply.

“Women do not need more promises, they need power, protection and equal participation,” Ms Bahous said.

She said that in spite of two decades of advocacy for women’s inclusion in peacebuilding, most peace processes remain dominated by men.

Ms Bahous said that, in 2024, nine out of 10 peace processes had no women negotiators, with women making up just seven per cent of negotiators and 14 per cent of mediators globally.

She said that while global military spending exceeded 2.7 trillion dollars in 2024, women’s organisations in conflict zones received only 0.4 per cent of aid.

She added that many grassroots women groups were on the verge of closing due to a lack of financial support.

According to Ms Bahous, these are not isolated data points but symptoms of a world that invests in war instead of peace, and one that continues to exclude women from shaping solutions.

She stressed the need for a “gender data revolution” to ensure that women’s realities in war zones would be visible and drive accountability.

“UN Women is calling for concrete, measurable results, conflicts resolved through inclusive political solutions, more women leading security reforms and recovery efforts, and greater accountability for violations,” Ms Bahous said.

(NAN)