Per la Pau / Peace in Progress

In this section, we present three pieces of material related to the international agenda on women, peace and security. First, a table showing the UN instruments relating to women, peace and security. Second, a map showing the state of implementation of SCR 1325 by states by means of the National Action Plans (NAPs). The third resource is the full text of SCR 1325 and related websites.

Instruments passed by the United Nations related to the Women, Peace and Security agenda

Source: Villellas, M., The role of women in the construction of peace, Seminar on Resolution 1325, Madrid, 2 February 2010, 3; Magallón, C., Mujeres en pie de paz, pub. Siglo XXI, Madrid, 2006, p. 160. Completed by Júlia Boada.

The table shows us the background to SCR 1325, passed in 2000, and the subsequent resolutions and reports regarding its application. As it can be seen, slow progress was made on eliminating discrimination and violence against women and recognising their role in the construction of peace between 1975 and 1995. By specifically dealing with the situation of women in armed conflicts, the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action was a starting point that fostered the work of non-governmental women's organisations that promoted and finally succeeded in achieving the passing of SCR 1325. The table shows how the UN's work intensified after 2000, and how the presence of the issue of women, peace and security became consolidated on the international agenda.

This map aims to show which United Nations member states have approved National Action Plans for the application of Resolution 1325. The objective of these plans is to transfer the contents of the resolution to local actors and for the latter to implement them with specific instruments and measures. These plans also aim to create networks of dialogue between international, governmental and civil society actors.
The map shows the countries that have adopted a NAP or are in the process of doing so. The countries shown in white, the most numerous group, are those that have not begun any process for the production of an NAP. The map shows that the dark blue countries, the first to adopt the Plans, were in Scandinavia, with Denmark leading the way (2005). In subsequent years, other European countries designed and approved their NAPs. In 2008, several African countries also joined the NAP approval process, including Liberia, the first country in a post-war situation that adopted a National Action Plan. In the last two years, countries all over the world (except for Oceania) have approved action plans. Finally, eleven countries are currently preparing for the implementation of Resolution 1325 by producing a National Action Plan.

Resolution 1325 (2000)

Passed by the Security Council at its 4213th meeting, on 31 October 2000

The Security Council,
Recalling its resolutions 1261 (1999) of 25 August 1999, 1265
(1999) of 17 September 1999, 1296 (2000) of 19 April 2000 and 1314 (2000) of 11 August 2000, as well as relevant statements of its President, and recalling also the statement of its President to the press on the occasion of the United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace (International Women's Day) of 8 March 2000 (SC/6816),
Recalling also the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (A/52/231) as well as those contained in the outcome document of the twenty-third Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century" (A/S-23/10/Rev.1), in particular those concerning women and armed conflict,
Bearing in mind the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the primary responsibility of the Security Council under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security,
Expressing concern that civilians, particularly women and children, account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict, including as refugees and internally displaced persons, and increasingly are targeted by combatants and armed elements, and recognizing the consequent impact this has on durable peace and reconciliation,
Reaffirming the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building, and stressing the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution,
Reaffirming also the need to implement fully international humanitarian and human rights law that protects the rights of women and girls during and after conflicts,
Emphasizing the need for all parties to ensure that mine clearance and mine awareness programmes take into account the special needs of women and girls,
Recognizing the urgent need to mainstream a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations, and in this regard noting the Windhoek Declaration and the Namibia Plan of Action on Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in Multidimensional Peace Support Operations (S/2000/693),
Recognizing also the importance of the recommendation contained in the statement of its President to the press of 8 March 2000 for specialized training for all peacekeeping personnel on the protection, special needs and human rights of women and children in conflict situations,
Recognizing that an understanding of the impact of armed conflict on womenand girls, effective institutional arrangements to guarantee their protection and full participation in the peace process can significantly contribute to the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security,
Noting the need to consolidate data on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls,

1. Urges Member States to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict;
2. Encourages the Secretary-General to implement his strategic plan of action (A/49/587) calling for an increase in the participation of women at decision-making levels in conflict resolution and peace processes;
3. Urges the Secretary-General to appoint more women as special representatives and envoys to pursue good offices on his behalf, and in this regard calls on Member States to provide candidates to the Secretary-General, for inclusion in a regularly updated centralized roster;
4. Further urges the Secretary-General to seek to expand the role and contribution of women in United Nations field-based operations, and especially among military observers, civilian police, human rights and humanitarian personnel;
5. Expresses its willingness to incorporate a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations, and urges the Secretary-General to ensure that, where appropriate, field operations include a gender component;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to provide to Member States training guidelines and materials on the protection, rights and the particular needs of women, as well as on the importance of involving women in all peacekeeping and peacebuilding measures, invites Member States to incorporate these elements as well as HIV/AIDS awareness training into their national training programmes for military and civilian police personnel in preparation for deployment, and further requests the Secretary-General to ensure that civilian personnel of peacekeeping operations receive similar training;
7. Urges Member States to increase their voluntary financial, technical and logistical support for gender-sensitive training efforts, including those undertaken by relevant funds and programmes, inter alia, the United Nations Fund for Women and United Nations Children's Fund, and by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other relevant bodies;
8. Calls on all actors involved, when negotiating and implementing peace agreements, to adopt a gender perspective, including, inter alia: 
   1. The special needs of women and girls during repatriation andresettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction;
   2. Measures that support local women's peace initiatives and indigenous processes for conflict resolution, and that involve women in all of the implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements;
   3. Measures that ensure the protection of and respect for human rights of women and girls, particularly as they relate to the constitution, the electoral system, the police and the judiciary;
9. Calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect fully international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls, especially as civilians, in particular the obligations applicable to them under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977, the Refugee Convention of 1951 and the Protocol thereto of 1967, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 and the Optional Protocol thereto of 1999 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 and the two Optional Protocols thereto of 25 May 2000, and to bear in mind the relevant provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
10. Calls on all parties to armed conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and all other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict;
11. Emphasizes the responsibility of all States to put an end to impunity and to prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes including those relating to sexual and other violence against women and girls, and in this regard stresses the need to exclude these crimes, where feasible from amnesty provisions;
12. Calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect the civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements, and to take into account the particular needs of women and girls, including in their design, and recalls its resolutions 1208 (1998) of 19 November 1998 and 1296 (2000) of 19 April 2000;
13. Encourages all those involved in the planning for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration to consider the different needs of female and male ex-combatants and to take into account the needs of their dependants;
14. Reaffirms its readiness, whenever measures are adopted under Article 41of the Charter of the United Nations, to give consideration to their potential impact on the civilian population, bearing in mind the special needs of women and girls, in order to consider appropriate humanitarian exemptions;
15. Expresses its willingness to ensure that Security Council missions take into account gender considerations and the rights of women, including through consultation with local and international women's groups;
16. Invites the Secretary-General to carry out a study on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peace-building and the gender dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution, and further invites him tosubmit a report to the Security Council on the results of this study and to make this available to all Member States of the United Nations;
17. Requests the Secretary-General, where appropriate, to include in his reporting to the Security Council progress on gender mainstreaming throughout peacekeeping missions and all other aspects relating to women and girls;
18. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

Websites for finding out more:

Related to SCR 1325

NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security. The driving force behind SCR 1325. It is currently monitoring its implementation. It aims to be a bridge between human rights advocates working in conflict situations and United Nations policymakers.
http://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/

The Women and Peace Portal created by WILPF after the SCR 1325 was passed. Contains information and resources for women's organisations and fosters the exchange of news and points of view. Publishes an electronic bulletin.
http://www.peacewomen.org/

UNIFEM Portal created two years after the SCR 1325 was passed, providing information and documentation with a gender perspective on countries in conflict, the impact of the conflict on women and their work on the construction of peace.
http://www.womenwarpeace.org/

United Nations on Women, Peace and Security. Provides information and resources on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/wps/

State of the National Action Plans
http://www.peacewomen.org/pages/about-1325/national-action-plans-naps
http://www.un-instraw.org/peace-and-security/knowledge-management/unscr-1325-national-action-plan-map.html

Mila Ramos: "Ten years of Resolution 1325"
http://resolucion1325.blogspot.com/

Carmen Magallón: "Women, peace and security: an overview of Resolution 1325"
http://www.ceipaz.org/images/contenido/03.%20carmen%20magallon.pdf

Organisations supporting initiatives by women constructing peace

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Founded in 1915 after the International Congress of Women at The Hague, it has a long tradition of commitment to feminism and antimilitarism. Its members include Nobel laureates like Jane Addams and leading pacifist thinkers and activists, such as Alva Myrdal, Elise Boulding and Coretta Scott King. It was one of the NGOs that promoted SCR 1325.
http://www.wilpfinternational.org/peace/index.htm

Hunt Alternatives Fund. Promotes political leadership by women, among other activities.
http://www.huntalternatives.org/index.cfm

Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation. Supports the organisation of women in conflict zones.
http://www.kvinnatillkvinna.se/en

IANSA. An international women's network established in 2001 working on the links between gender, women's rights, small arms and armed violence.
http://www.iansa-women.org/

Materials produced by Júlia Boada and Elena Grau