Executive Order 13595: Instituting a National Action Plan On Women, Peace, And Security
President: Barack Obama
Directed agencies to integrate women’s participation and protection into conflict and national-security policy.
Status: Superseded. Is Executive Order 13595 still in effect? No. Executive Order 13595 was superseded. See Federal Register record.
What does Executive Order 13595 do?
EO 13595 made the first US National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security an executive policy and required State, Defense, USAID and other agencies to produce implementation plans. Congress placed the field on a statutory footing in the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017. The 2023 US Strategy and National Action Plan now supplies the operative government-wide framework while retaining the order’s core goals of participation, protection, relief and accountability.
Before and after
Before the order
US diplomacy and assistance addressed women in conflict through programs but lacked one government-wide action plan.
After the order
Agencies adopted implementation plans and later operated under statutory reporting and strategy requirements.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| State Defense and USAID | Integrate WPS objectives into policy and programs | Continuing under later plans |
| National Security Staff | Coordinate original implementation | Historical |
| Agencies | Report and train under the 2017 Act and 2023 strategy | Current |
What happened next
EO 13595 and the first National Action Plan were issued.
The Women, Peace, and Security Act became law.
A new Strategy and National Action Plan replaced prior planning documents.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
Public Law 115-68 now requires a government-wide strategy, agency implementation plans, training and reporting. Appropriations and agency statutes govern individual programs.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on September 15, 2026. How we research →