The Global Leaders' Meeting on Women, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Beijing World Conference on Women, represents a milestone in the ongoing global pursuit of gender equality. The concurrent global women's summit on October 15 provided a crucial platform for evaluating three decades of progress and addressing persistent challenges that continue to affect women around the world, particularly in the Global South. This gathering served as both a reflection on past achievements and a strategic planning session for future action, bringing together diverse perspectives to forge a more inclusive path forward.

Women, Peace and Security in the global context 

The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, established through UN Security Council Resolution 1325 25 years ago, has evolved to address the complex realities facing women in conflict and post-conflict situations. While originally focused on traditional security concerns, the framework has progressively expanded to encompass broader understandings of security that include economic, environmental and digital dimensions. This expanded understanding is particularly relevant for Global South countries, where women often face multifaceted challenges that transcend conventional definitions of conflict and peace.

In many developing nations, women's participation in formal peace processes remains limited despite their extensive involvement in community-level peacebuilding and conflict resolution. The gap between women's actual contributions to maintaining social cohesion and their representation in official decision-making positions represents one of the most persistent challenges in implementing the WPS agenda. Furthermore, the changing nature of conflict and security threats—including climate-induced displacement, cyber violence and economic instability—requires continuous adaptation of policies and approaches to ensure they adequately address women's specific needs and vulnerabilities. 

Environmental challenges and gender dimensions 

Across the Global South, environmental degradation and climate change present increasingly severe threats to women's security and wellbeing. Desertification, water scarcity and extreme weather events disproportionately affect women, particularly those in rural communities who often bear primary responsibility for household food security and natural resource management. The intersection of environmental stress and gender inequality creates compound vulnerabilities that demand integrated solutions.

Women's extensive knowledge of local ecosystems and resource management positions them as crucial agents in climate adaptation and environmental conservation. However, their potential contributions are frequently hampered by limited access to decision-making forums, technology and financial resources. Addressing these structural barriers requires not only gender-sensitive policy frameworks but also dedicated resources and political commitment to ensure women's meaningful participation in environmental governance.

The upcoming COP17 conference on desertification, to be hosted in Mongolia in 2026, presents a significant opportunity to advance the integration of gender considerations into global environmental policy. This gathering of 197 countries will focus on accelerating action against land degradation and drought, challenges that particularly affect women in agricultural and pastoral communities worldwide. Ensuring that women's voices and experiences inform the conference outcomes is essential for developing effective and equitable solutions to these pressing environmental issues.

Digital transformation and cyber security 

The rapid digital transformation sweeping across Global South countries brings both opportunities and challenges for women's empowerment and security. While digital technologies can enhance women's access to information, services and economic opportunities, they also create new vulnerabilities in the form of online harassment, cyber violence, and digital exclusion. The gender digital divide remains large in many regions, limiting women's ability to benefit from technological advancements and participate fully in the digital economy.

Women's underrepresentation in technology development and cybersecurity policy-making means that their specific needs and perspectives are often overlooked in the design of digital systems and safety protocols. This gap becomes increasingly problematic as more aspects of daily life—including financial transactions, social interactions and access to essential services—move online. Developing comprehensive strategies to address online gender-based violence while promoting women's digital literacy and leadership in technology sectors is an urgent priority for achieving genuine digital inclusion.

The experience of Mongolia in addressing these challenges offers valuable insights. Through initiatives that combine digital skills training for women with awareness campaigns about online safety, Mongolia has begun developing a multifaceted approach to digital inclusion. However, much work remains to be done, both in Mongolia and across the Global South, to ensure that women can fully participate in digital spaces without fear of violence or discrimination.

Economic empowerment and financial inclusion 

Financial security constitutes a fundamental pillar of women's overall security and autonomy. Across Global South countries, women continue to face significant barriers to economic participation, including limited access to credit, unequal property rights, and occupational segregation. 

Microfinance initiatives and women's entrepreneurship programs have made important contributions to addressing these disparities, but broader structural reforms are needed to create truly inclusive economic systems. This includes reforming legal frameworks that restrict women's economic rights, implementing targeted support for women-owned businesses, and challenging social norms that limit women's economic opportunities. The remarkable progress in financial inclusion achieved in some countries demonstrates that transformative change is possible when comprehensive approaches combine policy reform, financial innovation and social empowerment. 

In Mongolia, the banking and financial sector has implemented several innovative approaches to advance women's economic empowerment. The establishment of a 30-percent quota for women in senior leadership positions within financial institutions has helped ensure that women's perspectives inform decision-making processes. Meanwhile, the "Women Owned" trademark initiative has created new market opportunities for women entrepreneurs by increasing the visibility of their products and services. These practical interventions, combined with financial literacy programs and tailored credit products, illustrate how coordinated action across multiple fronts can significantly advance women's financial inclusion.

Recommendations for global action 

As the world marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, several key priorities emerge for advancing women's security in the Global South.

First, there is an urgent need to strengthen the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda through increased political commitment and resource allocation. This includes developing context-specific indicators to measure progress and ensuring that women's organizations have meaningful roles in monitoring and evaluation processes.

Second, climate and environmental policies must more systematically integrate gender considerations and ensure women's participation in decision-making. The upcoming COP17 conference on desertification provides an important opportunity to advance this agenda, but sustained attention is needed beyond individual events to genuinely transform environmental governance.

Third, digital inclusion strategies must address both access and safety concerns, recognizing that women cannot benefit from digital technologies if they face harassment and violence in online spaces. This requires coordinated action from governments, technology companies and civil society to develop effective prevention and response mechanisms.

Fourth, economic empowerment initiatives must move beyond isolated projects to address structural barriers in financial systems, labor markets and social protection programs. The private sector has a particularly important role to play in creating inclusive workplace policies and supply chain practices that benefit women.

Finally, South-South cooperation and knowledge exchange should be strengthened to facilitate learning between countries facing similar challenges. Mongolia's experiences with financial inclusion, environmental governance, and women's leadership initiatives offer valuable lessons that could be adapted and applied in other contexts.

The 30th anniversary of the Beijing World Conference on Women is an opportunity both to celebrate progress and to make a sober assessment of the work that remains. While significant advances have been made in recognizing women's rights and promoting gender equality, much remains to be done to ensure that all women—particularly those in the Global South—can live in security and dignity. BR

While significant advances have been made in recognizing women's rights and promoting gender equality, much remains to be done to ensure that all women—particularly those in the Global South—can live in security and dignity

The author is president of the Global Mongolian Women Together NGO and also an independent board director and supervisory board member of the Bank of Mongolia, which is the central bank of the country 

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson 

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