The newly adopted Norwegian National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) states that Norway "wishes to contribute to targeted and systematic follow-up of the commitment to WPS across the full breadth of the Security Council's work." In 2016, before taking its seat at the Council, Sweden similarly stated that it intended to contribute to WPS becoming "core Security Council business." For Sweden, this meant contributing to women being heard directly by the Security Council members in meetings and in the field. It involved seeking to strengthen the information provided to the Council and chairing the Informal Expert group on WPS. And it included suggesting more operative resolution wordings and following-up ongoing efforts with senior UN leaders. As Sweden's term now has come to an end, there is a unique opportunity to learn central lessons. Did these efforts provide the desired results? And what are the main challenges for further progress?
At this seminar, co-organized with the Embassy of Sweden in Oslo, Karolina Vrethem, Deputy Director at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a key actor behind Sweden's strategy on WPS, will tell us about her experiences and discuss key lessons for non-permanent members with representatives of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Introduction: Susann Nilsson, Minister Councellor, Embassy of Sweden in Oslo and Torunn Tryggestad, Director of PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security, Deputy Director of PRIO
Chair: Louise Olsson, Senior Researcher at PRIO
Keynote: Karolina Vrethem, Deputy Director at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Discussants: Dag Nylander, Director, Section for peace and reconciliation, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
embassy of Sweden in Oslo
