WUNRN
WOMEN’S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM
1325 PEACEWOMEN E-NEWS
Issue
#110
August
2009
PARTICIPATION FOR CHANGE
The Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on women, peace and
security, 31 October 2000.
For the text of the resolution, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/sc/1325.html
THIS ISSUE OF 1325
PEACEWOMEN E-NEWS FEATURES:
1.
Editorial:
2.
Women, Peace and Security News
3. Feature
Statements: The Declaration of Five Million
Afghan Women Campaign; Honduran Feminists in Resistance to the Military Coup of
28th June 2009 and the Events that Followed
4. Feature
Resources: Siyanda
Update: Nepal & Sri Lanka
5 . Feature Initiatives: International
Delegation Amplifies Honduran Women’s Voices; Take Action: WITNESS and
Zimbabwean Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU): “Hear Us – Stand with Us: Zimbabwe
Women Rise Against Sexual Violence
6.Security
Council Monitor: SCR 1820: Open Debate
& PeaceWomen Thematic Index
7
. Women, Peace and Security Calendar
PeaceWomen is a project of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Sam Cook
In this edition of the PeaceWomen E-News we are highlighting the remarkable
efforts of women around the world to bring about sustainable, positive and
peaceful political change. The participation aspect of Resolution 1325 is in
many ways its lynchpin. Unfortunately, this is also the area in which
implementation of the resolution has been particularly ad hoc and limited. There
is of course significant rhetorical support for increasing women’s
participation. But, substantive action on the part of governments and the UN
has been less positive – the levels of women’s participation in peace processes
remains abysmal and the UN has made limited progress in leading by example. One
of the other disturbing trends is that women’s participation is often treated
as a monolithic and abstract concept. It is vital that we look at what
participation means in practical terms in relation to specific decision-making
processes or in specific contexts. For example, in our Feature Resources
section (Item 4) a new report focuses on women’s political status in Sri Lanka
within the context of that country’s ongoing conflict.
Another challenging aspect of the prevailing discourse around women’s
participation is that it is often assumed that women’s participation is
centered on women participating in decision-making around “issues of gender
equality.” There is not always discussion on what this means specifically.
Furthermore, and aside from the obvious fact that attaining gender equality is
not and should not be the sole responsibility of women, this assumption ignores
one of the primary driving forces for women who advocated for a Security
Council Resolution on women, peace and security. That is, women have a vital
and significant role and a right to participate in decision-making on all
matters of peace and security. That includes women taking a stand and having a
say on disarmament and ending militarism. That includes women in Zimbabwe
calling for an end to human rights abuses. That includes women standing up and
having their voices heard to end military coups – such as that in
Honduras. That includes women having a say in political processes in Afghanistan
and elsewhere. We feature some of these voices for change in this edition and
look forward to continuing to do so on our website and in future
editions.
Of course these are the few amongst many peace and security issues vying for
attention – as can be seen in our selection of news items for this newsletter
(Item 2). However, most media and political attention over the last few months
has been given to the protection aspect of the women, peace and security
agenda and, in particular, addressing sexual violence in conflict. For the
PeaceWomen Project, addressing sexual violence in conflict is of course
important but we continue to encourage advocates to see protection and
participation as integrally related. With this in mind, we continue to monitor
policy developments in this arena. The Security Council considered the
Secretary-General’s Resolution 1820 report (which we analyzed in our last
issue) with an Open Debate on 6 August 2009. The PeaceWomen team monitored this
debate and links to our thematic index of statements and related resources can
be found in our Security Council Monitor (Item 6). One of the key
recommendations of the NGO Working Group on women, peace and security and
others was the appointment by the Secretary-General of a Special Representative
on women, peace and security – and for this person to be mandated to help drive
UN efforts “to address the needs and interests of women in conflict, and
particularly to prevent and respond to the use of sexual violence.” This
recommendation received significant support during the debate and we look
forward to positive developments on this as the Security Council continues its
consideration of follow-up to Resolution 1820.
Another significant development on which we hope to see progress in the
coming weeks is the establishment of a new women’s entity at the UN. We hope
that the General Assembly adopts a resolution to this effect in this 63rd
Session (which ends on 14 September) and that urgently needed progress on this
is not delayed for spurious reasons. We look forward to featuring information
on this and other General Assembly activities in the next edition of the
PeaceWomen E-News.
Sam Cook
PeaceWomen Project Director,
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
UN Office
777 UN Plaza, 6th Floor
New York, New York 10017
www.peacewomen.org
sam@peacewomen.org
+ 1 212 682 1265
+ 1 212 286 8211
The PeaceWomen Project of WILPF monitors and works
toward rapid and full implementation of United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.
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