2015 High Level Review - Resources

In preparation for the 15th anniversary of UNSCR 1325 and the Open Debate and High-Level Review of Women, Peace and Security, PeaceWomen has created this comprehensive social media packet for WILPF sections and partners as a resource for strategically engagement with key target groups in order to mobilise commitments into actions. 

En préparation pour le 15ième anniversaire de UNSCR 1325 et pour le débat ouvert et la révision à haut niveau sur les femmes, paix et la sécurité, PeaceWomen a créé ce forfait de médias sociaux pour les sections et partenaires de WILPF comme ressource pour l’engagement stratégique avec les groupes cibles importants afin de mobiliser les engagements en actions. 

In preparation and in honour of the 15th Anniversary of the Adoption of UNSCR 1325 and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, PeaceWomen has created an advocacy toolkit in order to provide WILPF Sections and Partners with the advocacy resources necessary to engage with local and national governments, civil society, and the media in order to mobilise pressure on member States and donor countries to turn commitments into action. 

This short submission builds on Conciliation Resources’ practical peacebuilding experience to promote more inclusive peace processes. Despite international commitments to greater inclusion in the field of peace and security, including increased women’s participation, peace processes remain male-dominated and elitist. This submission identifies the obstacles that limit increased participation of women in peace talks, and challenges the over-emphasis on formal peace talks at the expense of other, more inclusive and democratic deliberation and decision-making processes beyond the negotiating table. It presents the Mindanao peace process as a case study in which women in both formal negotiations and parallel peacebuilding efforts achieved high levels of meaningful participation. Lastly, it presents recommendations for key stakeholders, which are listed below.

This paper draws on inputs from nearly 30 contributors from around the world – Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas and Oceania. They include grassroots activists, global level experts, peace negotiators, former MPs, researchers, academics and civil society champions. The paper makes a case for broadening ways the WPS agenda is applied, so to tackle various manifestations of violence – including violence conflict, non-conflict armed violence, IPV to violent extremism – their gender dimensions and weapons use. It draws on recent evidence on violence and violent deaths, and normative frameworks to promote cohesive WPS policy linked to agendas for arms control, gun control, disarmament, and armed violence reduction and prevention (AVRP).

The Global Network of Women Peacebuilders has provided support to national action planning processes in different countries including Nepal, the Philippines, Guatemala and South Sudan. It enhances civil society capacities by training them in developing NAPs incuding in drafting and formulating indicators. Upon request it also provides technical support to Member States. The attached recommendations are informed by its many years of experiences in NAPs.

The Localization program of GNWP, which directly engages local authorities, traditional leaders and local women in the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and 1820 in local communities, complements the efforts of governments, civil society and other national actors and ensures that the Women and Peace and Security (WPS) resolutions—and National Action Plans (NAPs)—are owned and carried out at the local level. The Localization program is a people-based, bottom-up approach to policy-making that goes beyond the local adoption of a law, as it guarantees the alignment and harmonization of local, national, regional and international policies and community-driven strategies to ensure local ownership, participation and links among communities, civil society organizations and government. The program is not designed to increase bureaucratic functions or add more work for local officials. Rather, the program allows local communities to analyze their everyday government functions and policies to see what is enhancing or hindering the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and 1820. The Localization of UNSCR 1325 and 1820 program thus creates channels for better coordination, cooperation and coherence among national and local stakeholders in the work around the WPS resolutions.

This 71-page report documents the sexual exploitation and abuse of Somali women and girls on two AMISOM bases in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, since 2013. The AU soldiers, relying on Somali intermediaries, have used a range of tactics, including humanitarian aid, to coerce vulnerable women and girls into sexual activity. They have also raped or otherwise sexually assaulted women who were seeking medical assistance or water at AMISOM bases. Human Rights Watch interviewed 21 women and girls who described being raped or sexually exploited by Ugandan or Burundian military personnel serving with the AU forces.

This report is based on interviews with more than 46 witnesses and victims of Boko Haram abductions in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states, including with girls who escaped the April 2014 abduction of 276 girls from Chibok secondary school. Their statements suggest that the Nigerian government has failed to adequately protect women and girls from a myriad of abuses, provide them with effective support and mental health and medical care after captivity, ensure access to safe schools, or investigate and prosecute those responsible for the abuses.

This 40-page report highlights key steps that Libya should take to meet its international obligations by firmly rejecting gender-based discrimination in both law and practice. The report calls on Libya’s parliament, the General National Congress (GNC), to ensure that women are involved on equal terms with men in the entire constitution drafting process, including active participation in the Constituent Assembly tasked with preparing the draft.

Women and girls experience armed violence within and across contexts. This is especially so in post-conflict settings, which tend to be long-lasting and often characterized by residual fighting or high levels of lethal violence. Yet, there is a continuity of violence across contexts: conflict-era dynamics surrounding VAWG influence the magnitude and types of VAWG in post-conflict environments. Disarmament programmes rarely translate into the total removal of all firearms from the community. This results in the proliferation of licit firearm ownership but also illicit firearm possession and trafficking. Guns used for war-making are thus also used in acts of VAWG in the post-conflict period (both within and outside the home). The combination of experiences of wartime violence by combatants with the presence of a firearm within the home, for instance, increases the risk of the use of guns in against intimate partners or family members. The trafficking of illicit firearms not only undermines levels of law and order in society, but is also linked to higher levels of female victimization outside the home, as guns are used in cases of femicide and sexual violence.

Text draws on:

• http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/img/geneva-declaration/GBAV-2... (forthcoming, May 2015);
• http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/A-Yearbook/2014/en/Small-A... (summary only); and,
• http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/GBAV2/GBAV2011_CH4_rev.pdf

During and following conflict, men, women, boys, girls and gender minorities are often direct victims of small arms violence including domestic violence, sexual violence, forced recruitment into armed groups, injury, and death. Indirect consequences of armed violence include taking care of injured family members and an inability to access work, education, and health care. Yet armed conflict can also create spaces to transcend traditional gender roles. While some women and girls willingly smuggle weapons or take up arms as combatants, others become community leaders at the forefront of local, national, and international initiatives to control arms. Regional and national action plans on UNSCR 1325 and on small arms have the potential to be stronger and more effective by focusing on preventing armed violence, including domestic violence; removing arms from communities; and consulting with women’s civil society organizations on laws, policies, education processes and monitoring progress.

Text adapted from:

• http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/A-Yearbook/2014/en/Small-A...

This paper discusses the relationship between guns and violence against women, with specific attention to violence in the home. Women are at a higher risk of violence and death in the domestic sphere especially in cases where there is access or possession of firearms. This argument is supported by using case studies in South Africa, the UK and the US. In domestic violence cases, almost 70 per cent of fatalities are women and the perpetrator is usually a current or former partner. In these cases, about one in three of these femicides is committed with a firearm. Gender inequality, the tolerance and cultural acceptance of the use of violence against women, and common notions of masculinity that embrace firearms possession all combine to create a climate that places women at risk of IPV involving firearms. The objective of UNSCR 1325 is to improve women’s safety and to ensure that women are able to exercise their rights as citizens and fully participate in society. The proliferation and misuse of firearms affects the rights and participation of women in society, both in conflict and non-conflict settings. It is thus important to strengthen the reach and impact of UNSCR 1325 by including the protection of women not only in conflict situations but in others such as intimate-partner/domestic violence situations. It will also be important for national policies to adapt to the WPS agendas to allow full protection of women.

Security sector reform is explicitly mentioned in many of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (UNSCRs on WPS): UNSCRs 1820, 1888, 2106, 2122. It is also implicitly mandated in the UNSCRs on WPS’ calls for reform within peacekeeping, armed forces, police services and the judicial system, as well as increased collaboration with civil society. From the full and equal participation of women in decision-making to ending impunity for sexual and gender-based violence, security sector reform that is designed and implemented to promote gender equality is absolutely necessary for the successful implementation of the UNSCRs on WPS. 

Oxfam Somalia has worked for the last twenty years on women, peace and security. This has been in partnership with Somali Peace Line and Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre (EPHRC). In our work we have gathered evidence and seek to share these and recommendations for further work on UN1325. Recommendations cover women in peace processes; peace building and conflict prevention; and prevention of gender based violence and sexual violence themes. 

The Women, Peace and Security agenda will only be fully realized when states and other key stakeholders prioritize its radical premise of preventing conflict and violence rather than just cleaning up the pieces afterward. This requires an integrated approach that dismantles the current economy of violence and war and instead invests in an economy of gender justice and peace.

This WILPF PeaceWomen publication supports the civil society roadmap outlined by the NGO Working Group on Women Peace and Security and outlines eight key interlinked components critical for effective gendered conflict prevention: inclusive participation; gender analysis; demilitarization; disarmament; women’s human rights; environmental sustainability and development justice; local to global responses; and an independent women’s movement.

To address critical gaps, we particularly recommend action on the following three issues:

1. Conflict Prevention and Disarmament
2. Women’s Participation:
3. Gender Financing

This submission makes the normative case for understanding Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325) and related resolutions on women, peace and security (WPS) as an integrated part of an established and growing framework of international and regional law that upholds the rights of women and girls in relation to conflict (the legal framework). This legal framework is grounded in international and regional human rights law, international humanitarian law (IHL) international criminal law and international refugee law. These sources of law are reflected in the commitments in the Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security (WPS) to uphold the rights of women and girls, and men and boys, in relation to conflict. The legal framework places binding obligations on states, non-state actors, the United Nations (UN) and other organizations, and is sourced from treaties and customary international law. Situating SCR 1325 and its following resolutions on WPS as part of this legal framework, rather than seeing them as isolated political statements, allows them to be understood a part of a body of obligations that uphold human rights at all stages of conflict, from prevention to resolution to transitions towards peace.

Section 1 situates the resolutions on WPS in the context of an established and growing legal framework that recognises the duties to uphold the human rights of women, girls, men and boys, held by all parties involved in conflicts, including states, non-state actors, and international and regional organizations. The legal framework, when fully implemented, allows women, girls, men and boys, to claim their rights and hold perpetrators accountable for violations of those rights, in ways that guarantee both substantive and transformative equality.

Section 2 of the submission considers how the legal framework on WPS outlined in Section 1 could be implemented, via National Action Plans (NAPs). This section contains six case studies of SCR 1325 NAPs from different regions around the world.

• The Democratic Republic of the Congo (Africa)
• Myanmar (Asia)
• Nepal (Asia)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (Europe)
• Chile (Latin America)
• Iraq (The Middle East)

Section 3 of the submission assesses existing monitoring processes and remedies at the UN, and how these could be improved to guarantee substantive equality. This section also discusses the emergence of transformative reparations for women and girl victims of rights violations including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The UN’s currently fragmented system must be reformed to effectively to monitor the accountability of states and other actors involved in conflict, and to provide redress for victims. Women and girls must be empowered to access remedy mechanisms that provide for transformative equality.

This paper outlines recommendations from CARE International and its local civil society partners towards the 15th anniversary review of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), and the Global Study informing the review.  The following are three major opportunities in the current year to strengthen and accelerate progress in realizing women’s rights and gender equality through the framework and operations established by this landmark resolution.  

First, to regain the transformative intent behind the Resolution, the international community needs to step up efforts at all levels to enable meaningful participation by women and girls from the grassroots in decision-making processes. Efforts to include women are too often ad-hoc and tokenistic; the voices of women worst affected by conflict should be heard.

Second, we believe that progress on UNSCR 1325’s “relief and recovery” pillar has been inadequate, but that with the UN World Humanitarian Summit process underway, the time is ripe for efforts to reform the humanitarian system to better protect, assist and empower women and girls in emergencies.

Third, the new Sustainable Development Goals and the Women, Peace and Security agenda beyond 2015 need to be complementary and mutually reinforcing. There are documented good practices upon which to build, such as the use of Gender Markers in humanitarian response; participatory approaches to the National Action Plan on 1325 in Nepal; and the use of “Community Score Cards” to promote more effective service delivery and state-citizen relations in Rwanda.  In the years following 2015, we need to take these experiences to scale.

The changing nature of conflict has placed numerous demands on peace operations, giving more emphasis to multidimensionality and the need to increase women participation as well as mainstream gender issues in a mission environment. Women peacekeepers have proven that they can perform the same roles, to the same standards and under the same difficult conditions, as their male counterparts.  It is also important to note that there has been an increased commitment by the African Union (AU) reflected through several AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) open sessions on women, peace and security and deployment of gender officers to its peace operation mission. The commitment by the UN Security Council is exemplified through the resolutions like 1325,1820, 1888, 1960, 1889, 2106, and 2122  which have supported gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping. Despite these gains, there are considerable challenges in mainstreaming gender considerations into UN and AU peace operations. Overall the UN system, the Security Council, the AU and all Member States must more consistently address women, peace and security issues across their work in order to meet their obligations.

Women’s peace and security agenda has advanced notoriously in the last 15 years. The adoption of the seven UNSCR on this issue as well as National Action Plans and other regional tools have contributed to the political impulse the WPS agenda has acquired during this period. Nevertheless, there is a long way ahead before the objectives that were clearly set up in 2000 are fully accomplished. This submission will focus on the need to enhance and increase women’s participation in peace processes as these initiatives constitute one of the main collective efforts to put an end to armed conflict.

In spite of the international obligations that States and international organizations have, women continue to be absent or severely underrepresented in peace talks, but it is also worth pointing out that some peace talks that began with no women on the table have undergone important transformations leading to the inclusion of women. The existence of UNSCR 1325 has served in these cases as an important tool for the empowerment of women organizations that have been reinforced in their demands appealing to the States’ international commitments on gender equality and peace.

In recent years, the international community has drawn increasing attention to sexual violence in armed conflict. The Stop Rape Now Campaign saw more coordinated efforts to address sexual violence in armed conflict. But the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict exponentially raised the profile of the issues. However, none of the pillars of the WPS agenda has higher importance than the others. Addressing issues of SGBV is inextricably linked to women’s participation, enhanced participation leads to enhanced protection. 

The first part of this submission will provide examples of how, in fragile states, women’s participation in politics and decision making, justice and security, and peace processes is crucial to addressing sexual and gender based violence (SGBV). The second part of the submission will outline some ongoing barriers to women’s participation in international and local peace processes. The submission concludes with key recommendations for the Global Study.

The recommendations of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) propose a conflict prevention approach throughout the Global Study, in three priority areas: long-term prevention of conflict, human security strategies, and documentation of local women’s voices. For each area we provide examples on a country and regional basis, illustrating how recommendations can be adapted to local realities. While our input relates mainly to the Prevention chapter (VI) of the Study, it also addresses issues that are listed in other chapters (notably chapters II, V and VIII), as well as the theme of security which comes back throughout the Study.
Our recommendations are grounded in our global network of civil society experts and specifically in the perspectives of our regional Gender Focal Points, who keep stressing that implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda needs to build more strongly on women's activism in conflict prevention.

UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) and the broader women, peace and security (WPS) framework has been incredibly important in bringing gender onto the peace and security agenda. It has secured greater attention for women’s participation in peace and security efforts and raised attention to women’s specific needs in conflict-affected countries. It has not, however, resulted in the integration of a gender perspective in peace and security efforts. The term ‘gender’ is used interchangeably with ‘women’. The WPS framework has also not led to a more substantial shift in how the international community approaches peace and security more broadly. As organisations dedicated to building peace, Conciliation Resources, International Alert and Saferworld, we have come together to argue that this undermined the transformative potential of the WPS agenda, namely to change the way we approach peace and security to be more inclusive. 

It is no gainsaying that promoting security should be a priority for every nation (security of lives and properties). Every life counts, male or female, young or old. Security, peace and development are words that intertwine. A country with a high level of security will experience a high level of peace as well as development.

Narayan et al 2000(as cited in GSDRC Applied knowledge services 2015) opines that safety, security, and justice are of paramount concerns to citizens and these include a stable income, consistent housing, clothing and food supplies as part of the predictability of daily life, protection from crime and psychological security.

Narayan et al 2000;DFID 2007(as cited in GSDRC Applied knowledge services 2015) states “women, men, girls and boys often have different safety, security and justice perceptions, experiences and needs that require targeted responses. For example, insecurity and injustice contribute to gender-based discrimination and social exclusion as a result of women’s inadequate property rights, unequal access to assets and discriminatory social norms and power structures”.

 When there is a bridge in security a nation creates room for violence, citizens tend to be less patriotic and it becomes a situation of all man for himself, one tends to forget the promise and loyalty to the nation. Eno .A. Fred at the HMGF Peace and Conflict Resolution Talk 2014 states “Our promise as a nation, what I call ‘The Nigerian Promise’, remains a distant dream for too many of our compatriots today. We are citizens, yet settlers in the same space we are supposed to protect and preserve as one. How we continue to function as indigenous citizens of Nigeria and yet cannot be indigenes within the same territorial space called  Nigeria because I moved from point A to point B is truly the biggest oxymoron of all times. Yet we claim to be building one Nigeria… When citizens work in harmony towards set objectives and the common ideals which they all consider noble and just, they inspire one another. In a nutshell, this is what true PATRIOTISM is all about.”

The aim of this paper is to elucidate on the various roles women play in the peace and security initiatives. It shows how extreme violence that women suffer during armed conflict does not arise solely out of the conditions of war; it is directly related to the violence that exists in women's lives during peacetime. Throughout the world, women experience violence whether physical, psychological and sexual because they are women, and often because they suffer the imbalances of power relations. This essay explains the role of women in peace making initiatives, peacekeeping and peace building and the role of women as armed combatants.   The essay also explains the regional and international instruments that guide women in Peace and security processes.

Post-conflict peacebuilding processes present major opportunities for advancing women’s rights and gender equality. But a gender perspective needs to be more effectively operationalised in post-conflict institutions and peacebuilding processes. A key challenge for the United Nations (UN) and its member states in progressing the women, peace and security agenda in post-conflict settings is bridging the gap between the interdependent political and economic security pillars of peacebuilding.

This policy brief suggests concrete ways to mainstreaming gender equality and women’s empowerment in post-conflict processes, building on the UN secretary-general’s 2010 seven-point plan on women’s participation in peacebuilding. 

Over the last two decades, gender mainstreaming has been adopted in a variety of forms, creating both opportunities and risks for advancing women's rights and gender equality. This policy brief reviews a selection of gender-mainstreaming practices implemented in the context of peace and security, and assesses their potential impact. It further calls for a more transformative model of gender mainstreaming that would utilize a gender perspective to challenge existing frameworks. For this to be achieved, the policy recommendations include the participation of women and women's organizations in designing and implementing gender-mainstreaming policies and the involvement of UN Women in strengthening the relationship between governments, and civil society in delivering gender-mainstreaming programs.

The submission briefly outlines Canada's National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and the response of Canadian civil society organizations. It includes 3 recommendations on building better NAPs arising from this experience.

The discrimination faced by lesbians is greater than the discrimination faced by heterosexual women because lesbians are discriminated against both as women and as lesbians. What distinguishes the human rights violations of Lesbians is based firstly on misogyny and then on homophobia. The combination of misogyny and homophobia results in an intensification of discrimination, harassment and vilification that is greater than that against heterosexual women, gay men and transgendered people. Lesbians’-born-female, raised as girls, rights are not protected under the umbrella term of GLBTI and will be seriously disadvantaged by the inclusion of gender identity. It is the experience of lesbians that the idea of ‘gender’ hides misogyny and lesbophobia and it is because of this that the authors of this submission, on behalf of Erinyes, focus specifically on ‘gender identity’. 

The implementation of the women, peace and security resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) faces ongoing challenges. National action plans (NAPs) have been developed as a means to address the implementation gap, with 40 such NAPs developed by UN member states to date. NAPs aim to enable states’ commitments under the various UNSC resolutions to become the actions they take in both domestic and foreign policy. Stand-alone NAPs offer significant opportunity to advance the national implementation of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. They also present risks, however, most notably in terms of how strategic provisions of the various WPS resolutions are translated into actions in an action plan. Successful implementation of the WPS agenda is thus not just contingent on the adoption of an NAP, but the proper implementation of that NAP. This policy brief provides an overview of the key opportunities and constraints presented by NAPs and the action planning process itself, and concludes with a range of recommendations for enhancing the development and implementation of NAPs for the overall fulfilment of the WPS agenda.

This expert analysis evaluates the current state of the United Nations’ Women, Peace and Security agenda, with particular focus on three themes drawn from the most recent UN Security Council resolution (UNSCR) (S/RES/2122): the articulation of a whole-of-UN mandate for improving performance in the implementation of UNSCR 1325; the importance of civil society inclusion at all stages of peace and security governance, including conflict resolution and peace negotiations; and the upcoming High-Level Review that will take place in 2015 on the 15th anniversary of the adoption of UNSCR 1325.

Colombia has incorporated gender perspectives and women’s inclusion to varying degrees in DDR processes for multiple armed groups. Starting in 2003, the government implemented an innovative reintegration policy based on more expansive "second generation DDR” processes, which focus on both combatants and the larger communities affected by armed violence. Yet, as is common around the world, significantly fewer eligible females than males participate in these programs.

The following recommendations address how to design an inclusive program for the reintegration of former FARC combatants. While the current peace talks in Havana are primarily focused on “dejar las armas” (leaving behind weapons), many of these worldwide best practices should apply to the resulting program. Learning from these global insights and recognizing their potential relevance to the Colombian context will maximize chances for a successful transition.

2015 The Netherlands - Civil Society input

Global Study on Women Peace & Security 

As the UK launched the first Global Summit to End Sexual Violence, Summit organizers pledged to “situate this issue within the broader women, peace, and security agenda,” which means engaging women not just as victims or beneficiaries but as vital partners whose leadership is integral to devised solutions. This is an important step. Only when women are fully integrated into decision making related to peace and security will we see a substantial shift against the widespread use of rape as a weapon of war. As the world prepared for the largest-ever gathering on this topic, The Institute for Inclusive Security discusses three critical strategies for ensuring women's leadership as the key to ending sexual violence in conflict.

This is a brief account of the Annual Civil Society Dialogue and Report Card process in Australia, improving the engagement between civil society and governmenty on the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. 

The last two decades have seen a dramatic transformation in the Security Council’s (Council) role in advancing and enforcing international humanitarian law (IHL). The changing nature of armed conflict, the universal acceptance of human rights, the calcification of certain precepts of international law into jus cogens, and advances in international law have all redefined the limits of state sovereignty and influenced the modern understanding of the Council’s mandate under the United Nations Charter (Charter).

Within this new paradigm, the Council has made protecting civilians in armed conflict central to its duty to maintain international peace and security. As part of this effort, the Council has passed a series of resolutions addressing the impact of armed conflict on women and the use of sexual violence in conflict (Women, Peace and Security Series, WPS Series).Despite these efforts, the resolutions have failed to achieve one of the Council’s main goals – ending sexual violence perpetrated against women in armed conflicts around the world.

The chapter, Women, Peace and Security, in the forthcoming publication, Security Council in the Age of Human Rights, examines the Council’s actions in the WPS Series against its duties to act under the evolving imperatives of IHL, in particular those rules considered jus cogens. The chapter argues that the Council has a duty to take stronger and more effective measures to address sexual violence against girls and women in armed conflict, in order to successfully deter its use.

The Asia Pacific Region has had some of the most intractable and longest running conflicts anywhere in the world. Eighty-two percent of conflicts in the region since 1948 have been internal conflicts[1], although many have had inter-state and even regional and international dimensions. Many of  the conflicts are also sub-national armed conflicts[2] which are not formally recognized and do not therefore benefit from any formal peace negotiations or efforts to end the violence and address their deep-rooted origins as part of peace initiatives.

The online discussion on UNSCR 1325 was undertaken against this changed backdrop and renewed push for State obligation. A core focus of the dialogue was to lead the discussions to how  in going forward the WPS agenda can get  more strongly informed by a rights based approach and issues of conflict transformation and peace building are necessarily understood and articulated using a human rights and justice lens. The discussions were clustered around four primary issues of concern - militarization, security, categories of women, accountability and access to justice.

A. Militarization:

• A strong critique that has come from the women’s movement is that although UNSCR 1325 in itself is grounded on strong feminist politics the way it has been used is different. Increasingly UNSCR 1325 has been used as a management tool- of making wars safe rather than questioning the structural causes of wars and armed conflicts and its long term impact, or of new partnerships and alliances that are forged to keep wars going and the sinister crimping of women’s rights through these alliances. 
• The participants pointed out that it is difficult to draw lines between short and long term implications of militarization. In the short term militarization impacts upon the bodily security of women and in the long term it affects their livelihood and takes away their rights. For indigenous women it is their right to forests and land. This dispossession makes them extremely vulnerable making them dependent and rob them of their autonomy. It was pointed out that one of the biggest problems faced by indigenous communities (especially women) in Bangladesh and most other countries is the mainstreaming of militarization in society and of the military being in charge of so many vital sectors including ‘law and order’. In many other countries in the Asia Pacific undergoing internal and protracted armed conflict civilian spaces and institutions have gradually and silently got  militarized which has serious and extremely alarming implications for women and human rights defenders. Export and trade in arms is essential to militarism and militarization and this has increased exponentially in many countries in the region. In addition in situations of prolonged and intractable armed conflict there has been huge proliferation of arms including small arms in the communities which has contributed significantly towards heightened levels of violence in the community with women being especially impacted. Militarization therefore implies a system of governance, in or without uniform, where the voices of people are either curbed or silenced and in many instances through constitutional means.
• In a post war scenario the issue is even more problematic. In situations where a war is militarily ended and there have been records of gross human rights violations as in Sri Lanka, civil society organizations and human rights defenders become particularly vulnerable. Security and intelligence agencies establish well-oiled surveillance and monitoring system capitalizing on the vulnerabilities of different groups of people which leads to erosion of trust within communities making it difficult to rebuild social networks. Surveillance by the military restricts activities of civil society and makes human rights work extremely difficult. In a post war scenario there is huge economic gains to be made and increasing nexus is being forged between the military and corporations for economic activities.
• Finally concerns were raised about the review of UNSCR 1325 implementation and numbers. One indicator of how UNSCR 1325 is being implemented focus on the percentage of women in the military. Increased numbers of women is viewed as 'progress'. This is especially problematic in countries that are experiencing ethnic/religious conflict. It is critical to have a more nuanced understanding of the politics of actively recruiting women from certain communities into the military and the way in which it impacts broader political issues at the heart of the conflict especially when the conflict was drawn along ethnic divides. 

B. Security:

• Concerns were raised over the securitization of women’s rights as a result of their inclusion in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. The participants reiterated that the security discourse for women is essentially about comprehensive human security and goes move beyond a narrow military or state centric preoccupation and articulates the concerns of women whose voices are marginalized in the mega narratives of conflict analysis and peace building. This analysis is totally missing in the implementation of UNSCR 1325. The tools that are used to measure UNSCR 1325 implementation do not give adequate importance to socio-economic vulnerability in the post-war context, which makes women open to vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, especially in a militarized context. It was pointed out that in villages of post conflict Nepal, security has been equated with establishment of new police posts, which were destroyed during the conflict, with the help of the Peace Trust Fund. These police posts are nowhere capable of ensuring security for those who need food, shelter and treatment for their physical and mental well being.
• Many participants strongly surfaced the need to work with UNSCR 1325+ and CEDAW together as CEDAW is legally binding while resolutions are political commitment. The adoption of CEDAW General Recommendation 30 which brings in the issue of extra territoriality this need is especially critical and strategic in post conflict “development” agendas and scenarios. It was suggested that whatever one chooses as the specific focus, women need to put their respective ideas within the general systemic framework of all forms as integral to militarized security and the urgency of women's participation in all aspects of security policy making as essential to conceptualizing and implementing plans to demilitarize security.

C. The vulnerability and agency of different categories of women in the conflict continuum

• As anywhere else women in WPS  are not a homogenous group but include  very diverse categories such as  peacemakers, combatants, sympathizers, human rights defenders, survivors of sexual violence etc. This diversity with diverse needs, voices and perspectives has often been missing in UNSCR 1325 work. Views from both Nepal and Sri Lanka clearly pointed out the need for a more nuanced, sensitive and culturally relevant handling of sexual violence in conflict and that this has not been adequately done so. On the other hand in recent years, the Security Council has come under considerable criticism of having uneven focus on protecting women from sexual violence with the adoption of a number of UNSCRs on women, peace and security at the expense of promoting women’s participation in decision-making. A participant opined that one of the rare positive impacts of armed conflict on gender relations is the increased movement, mobility and opportunities for women in political spaces for leadership in constructing and reconstructing peace in the society during conflict and post conflict situations. However policy makers before and after UNSCR 1325, have continued to focus and perpetuate women as victims without an adequate acknowledgment of their agency. Additional resolutions on WPS were added in successive years by the Security Council without first focusing on the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and primarily reaffirming women's victimhood and sexualized violence. Additionally when women do come forward to report the legal processes fail them. A participant pointed out that while protection is important, protection without accountability only leads to further impunity for sexual violence. Participants especially from Sri Lanka emphasized that existing formal legal systems in countries cannot handle sexual violence cases in war-affected countries.
• The other group that featured in the discussions was women combatants of armed rebel groups. It was pointed out that women combatants are especially vulnerable and extremely disempowered in a post conflict scenario. Many join revolutionary groups aspiring for ‘equality’ and ‘justice’ and challenging patriarchal hierarchies but are pushed back into stereotypical gender roles when the ‘revolution’ ends. Furthermore sexual violence experienced by women combatants who are perceived to have transgressed traditional and accepted gender and societal norms are even less reported or justice sought. In any peace negotiation or peace agreement justice and redress for sexual violence for ex women combatants or other non party women never feature.

D. Issues around access to justice and accountability

• The main discussions that ensued under this category were the issue of disappearances which somehow do not feature under UNSCR 1325 and the other is the issue of violations by non stat actors. It was pointed out that women seeking truth and accountability have reached nowhere and that women can only play leadership roles in peace building if there is a sense and promise of justice in their personal lives. Women urgently need justice and closure regarding disappearances of family members. A participant from Nepal added a word of caution saying that although it is important to use UNSCR 1325 but one should not conflate its importance. Nepal’s 33 per cent women members in the Constituent Assembly did not happen because of UNSCR 1325 but because of the political parties. Therefore it could be useful to recognize and identify national transformative opportunities for gender justice. Another participant however added that even while looking at national opportunities one needs to be discerning. There is an urgent need to restructure the governance system which was present before conflict, replacing those who were in charge of security forces during the conflict otherwise there can be no justice. Women cannot seek justice regarding ‘missing’ family members from the very people who made them ‘disappear’.
• The second focus was on the issue of non state actors. A participant stressed that she believes at this moment, one of the most complex issues in contemporary concerns in human rights discourse is killings by non-state actors. She pointed out that the Security Council perceived ‘peace for women' as something achievable by militaristic approach but  however in reality it created chains of armed non-state groups victimizing women further. International laws and policies or customs are yet to come up with structures that can hold non-state actors accountable and end the impunity enjoyed by them. Broadly defined as armed groups that operate beyond state control the category of non state actors cannot be readily placed under a clear definition and this increases the complexity. There is therefore an urgent and critical need for the adoption of legal structures like International Criminal Court as that would be another route of addressing issues of justice and accountability under Women, Peace and Security.

The adoption of UNSCR 1325 has undoubtedly brought about greater attention, yet there continue to be huge gaps in the actual implementation of UNSCR 1325 + and the Global Study provides a much needed  opportunity to highlight some of these glaring gaps and recommend strategies for the full realization of the transformative potential of UNSCR 1325 and for its effective implementation. 

The more recent adoption of CEDAW General Recommendation 30 on Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post Conflict situations in October 2013 is of immense significance   in the work on WPS and is rightly being looked upon as a game changer for it finally creates a cohesive link between the issue of peace building and conflict transformation with issues of human rights, gender equality and gender justice. More importantly it reins in the issues of accountability and state obligation from the margins and makes it central to the WPS agenda. Using the provisions and analysis laid out in GR 30 we would therefore like to make the following recommendations for consideration to the Independent Expert.

The CEDAW Framework - As women’s human rights and peace activists we see the adoption of CEDAW GR 30 as a landmark victory of our struggles as it brings back to the WPS agenda the fundamental and crucial elements of gender equality and women’s rights perspective that either got diluted or got completely missed in UNSCR 1325 over these last fifteen years. GR 30 prioritizes protecting women’s human rights at all times and advancing substantive equality before, during and after armed conflict and makes it central to the WPS agenda.
Definition of Conflict - For the Asia Pacific region which has some of the longest running conflicts many of which are sub national in nature and do not often get recognized as conflicts. CEDAW GR 30’s definition is particularly significant specifically to the Asia Pacific region for these long drawn, intractable conflicts in the region have perpetuated a culture of impunity and violations against women have taken on different ramifications.
Different Categories of Women and their diverse needs and vulnerabilities - CEDAW GR 30 reiterates that in a situation of conflict it is important to understand that women are not a homogenous group and are not only passive bystanders or victims.  “They have historically and continue to have a role as combatants, as part of organized civil society, human rights defenders, members of resistance movements and as active agents in both formal and informal peace building and recovery processes”.

Amongst these diverse categories of women we note with concern that the needs and special vulnerabilities of women ex combatants and women human rights defenders have received the least attention in the last 15 years of UNSCR 1325. While they play  leadership  and other important roles during the period of conflict, in transition or post conflict recovery processes the  voices of women combatants are silenced or marginalized or they are forced to fit into gender stereo typed reintegration packages without an understanding of the challenges of fitting back into roles that they have left behind. Furthermore in post conflict scenario women ex-combatants are objectified and excluded in various peace building processes by both civil society and state. In addition we are especially concerned about the vulnerabilities of women human rights defenders who challenge gender discriminatory practices and customary laws within communities or take on politically contested  issues like ‘disappearances’ extra judicial killings and other human rights violations. These are especially relevant in the context of the ethno centric or protracted nature of conflicts in the Asia Pacific region.

The issue of ‘disappearances’, ‘missing people’ and extra judicial killings are core concerns of women in situations of protracted armed conflict. UNSCR 1325 has not recognized this need and the urgency of addressing it.

Extraterritorial Obligations: One of the most critical and relevant issues highlighted by CEDAW GR 30 is the  issue of extraterritorial obligations of the State which applies to all persons within their effective control even if not within the territory  so far as their actions affect the human rights of others. This is of great and special relevance in the Asia Pacific context, and has long term implications for ending the protracted and cyclical nature of conflicts and is especially crucial in post conflict stabilization processes. 

Accountability of Non State actors:  GR 30 brings in the issue of non state actors which is one of the most complex issues of accountability in the present contexts of war and conflicts and resonates well with the challenges confronting peace building in the Asia Pacific region. The non state actors include armed groups, paramilitaries, corporations, private military contractors, organized criminal groups and vigilantes.
Conflict Prevention:

One of the weaker and less focused areas of the WPS agenda is the issue of conflict prevention which is especially important for ending the long drawn conflicts in the region. As pointed out by feminists from the region - ‘When natural resources, not only energy resources but also key minerals, primary products, and narcotics, are at the center of militarized struggles for power, conflicts tend to take longer to resolve and its internationalization makes resolution even more complicated to achieve, as political struggle over legitimate grievances becomes enmeshed with economic greed’.

Above all though we are deeply concerned that in these last 15 years UNSCR 1325 has become more a management tool of making wars and conflicts safe for women rather than addressing the root causes and politics of wars and conflicts. We strongly urge that in going forward the priority is on Peace” with justice which necessarily entails addressing the complex and often uncomfortable reasons for the continuum of wars and conflicts. 

The West is now becoming more aware of the widespread genital modification done abroad, with attention especially centring on the highly controversial practice of "female circumcision," which involves mutilation of the labia majora and/or labia minora and clitoris. Far less publicity however is given to the practice in Western medicine of surgically reassigning an intersex infant to be an anatomical match with (what is regarded as standard) male or female, irrespective of the child’s true sex or gender identity. One part of this process involves reconstructive surgery of the genitalia of male infants which also involves the removal of the gonads and consequent fertility. Inherent in his procedure is the attitude that an infertile, surgically constructed ‘female’ is preferable to a fertile, underdeveloped male. This speaks loudly to assert that “female” is the best option for a “failed” male.

Bangladesh is a signatory to a number of international conventions intended to secure women’s rights. Drawing from various international human rights instruments, such as the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007; the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, 1979 (CEDAW); the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, 1993 (DEVAW) this report examines selected cases of violence against women and girls in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in 2011 and 2012.  This report also discusses relevant legal contexts and, based on four key principles, provides recommendations to the government and civil society to address violence against women and girls in the region.

The report emphasises that militarisation and transmigration programs illegally settling Bengalis in the CHT that started in full swing from 1976 onwards have created extreme vulnerability and poverty for the Indigenous Peoples, and have deeply affected indigenous women and girls’ safety and security in the CHT.

Impunity has been the single most important factor contributing to increased incidents of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in the CHT. The biases of the administrative, political and judicial systems prevent access to equality and justice by Indigenous Peoples and minorities. This report stresses that the relationship of Indigenous Peoples with law enforcement agencies is vitally important in the CHT. Local authorities and police stations have more political influence and fewer financial resources, both factors that can be obstacles in addressing SGBV.

The CHT has been a conflict zone for a long time. The non realization of all the provisions of the CHT Accord reached between the Government of Bangladesh and the Parbottyo Chattogram Jana Shanghiti Samiti (PCJSS) has resulted in a failure to bring peace and stability to a region which is still ridden by old problems as much as they are
acquiring new dimensions.

The population of the CHT, according to the 2001 census, stands at 1.06 million, which is 0.14 percent of the national population of 129.25 million.1 Over a period of 50 years, the density of population in the area has gone up from 22 per sq. km. in 1951 to 78 in 2001, marking an increase of 354.54 percent. In 1991, the CHT had a population of 0.97
million, of which the Hill people constituted 0.50 million and the Bengalis 0.47 million (Cited in Mohsin 2003). According to the last census (2001), the total number of indigenous people in the country was 1.41 million, while the population of Bangladesh was 129.25 million. The population of Bangladesh increased to 142.6 million in 2007
(BBS, 2008). Another estimate says that the population in the CHT increased to 1.333 million in the 2001 census due to an increasing number of people returning from the neighboring states of India and from other regions of the country.2 The ratio of Bangali and indigenous population is approximately 50-50 on average, but in some regions the
ratio of Bengali settlements to indigenous populations are as high as 70-30.

The demographic pressure of Bangladesh have led to continuous land encroachment over property that has been both privately owned by indigenous people as well as bestowed through customary rights. The institutions such as the Land Commission set up to resolve the land issue have remained weak, unrepresentative of indigenous voice and debates
surrounding them unresolved. On the other hand the internal political dissension and the changing dynamics of society and market have brought in added dimensions of exploitation that has left a once remote part of the country unprepared and vulnerable. It is in this context that I shall discuss the problems of Violence against Women in the
CHT.

In this paper, Amnesty International sets out a series of recommendations addressed to States, urging them to take steps to entrench long-lasting commitments to tackling impunity for sexual and gender-based violence in conflict in domestic law and policy, enhance international coordination and technical assistance, and ensure the empowerment and participation of survivors of these serious crimes under international law.

Since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, dozens of countries have created national policies—often known as national action plans or NAPs—to solidify their commitment to women, peace, and security. As these states strive for effective, impactful implementation of these plans, many, including the US, are embarking on a process of evaluating the impact of their national strategies. Drawing from the examples of several countries that have already undertaken these steps, Inclusive Security has compiled best practice recommendations for the review and revision of NAPs.

Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies struggle to combat militant violence that contributes to political, economic, and social instability. To improve the operational effectiveness of Pakistani forces, the government of Pakistan and international donors must prioritize the recruitment, retention, and professionalization of women in the police. This policy brief summarizes research conducted in Pakistan in October 2013 and February 2014 by Inclusive Security that documents why and how increasing the number and expertise of women in the police force would improve security and counter violent extremism. 

Despite the repeated commitments, the WPS agenda is far from being comprehensively implemented in policy and practice. To achieve effective and sustainable mechanisms of preventing and resolving conflict, UN Member States and agencies must take concrete action in terms of: women’s meaningful participation in all peace and security processes; national and regional implementation of WPS obligations; delivering funding; implementing the prevention pillar; ensuring accountability; and leading by example.

Women’s participation

The equal and full participation of women in all efforts to create international peace and security, and the protection and respect for their human rights, are imperative to prevent or resolve conflicts and build lasting peace. The exclusion of women and the lack of gender analysis lead to a failure to adequately address the full drivers of conflict, threatening the sustainability of agreements and forcing women to have to fight even harder for representation and justice.

We call on Member States and the UN to: establish formal consultative forums with civil society and incentives for parties in all conflicts to include women and gender experts in all negotiation teams; fund the attendance of women civil society at international and regional peace and security meetings including donor conferences; and increase the recruitment, retention, and professionalization of women across all justice and security sectors.

National and regional implementation

The WPS agenda requires full integration within the governing structures and programs of all Member States and regional bodies. This necessitates a commitment to the development, implementation, and review of existing national and regional gender strategies including National Action Plans (NAPs) and Regional Action Plans (RAPs). Such strategies should: increase coordination and mobilization of inter-agency decision makers and resources; institutionalize a civil society engagement process; include the development of strong, results-based monitoring and evaluation mechanisms with clear indicators and timeframes; dedicate specific funding for implementation; comply with international human rights and humanitarian law standards; and commit to gender sensitive laws, policies, practices and institutions. Member States are also encouraged to hold WPS parliamentary debates before the 1325 High Level Review that demonstrate cross-party support for the agenda, provide an update on gender strategies and commit to regular engagement with civil society.

Delivering funding

Increased political support must be matched with greater and more sustained funding for the WPS agenda. Women must have equal access to direct funding as well to resource allocation in decision-making processes.

Member States must: pledge multi-year large-scale financial support for WPS including  programs and for civil society organizations at national, provincial and local levels; ensure core funding within the UN for gender and WPS experts in missions and UN Headquarters (UNHQ); and reduce military spending and redirect this expenditure as called for in the Beijing Platform for Action, which links gender equality and the call for the control of excessive arms spending.

Implementing the prevention pillar

Conflict prevention lies at the core of the WPS agenda, yet too often is not considered with the same level of urgency as conflict resolution and post-conflict rebuilding. The full implementation of SCR 1325 and subsequent WPS resolutions, the promotion of the Beijing Platform for Action, and adherence to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and other international human rights standards provide the roadmap for the prevention of armed conflict and the integration of gender equality across all peace and security efforts.

Member States and the UN must: address the root causes of violence; promote gender equality and invest in women’s human rights, economic empowerment, education and civil society; call on States to stop exporting arms where there is a substantial risk they will be used to commit serious violations of human rights; ratify and implement the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and CEDAW without reservations; support women’s leadership as well as women’s voices and perspectives in efforts to combat, reduce and prevent terrorism and violent extremism; and ensure WPS recommendations are integrated into all multilateral review processes including the Peace Operations Review, Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture, World Humanitarian Summit, Third International Conference on Financing for Development, and the post-2015 development agenda, including the sustainable development goals.

Ensuring accountability

Accountability must be insisted upon for atrocities and human rights violations-including for sexual and gender-based violence and civilian casualties-committed by all non-state armed groups, security forces including UN mandated troops, and contractors. Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) must be urgently tackled as the perpetrators often enjoy complete immunity.

Member States and the UN must: ensure all investigations and prosecutions are survivor centered and conducted in accordance with international standards; mandate pre-deployment training and vetting of all personnel; and recruit and train all Women Protection Advisors (WPA), prioritizing the recruitment of WPAs with previous experience in gender-based violence response.

Leading by example

The highest echelons of UN leadership, within the Secretariat, specialized agencies, programs and funds, as well as peacekeeping and political missions, must be directly responsible and accountable to ensure more consistent and systematic attention, action and follow-up on WPS. In order to advance these efforts, Member States and the entire UN system must support a strong UN structure to deliver on WPS over the next decade with gender expertise built into operational and policy-making entities, field missions, inter-agency initiatives and groups, and in technical expert rosters. These actors must also ensure those entrusted with the office of Secretary-General, as well as all members of the Senior Management Group, Special envoys and representatives, and Senior Mediators have a responsibility in their respective fields to advance a gender perspective and women’s participation.

It is equally important that the Security Council, as the UN body responsible for maintaining international peace and security, leads by example and address its current lack of consistency in implementing the WPS agenda. The Security Council must: ensure WPS is considered as a cross-cutting issue across all of its work by including specific provisions related to women’s rights and women’s participation in all mandates and requesting information and recommendations on issues related to WPS from missions in reports and briefings; calling for gender-sensitive conflict analyses, which identify not only the differentiated impact of conflict on women, girls, men and boys, but also barriers to women’s participation in political, electoral and transitional justice processes, security sectors, and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, to be at the basis of planning and reporting in all missions both internally and externally; and institutionalizing briefings by civil society, the Executive Director of UN Women and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict during meetings on both country-specific and thematic agenda items.

In October, we expect more than a ceremony. We need real action, political will and follow through.

In October 2015, women activists, advocates and women human rights defenders along with UN Member States and agencies will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and the establishment of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.

Despite the rhetoric and repeated commitments, the WPS agenda is far from being comprehensively implemented in policy and practice by Member States and the UN system. Full implementation of the agenda means implementation across all “pillars:” conflict prevention, participation, protection and relief and recovery. Although there has been some progress in recognizing and addressing the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls, this is only one aspect of the WPS agenda. Women’s leadership and their full and equal participation in all efforts to establish international peace and security, and the promotion and respect of their human rights, are imperative to prevent or resolve conflicts and build peace. Whether it be creating initiatives aimed at countering armed violence or the brokering of a peace accord, peace and security processes will not be effective if half the population is left on the sidelines.

Initiatives related to the 15th anniversary, including the High-Level Review, must be more than ceremonial and about recommitments to the principles and transformative potential, and effective implementation, of the WPS agenda. Implementation and operationalization of WPS commitments must be prioritized, and key challenges that have hindered the full adoption of Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions must be immediately addressed and overcome by UN Member States and entities. Commitments made in the lead up to and at the October anniversary must be followed by long-term implementation strategies. To achieve effective results on WPS, the international community must address and take action on the following critical areas:

• Women’s Participation
• National and Regional Implementation
• Financing
• Conflict Prevention
• Accountability
• UN System Leadership

UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions have attempted to redefine the relationships among women, peace and security. For many activists and practitioners, making gender central to peacebuilding and conflict resolution should transform the international peace and security agenda. However, there are indications that women are being integrated into the existing peace and security agenda without any transformation occurring. This policy brief focuses on the conceptual basis of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda in terms of three links: between gender and conflict, between gender and peacebuilding, and between the WPS agenda and feminist visions of peace. It recommends the following:

1. Rather than merely adding women into existing structures and processes, the WPS agenda should strive to transform the international peace and security system.
2. Interventions in conflict/post-conflict situations should not only be informed by a liberal feminist agenda, but also by intersectional and post-colonial feminist analysis.
3. Peacebuilding interventions should also include those women who do not necessarily support liberal agendas.
4. Efforts to strengthen women’s participation in conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction should recognize the diversity of non-violent forms of female political agency.

“Peace starts from the closest place to us - our home, then it takes us further - to our community, then our society, country and world. Men are included in peacebuilding at all of these levels, women are not. Peace, conflict and violence has an impact on us all - women and men - but only men are recognised and included. Only men are asked how conflict affects them and how peace can be built. But we women have the experience and education to tell the world that too. It is our right to be included in peacebuilding so that our homes, communities, societies and countries are free from violence.” - Hasina Safi, Director, Afghan Women’s Network

2015 represents an important moment for gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights. It is twenty years since the landmark Beijing Conference on Women and fifteen years since the ground-breaking United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security was adopted. In light of these key milestones and as the post-2015 development framework is agreed and implemented, three UK Networks – the Gender and Development Network (GADN), Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS), and the Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Network UK - have come together to assess progress and make recommendations for turning the promises made into progress.

Over the last two decades there have been many new commitments and increasing political rhetoric on gender equality and the realisation of rights for women and girls, but limited real progress in achieving either. In our report, Turning Promises into Progress, we conclude that this is, in part, because the underlying causes of gender equality have not been addressed and there was insufficient political will to make the changes needed on the ground.

Part two of the report, including this Women, Peace and Security section which was led by GAPS, looks at progress and challenges across eight areas relevant to gender equality.  While spotlighting specific issues, it is also important to underline the interconnectedness of gender inequality and recognise the underlying causes that impact across issue areas and span political, social, economic, cultural and environmental spheres. The recommendations throughout the report are therefore inter-linked and mutually reinforcing. While the actions are intended to be relevant for all women and girls, specific attention must be given those who are the most marginalised, and who face multiple discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity, sexuality, age, disability and marital status. Recommendations made are aimed at the broader international community with relevance primarily to official international institutions and governments but also to civil society organisations (CSOs) and the private sector. This document is an extract from the report – the issue section on ‘Women, Peace and Security’.

Historically, conflict and peace have been seen as a male-dominated arena with men fighting the battles as well as negotiating and signing the peace deals. Women have typically been viewed as victims in conflict or as having a role to ‘serve’ combatants, such as the estimated 200,000 ‘comfort women’ who were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II. The voices and experiences of women and girls in conflict, peace and security have largely been silenced in both historical records and political discourse. Yet women and girls experience conflict, post-conflict contexts and peacebuilding in ways unique to their gender. Women play varied roles including as combatants, survivors, witnesses, peacekeepers, service providers and change makers. The inclusion of women and girls, and recognition of their experiences, is essential to sustainable peace and ending the cycle of violence.

This report outlines progress made, existing challenges, and key recommendations for how Women, Peace and Security commitments can be implemented in order to Turn Promises into Progress.

An overview of how climate change and natural disasters directly link to conflicts.

As an organisation dedicated to preventing violent conflict, Saferworld is committed to challenging gender norms that cause and perpetuate conflict and insecurity. This submission focuses on the need to give greater attention to the conflict prevention elements of the women, peace and security agenda. UNSCR 1325 affirms “the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts”, yet the ‘prevention’ pillar of the women, peace and security agenda is often narrowly interpreted in practice as referring to the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict, and not to the prevention of conflict itself. This has led to concerns that the transformative potential of the women, peace and security agenda to reduce militarisation and violent conflict has been compromised. This paper argues that gender analysis of conflict must analyse the gender dimensions of conflict drivers as well as the gendered impacts of conflict, and that peacebuilding efforts must address militarised masculinities and femininities that can fuel conflict.