Only one in forty signatories to peace agreements over the last twenty-five years were women, reveals a new report by Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS), a UK research and advocacy group of which International Alert is a member.
The Global Monitoring Checklist on Women, Peace and Security, a vital report on the political, legal, and socioeconomic progress of women in five conflict-affected regions, was recently launched in Parliament to an audience of parliamentarians, civil servants, journalists and members of civil society.
The aim of the extensive research is to monitor and highlight gaps in national and international efforts to ensure that peace and security are inclusive and sensitive to the needs and voices of women in Afghanistan, the DRC, Nepal, Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka. Despite isolated achievements and numerous national and international commitments to protect, empower and assist women living in conflict-affected contexts around the world, women remain marginalised from peacebuilding and reconstruction processes and their security needs are still not prioritised by the international community.
Foreign Office Minister to the UN, Africa and the Middle East, Lord Malloch-Brown spoke in support of GAPS’ report: “I am really impressed by the establishment of a global monitoring of women in conflict areas which will mean the UN will have evidence before it of where there is progress and where there is not – otherwise, diplomats will continue to engage in wooly aspirational statements”.
In its report, GAPS notes that not only do reconstruction initiatives fail to adequately address women’s human rights abuses, such as the crippling levels of rape in eastern DRC and poor access to justice for women in Afghanistan; but that politics also remains the exclusive domain of men. As Charlotte Onslow, Director of GAPS, stressed: “In Sri Lanka a mere 5.8% of parliamentarians are women. It is in these post-conflict contexts that it is essential that new voices – especially a variety of women’s voices – are heard across all levels of politics to help usher in an inclusive and just peace”.
The research also reveals serious gaps in the funding and understanding of how to effectively implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security (2000). GAPS is therefore calling on the UK and other donors to act decisively and ensure that during peacebuilding and reconstruction processes, women are seen as actors for change and not merely victims.