Canada and the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda: Reconciling Ambition, Challenges, and Policy Coherence

This chapter explores the human rights and peacebuilding nexus in the context of Canada’s implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. It starts with a summary of the evolution of the global WPS agenda and then moves to a discussion of Canadian policy, plans, and actions. We outline the evolution of Canada’s national action plans on WPS, highlighting the improvements and accomplishments in the second plan. We also note the critiques by feminist activists and academics. Next, we explore the human rights–peacebuilding nexus through the work of women/2SLGBTQI+ peacebuilders and rights defenders, outlining how they work and the challenges they face. Lastly, we return to the Canadian context discussing Canada’s approach to these peacebuilders and human rights defenders. We note that although these activists are mentioned in official documentation, actual outcomes are difficult to track. We offer recommendations to improve support to these key activists. We conclude by questioning the extent to which Canada’s WPS action plans inform key foreign policy priorities and decisions in practice. This challenge of policy coherence seen in the WPS agenda and the work of women/2SLGBTQI+ rights defenders provide insights into more general discussions of the human rights and peacebuilding nexus in Canadian foreign policy.