Language Matters: The Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Japan and South Korea

Oct 31, 2019 | Yeonju Jung and Ayako Tsujisaka
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Nineteen years ago today, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325—a foundational resolution to the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. Since the adoption of Resolution 1325, global efforts to promote the WPS agenda have advanced but the discussions that shape its priorities have been led exclusively by Western donors. In contrast, the roles of Japan and South Korea—an established and an emerging donor, respectively—within the WPS agenda are poorly understood. Notably, both countries reported their largest increases in aid to gender equality in fragile states and economies during 2008–2015. At a time when a global funding gap is one of the main challenges to the WPS agenda, it is particularly crucial to understand the growing roles and approaches of these two countries.