Women, Peace and Securityand UNSCR 1325

Stella Ismail coordinator African Sky

Introduction

• African Sky is an East African women’s organization based in NL, established in 1996

• Part of our Mission is to advance the participation of women in peace making and development

• These activities started in early 2003 through research, training ,conferences and counseling and international cooperation

Values

• Gender end Equality• Commitment of ‘women’s rights• Respect and diversity• Zero tolerance to all violence against

women and girls

UNSCR 1325

• United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 was adopted 31 October 2000

• It’s the first resolution on women, peace and security from UNSCR

• UNSCR1325 requires parties in a conflict to respect women’s rights and to support their participation in peace negotiations and in post-conflict reconstruction

• UNSCR1325 is binding upon all UN Member States (including the Netherlands)

The four pillars of Resolution 1325

• Participation

• Protection

• Prevention

• Relief and Recovery

Pillar Participation

Resolution 1325 calls for increased participation of women at all levels of decision-making, including in:• national, regional, and international institutions;• in mechanisms for the prevention, management and

resolution of conflict; • in peace negotiations; • in peace operations, as soldiers, police, and civilians; • as Special Representatives of the U.N. Secretary-

General.

Pillar Protection

• Resolution 1325 calls specifically for the protection of women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence, including in emergency and humanitarian situations, such as in refugee camps

Pillar Prevention

Resolution 1325 calls for improving intervention strategies in the prevention of violence against women, including by:• prosecuting those responsible for violations of

international law; • strengthening women’s rights under national

law; • and supporting local women’s peace initiatives

and conflict resolution processes.

Pillar Relief and Recovery

• Resolution 1325 calls for advancement of relief and recovery measures to address international crises through a gendered lens, including by respecting the civilian and humanitarian nature of refugee camps, and taking into account the particular needs of women and girls in the design of refugee camps and settlements.

Framework

While UNSCR 1325 is recognized as a historic and unprecedented document, it does not exist in a vacuum; many resolutions, treaties, conventions, statements and reports preceded it, and thus, form its foundation and an integral part of the women, peace and security policy framework. Four Resolutions following after UNSCR 1325:• Resolution 1820 (2008), Resolution 1888 (2009),

Resolution 1889 (2009), and Resolution 1960 (2010).

The adoption of UNSCR 1820 marked a significant stepas the Security Council’s recognized that: • addressing sexual violence in conflict is a matter of

international peace and security and therefore within their purview (as the Council bears responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security);

• where there is continued sexual violence it is impossible to build sustainable peace; and

• sexual violence is a tactic of war. This resolution also calls attention to the link between sexualviolence and women’s participation and empowerment.

UNCSR 1820

UNCSR1888

• UN Security Council Resolution 1888 (UNSCR 1888) does strengthen and add to the tools at our disposal and it sets the stage for concrete and practical measures to be taken at the field level

• It should be seen as part of the broader women, peace and security agenda and not only as a follow-up to UNSCR 1820.

• It is the third resolution adopted by the Council under its women, peace and security agenda item.

UNCSR 1889

• addresses one of the key reasons for the failures to address the needs and interests of women in post-conflict reconstruction and peace building: the exclusion of women and of their interests from the early stages of these processes and from the institutions that are central to them.

UNCSR 1960

• calls for an end to sexual violence in armed conflict, particularly against women and girls, and provides measures aimed at ending impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence, including through sanctions and reporting measures

How is UNCSR 1325 being implemented

• In a statement in 2005, the Security Council called upon UN Member States to continue to implement Resolution 1325 through the development of National Action Plans (NAP)

• 46 countries have developed and launched National Action Plans including the Netherlands

On 30 June 2007

• The Dutch government joined with civil society organisations to sign the Pact of Schokland.

• All expressed the wish to make concerted, active efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

• They agreed to collaborate in writing a Dutch National Action Plan on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security

Dutch National Action Plan I

The first National Action Plan UNCSR 1325 (NAP 1325) for the period 2008-2011:• (1) the legal framework;• (2) conflict prevention, mediation and

reconstruction;• (3) international cooperation;• (4) peace missions; and• (5) harmonisation and coordination

NAP I and partners

Dutch National Action Plan II

• At 19 December 2011 NAP II was launched as a collaboration of government, civil society and resource institutions

• NAP II (2012-2015) has been signed by 3 Ministries, 30 civil society organisations and 4 resource institutions

NAP II and partnersAfrican SkyBurundian Women for Peace and DevelopmentCentre for Conflict Studies – University of UtrechtClingendael Netherlands Institute of International RelationsCordaidDefence Women’s NetworkE-QualityFund for the Advancement of Women’s Human Rights in Francophone AfricaGender Concerns InternationalHivosICCO and Church in ActionIKV Pax ChristiMinistry of DefenceMinistry of Education, Culture and ScienceMinistry of Foreign AffairsMulticultural Women Peacemakers NetworkNetherlands Council of WomenNetherlands Expertisecentre Alternatives to ViolenceNetherlands Women’s Organizations for Gender and DevelopmentNufficOxfam NovibPlatform Women and Sustainable PeaceRefugee Organizations of the NetherlandsRights for ChangeSNV Netherlands Development OrganisationStopAidsNow!Sundjata FoundationSupport Trust for African DevelopmentThe Darfur Women Foundation in the NetherlandsTIYE InternationalTosangana FoundationWageningen UniversityWO=MEN Dutch Gender PlatformWomen for PeaceWomen for Peace on the MoluccasWomen in Europe for a Common FutureWomen Peacemakers Programme – International Fellowship of ReconciliationWomen’s International League for Peace and Freedom - NetherlandsYWCA

Objective NAP II

Collective, overarching goal is: to jointly facilitate the creation of an enabling environment for women’s leadership and political participation in fragile states, conflict and post-conflict areas and transition countries, allowing for more inclusive, just and sustainable peace, recovery and reconstruction processes

Focus countries

NAP II will be developed & implemented in region I conflict & post-conflict states and the focus countries: • Afghanistan, • Burundi, • Colombia, • the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),• South Sudan, • Sudan.

Nap Coordinator

• Dutch Gender Platform ( Wo=Men ) collaboration with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Working Group 1325

Women: Powerful Agents for Peace& Security

• Yemen’s Arab spring activist Tawakkul Karman

• Liberian “Peace warrior”Leymah Gbowee, who won the Nobel prize on October2011

• Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf