Gender and Peacebuilding: Global Policy Project

The United Nations was established in 1945 by 51 countries committed to preserving peace through international co-operation and collective security. Today, 189 countries are members. The UN aims to secure peace through agreeing basic principles of international relations, human rights and development.

When states become members of the UN, they agree to accept the obligations of the UN Charter, an international treaty that sets out basic principles of international relations. According to the Charter, the UN has 4 main purposes:

to maintain international peace and security
to develop friendly relations among nations
to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights
to be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations

UN Member States are sovereign countries. The UN is not a world government, and it does not make laws. It does, however, provide the means to help resolve international conflict and formulate policies on matters affecting us all. At the UN, all Member States have a voice and votes in the process which makes the UN the only truly democratic global institution.

General Assembly
Security Council
Economic and Social Council
Trusteeship Council
International Court of Justice
Secretariat

United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women
United Nations Development Fund for Women
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women

The equal rights of women were enshrined in the Preamble to the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, thereby legally establishing gender equality as a fundamental human right. The UN has set international standards on women's rights and has created instruments to monitor how such rights are observed around the world.

In 1979 it adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women - an international bill of rights for women, as well as a blueprint for action by countries to guarantee those rights. More than 160 countries have ratified the Convention. A special UN committee of independent experts monitors implementation of the Convention.

Established in 1946 the UN Commission on the Status of Women meets annually on matters concerning women's rights, making recommendations on problems requiring immediate attention and initiating international legislation to promote women's rights.

United Nations resolutions are a main backbone for the formulation of policies that impact directly and indirectly on the development of communities. International agreements have to be implemented at the local level depending on culture and other local conditions. For that to happen everybody has to know about them and government and donors have to provide support for all concerned to achieve effective implementation.

From the outset the Campaign believed that as the most authoritative body of the UN system, the Security Council could set a precedent, which could then be followed through by all UN agencies. Member states are bound by UN Security Council Resolutions and can be held accountable to the provisions they contain.

On 31^st October 2000 the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. This historic resolution stipulates the action which needs to be taken by states and the UN to improve the protection of women in conflict zones. More significantly, it is the first time that the UN’s most powerful body officially endorsed the inclusion of civil society groups - notably women - in peace processes and in the implementation of peace agreements. For women’s groups involved in peacebuilding, it is an historic document, with significant implications for supporting their work in practice. The Resolution is effectively international law. It can be used as an advocacy tool, which can be further developed in the future.

The Resolution calls upon the Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, member states, and all other parties (i.e. non-state actors, militaries, humanitarian agencies, civil society) to take action in four inter-related areas:

Building a critical mass: The Security Council urges member states to increase the numbers of women in all levels of decision-making relating to the prevention, management and Resolution of conflicts. It also calls on them to regularly update their lists and provide suitable candidates to the UN Secretary-General. In parallel it calls on the Secretary-General to increase the number of women in decision-making positions within the UN system, including as special envoys in field-based operations, and especially among military observers, civilian police, human rights and humanitarian personnel. Finally, the Security Council states that it will ‘ensure’ that its own missions take gender issues and the rights of women into consideration and calls for the inclusion of gender perspectives in all field operations.

Consulting and Including Women’s Groups in Peace Processes: The Security Council pledges that its own missions will consult with local and international women’s groups. It calls on all actors (i.e. state, international and non-state) in negotiations and peace processes to: adopt a gender perspective that considers the special needs of women and girls during repatriation, resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction. It also urges the adoption of measures that support local women’s peace initiatives and indigenous conflict resolution processes, and the involvement of women in all implementation mechanisms of peace agreements.

Implications: The endorsement of women’s groups and civil society participation in peace processes and particularly the implementation of peace agreements are unprecedented. It opens new windows of opportunity for people’s participation and traditional non-state actors in these processes.

The call for more women provides new opportunities for senior and qualified women to enter into positions hitherto dominated by men. However, the absence of actual quotas for the numbers of women in high-level positions, benchmarks and timelines is of concern. No mention is made of how ‘gender perspectives’ will be incorporated into field operations. There is a danger that no substantial action will be taken by the parties involved. Therefore, effective monitoring and evaluation (by NGOs, UN agencies and governments) is critical for the implementation of these recommendations.

The Security Council calls on the Secretary General to provide Member States with training guidelines and materials on the protection, rights and needs of women, and the importance of involving women in peacekeeping missions; and to ensure that all UN civilian personnel of peacekeeping operations receive similar training. It requests Member States to include HIV/AIDS awareness training into programmes for military and civilian police in preparation for deployment. It also invites them to increase their funding for financial, technical and logistical support for gender-sensitive training efforts undertaken by the UN.

Implications: This is a clear endorsement for gender training for peacekeepers and civilian personnel in peace support operations. But without the commitment of governments to provide additional funds – these measures can be ignored or not implemented adequately. The British and Canadian governments are already initiating gender training for peacekeepers, thereby providing a platform and precedent for other countries to follow.

The Security Council calls on all actors (including Member States, non-state militias, UN and humanitarian agencies) in negotiations and peace processes to adopt a gender perspective including measures that protect and respect the human rights of women and girls, especially on constitutional law, the electoral system, the police and the judiciary, and on issues relating to gender-based violence including rape. It calls on them to respect the civilian nature of refugee settlements, taking account of the special needs of women, and including them in the management of camps. It also states that the different needs of women and male ex-combatants must be considered when planning disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration strategies. Member states in particular are called upon to end impunity and prosecute perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including sexual and other violence against women, and exclude sexual and gender-based crimes from amnesty provisions in peace deals.

Implications: All state and non-state actors in conflict can be held accountable for violations against women, and all have a responsibility to protect them. UN and humanitarian agencies providing relief to refugees and internally displaced people's can be held accountable for the lack of adequate protection for women and girls, and they must ensure gender sensitivity in all their planning, programmes, and implementation processes. But without an effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism and incentives for compliance that draws on the concerns of the refugees themselves, it is likely that the necessary changes will not be made.

Although the Security Council will review progress in this area, it is passing responsibility for the implementation of this Resolution to the Secretary General. The Secretary General is mandated to carry out a study and report his findings on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peacebuilding and the gender dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution. He is also responsible for providing progress reports on gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping missions and on other related areas to the Security Council.

Implications: By and large, issues relating to women in war zones are receiving attention at the highest levels, but much more needs to be done for this rhetoric to translate into concrete action. The lack of timelines for the production of the Secretary General’s report threatens effective and immediate follow-up to the Resolution. The lack of consultation with local and international women’s groups and NGOs for the production of the report could result in the omission of critical issues.

As a first step this Resolution does offer a great deal. But, there are gaps and weaknesses that must be addressed. 1) The development of a database of experienced women peacemakers, drawn from the recommendations of NGOs and governments, would be an effective means of bringing the voices and experience from the field to the UN, and identifying appropriate individuals for high-level appointments. 2) To allow for effective implementation and monitoring, it is essential that the mandates of all peacekeeping and Peace Support Operations routinely specify the protection of women and consultation with them when designing humanitarian programmes. 3) It is important that Senior Gender Advisers who have decision-making powers are sent on field operations and fact-finding missions. 4) The development of gender specific data and early warning indicators, and the collection of gender-disaggregated data to enable a better understanding of the impacts of conflict on different sectors of society is essential for effective planning of all PSO. This is not mentioned in the Resolution. 5) There is no overt mention of effective accountability mechanisms and disciplinary actions for peacekeepers that violate and exploit local populations. 6) There is no mention of consultation with, or the participation of civil society and women’s groups in the follow-up processes to the Resolution, or the preparation of the expert reports. 7) There is no call for the development of mechanisms that would enable senior headquarters staff at UN to hear the voices, concerns and opinions of the recipients/beneficiaries of the peace support, relief and rehabilitation operations, so that these operations could be improved both from headquarters to field level and from the field up.

To mark the anniversary of the adoption of Resolution 1325 the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security organised a series of events at the United Nations. On the 22^nd October a roundtable anniversary luncheon to celebrate and assess the developments made since the adoption of Resolution 1325. The event focused on conflict prevention, the protection of women and gender and peace keeping operations.

On 30^th October 2001 the group secured a United Nations Security Council Arria Formula Meeting on the implementation of Resolution 1325 with women speakers from Afghanistan, Kosovo/a and East Timor.