National Action Plans - Denmark

Details/Analysis:

Denmark has no recent experience of conflict and does not face any external armed threat, but is a contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, NATO missions and provider of international aid and humanitarian assistance.

In 2005, Denmark became the first country to adopt a NAP Denmark was a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 2005 and 2006, and utilized its seat in the Peace Building Commission to lobby for the inclusion of UNSCR 1325 into all relevant resolutions and Presidential statements.

Denmark has relatively high levels of gender equality and institutional protections for women’s rights, though significant gaps remain, particularly in regard to the participation of women in peace and security spheres. Denmark does not have constitutional gender quotas for political representation, however women make up almost 40 per cent of elected representatives in parliament. Danish women are eligible for service in police and the military without restriction, but make up just 5 per cent of defense forces personnel and are largely absent in senior positions and in peacekeeping operations. 

Women’s peace organizations such as Women in Black and WILPF Denmark have been active in promoting gender equality, the full implementation of the Women Peace and Security agenda and the inclusion of feminist, anti-militarization approaches to its realization.

As a non-conflict country, Denmark has elected to nationally implement UNSCR 1325 in an international way, with a domestic focus on increasing women’s participation in spheres of peace and security.

Details/Analysis:

The Danish National Action Plan is organized by thematic chapters, which are further broken down into specific focus areas as follows:

Humanitarian and Peace Operations

National Measures
Civil-Military Co-Planning
Danish Humanitarian Assistance
Representation, Participation and Recruitment
Human Resource Development
Role of Civil Society

European Measures
European Union
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
Like-minded Countries Initiatives

Global Measures
United Nations
NATO

Peace Building and Conflict Prevention

Bilateral Cooperation, Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration and Regional Issues
Bilateral Cooperation
Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration
Regional Organizations and Programmes
The Role of Danish NGOs

Multilateral Cooperation
United Nations
World Bank
OECD/DAC

Knowledge Management and Learning
Joint and Institutional Learning
Research

Implementation, Monitoring and Revision
The Inter-Ministerial Working Group
Civil Society Network

Each chapter and focus area is prefaced by an explanation of the theme, relevant domestic, regional or international commitments and Denmark’s priorities in these areas. This is then broken down into a set of specific actions. For example, focus area “Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration” contains the following actions:

• Promote international standards on DDR, including those that emphasize the meaningful and early participation of women and children in the negotiation and design phases of DDR programming

• Promote joint donor and/or UN action to ensure that peace negotiations, including negotiations on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration from the outset and in an integral manner promote gender equality through a context appropriate combination of gender mainstreaming and women and girl specific actions

• Prioritize adequate health care and, where necessary, surgical attention to victims of gender based violence and support adequate protection to girls and women in camps

• Acknowledge and address that girls and women may be a component of belligerent forces – as combatants, and supporters

• Support the role of female leaders in community training and education on weapons, demobilization and responsibility and contribute to support to communities, in respect of the needs faced by girls, child soldiers and women in reintegration in their home communities.

Indicators for evaluating implementation progress are contained in the thematic area “Implementation, Monitoring and Revision”. Unlike most NAP’s, which elaborate measurement indicators for each specific action, the Danish NAP includes only five indicators in all, which are as follows:

1. A SCR 1325 perspective is part of the guidelines for civil-military co-planning activities and incorporated into all relevant missions.
2. SCR 1325 actions are included in the human resource development and management portfolio of the Ministry of Defence, the Danish National Police, and the Danish International Humanitarian Services.
3. Higher female ratio is obtained in police and Danish armed forces contributions to international peace missions.
4. Examples of specific actions (i) combating gender based violence and (ii) increasing participation of women in peace building efforts in conflict affected areas supported by Denmark are presented in meetings of the IMWG and documented as relevant and feasible.
5. The annual and ongoing dialogue between Denmark and the UN, including the UN agencies, raise awareness of SCR 1325 actions. This is documented in the minutes of high-level dialogues, travel reports, annual performance reports of the national actors and in monitoring reports of the UN agencies receiving funding by Denmark.

These actions and indicators are not linked to a time-frame for completion or an allocated or estimated budget. Responsible actors are listed in an annex to the NAP.

Details/Analysis:

The Danish NAP does not include an allocated or estimated budget, but states that funding is to be derived from existing budgets.

No indicators or actions are included that formulate strategies for sourcing increased funding, detail what level of funding is required for which specific activities, or what accountability mechanisms will ensure funding is raised and used in implementing the NAP.

Details/Analysis:

The Inter-Ministerial Working Group is responsible for reporting on the implementation of the revised NAP. The Working Group is required to meet on a six monthly basis, to consider interim progress reports on the status of implementation of activities of the participating ministries; and to prepare annual NAP progress reports based on individual reports of the participating institutions.

The NAP does not provide for Civil Society involvement in monitoring and evaluation, but states that the Working Group will host annual dialogue sessions with Civil Society and share implementation reports with NGO’s and Civil Society actors. The NAP states these reports will be made available online.

The lack of a monitoring and evaluation mechanisms were cited as an impediment to successful implementation in the review of the first Danish NAP:

“The NAP (2005) was not monitored comprehensively. Many activities were carried out and evidence suggests that these included valuable contributions, but the results of the initiatives were not followed in a concerted manner. One important lesson is therefore that a systematic monitoring through an inter-ministry working group would have been valuable for required adjustments and the formulation of the next generation NA P.”

The Inter-Ministerial Working Group as a body with ongoing role in coordination and review was established as the result of this review. The indicators established for monitoring implementation are limited and linked to multiple activities, however qualitative and quantitative indicators have been established.

Details/Analysis:

The Danish National Action Plan contains language and actions on disarmament primarily as relates mainstreaming gender and meeting the specific needs of women and girl combatants in Disarmament, De-mobilization and Reintegration activities. The NAP also includes activities to support Civil Society in de-mining programmes and to provide support and funding to United Nations Mine Action Service.

Specific actions on Disarmament, De-mobilization and Reintegration have been featured in the 'Indicators' section of Denmark's country summary.

The NAP does not address disarmament issues, or connect the proliferation of weapons with women’s insecurity.

Details/Analysis:

Civil Society does not have representation in the Inter-Ministerial Working group, but is able to take part in annual dialogue sessions which are to be used as a “forum to exchange views and discuss progress and experiences with implementation.”

The NAP states objectives to support Civil Society and NGO’s with relevant expertise in the fields of peace and security, particularly humanitarian organizations. There is no reference to supporting women’s Civil Society domestically or in international fields of engagement.

Outside formal processes, women’s organizations such as Women in Black and WILPF Denmark have been active in promoting UNSCR 1325 and the inclusion of feminist anti-militarization approaches to its implementation; as well as supporting women’s organizations and networks in their efforts to realize the intent and objectives of UNSCR 1325.

Details/Analysis:

Denmark’s section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom has been involved in a collaborative project between the women's peace organizations in Finland, Norway and Sweden to investigate the Nordic countries implementations of their respective national action plans in the context of the with the invasion of Afghanistan. This results of this review found that greater research/ evidence is required to inform coordinated and focused implementation of UNSCR 1325 and the promotion of women’s rights in Afghanistan.