Security Council Monitor

Written by Zainab Alam

On 19 December 2014, in an all-day debate on Threats to International Peace and Security: Terrorism and Cross-Border Crime, the Security Council called 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.

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, mentioned the protection of women's human rights. All speakers noted that more efforts need to be made to prevent funding for terrorist groups, but none of the speakers expressed concern for the effect of such funding and increased militarization on women. Clearly, more effort needs to be made in order to have impactful implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda throughout all of the Security Council discussions.

Under-Secretary General and Chairman of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), Jeffrey Feltman was the first to brief the debate. UN Photo.

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