GSS Lab affiliates Dr. Priscilla Torres and Dr. Roya Izadi traveled to Liberia in July 2025 for personal research and were able to interview 19 members of the AFL, as follow up to the AFL MOWIP report. They asked key follow up questions on the implementation of MOWIP recommendations, including challenges, successes and plans for the future. They found strong initiatives in recruitment, retainment and new trainings for women which have resulted in a more than quadruple number of women in the AFL (from 30 to 147). They are working on a report related to these findings.

An article from Uruguay highlights the policy changes as a direct result of their MOWIP report, reducing women’s barriers by improving the dissemination of information, increasing the opportunities to build skills, and promoting a positive family- life balance. These activities have helped lead to a 25% deployment rate of females in Uruguay.

Read the article here.

An interview with Commander Rokhiya Lo of the Senagalese Gendarmerie highlights the impact of MOWIP policy reporting. She stated that barriers uncovered in the Senegalese Gendarmerie MOWIP gave her the confidence to break through gender norms and trust her leadership.

Read the article here.

11 gender experts from 6 TPCCs gathered to discuss strategies to overcome institutional barriers, based on MOWIP assessments.

Watch the video on the event here.

The Bangladesh Armed Forces had a training workshop on Gender Bias, based on a MOWIP identified barrier. These all show positive steps to change attitudes around deployment and encourage women’s meaningful participation in peacekeeping operations.

Read more here.

Liberia completed a study on mental health for soldiers which will inform changes in the Armed Forces of Liberia. This study comes as a direct result of recommendations from the Liberian MOWIP report.

Read the report here.

Read the Liberian MOWIP report here.

It was noted during DCAF’s harvesting workshop in Senegal in March 2025 that a higher “effective presence of female staff in almost all departments.” This was attributed to an increase in the recruitment quota for female personnel (in Schools and Training Centers) by the Gendarmerie High Command in 2021, as well as EIF-funded childcare facilities (crèches). The group considered this result of moderate importance for gender equality progress in the armed forces, as women are employed in specialist and technical positions now. 

Reports of support by the Bureau of Political Military Affairs are mentioned in their fact sheet from January 20, 2025. The Institute for Security Governance (ISG), in cooperation with the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), is developing a new Women, Peace and Security course for Peace Operations personnel with a focus on non-kinetic skills. The work is to be completed by three subject matter experts: Maj. Genl. Patrick Cammaert, Dr. Lotte Vermeij along with DCAF’s long-term Elsie consultant Heather Huhtanen. They will develop a course curriculum centered around the non-kinetic skills needed by peacekeepers to implement the four pillars of the WPS agenda in Peace Operations - prevention, protection, participation and relief and recovery support. This approach framework comes out, at least in part, from the findings of the Global MOWIP Report which revealed that peacekeepers view non-kinetic skills like effective communication and cross-cultural engagement as a priority even while the UN does not explicitly require these skills. The new WPS curriculum were piloted in June 2024 in Nepal at the Birendra Peace Operations Training Center (BPOTC). Additional mentions of barrier removal to women’s participation include facility upgrades, and women-specific body armor with adjustable features for different body shapes.

DCAF’s Sub-Saharan Africa Division colleagues have shared the impact of their MOWIP report on police reforms in Zambia: “From a practical point of view, the MOWIP process with the Zambia Police Service was key for creating a space to develop a larger scale police reform project thereafter … it built trust with the partners, namely the police, but also with the donor community”. The MOWIP process provided important insights into the reform and informed the program design. The MOWIP process was also a key entry-point for initiating discussions on integrity, policing values, and the policy framework.

DCAF reports that as a direct result of the MOWIP recommendation to increase the eligible recruitment pool of women, the Gendarmerie organized special recruitment efforts to better integrate women into their ranks.  The head of the Gender Division of the Gendarmerie at the time of the MOWIP confirmed in August 2024 that the leadership (commandement) had accepted the MOWIP results and agreed to take measures to augment the number of women through specific recruitment campaigns. Her successor and current head of the gender division confirmed in March 2025 that a special recruitment had indeed been organized to increase the proportion of women in the gendarmerie. As a result, about 300 women were recruited to the gendarmerie, alongside an additional 120 female auxiliary gendarmes.

Jordan signing of the MOU pledges to increase women’s leadership/command roles and ensure equal access to training based on recommendations from Jordan MOWIP.

Anecdotal reports from a member of UK’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund Africa/Africa Directorate Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, that MOWIP reports (from Ghana, Senegal, Liberia and Sierra Leone) are influencing how they design and provide training to women, specifically in firearms and driving training so they are prepared to pass essential skills tests.