Working Paper on Advancing National Action Plans, Regional Action Plans, and Twinning on Women, Peace and Security
In 2000, United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 called on all member states and the United Nations (UN) system to protect the rights of women in the context of armed conflict and to ensure women's full participation in all conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and post-conflict reconstruction processes. The Civil Society Advisory Group on Women, Peace, and Security (CSAG) advises the High-Level Steering Committee of the heads of UN agencies and entities on ensuring a coherent and coordinated approach to implementing UNSCR 1325 and subsequent resolutions on women, peace, and security within the UN system. CSAG's co-chairs are Mary Robinson and Bineta Diop, and its members are Sanam Anderlini, Thelma Awori, Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls, Lakhdar Brahimi, Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Swanee Hunt, Hina Jilani, Elisabeth Rehn, Zainab Salbi, Salim Ahmed Salim, Donald Steinberg, and Susana Villarán de la Puente. In addition to recommending priorities for commemorating the 10th Anniversary of UNSCR 1325 in October, 2010, CSAG advocates for the full participation of women's groups and civil society in the implementation of the women, peace, and security agenda. In consultation with civil society, CSAG is preparing a series of working papers with concrete recommendations for action on the following topics:
• Women's Participation and Leadership in the United Nations and Peace Processes
• Civil Society Involvement in Peacebuilding;
• Preventing and Responding to Sexual Violence against Women Displaced by Conflict
• Advancing National Action Plans, Regional Action Plans, and Twinning on
Women, Peace and Security
• Resourcing Women, Peace, and Security.
This Working Paper on Advancing National Action Plans (NAPs), Regional Action Plans, and Twinning on Women, Peace, and Security does not attempt to conduct a detailed and comprehensive assessment of all NAPs that have been enacted. Instead, it will survey a few NAPs to identify some general trends in content and development and implementation processes. The phenomenon of “twinning” or “cross-learning” where two or more countries support each other in developing NAPs will be examined, as well as regional and sub-regional action plans for advancing UNSCR 1325 and related resolutions. The content of this paper is based on information drawn from CSAG members' experiences, unpublished reports from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Femmes Africa Solidarité, national and regional action plans and policies that are publically available, as well as UN reports. Some of the recommendations are derived from the Increasing Momentum for UNSCR 1325 National Action Plans Meeting Report, which summarizes recommendations from a meeting between prominent UN, government, and civil society leaders held in New York, NY on April 24, 2009, convened by Swanee Hunt and Mary Robinson.