Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations

Canada announced the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations in November 2017 with the goal of increasing the meaningful participation of women in UN peace operations.

We extended this five-year initiative (2017 to 2022), for another five years (April 2022 to March 2027). We also expanded its mandate accordingly.

The Elsie Initiative highlights Canada’s commitment to gender equality and to supporting ongoing reforms in UN peace operations. Peacekeeping is stronger when women serve, and forces better reflect the communities they protect. Yet women remain underrepresented in the uniformed components of peace operations. The Elsie Initiative supports the meaningful participation of women in these roles, helping to advance more-inclusive, -effective and -representative peacekeeping.

The Elsie Initiative’s focus goes beyond numbers: it is about ensuring that women’s participation is meaningful. This includes women serving:

across ranks and functions (in non-traditional roles and positions of authority)
in assignments that correspond to their experience and training
in an environment that offers equitable deployment conditions and a culture conducive to their participation.

The six components of the Elsie Initiative
What are the five strategic priorities of Phase 2 of the Elsie Initiative?
Working to increase women’s meaningful participation in UN peace operations
How does the Elsie Initiative define “meaningful participation”?
Impacts of the Elsie Initiative
Sara’s story
United Nations Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations
Research and publications
About Elsie MacGill

The six components of the Elsie Initiative

The Elsie Initiative consists of six mutually reinforcing components:

Bilateral partnerships with select countries that contribute troops and police, and engagements with and support to other major troop and police contributing countries
The Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations, a global, multi-partner UN fund
Working with and at the United Nations to create more receptive environments in the context of UN missions
Targeted research on women in peace operations
Global advocacy to advance the meaningful representation of women in peace operations
Monitoring and evaluation to ensure the delivery of concrete results

Strengthening peacekeeping by addressing gender inequality in UN peace operations is a complex undertaking: no single country acting alone can provide the needed solutions. Canada is working with partners across the UN system as well as with member states, think tanks and civil society. The Elsie Initiative gives Canada and its partners the opportunity to create a more-inclusive and -effective future for peace operations.

What are the five strategic priorities of Phase 2 of the Elsie Initiative?

In its second five-year phase (2022 to 2027), the Elsie Initiative maintains its original components. It also focuses on five priorities:

Staying the course – Deepening institutional culture change in military, police and peacekeeping
Increasing the focus on results – Applying results-based management to monitor progress and achieve long-term goals
Building for sustainability – Institutionalizing gains, supporting international champions and strengthening global advocacy
Contextualizing and coordinating efforts – Aligning with other related international efforts, including UN peacekeeping initiatives and the Women, Peace and Security agenda
Enhancing gender equality – Using an intersectional gender lens to address barriers and engaging men as allies

Working to increase women’s meaningful participation in UN peace operations

Increasing the meaningful participation of women in UN peace operations is the right and smart thing to do.

Over decades, uniformed women have proven equally capable as their male counterparts of fulfilling all mission roles. Additionally, when peacekeepers reflect the diversity of the communities they serve, missions:

earn greater trust and access
respond more effectively to the needs of women, men and children
strengthen discipline while reducing incidents of abuse

Despite many calls for change over the years, progress has been slow. More than 60,000 military and police peacekeepers serve in UN missions today, but women only account for about 10% of all uniformed personnel. Many barriers and biases remain in place.

Canada launched the Elsie Initiative to work with the United Nations and international partners to identify and remove barriers to the meaningful participation of uniformed women in military and police peacekeeping roles. The Elsie Initiative pursues transformational, comprehensive and sustainable change.

Canada’s work closely aligns with UN efforts. In 2019, the UN Department of Peace Operations released the Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy 2018-2028. This sets out targets for the minimum number of women in uniformed roles. It also identifies priority actions that create a more-receptive environment for all peacekeepers.

The Elsie Initiative also complements the UN’s:

In 2020, the UN adopted Resolution 2538 (2020), the first resolution to focus only on women peacekeepers and address important topics such as sexual harassment and child care. It is also the first resolution to focus only on issues of women peacekeepers.

The Elsie Initiative helps to implement these commitments.

How the Elsie Initiative defines “meaningful participation”

Meaningful participation involves the presence and leadership of women in UN peace operations across all ranks and functions.

Women can participate meaningfully when:

they contribute to, and are included in, all aspects of operational and mission planning and decision-making processes
they hold operational command and leadership positions and non-traditional as well as non-stereotypical roles
they have access to the same training, promotion and career-advancement opportunities as their colleagues who are men
they hold positions that are in line with their training, rank and area of expertise
their workplace is free from all forms of harassment, bullying and intimidation

Impacts of the Elsie Initiative

Since its launch in 2018, the Elsie Initiative has been key to helping the UN steadily increase the number of uniformed women in peace operations and achieve its annual Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy targets:

The percentage of women staff officers and military observers increased from 11% in 2018 to 23% in 2025, surpassing the 2025 annual target of 22%
The percentage of women deployed in formed contingents increased from 4% in 2018 to 8% in 2025, approaching the 2025 annual target of 12%
The percentage of women in formed police units increased from 8% in 2018 to 18% in 2025, surpassing the 2025 annual target of 15%
The percentage of women deployed as individual police officers increased from 21% in 2018 to 31% in 2025, surpassing the 2025 annual target of 25%^{Footnote 1}

The UN Secretary-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Women, Peace and Security recognized the Elsie Initiative’s contribution: “the increase in women’s representation in peacekeeping missions has been made possible through many efforts by the United Nations and troop- and police-contributing countries, including the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations, in pursuit of the Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy 2018–2028.”

Between 2017 and 2025, the Elsie Initiative has contributed to the following key results:

Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations

Canada led the design and establishment of the Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations at the United Nations to incentivize and accelerate the increased deployment of uniformed women in military and police roles to UN peace operations
Cumulative results since 2019 include:

10 Measuring Opportunities for Women in Peace Operations (MOWIP) barrier assessment reports
seven gender-strong units deployed with 19.6% women’s representation
six gender-sensitive infrastructure projects inaugurated
985 security personnel trained about gender equality, sexual exploitation and abuse prior to peacekeeping deployment
1,433 military personnel (756 of them women) sensitized about peacekeeping opportunities
403 women trained and rostered for peacekeeping deployment

Measuring Opportunities for Women in Peace Operations barrier assessment methodology

Canada provided financial support for the development and global use of the MOWIP methodology, a comprehensive barrier assessment tool for military and police organizations worldwide. Completing a MOWIP barrier assessment is a prerequisite for institutions seeking to apply to the Elsie Initiative Fund.
According to the formative evaluation of the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations (2022), the MOWIP methodology has become the gold standard for systematically assessing barriers to women’s meaningful participation in military and police organizations, particularly as they relate to their deployment to UN peacekeeping operations. It has demonstrated its value as a rigorous, evidence-based tool that moves beyond anecdotal insights and supports well-grounded interventions.
Since MOWIP assessments are comprehensive, they offer a wide range of programming opportunities for donors looking to support security institutions in advancing uniformed women’s meaningful participation in peace operations.
To date, over 20 military and police institutions have made their MOWIP barrier assessment reports publicly available. Over half of them ranked deployment criteria, household constraints and gender roles as high-priority issues impacting uniformed women’s participation in security institutions.

Engagements with troop- and police-contributing countries

In 2018, Canada established bilateral partnerships with the Ghana Armed Forces, Senegalese Ministry of the Armed Forces and Zambia Police Service to support catalytic institutional gender reforms that help remove barriers to the meaningful participation of uniformed women in peace operations. These partnerships include:

developing and implementing new gender policies
supporting gender-responsive leadership
strengthening the capacity of:

gender focal points
gender advisers
women’s networks

providing specialized training to uniformed women to enhance their deployment opportunities
raising awareness of the barriers women face, as well as the career opportunities available to them in security and defence institutions and peacekeeping

With the extension of the Elsie Initiative from 2022 until 2027, Canada broadened its support beyond its initial bilateral partnerships to support other major troop and police contributors.

Receptive environments in UN missions

Canada works with the United Nations to create more receptive UN mission environments for all peacekeepers, covering physical, social and cultural aspects, by:

supporting the Elsie Initiative for Field Missions project that developed and is implementing the gender-responsive facilities and infrastructure guidelines for UN camp accommodations. To date, 45% of the design recommendations have been implemented across existing field missions and are being integrated into the design of new missions, including the UN-authorized mission in Haiti.
supporting the implementation of the UN’s Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy by identifying priority actions for 2025 to 2028 to drive progress.
supporting a gap analysis and mapping of UN policies, rules, guidance and support mechanisms that address sexual harassment against uniformed personnel in UN peacekeeping missions.

Global advocacy

In 2018, Canada launched the Contact Group that is committed to women’s meaningful participation in UN peace operations. This small, diverse group, representing peacekeeping donors, troop contributors and police contributors, provided key support during the Elsie Initiative’s design and early implementation, and now continues to offer guidance, advice and coordination. The members of the group are Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, Ghana, the Netherlands, Mongolia, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Senegal, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and Zambia.
The Contact Group has met more than a dozen times since its launch and issued a statement on the margins of the 2023 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial. It reiterated Contact Group members’ commitment to promoting the meaningful participation of women at all levels in UN peace operations, including through the Elsie Initiative Fund.
In the lead-up to the 2023 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial, Canada co-hosted a preparatory meeting on women in peacekeeping with Bangladesh and Uruguay and later hosted a stakeholder breakfast in Accra, Ghana, to reaffirm Canada’s commitment to the Women, Peace and Security agenda and raise the profile of the Elsie Initiative.
Canada worked diligently to ensure the needs of women in peacekeeping are addressed in key UN policy discussions at the annual UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (C34) and the Contingent-Owned Equipment (COE) Working Group negotiations that occur every three years:

For the 2023 C34 annual report, Canada, negotiating as part of the CANZ (Canada-Australia-New Zealand) bloc, successfully advanced priorities on women’s participation, safe and enabling environments, gender-responsive infrastructure and training opportunities for women peacekeepers. In 2026, the CANZ bloc again advanced such progress and included improved data collection on the roles of women peacekeepers to better identify gaps and strengthen force generation, as well as enhance access to pre-deployment training for women peacekeepers.
At the 2003 COE Working Group, Canada secured the adoption of nine issue papers, introducing gender-responsive standards for accommodations, facilities, equipment, medical support and workplace environments. All these requirements are now integrated into the COE Manual, meaning troop- and police-contributing countries must provide them with qualification for reimbursement.
In January 2026, Canada, Australia, and Bangladesh secured the adoption of an issue paper at the COE Working Group making female urinary devices UN-approved and reimbursable, helping reduce urinary tract infections and improve health and safety in the field. A female hygiene kit was also added to the COE Manual, creating a mechanism to include practical items that support women’s health needs.

Targeted research

Canada supported the publication of impactful research that has informed programming and policy changes in the Unites Nations and troop- and police-contributing countries. More than 50 original, targeted research publications cover topics such as:

gender-responsive leadership in peacekeeping
gender bias in peacekeeping
sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in peacekeeping
barriers for peacekeeping personnel with caring responsibilities
challenges for UN peacekeepers upon return

Sara’s story

Learn more about the barriers facing women in UN peace operations (YouTube video)
Additional information:

United Nations Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations

In 2019, the UN announced the launch of the Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations. Canada has committed Can$32.5 million to the Elsie Initiative Fund since then. Other donor countries include:

Australia
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Netherlands
Norway
Republic of Korea
United Kingdom

Along with UN Women, Canada co-chaired the Elsie Initiative Fund’s steering committee from its establishment until 2024. Canada continues to serve as the founding member.

The Elsie Initiative Fund allows countries that hire troops and police (and UN organizations) to access flexible funding. This supports the deployment of trained and qualified uniformed women.

Three funding streams are available:

Flexible project funding supports projects that boost meaningful participation of qualified uniformed women in military and police roles
Premiums for gender-strong units are incentives for countries deploying units with strong female representation, leadership, training and equal conditions
Barrier assessments fund MOWIP methodology to assess barriers and obstacles to women’s participation

To date, the Elsie Initiative Fund has approved over US$21 million in funding for 28 projects across 25 security institutions in 16 countries, as well as three United Nations peacekeeping operations. Eleven projects have been completed, all of which achieved their intended results.

See Elsie Initiative Fund - Funded Projects for a list of current Elsie Initiative Fund beneficiaries.

Research and publications

The Elsie Initiative works with research institutions to improve global knowledge of the barriers (contextual and systemic) facing women’s participation in peacekeeping. These institutions also share findings within the international community. As a result of this research, efforts on these issues are less informed by anecdotes or stereotypes and are more grounded in evidence.

Check out some of the research produced with the support of the Elsie Initiative:

About Elsie MacGill

Elizabeth “Elsie” Muriel Gregory MacGill was born on March 27, 1905, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

She attended the University of Toronto, becoming the first woman to graduate in electrical engineering (1927). She was the first woman to earn a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering (1929).

In 1938, Elsie became chief aeronautical engineer of Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F). There, she headed the Canadian production of Hawker Hurricane fighter planes during the Second World War. After her work at CC&F, Elsie ran a successful consulting business. From 1967 to 1970 she served as a commissioner on the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada.

In 1971, Elsie MacGill was awarded the Order of Canada. She died in 1980 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“I have received many engineering awards, but I hope I will also be remembered as an advocate for the rights of women and children.”
- Elizabeth “Elsie” Muriel Gregory MacGill

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