Women Peace and Security Index 2025/26 reveals top and worst countries for women’s inclusion, justice, and security. Key facts, rankings, and exam-relevant insights.
Women, Peace and Security Index 2025/26 (WPS Index 2025/26) — Global Rankings & Key Highlights
What is the WPS Index 2025/26
The WPS Index 2025/26 is a global assessment compiled by Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) in collaboration with Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). It ranks 181 countries based on the status of women in three core dimensions: Inclusion, Justice, and Security. The final score ranges between 0 (worst) to 1 (best), where a higher score denotes better performance in terms of women’s safety, participation, and rights.
Top 10 Best and Worst Countries (2025/26)
According to the 2025/26 WPS Index report:
Top 10 Best Countries for Women
| Rank | Country | WPS Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denmark | 0.939 |
| 2 | Iceland | 0.932 |
| 3 | Norway | 0.924 |
| 4 | Sweden | 0.924 |
| 5 | Finland | 0.921 |
| 6 | Luxembourg | 0.918 |
| 7 | Belgium | 0.912 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 0.905 |
| 9 | Austria | 0.898 |
| 10 | Australia | 0.898 |
Top 10 Worst Performing Countries for Women
| Rank (from bottom) | Country | WPS Score |
|---|---|---|
| 181 | Afghanistan | 0.279 |
| 180 | Yemen | 0.323 |
| 179 | Central African Republic | 0.362 |
| 178 | Syrian Arab Republic | 0.364 |
| 177 | Sudan | 0.397 |
| 176 | Haiti | 0.399 |
| 175 | Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) | 0.405 |
| 174 | Burundi | 0.407 |
| 173 | South Sudan | 0.411 |
| 172 | Myanmar | 0.442 |
Global Trends & Alarming Statistics
- The 2025/26 report reveals that approximately 676 million women worldwide were exposed to conflict in the past year — a 74% increase since 2010.
- This dramatic rise indicates that the progress made over the last three decades in promoting gender equality, security, and justice is now stagnating or even reversing globally.
- Notably, the worst affected countries are largely conflict-affected or fragile states, confirming the link between instability and the deteriorating status of women.
- There are some surprising cases: even in conflict-affected countries some improvements are recorded — indicating that despite adversity, focused policy measures can yield positive outcomes.
Global and Regional Insights
- Countries at the top (like Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) — especially Nordic and Western European nations — consistently perform best because of strong institutional frameworks: robust legal protections for women, high female participation in decision-making, safe public environments, high educational and health standards for women, and overall social equality.
- On the other hand, countries at the bottom are generally plagued by war, internal conflict, political instability, fragile governance, weak institutions, and lack of basic protections for women. These factors worsen women’s safety, justice access, mobility, economic participation, and civic inclusion.
- The report therefore underscores a stark global inequality: while some parts of the world continue to make strides in gender equality and security, a large segment — especially in war-torn or fragile states — remains deeply vulnerable.
Why This News Matters
Relevance for Government Exam Aspirants
For candidates preparing for exams such as those for police services, civil services (e.g., UPSC Civil Services Examination, state PSC), defence, banking, railways, or teaching, this index provides key global data points that often feature in the “ranks and reports”/“global indices” section of general-awareness/current-affairs paper. Awareness of WPS Index 2025/26 — its scope, methodology, key findings, and global rankings — is crucial for such sections.
Highlights Gender, Peace and Security Issues
The dramatic rise in women exposed to conflict globally highlights how peace, security, governance and gender equality are interlinked. For aspirants into police or civil services, this underlines the importance of policies and institutions that ensure women’s safety, justice, and inclusion — a core responsibility of state institutions.
Indicative of Global Stability and Women’s Rights Trends
The WPS Index offers a snapshot of global and regional women’s rights and security trends. It signals where progress has stalled or reversed, and which countries — especially stable, democratic, welfare-oriented ones — lead in safeguarding women’s rights. For future administrators, policymakers, social workers, and law enforcement officers, these insights reflect how security, law, gender policy, and social justice intersect.
Historical Context
Origins and Purpose of WPS Index
The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Index was launched by GIWPS and PRIO to provide a multidimensional measure of women’s status in global peace and security — going beyond traditional metrics like economic participation or education. It aims to capture how inclusion, justice, and security shape women’s lives, especially in conflict-affected or fragile states.
Over the years, the index has become a benchmark used by governments, NGOs, policymakers, and global institutions to evaluate and compare countries’ performance on gender equality, justice, safety, and social inclusion. The 2025/26 edition builds on past reports, offering updated data, reflecting evolving global challenges, especially in light of rising conflicts, migration, political instability, and changing social dynamics.
Broader Context: Conflict, Women’s Rights and Global Instability
The steep increase (74% since 2010) in the number of women exposed to conflict reflects broader global trends: increasing geopolitical tensions, civil wars, insurgencies, internal displacements, and fragile governance in many parts of the world. The WPS Index captures how these macro-level phenomena disproportionately hit women — in terms of physical security, justice access, mobility, economic opportunity, and civic participation.
Moreover, as global attention increases on human rights, gender equality, and inclusive governance, the WPS Index offers a way to quantify and track progress (or regression) — thus serving as both a diagnostic tool and a policy guidepost for governments and international organisations.
Key Takeaways from WPS Index 2025/26
| # | Key Takeaway |
|---|---|
| 1 | The WPS Index evaluates 181 countries across three dimensions — Inclusion, Justice, and Security — to assess the status of women globally. |
| 2 | The top 3 countries in WPS Index 2025/26 are Denmark (0.939), Iceland (0.932), and Norway (0.924). |
| 3 | The bottom-ranked country is Afghanistan (score 0.279), followed by Yemen, Central African Republic, and others — mostly conflict-affected or fragile states. |
| 4 | About 676 million women globally were exposed to conflict in the past year — a 74% increase since 2010 — showing global progress on women’s rights has stagnated or reversed. |
| 5 | Countries with stable governance, strong institutions, gender-sensitive laws, high social welfare, and gender equality remain the best performers — underscoring that peace, governance, and gender equality are deeply interconnected. |
FAQs: Women, Peace and Security Index 2025/26
1. What is the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Index 2025/26?
The WPS Index 2025/26 is a global ranking of 181 countries based on women’s inclusion, justice, and security, compiled by Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) and Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). It measures how safe, included, and empowered women are in each country.
2. Which countries topped the WPS Index 2025/26?
The top three countries in the WPS Index 2025/26 are Denmark, Iceland, and Norway, reflecting strong governance, gender equality policies, and high female participation in decision-making.
3. Which countries are at the bottom of the WPS Index 2025/26?
The bottom-ranked countries include Afghanistan, Yemen, and Central African Republic. These are mostly conflict-affected or fragile states with weak governance and low women’s rights protection.
4. What are the three core dimensions measured in the WPS Index?
The three dimensions are:
- Inclusion – political, economic, and social participation of women.
- Justice – access to legal systems, laws protecting women’s rights.
- Security – exposure to conflict, violence, and personal safety.
5. Why is the WPS Index important for civil service and competitive exam aspirants?
It provides key facts and figures about global women’s status, peace, and security, which are frequently asked in the general awareness and current affairs sections of exams like UPSC, state PSC, banking, railways, defence, and police services.
6. How many women globally were exposed to conflict in 2025?
Approximately 676 million women were exposed to conflict in the past year, a 74% increase since 2010, highlighting stagnation or regression in women’s security worldwide.
7. How do stable countries perform in the WPS Index?
Countries with stable governance, gender-sensitive laws, and social welfare systems consistently rank high in the WPS Index, showing that peace, governance, and gender equality are interconnected.
8. Who publishes the WPS Index and since when?
The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS), in collaboration with Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), publishes the WPS Index, first launched in 2017 to monitor women’s inclusion, justice, and security globally.
9. What trends does the WPS Index reveal?
The 2025/26 report shows rising exposure of women to conflict, regional disparities, and that progress in women’s rights has slowed or reversed in conflict-affected countries.
10. Can countries improve their WPS ranking?
Yes, focused policy interventions such as strengthening legal protections, improving women’s access to justice, ensuring safety, and enhancing social inclusion can improve a country’s WPS ranking.
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