Security Council Open Debate on Threats to International Peace and Security, December 2014

Friday, December 19, 2014

On 19 December 2014, the Security Council held an all-day debate, presided over by the Foreign Minister of Chad, calling upon the international community to act to prevent terrorists from benefiting from transnational organized crime, through securing borders and prosecuting illicit networks. There were 51 speakers in this debate, and a Presidential Statement was adopted (S/RES/2195) which emphasized that international justice systems need to work harder to prevent the funding of terrorist groups through illicit means.

Gender Analysis

Only 10 out of the 51 speakers who briefed the debate included gendered language in their statements, although the adopted Presidential Statement reaffirmed “the need to increase attention to women, peace and security issues in all relevant thematic areas of work on its agenda, including in threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, and noting the importance of incorporating the participation of women and youth in developing strategies to counter terrorism and violent extremism.” Of these 10 speakers, 8 speakers mentioned women in a victim framework- noting the importance of protecting women from violent conflict and trafficking, 3 speakers highlighted the importance of preventing sexual violence and 1 speaker, the ambassador of Sweden, included the protection of women's human rights. Clearly, implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda remains limited and needs to be brought to the forefront of the Council's discussions on the threats to international peace and security.

General Analysis

Under-Secretary General and Chairman of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), Jeffrey Feltman was the first to brief the debate, followed by Téte António, Permanent Observer of the African Union. Mr. Feltman said that “Boko Haram, Al‑Qaida, the Taliban, Da'esh and their sinister peers make it abundantly clear that the pervasive synergies between terrorism and cross-border crimes foster conflicts, prevent their resolution and increase the chance of relapse,” later emphasizing that it was important to have tools which are “relevant and effective against the new face of international terrorism will be essential to protect innocents, resolve conflicts and promote the principles and values of the United Nations.” Mr. Antonio added that Africa was particularly susceptible to the spread of terrorism in part because of poverty and the lack of effective law enforcement. The Presidential Statement, adopted next, noted that terrorists profited from many illegal activities such as “the trafficking of arms, persons, drugs, and artefacts and from the illicit trade in natural resources including gold and other precious metals and stones, minerals, wildlife, charcoal and oil, as well as from kidnapping for ransom and other crimes including extortion and bank robbery.” All speakers noted that more efforts needs to be made to stop the funding for these groups, but none of the speakers expressed concern for the effects of such funding, including the effects of increased militarization on women. There should be more implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda throughout all of the Security Council discussions.


Statements were made by the following countries, those who used gendered language are in bold:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, India, Iraq, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Russia, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine and the United States.

Resources: 

UN Debate Transcript

S/RES/2195