Transcript Introduction to UNSCR 1325

Introduction to
UNSCR 1325 +++
Chris Coulter, PhD
[email protected]
Historical Overview
”We the peoples of the United Nations
determined to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war
which twice in our lifetime has brought
untold sorrow to mankind, and to
reaffirm faith in fundamental human
rights, in the dignity and worth of the
human person, in the equal rights of
men and women and of nations large
and small..”
“… we call on the Governments of the
world to encourage women
everywhere to take a more active
part in national and international
affairs, and on women who are
conscious of their opportunities to
come forward and share in the work
of peace and reconstruction as they
did in war and resistance.”
Eleanor Roosevelt 1946
• The Cold War
• The Commission
on the Status of
Women (CSW)
1946
UN Decade for Women 1975-1985
“Equality, Development and Peace” (declared by UN
General Assembly)
From: Development served to
advance women
To: Development
not possible without women
Women’s World Conferences
(States in comb. with Civil
society):
• Mexico City 1975:
International Women’s year
• Copenhagen 1980
• Nairobi 1985:
All issues women’s issues, Peace & UNIFEM
• Follow-up 4th conference in Beijing 1995:
The Beijing Platform for Action. ”Women’s rights as human
rights”
• Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
(1967)
• Convention on the Elimination of all Discrimination Against
Women ‘CEDAW’ (1979)
• ’Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
against Women’ (1993)
• Beijing Platform for Action (1995)
• From ”women” to ”gender”
• Gender mainstreaming (ECOSOC)
1990s• Activism & women’s organizations for
peace
• Violence against women in conflict (Bosnia
& Rwanda) and “women’s rights as human
rights”
• Prostitution and trafficking of women
during UN Peace operations
1995-2000
• Beijing 1995 PFA, Chapter E: women and
armed conflict
• Gender mainstreaming of policy and peace
operations
• 1st Gender Advisors in UN operations
• Arria Formula meetings (2000)
• Windhoek Declaration and the Namibia Plan of
Action
UNSCR 1325 on ”Women, peace and
security” October 31, 2000
• First time recognized as relevant in the context of
international peace and security by the most powerful
UN actor – the Security Council
The most powerful division of the
UN is the Security Council, which
all member states are bound by the
UN Charter to obey
Even if Resolution 1325 is solely a product of
Chapter VI, there is no bright line rule
establishing that Security Council resolutions
created under Chapter VI are non-binding and that
those under Chapter VII are binding.
http://www.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/18/3atua.pdf
UNSCR 1325
• Relates to international law and ongoing developments
such as the UN Charter, Beijing conference, Geneva
Conventions, Rome Statute & CEDAW
MAIN THEMES:
• Participation (entire peace process)
• Protection (incl. ‘prevention’ and ‘protection’)
• Gender mainstreaming (both men and women’s needs have
to be addressed)
UNSCR 1325
• Peacekeeping
• DDR
Broader security issues:
• Transitional justice
• Post-conflict governance
• VAW
UNSCR 1325
Participation in peace and security related decision
making at all levels
The Resolution seeks to ensure greater representation,
participation, and involvement of women in peacemaking processes, and to include a gender perspective
in peacekeeping operations
Protection addresses women's needs and the provision of
assistance during and after conflicts
The Resolution calls for respect for humanitarian law with a
special emphasis on ensuring better protection of women and
girls, such as excluding impunity clauses, in order to better
promote justice for female victims of conflict. The state must
also take affirmative action to prevent third parties from
abusing the rights of women and girls during armed conflict
Prevention is discussed broadly with regards to avoiding
violence and transforming conflicts peacefully
The resolution calls for the promotion of the rights of women
and girls and their special needs during the process of
repatriation, resettlement, reintegration, and reconstruction.
Further, states have the duty not to interfere or act in any way
that would compromise women and girls’ enjoyment of
fundamental rights
PPP draws conceptually from and is also
influenced by 4 key areas related to peace and
security:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Human Security Framework
Conflict Transformation Discourse
Humanitarian Accountability
Women's Rights
Human Security:
Freedom from want
and
Freedom from fear
Kofi Annan (2000)
Conflict Transformation
• includes traditional elements of conflict resolution:
mediation, dialogue, negotiation.
• goes beyond tradition by drawing attention to issues
of rights and justice, promoting inclusive decisionmaking and participation.
Humanitarian Accountability
• Key element of the women, peace and security
discourse.
• Arises from the basic protection needs in emergency
and civil war situations
• Guidelines and codes of conduct
• Increased understanding of the urgency and centrality
of women's basic needs
Women's Rights
Many issues in Universal Declaration of Human Rights
remain unaddressed
During Cold War focus on civil and political issues
Public – private divide
Demand for specific attention to women’s rights in the 1970s
CEDAW: a bill of rights for women
Beijing 1995: Platform for action
•
•
•
•
•
•
Poverty
•
Education
•
Health care
Violence
•
Armed conflict
Unequal access to resources, •
power and decisionmaking
•
structures
Lack of mechanisms to
promote women effectively
Inadequate respect for
women’s human rights
Stereotyping and inequality
in media
Environmental concerns
Discrimination against the
girl child
Beijing PFA – Chapter E:
Women and Armed Conflict
Peace is inextricably linked with
equality between women and men
and development
UNSCR 1325 (2000) Then what?
• The role of women’s organizations
• 36 Action Plans
• UN system (gender advisers, gender mainstreaming and policy
structures)
• Regional organizations - OSCE 2004, EU 2005, African Charter
• UNIFEM: Violence against women campaign
• Start to address misbehavior, use and abuse by peace operations
personnel of local women (SEA)
2000-2013
• Post-conflict rehabilitation (Liberia, Sierra Leone)
• Peace talks (South Sudan, Colombia, DRC)
• Spring Revolution (Arab countries)
• Short, intensive conflicts (Georgia)
• Ongoing conflicts…
• International debates on Protection of Civilians
• Increased understanding of the role of sexual violence in conflict (DRC,
Timor-Leste, Kosovo) in combination with increased media attention
• New central players: France (EU presidency), the US (Rice and Clinton),
Liberia etc, ‘Chatham house’
• AU: African Union Gender Policy 2009 & NATO (SG, Euro-Atlantic
Partnership Council, SHAPE): Bi SC Directive 40-1 (Sept 2009)
1820 (2008)
• Sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict
situations
• ‘Participation’ agenda sidelined
• Conflicts intensify; SGBV intensifies; militarisation
grows; Arab ‘Spring’ (uprisings)
• Exclusion of women from decision-making except
where there is a strong women’s movement or
international feminist support (Liberia; Sudan)
1888 (2009)
• Prevention of and response to conflict related sexual
violence
• Participation agenda further diminished…
• Formal peace processes exclude women
• Security Sector Reform & SALW
1889 (2009)
• Post-conflict peacebuilding and indicators
• Protection and “empowerment” to be taken into
account during post-conflict needs assessment and
planning
1960 (2010)
• Institutional tools to combat impunity: monitoring,
analysis and reporting mechanism on conflict-related
sexual violence; prohibition, punishment
• Neoliberalism in full force, globally
• Participation is gone
2106 (2013)
• Accountability of perpetrators of sexual
violence in conflict
• Women’s political and economic empowerment
makes a (theoretical) return
2122 (2013)
• Urges a more systematic approach to the implementation of commitments
on women, peace and security
• Includes concrete measures on development and deployment of technical
expertise for peacekeeping missions and UN mediation teams supporting
peace talks
• Improved access to information and analysis on the impact of conflict on
women and women's participation in conflict resolution in reports and
briefings to the security council
• Strengthens commitments to consult, as well as include, women in peace
talks
• Funding
• Access to healthcare (abortion in cases of rape?)
• Recognizes that focus on rape is not everything!
The Arms Trade Treaty (2013)
• Article 7 (1) requires states to assess the risk that the
transfer of certain conventional arms will result in the
commitment of, or facilitate, a serious violation of
international human rights or humanitarian law
• Requires governments of arms-producing and exporting nations to refuse a transfer if there is an
overriding risk
• Article 7 (4) of the Treaty explicitly requires
exporters to assess risk of arms “being used to
commit or facilitate serious acts of…violence against
women and children.”
CEDAW GR#30 and WPSA
• New General Recommendation on 1325 (2013):
•1) preventing & responding to violence against
women in conflict & post-conflict settings;
•2) access to justice;
•3) political participation; and
•4) economic participation
CEDAW GR#30 and WPSA
• Highlights the need for a concerted and integrated
approach that places the Security Council agenda into the
broader framework of the implementation of CEDAW
• Through 1325, CEDAW becomes clearly relevant to states
that are not parties, such as the USA and Sudan, and to
territories in conflict, such as the occupied Palestinian
territory
• Reaches beyond governance bodies to all groups
participating in the conflict: independent armed groups,
militias, paramilitaries, who can be held accountable for
war crimes against women
Women as actors or as victims?
Peace is not the absence of war.
It is the presence of justice and
the absence of fear.
Dr. Ursula Franklin