The Security Council travels to the field several times a year, normally to locations where there is a Council-mandated mission. Security Council Resolution 1325 acknowledged that these missions should “take into account gender considerations and the rights of women, including through consultation with local and international women’s groups.” PeaceWomen will monitor, where information is available, selected missions to analyze the women, peace and security content of the trips and the incorporation of gender issues in the final report.


Recommendations

Provided by the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security:

  • Ensure the context-specific realities of women in the country are reflected in the Terms of Reference of the mission, thus providing clear guidance on the centrality of Women, Peace and Security to the maintenance of peace and security in the regions being visited

  • Ensure the Ambassadors on the mission are well-briefed on the current challenges women’s rights defenders are facing, and that the Ambassadors meet with local civil society actors

  • The final report on the mission should incorporate the spectrum of the challenges women are facing, from violence to structural barriers to participation in social, economic and political spheres

  • The Security Council missions should organize a thematic mission focused on Women, Peace and Security, comprising visits to countries that represent a range of situations. This would ensure Council Members can speak directly with those actors on the ground who know what has worked, and what not worked, in practice.

Facts and Figures

Of the 13 missions taken prior to the adoption of Resolution 1325, the Security Council met with civil society representatives in only 7 missions (53.8%). The Council only met specifically with representatives of women's groups in one mission (7.7%), to Western Sahara, although the final report did not include gender issues.

Since the adoption of Resolution 1325, there have been 27 visits to the field. 

  • In 12 of the 27 missions (44.4%), the published Terms of Reference included gender considerations.

  • In 17 of the 27 missions (63.0%), the Council met with representatives of women's groups. In an additional 3 missions (11.1%)the Council met with members of civil society, but did not specify if women's groups were included.

  • In 22 of the 24 published reports (91.7%), the Council discussed gender considerations, even where the Council did not meet women's groups.

Source: Security Council Report

 

Security Council Missions