PRIO's report on Women Exposed to Armed Conflict, 1990-2025, is cited in the UN Secretary-General's progress report to the UN Security Council on Women, Peace and Security.
The report examines how women are affected by conflict and insecurity, highlighting gendered patterns of violence and regional disparities, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa.
One of the key trends highlighted in the Secretary-General’s report draws directly on PRIO’s policy brief: the steep increase in the number of women and girls exposed to armed conflict. An estimated 756 million women and girls, over 18 per cent of the global female population, lived within 50 kilometers of armed conflict in 2025. This 5per cent higher from 2024 and the highest number and proportion recorded since the 1990s.
The PRIO report informs the annual UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, which takes place on 27 October. It draws on data and analyses from UN entities, including peace operations and country teams, as well as input from Member States, regional organizations and civil society, and on other globally recognized data sources.
"The purpose of this research is not only to document how many women and girls are exposed to armed conflict, but also to understand the patterns behind these numbers. Reliable data can help identify regional disparities, reveal changing trends, and support more informed decisions about conflict prevention, protection, and peacebuilding,” said PRIO Research Director Siri Aas Rustad, the author of the report.
The citation highlights the impact that research from PRIO’s Centre on Gender, Peace and Security on women's exposure to armed conflict can have at the global policy level, at a key moment for the women, peace and security agenda.
“It’s encouraging to see PRIO’s research informing the UN Secretary-General’s report on Women, Peace and Security. This recognition highlights the value of independent research in identifying global trends, documenting gendered impacts of armed conflict, and providing evidence that can inform international policy and decision-making,” said Torunn L. Tryggestad, head of PRIO’s Centre on Gender, Peace and Security.
The report comes out at a pivotal time for conflict in the world. In 2025, the world recorded its highest number of state-based conflicts since World War II and around 255,000 conflict-related deaths across all conflict types.
