Exploiting Prejudice: LGBTQI+ People and Armed Groups in Colombia

The evolving landscape of conflict in Colombia since the 2016 peace agreement has made threats to marginalised groups like LGBTQI+ people more unpredictable and self-protection more challenging. This Crisis Group briefing shows that as long as armed outfits can exploit the vulnerability of groups like LGBTQI+ people (especially transgender women), they will use violence against them to entrench their territorial control. The state should do more to effectively record and respond to this violence.

Published on 3 December 2025, also available in Spanish.

Pakistan-Afghanistan: Tempering the Deportation Drive 

In this publication, Crisis Group examines tensions between Islamabad and Kabul over a surge in militant violence in Pakistan, which led the government there to start forcing Afghan refugees back across the border. But the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan means that many are being sent to a place where their wellbeing is far from guaranteed. Deported Afghan women and girls are particularly at risk, given the Taliban’s severe restrictions on their daily lives.

Published on 22 May 2025.

The WPS Agenda Needs Strong Wills to Counter Rough Headwinds 

This op-ed by Crisis Group’s Gender Project Director Cristal Downing highlights the increased pushback against the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda (the global normative framework on gender equality in peace and security work) in 2025. The U.S.-led turn away from international frameworks such as WPS led to decreased political support for women’s rights from the UN Security Council. This development, alongside drastic aid cuts, resulted in less capacity to address the effects of conflict on women and support their participation in peacemaking.

Published on the PassBlue website on 5 October 2025.  

How Ukraine’s Women Are Meeting the Challenges of War

This episode of the Crisis Group podcast “War and Peace” looks at how war has amplified gender inequalities in Ukraine, including a spike in sexual and gender-based violence. It discusses how women’s organisations address these issues amid aid cuts. With more than 67,000 in the armed forces, including on the front lines, the episode shows how the conflict has opened roles to women in traditionally male-dominated fields like transport, engineering and mining.

Published on 27 November 2025.

Fractured Heartland: Shan Politics and Conflict in Post-coup Myanmar

Since the 2021 coup in Myanmar, non-Shan armed groups have seized control of Shan-majority parts of Shan State. In this briefing, Crisis Group analyses how the fragmentation of the social and political landscape is exacerbated by China’s efforts to curb violence, risking further inter-ethnic conflict and reinforcing inequalities including women’s exclusion from political life. Inclusive political solutions, including those that bolster women’s representation in local non-state governance structures, are essential to de-escalation and stability.

Published on 27 November 2025, overview also available in Burmese and Mandarin.

Kids on the Front Lines: Stopping Child Recruitment in Colombia

Child recruitment is on the rise in Colombia, as armed groups lure children into their ranks with false promises of a better life. While boys are more frequently allocated to combat roles, girls are often forced into sexual relationships with male combatants. In this briefing, Crisis Group recommends that Colombia act promptly to identify kids at risk, boost protection at schools (where recruitment often happens) and strengthen its criminal investigations into the perpetrators in order to protect Colombia’s next generation and a country whose hopes for peace are vested in them.  

Published 12 February 2026, also available in Spanish.

Fusing Policy and Research: “A Gender-sensitive Lens Isn’t Only about Women – It’s about Understanding the Full Picture” 

In this interview with UN Women, Crisis Group’s project director for Türkiye/Cyprus, Nigar Göksel, talks about how she incorporates gender into her own conflict analysis and how she has seen women and women-led organisations contribute to peace in the conflicts she has worked on. She highlights the importance of exploring how gender inequality and stereotypes put specific pressures on both women and men as part of efforts to understand and resolve conflict.

Published on the UN Women website on 29 December 2025.

Meeting Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs in Conflict Settings

This section of Crisis Group’s “Ten Challenges for the UN in 2025-2026” publication outlines how aid cuts in 2025 left the global health system in tatters, blocking sexual and reproductive health care for women and girls in conflict. As levels of sexual violence soared in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, UN support for survivors diminished. The aid landscape remains bleak in 2026; the recommendation that donors direct scarce funds to boosting lasting capabilities in national health systems is still highly relevant.

Published on 9 September 2025, also available in French.

A Precarious Lifeline? Women-led Business in Afghanistan

Despite the Taliban’s severe restrictions on their rights, an increasing number of Afghan women are setting up businesses as a way to earn a livelihood. This private-sector refuge, albeit severely restricted, offers a precarious foundation that should be expanded upon. In this briefing, Crisis Group recommends that the Taliban authorities ease their edicts, particularly restrictions on women travelling for work and interacting with ministries or suppliers and consumers. Donors should increase support for businesswomen.

Published on 17 December 2025, also available in Dari and Pashto.

Island Talks – Current Gender Work in Peace and Security  

In this podcast episode hosted by Cypriot activist and mediator Magda Zenon, Crisis Group Gender Project Director Cristal Downing discusses the challenges of working on gender and conflict in the current global context, as well as the unexpected ways she came to work on gender at different points in her career.

Published by Kaleidherscope on the Island Talks website on 2 October 2025.