ABSTRACT
Civil society organisations were involved in the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda long before the foundation resolution was adopted at the United Nations Security Council in 2000. Diverse civil society actors remain active in WPS practice and the inclusion of civil society organisations in the formulation and implementation of WPS National Action Plans is acknowledged as one of the key indicators of a high-impact plan. This chapter first elaborates the concept of civil society, before providing an overview of the mobilisation of civil society in the form of civil society organisations in the work of the WPS agenda. Finally, we explore literature on the activities of civil society organisations working on the WPS agenda, identifying three salient spheres of activity: advocacy, expert input, and implementation. Positioning civil society organisations as political actors lays for the foundation for offering a new conceptualisation of the work of civil society organisations within the WPS agenda.
