Meeting Of The Women, Peace And Security Focal Points Network On 9/10 April 2018 - Joint Communiqué By The Focal Points On Women, Peace And Security
About 150 representatives from UN Member States, regional and international organizations and civil society from around the world met in Berlin, Germany, for the annual capital-level Women, Peace and Security Focal Points Network (WPS-FPN) meeting on April 9-10, 2018.
The meeting was organised by Germany, as current Chair of the Network, in close collaboration with Spain, Namibia and UN Women, and focused on the theme: "Building Alliances to Advance the Women, Peace and Security Agenda".
Participants were able to discuss in-depth and share lessons learned and best practices on a line of issues from UNSCR1325 implmentaiton to acocuntability.
The following initiatives and recommendaitons were reported on during a debrief in New York on 24 May 2018:
The representative of Colombia shared their commitment to women's participation, as well as the creation of a Gender Sub-Committee, as good practices for the UNSCR1325 implementation. They also highlighted the importance of the Group of Friends for Gender Parity and Gender Champions for further ensuring practical implementaiton, as well as norm building.
The representative of ECOWAS introduced several legal framework for implementing the WPS regionally, including the Vision 2020 Strategy, Supplementary Act relating to Equality of Rights between Men and Women for Sustainable Development in the ECOWAS Region, and Conflict Prevention Protocol.
The representative of Sweden spoke about the value of Feminist Foreign Policy and encouraged gender training for peacekeepers.
Speaking on behalf of civil society, Louise Allen of the NGO Working Group on WPS invited the WPS Focal Point Network to use its political strength towards localisaiton of the UNSCR1325 implementaiton, support scivil society engagement in the UN Security Council and in the development of local practices, as well as to ensure women's meaningful participation in peace operaitons and at peace negotiations.
The representative of Hungary reported on its efforts to ensure gender-sensitive training in Kenya and Afghanistan and participaiton of women in peacekeeping missions.
The representative of El Salvador expressed its commitment to ensure gender-sensitive analysis in the conversaitons around the SAWL Review in June 2018 and make sure that gender analysis is integrated in its own military doctrine.
The representative of the UK notably invited other members of the UN Security Council, who are also members of the WPS Focal Point Network, to use their leaderhsip togather to ensure that the number of civil society speakers in the UN Security Council meetings continue to rise and that civil society can be engaged more in the development of mandate and on-the-ground policies.
The representatives of Norway and Germany reminded the participants about the need to ensure impunity and accountability under international law and ensure the implementation of Security Council resolutions.
The Focal Points agreed on key actions for the Network from the meeting, which was reflected in the joint communiqué, issued as an official document of the UN Security Council.