Where are the women?

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security Three Years On

Prepared by PeaceWomen Project, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, United Nations Office February 2004

History

On October 31, 2000, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security Historic and unprecedented - Effectively international law Key players in adoption - NGOs, especially women’s NGOs ex. NGO Working Group on Women, International Peace and Security - UN agencies, ex. UNIFEM - Member states on SC, ex. Namibia, Bangladesh, Canada, Jamaica 1325 did not come out of nowhere - It was preceded by numerous international documents, treaties and statements

Founding Documents of UNSC Resolution 1325

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 1979 • Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995 • ECOSOC agreed conclusions on gender mainstreaming, 1997 • Security Council Presidential Statement (Bangladesh), 8 March 2000 • Windhoek Declaration and the Namibia Plan of Action on Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in Multidimensional Peace Support Operations, May 2000 • Outcome doc. of the UN General Assembly Special Session

Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century - Beijing +5

Key Commitments Made in UNSC Resolution 1325

Gender Parity at All Levels of Decision-Making Gender Perspective in SG Reports and in SC Missions Protection of and Respect for Human Rights of Women and Girls Gender Perspective in Post-Conflict Processes Gender Perspective in Peacekeeping

Who has to implement UNSC Resolution 1325?

• Security Council • Secretary-General • Member States • “All parties to armed conflict” • “All those involved in planning for DDR or DDRRR” • “All actors involved in negotiating and implementing peace agreements”

Gender Parity at All Levels of Decision-Making

UNSC Resolution 1325 calls for

MORE

- Women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management and resolution of conflict - Women as Special Representatives (head of peacekeeping mission) and Envoys of the UN Secretary-General - Women as military observers, civilian police, human rights and humanitarian personnel Yet

,

- Only 1 of approximately 50 Special Representatives of the SG or Special Envoys on peacekeeping operations is a woman (Georgia). There are 4 women deputy heads in peacekeeping missions: (Guatemala, DRC, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Georgia) - 30% quota target for women in UN system set out for 2005 is not on track

Protection of and Respect for Human Rights of Women and Girls

UNSC Resolution 1325 calls for - Respect for international law, as applicable to women and girls - Special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence and other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict - An end to impunity, including for those responsible for committing sexual violence against women and girls - Respect for the civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps - The integration of the particular needs of women and girls into the design of refugee camps Yet, - Rape and other forms of sexual violence and gender-based violence systematic, and widespread in today’s armed conflicts: • • DRC: rape as a systematic tool of warfare Iraq: rise in reported cases of kidnapping, rape, trafficking

Gender Perspective in Peacekeeping UNSC Resolution 1325 calls for

- Senior level gender advisor/ gender units - Gender training of all peacekeeping personnel pre-deployment (responsibility of member state)

Yet,

- To-date, only 5 peacekeeping missions have had staff working directly on gender issues (East Timor, Kosovo, DRC, Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone) - These gender units continue to be understaffed and weak, as a result of a lack of mandated authority - Cote d’Ivoire: a UN Volunteer is the only staff member working on gender issues from within the Human Rights Unit.

- While Gender training is compulsory for peacekeepers, its integration relies on the political will of each mission head

Gender Perspective in Post-Conflict Processes

UNSC Resolution 1325 calls for - The adoption of a gender perspective in Demobilization, Disarmament, Repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration (DDRRR), and post-conflict reconstruction - The consideration of the different needs of female and male ex-combatants - Respect for the civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps Yet, - Needs and voices of the dependants of ex-combatants frequently ignored and marginalized, respectively •‘Wives’ of Ugandan rebels - Lords Resistance Army - what happens to them?

- Refugee women and girls continue to experience sexual and gender-based violence in refugee camps and settlements, forced to trade sex for humanitarian supplies

Gender Perspective in Secretary-General Reports and in Security Council Missions

UNSC Resolution 1325 calls for - The SG to carry out a study on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peace-building and the gender dimensions of peace processes - The SG to report on progress in gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping missions in all of his reports to the SC - The integration of gender considerations and the rights of women in SC missions - SC members’ consultation with women’s groups and organizations while on mission Yet, - Continued poor record of SC consultation with women’s organizations while on mission - Meeting with Kosovar women at 11:30pm in ambassador’s hotel room

UNSC 1325: Challenges

Weak language -as compared to other resolutions ,i.e. Counter-Terrorism resolution (1373) UNSC Res. 1325: expresses, emphasizes, requests UNSC Res. 1373: decides, directs, declares - absence of mechanisms for monitoring and reporting on implementation - absence of quotas, time-bound targets (unlike European Parliament Resolution on participation of women in peaceful conflict resolution) Lack of political will among member states and within UN system - Gender still not a politicized issue for many UN member States, remains a ‘soft issue’ - Women as victims vs. active agents - Resistance of budgetary actors to allocate funding for gender programming People don’t know it exists -UN, government, civil society - ex. of lack of systematic information flow between UN Headquarters and field - Translations needed

UNSC Resolution 1325: Strengths

As a Security Council Resolution

- Article 25 of the UN Charter: “The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter.”

Global constituency

- grassroots organizations, international NGOs - UN - Governments - Academics - Active collaboration across sectors

It does not stand alone - Holistic perspective

- other Security Council Resolutions - General Assembly Resolutions - CEDAW (1979) - Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) - European Parliament resolution on participation of women in peaceful conflict resolution (2000) - G8 Roma Initiatives on Conflict Prevention: Strengthening the Role of Women in Conflict Prevention (2001) - Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003) - Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)

UNSC Resolution 1325: Models for Implementation

Civil Society - DRC: using 1325 as a tool in preparation for and at Inter-Congolese Dialogue in Sun City, South Africa - WILPF Australia: 1325 as priority for education and action http://www.1325Australia.org.au

- internally displaced women in Colombia, Gender and Peacebuilding Working Group in Canada UN - Inter-Agency Taskforce on Women, Peace and Security - Gender Unit of the Peacekeeping Mission in DRC (MONUC) - UNIFEM Women, War and Peace Web Portal: www.womenwarpeace.org

Government - Friends of 1325: a UN member states’ coalition (Germany as member) - Netherlands: joint working group of Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence on implementation of 1325 (2002) - released report on status of implementation - US Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson US House Congressional Resolution 432 - on 1325 and women, peace and security Collaboration across sectors - Coalition 1325, Azerbaijian (UNIFEM supported)

Moving Forward - So, What Next?

Do we need another resolution?

- ‘Enough celebrating’ We have not yet ‘exhausted’ the potential of 1325 - Do we really need another resolution?

Secretary-General’s October 2004 Report (4th anniversary) Commission on the Status of Women (March 1-12, 2004) - theme #2: “women’s equal participation in conflict prevention, management and conflict resolution and in post-conflict peace-building’ Resolution 1325 – What’s Next? An Email Discussion (Throughout February 2004)

Moving Forward - So, What Next? Cont…

Getting involved, staying informed ex.

- subscribe to 1325 PeaceWomen E-News - “Who’s who” on 1325 will be available soon on PeaceWomen.org

- Join 1325 e-discussion now - visit UNIFEM’s Women, War and Peace Web Portal: www.womenwarpeace.org

- visit www.peacewomen.org

Also : - organize workshops on 1325 in your community, in local schools - make 1325 pamphlets and distribute - write to your government/organize a letter-writing campaign to your government Sharing ideas, strategies/Coordinating efforts - people are using 1325 all over the world - let everyone know what you are doing on 1325 - let PeaceWomen know what you are doing on 1325 - website and e-newsletter - we need to coordinate our efforts