Gender Entrepreneurs in the Adoption of the Brazilian National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security

Abstract

On 8 March 2017, International Women’s Day, Brazil adopted a two-year National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) with a clear commitment by the government for integrating gender perspectives in peace and security policies. With this decision, Brazil responded to the UN Security Council’s call for all Member States to develop national strategies to allow for successful implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000). Considering that it took almost two decades for Brazil to consider adopting its own plan, the driving forces behind this decision beg further exploration. This article draws on the concept of gender entrepreneurs to argue that the emergence of the Brazilian NAP was the result of an informal network of like-minded women, positioned inside and outside the government’s structures, who teamed up to harness political opportunities for change and push for the adoption of WPS global norms into a formal national commitment.