About

The Centre for Women, Peace and Security

The LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security (WPS) is an academic community dedicated to research, knowledge exchange and policy impact on issues related to the WPS Agenda. Its goal is to work across disciplines to produce scholarship that helps enhance gender-based human rights and economic security in war and peace; increase the participation of women in preventing and resolving conflict around the world; and prevent sexual and gender-based violence. Its core aims are:

to continue to be a global leader in research on women, peace and security within international law, global diplomacy, and foreign policy relating to women and girls’ human rights and gender-based sexual violence in conflict
to provide a world-leading education programme that will inform students, policymakers and practitioners, and inspire the next generation
to respond to region-specific crises and current conflicts from Afghanistan to Ukraine, to Africa beyond, through focused and immediate research and analysis that will produce new thinking and approaches
to enhance strategies that can effectively reduce sexual violence, misogyny and gender-based abuse in conflict and in peacetime
to support the increased presence of women in peace-making, foreign policy and diplomacy
to bring academics, policymakers, and practitioners together to help reduce gender-based discrimination in the economic, social and political spheres; and intersectional discrimination such as racism, sexuality, gender identity, disability, age, class and indigeneity

The cooperation with the Centre has been instrumental in complementing the support we provide to human rights mechanisms... It has allowed us to rely on leading expertise to unpack complex human rights issues and ensure the experts receive top quality advice on the latest normative developments and related research.

Veronica Birga, Chief, Women's Human Rights and Gender Section, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Centre for Women, Peace and Security is grounded in two initiatives:

The United Nations women, peace, and security agenda, which began in 2000 with the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325 that recognises the gendered impacts of conflict and post-conflict situations on women and girls. The resolution acknowledges the importance of gender perspectives and the representation of women in preventing, managing, and resolving conflicts around the world.
The Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative that was launched by William Hague, then UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and Angelina Jolie, then UN High Commission for Refugees Special Envoy. The PSVI focuses on ending sexual violence in armed conflict, achieving accountability, and ending impunity for perpetrators’ crimes against women.

The Centre for Women, Peace and Security was launched in 2015 with the support of the UK Government via the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative and joined the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa in 2023.

WPS quickly established itself as a world-leading academic space under the Directorship of Professor Christine Chinkin.

One of the many prestigious research grants awarded to the Centre included funds to establish a Database on National Action Plans (NAPs), reports on Twenty Years of WPS NAPs, and on The Future of the UK’s Women, Peace and Security Policy. It developed online resources and education tools including on tackling violence against women and girls.

The Centre has run two-day training courses for middle-career professionals for participants from the police force, Defence Academy, the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, Ministry of Defence, and NGOs.

The Centre became home to one of LSE’s largest research grants. The UKRI GCRF Gender, Justice and Security Hub was a £17 million, five-year multi-partner research network working with civil society, practitioners, governments, and international organisations to advance gender, justice and inclusive peace. It brought together 125 researchers, activists and practitioners from multiple disciplines and practices.

The Centre is currently focused on investigating the evolution of misogyny in the digital age, and the gendered implications of the conflict in Ukraine and Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

LSE hosted the former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Rt Hon William Hague and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie to launch the UK’s first academic Centre on Women, Peace and Security.

Mr Hague and Ms Jolie announced the establishment of the ground-breaking initiative alongside former LSE Director Professor Craig Calhoun and Professor Christine Chinkin, the Centre’s first director.

Professor Craig Calhoun said at the time: "This Centre is a remarkable opportunity for us to bring together academic and policy experts and those in the front line of tackling violence against women. LSE has always had at the heart of its mission the goal of translating education – research and teaching – into solving real-world problems. This new initiative represents precisely that aim. I am delighted to have worked with William Hague and Angelina Jolie in bringing this project together, and I am very excited about the possibilities it brings.
Rt Hon William Hague said: "By founding this Centre LSE is setting an impressive example to other universities in the UK and around the world. I'm delighted that as we take forward the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative we'll be able to work with the UK’s first academic centre on Women, Peace and Security at the LSE, providing the ideas and rigorous academic understanding needed to expand equal rights, equal freedom and equal opportunity for women everywhere."
Ms Angelina Jolie said: "I am excited at the thought of all the students in years to come who will study in this new Centre. There is no stable future for a world in which crimes committed against women go unpunished. We need the next generation of educated youth with inquisitive minds and fresh energy, who are willing not only to sit in the classroom but to go out into the field and the courtrooms and to make a decisive difference."
Professor Christine Chinkin said: "I am honoured to be the inaugural Director of such a ground-breaking initiative. I look forward to working with colleagues across and beyond the academic world in helping to make the world a better place for women."

Find out more information about the launch .

We welcome the support and engagement of partners, allies, and funders who share our commitment to promoting gender equality and enhancing women’s security and economic, social, and political participation. For more information on how you can support the Centre, visit our page.

The list of the Centre's current and past funders include:

Arts and Humanities Research Council
Economic and Social Research Council
European Research Council
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
The Libor Fund
LSE Annual Fund
LSE IGA / Rockefeller Resilience Fund
LSE Knowledge Exchange Fund
Dr Nina Ansary
The UK Department for International Development
UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund
The Wellcome Trust

About

The Centre for Women, Peace and Security

Launch

Funding