Darfur (S/2013/607)

Date: 
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Countries: 
Sudan
Report Analysis: 

The report of the Secretary-General dated 14 October 2013 (S/2013/607) was issued pursuant to Security Council resolution 2113 (2013), by which the Security Council requested the Secretary-General to report every 90 days on the progress made in implementing the mandate of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).  The report provided an update on the situation in Darfur for the period of 1 July to 30 September 2013 and focused on: political developments, with an emphasis on the implementation of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, peace talks, and the Darfur-based dialogue; protection of civilians from physical violence; security situation and freedom of movement of UNAMID and humanitarian aid personnel; the humanitarian Situation; rule of law, Governance and Human Rights; UNAMID Deployment and Operations; Progress Against Benchmarks; Financial Aspects; and concludes with Observations. It reports on limited results in securing a comprehensive peace agreement; setbacks in implementing the Doha Document; continuous violence that resulted in deaths and injuries; challenges meeting the needs of refugees and internally displaced peoples; and continued human rights violations.

The report made several references relevant to the women, peace and security, including reporting of sexual and gender-based violence incidents (Paras. 46 & 49). It provided sex-disaggregated data on reporting of civilian deaths; women in attendance at UNAMID’s training events; the number of women represented in police forces (Para. 57); UNAMID’s gender mainstreaming efforts, specifically in regards to a seminar on advocacy skills for women legislators in Western Darfur (Para. 53); and UNAMID’s gender-sensitive training for officers of the Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration Commission.

The report missed opportunities to make references to the role of women and civil society in peace negotiations and the need to guarantee participation. It did not provide gender disaggregated data on the number of civilians displaced or on gender-based and sexual violence. It did not specifically address women’s rights and/or equality when discussing human rights. No gender perspective was incorporated in the human rights training efforts of UNAMID for governmental officials and prison officers. Furthermore, although benchmarks included protection of human rights, they did not specifically refer to women’s rights and sexual and gender-based violence.

In relation to the recommendations put forth in the July 2013 MAP, the report’s record was rather mixed. The MAP called for numerous points related to the mission and work of UNAMID, including reporting on gender-disaggregated data; inclusion of progress and barriers to rule of law and human rights, particularly in terms of addressing sexual and gender-based violence; UNAMID’s role in promoting women’s and civil society participation in peace talks and security arrangements and transitional justice mechanisms; the role of Gender Advisors in UNAMID’s mission; women’s human rights protection; and calling on the Secretary-General to report on progress made in creating and implementing a strategy to protect women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence, as requested in SCR 1881 (OP 14).[1] The Secretary-General did report on gender-disaggregated data in regards to women’s participation in the police forces, but failed to provide sex-disaggregated data when reporting gender-based and sexual violence. Encouragingly, the Secretary-General discussed UNAMID’s efforts in promoting women’s political participation, but women’s participation in other critical sectors including peace talks, security arrangements, and transitional justice processes was absent. Further, there was no mention of the important role of Gender Advisors. Further, the Secretary-General did not explicitly call for the protection and promotion of women’s human rights, especially in regards to gender-based and sexual violence. Further, benchmarks provided regarding the protection of human rights did not specifically refer to women’s rights and sexual and gender-based violence. Finally, the Secretary-General did not report on progress made in creating and implementing a strategy to protect women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence, as requested in SCR 1881 (OP 14).

The mixed mention of women, peace and security issues in the SG report of 14 October 2013 (S/2013/607) was **on par or on par?  with the previous SG report of 12 July 2013 (S/2013/420). The current report improved with greater emphasis on women’s political participation and inclusion, and UNAMID’s gender mainstreaming efforts in regards to the advocacy seminar for women legislators, compared to the previous report’s silence on both of these issue. However, both reports missed the opportunity to acknowledge the importance of women’s participation and inclusion in peace talks and other security and transitional justice processes. On protection and human rights concerns, both the current and prior report failed to explicitly call for the promotion and protection of women’s human rights, and neither provided sex-disaggregated data on the number of civilians displaced, kill and injured, or instances of gender-based and sexual violence. Further, both reports failed to provide gender specific information in regards to benchmarks on human rights protection.

[1] http://womenpeacesecurity.org/media/pdf-MAP_July2013.pdf

 

PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
Peacekeeping
Security Council Agenda Geographical Topic: 
Sudan
Document PDF: