Up for Debate: Progress on Implementation of SCR 1325 Four Years On

1. IN CELEBRATION OF THE 50TH ISSUE OF 1325 PEACEWOMEN E-NEWS

Since May 2002, PeaceWomen has been producing the 1325 PeaceWomen E-Newsletter as a means to maintain the momentum and visibility of SCR 1325, to advocate for its full and rapid implementation, and to share information with UN entities, government representatives and civil society actors about the resolution and related women, peace and security issues.

In this 50th issue, we would like to thank our readers, all those who have contributed information, analyses, and shared feedback, and last but not least, our interns and funders, for your continued support.

Comments from our readers:

• Firoze Manji, Editor, Pambazuka News; Director, Fahamu
In Africa, as elsewhere, women's bodies and their lives are the terrain on which cruel conflicts are fought. Recognition of the impact of armed conflict on women, as well as their powerful role in peace-building, has taken long to achieve. But paper recognition is one thing. 1325 PeaceWomen E-News and the PeaceWomen website has played an important role in ensuring that the issues are kept alive and understanding widely promoted. Your newsletter is an important source of information for Pambazuka News. Congratulations on reaching 50!

• Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, UNIFEM
I would like to extend my congratulations to you on the occasion of the 50th issue of 1325 PeaceWomen E-News. This newsletter is of immense value to women everywhere who are working for peace and security, underlining as it does that they are not working alone, but are part of a global endeavor. Good ideas and inspiration are able to reach around the world thanks to your dedication to highlighting these efforts. And your newsletter also helps women make a greater impact by putting them in contact with one another so they can work collectively.

I have watched the collaboration between PeaceWomen and UNIFEM grow stronger over the years and I am grateful to count such a dedicated and hardworking team among our partners. The outreach that PeaceWomen and UNIFEM have undertaken with our complementary portals on women, war and peace – WomenWarPeace.org and PeaceWomen.org – is an integral part of that partnership. And during the 48th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, UNIFEM was glad to participate in the roundtables you convened with women visiting from war-torn regions. I look forward to working together for many years to come.

Thank you for the crucial work you are doing to support and advocate for the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1325, and to forge links among all the women working towards this goal. I am certain that the next 50 issues of 1325 PeaceWomen E-News will be as valuable a resource as the first.

• Joan Link, Head of Conflict Issues Group, UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Congratulations on the 50th issue of Peace Women E-News! I should like to tell you how much the British government values the contribution of civil society to international efforts to create peace and security. I very much welcome the contribution that Peace Women E-News makes to raising awareness of UNSCR 1325. I hope that Peace Women E-News continues to provide the valuable service to all those who need to be made aware of this important resolution. Without initiatives like E-News, it would be difficult to reach those who are in a position to make a difference. I look forward to the next 50 issues, and to those beyond.

• Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, Coordinator, femLINKpacific: Media Initiatives for Women, Fiji
Whenever I think about how I can in improve my efforts to create greater awareness about the experiences and work of women in the Pacific Island region, I know I can rely on women's media networks to help me get the stories out ...and that is what 1325 ENews means to me and the work of femLINKpacific (I sometimes wish we were already in our own women's community media centre so that we could contribute and share more ...but that is all part of the future);

1325 ENews has been a chance to share stories from the "not so peaceful" Pacific region, and it has also helped spread the word about our developments with women's community media here in Fiji - I was overwhelmed when the expert paper on the need for gender senstive ICTs referred to our own femTALK 89.2FM ...and where did they hear about it? Via 1325 Enews!!!

What is also great for more, is that 1325 ENews is not just about the 'soft stories' of women and peace efforts, but it looks beyond women's
traditional roles as peacebuilders and with her roots in '1325' it is an inspiration to those of us who wish to strengthen and advance the role of women in the peace and security sector!

I feel so much more connected at a personal level with the developments around the implementation of 1325, as well as the women who stay in touch with us via the ENews and also on the implementation of 1325 and I wish more women in our network were able to access email and your Enews…maybe we can see how we could possibly start using the enews bulletins at THE NEWS on femTALK 89.2FM's future broadcasts...anyway, my sincere congratulations and deepest appreciation for all the efforts.

The above remarks are also available at: http://www.peacewomen.org/news/1325News/50thissuecomments.html

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2. THE FINAL DAYS OF WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY MONTH - OCTOBER 2004

28 OCTOBER 2004:
Open Meeting of the Security Council on Women, Peace and Security – Strengthening the UN's response to gender-based violence in conflict/post-conflict situations
UN Headquarters, Security Council, 10am
Speakers: Jean-Marie Guehenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations; Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Agathe Rwankuba, Reseau des Femmes pour la Defense des Droits et la Paix (Women's Network for the Protection of Human Rights and Peace), Bukavu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director, UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

Ms. Rwankuba's participation marks the first time a woman from civil society is addressing the UN Security Council.
For the speaking schedule for the Debate, CLICK HERE.

PeaceWomen will compile and post all of the statements made in the Security Council Open Debate on www.PeaceWomen.org.

29 OCTOBER 2004:
Gender and Peacekeeping: Practical Tools for Change
Department of Peacekeeping Operations
UN Headquarters, UN Conference Room 5
DPKO will launch its Gender Resource Package, which provides guidance for integrating a gender perspective in peacekeeping operations. The Gender Resource Package addresses all functional areas of peacekeeping including gender issues in the military, police, humanitarian and electoral assistance. The panelists will be: Mr. Hedi Annabi, Assistant Secretary-General, DPKO (Chair); Ms. Kiran Bedi, Police Adviser, Civilian Police Division, DPKO; Ms. Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, UNIFEM; H.E. Mr. Anders Liden, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations; Ms. Nadine Puechguirbal, Senior Gender Officer, UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti; and Ms. Agathe Rwankuba, Legal Advisor to the Women's Network for the Protection of Human Rights and Peace, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

PeaceWomen's October 2004 calendar is available at: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/4thAnniversary/Oct04calendar.html

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3. 1325 TRANSLATION UPDATE: DARI, PUNJABI AND URDU TRANSLATIONS NOW AVAILABLE

TOTAL NUMBER OF AVAILABLE TRANSLATIONS: 51

We recently received three new translations of 1325 - in Dari, Punjabi and Urdu.

The Dari translation was completed by: Parvina Nadjibulla, UN Representative, Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church.

To contact Ms. Nadjibulla, email: pnadjibu@gbgm-umc.org.

The Punjabi and Urdu translations of 1325 were completed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Translation and Interpreting Services, and funded by the UN Strategy of the Global Conflict Prevention Pool, a joint enterprise between the FCO, Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Department for International Development (DFID).

As mentioned in previous issues of the newsletter, the UK FCO Translation and Interpreting Services agreed to translate 1325 into 9 languages, and send them to the WILPF PeaceWomen Project for circulation via 1325 PeaceWomen E-News and www.PeaceWomen.org, among other networks. Having received the Punjabi and Urdu translations, we are now awaiting: Amharic (Ethiopia); Kirundi (Burundi); Kurdish – Kirmanji; Kinyarwanda (Rwanda); Shona (Zimbabwe); Swahili (E. Africa); and Vietnamese.

To view the 51 available translations, CLICK HERE.

If you know of existing translations or potential translators, please contact sarah@peacewomen.org.

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4. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY NEWS

FIJI ISLANDS/BOUGAINVILLE: 4TH ANNIVERSARY OF UN SC 1325 WILL BE A LOW KEY COMMEMORATION FOR WOMEN'S PEACE GROUPS
October 28, 2004 - (femLINKpacific) "The 4th anniversary celebrations has been postponed as there is still no funding," said an email from Helen Hakena, of the Leitan Neihan Women's Development Agency in Buka, Bougainville. She was referring to the plans that had been collectively drawn up by the Women, Peace and Security Board members in Bougainville on Friday 8th October, however the WPS Board is still keen to stage the regional level commemoration, as soon as funds were available, according to Pamela Meura who is the current Executive Coordinator of the Bougainville Provincial Women's Council, also a member organisation of the WPS Board.

AFGHANISTAN: STRONG SHOWING BY WOMEN VOTERS
October 22, 2004 - (IWPR) In three Afghan provinces—Faryab, Daikundi and Nuristan - more women than men turned out to cast ballots for president during elections October 9.

SUDAN: UN EXPERT SPEAKS OUT ON RAPE IN DARFUR
October 20, 2004 - (IRIN- Nairobi) Sexual violence and rape of women and girls in the western Sudanese region of Darfur should be considered a war crime, Pamela Shifman, a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) adviser on violence and sexual exploitation, was reported as saying on Tuesday.

GENDER BALANCE IN UN PEACEKEEPING HAS IMPROVED, ANNAN SAYS
October 19, 2004 - (UN) In the four years that have elapsed since the Security Council voted to improve the ratio of women to men dealing with peace and security issues, the greatest progress has been made in United Nations peacekeeping missions, Secretary-General Kofi Annan say

IRAQ: SHIELDING WOMEN FROM A RENEWAL OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
October 14, 2004 – (NY Times) A sampling of the smashed lives in this city's first shelter for battered women shows just how much work its founder, Yanar Mohamed, has before her.

COLOMBIA: WOMEN'S BODIES USED AS A BATTLEGROUND
October 13, 2004 – (Amnesty) By sowing terror, exploiting and manipulating women for military gain, armed groups in Colombia have turned women's bodies into a battleground.

HAITI: ONE WOMAN AT A TIME
October 2004 - (Ms. Magazine) Ercia Guillaume is lucky. A maid for a Haitian businessman in the city of Les Cayes, she enjoys “luxuries” few Haitians encounter: daily food, a steady income, 24-hour electricity (via her employer's generator), a safe place to sleep. She has also been spared the brutal act women have faced throughout Haiti's history of turmoil: rape

BOUGAINVILLE: FEMTALK ENEWS BOUGAINVILLE SPECIAL EDITION
October 2004 (femLINKPacific) This edition features an update on the Bougainville Women, Peace and Security Board, including their plans for the 4th anniversary of Resolution 1325.

For more country-specific women, peace and security news, CLICK HERE

For more international women, peace and security news, CLICK HERE

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5. FEATURE REPORTS - REVIEWING IMPLEMENTATION OF SCR 1325

Secretary-General's Report on women, peace and security
13 October 2004

“This report provides illustrative examples of the progress achieved thus far and identifies gaps and challenges in the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), as well as recommendations for further action which the Security Council and other actors may wish to consider. It is based on [25] contributions from Member States and [32] entities of the United Nations system...”

The report addresses the following thematic areas: intergovernmental processes; conflict prevention and early warning; peace processes and negotiations; peacekeeping operations; humanitarian response; post-conflict reconstruction; and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration; and provides a focused analysis on “preventing and responding to gender-based violence in armed conflict.” The report also highlights five common challenges to further enhancing the implementation of SCR 1325: gender balance in recruitment; preventing and responding to sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarian and peacekeeping personnel; coordination and partnership; monitoring and reporting; and information dissemination and exchange.

For the full Secretary-General's report in English, Spanish and French, CLICK HERE.

The recommendations from the Secretary-General's report have also been compiled into a user-friendly 1-page handout, which is available at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/wps/sg2004.htm

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Four Years On: An Alternative Report and Progress Check on the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 - Findings and Recommendations for United Nations Member States and United Nations Entities from Women's Civil Society Organizations”
NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG), October 2004

This report provides United Nations Member States, including UN Security Council members, insight into the ways in which women's civil society organizations have been utilizing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325) since its unanimous adoption four years ago. Based on qualitative information collected from civil society, governments and UN organizations and agencies, this report makes five central recommendations to advance the systematic implementation of SCR 1325. Many of these recommendations support existing calls for action on SCR 1325.

For the full report, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ngo/ngopub/FourYearsOnOct04.pdf

For information about the NGOWG, CLICK HERE.

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Shadow Report: Related to the “Report of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany on the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)”
Women's Security Council, Germany, October 2004

This “shadow report” prepared by the Women's Security Council relates to the report of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 from 2004. The federal government's report was written for the UN Secretary General.

Approximately 50 women belong to the Women's Security Council, which was founded in March 2003. These women come from political organizations involved in peace and development, as well as from political foundations and peace studies institutes. From the Council's perspective, its main task is to critically accompany the federal government during its two-year membership on the UN Security Council and especially to observe the implementation of Resolution 1325.

For the full report, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/1325/WomenSCGermany2004.pdf

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Women, Peace and Security: Fourth Anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325
Amnesty International, October 2004

This report is a preliminary analysis of the extent to which UN SC Resolution 1325 has been implemented in eight conflict or post-conflict situations, with a focus on the 4 principal themes of the Resolution - protection of women's human rights in armed conflict, the fight against impunity for violence against women, gender-sensitive peace-keeping, and women's increased participation in issues related to peace-building and peace-keeping.

For the full report, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/1325/AI13252004.pdf

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COMING SOON

Alternative Report on Canada's Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325
Gender and Peacebuilding Working Group, Canadian Peacebuilding Coordinating Committee (CPCC), October 2004
http://www.peacebuild.ca/working/?load=gender

Canadian Civil Society Response to Canada's Report on the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security
Gender and Peacebuilding Working Group, CPCC, October 2004
http://www.peacebuild.ca/working/?load=gender

For more resources on SCR 1325, visit PeaceWomen's 1325 Resources Index at: http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/1325/1325index.html

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6. FEATURE STATEMENTS

Arria Formula Meeting on Women, Peace and Security
United Nations Headquarters, New York, 21 October 2004
On 21 October 2004, the government of Benin, as a member of the Security Council, hosted an Arria Formula meeting, an informal, off-the-record meeting, on women, peace and security in order to mark the anniversary of UNSC Resolution 1325. All 15 members of the Council attended the meeting, and there was significant attendance by Permanent Representatives and Deputy Permanent Representatives from the Missions.

The Council heard from the following presenters:

• Saran Daraba Kaba, Founding President, Mano River Women's Peace Network (MARWOPNET)
Statement currently unavailable

• Gerry Martone, International Rescue Committee (IRC)
Coming soon

• Espérance Kanani, President, Ndabaga Association, Rwanda
…Ici, honorable assemblée, je voudrais porter votre attention sur l'importance d'implique les femmes ex-combattantes dans les missions de maintien de la Paix des Nations Unies. Il est en effet surpernant de voir les problèmes liés au genre que les missions de maintien de la Paix rencontrent et de voir combien les femmes sont peu représentées dans ce genre de missions. Je voudrais profiter de l'honneur qui m'a été donné d'adresser cette assemblée, pour insister et demander que le Secrétariat General des Nations unies , en respect à la résolution 1325, urge les gouvernements à renforcer la présence des femmes à tous les niveaux des missions ayant trait à la paix.

Nous sommes convaincues, nous les ex-combattantes, que nous pouvons dans ce domaine apporter une contribution à la reflection sur les modalites de cette participation et de la mise en application de la résolution 1325…

For the full statement by Espérance Kanani, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/4thAnniversary/EkananiArria2004.doc
(Currently available only in French)

• Shqipe Malushi, Executive Director, Albanian American Women's Organization
Statement currently unavailable

• Suzanne Samson Jambo, NGO Coordinator, New Sudanese Indigenous Network
I thank the Council for focusing attention on Sudan and passing recent Resolutions 1502, 1547, 1556, and 1564. But we women are concerned that these resolutions say nothing about women's participation. You even referred to 1325 in resolution 1556 – and yet not enough is being done to ensure the inclusion of women in peace negotiations. Neither negotiating party, nor the regional mediators have honoured 1325. Even the International Partners Forum (IPF) has not included women. To my knowledge, none of the UN bodies present in Sudan have conducted training on or dissemination of Resolution 1325 at any level…

Also in accordance with 1325, we ask that any UN, AU, or international peacekeepers have a mandate to protect civilians and be fully sensitive togender issues. Local women's groups should be called upon to provide training and work with missions to ensure sensitivity and effective protection…

As the Security Council, you will be meeting in Nairobi in November 2004. We ask that you consult with Sudanese women's groups. We ask that you address gender issues in all future debates and forthcoming resolutions. That you request information regularly about the status of women in Sudan. That you call on all parties involved in ongoing IGAD, Abuja, and Cairo processes to ensure the full participation of women in all decision-making forums. We further ask that you ensure that the IPF has women representatives. And that the Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) includes women in its structures, allocates equal resources for women's needs, and most critically, consults with Sudanese women…

For the full statement by Suzanne Samson Jambo, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/4thAnniversary/SjamboArria2004.doc

• Ian Martin, Vice President, International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
…The conceptualization and design of most transitional justice mechanisms have not sufficiently taken into account the gender character of human rights abuse.

First, there is often in –built bias in the categories of human rights violations that are given priority…

Second, there is often in-built bias in how the impact of political violence is understood…

Third, there is often in-built bias in the methodologies of human rights investigation and redress that are adopted…

Fourth and last, there is often in-built bias in the understanding of gender. Even when transitional justice mechanisms have sought to focus on gender-related issues, they have focused on sexual violence. This is indeed critical to address, but does not reflect the multi-dimensional ways in which women experience abuse…

We [ICTJ] welcome the Secretary-General's intention to review the extent to which women have participated and their concerns have been met in truth and reconciliation processes, and to make the recommendations to guide the development of future processes. We also welcome his call for a shared commitment to ensure that international and national courts have adequate resources, access to gender expertise, gender training for all staff and gender-sensitive programs for victim and witness protection, in order to more effectively prosecute those responsible for serious crimes.
For the full statement by Ian Martin, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/4thAnniversary/IMartinArria2004.doc

• Cora True-Frost, Coordinator, NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security
…We will present three core recommendations focusing on the UN system, which I will set forth now and elaborate on later.

* First, the NGOWG recommends that the Security Council encourage action on its earlier calls for mainstreaming a gender perspective throughout all UN operations for women, peace and security. (S/PRST/2001/31 and S/PRST/2002/32.)
* Second, the NGOWG recommends that the Security Council request the Secretary General to create a well-funded Action Plan for a system-wide strategy for the coordinated implementation of Resolution 1325.
* Third, the NGOWG recommends that the Security Council call on Member States and UN entities to partner with civil society and women's networks, like the ones on today's panel, to support their work on women, peace and security.

We urge you to incorporate these recommendations into the Presidential Statement…

… Gender mainstreaming in women, peace and security will be made even more feasible if the Security Council adopts our second recommendation, that a system-wide Action Plan should be drafted by the Secretary-General. The Secretary-General's Report calls for an Action Plan repeatedly. We urge the Security Council to ensure that that such a time bound Action Plan is backed by sufficient funding, however. To locate the funding, we propose an audit of existing resources in the UN system and re-allocations of funding as necessary. After all, we all know that an action plan without the requisite funding is essentially an inaction plan…

For the full statement by Cora True-Frost, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/4thAnniversary/NGOWGArria2004.doc

For the statements and profiles of the civil society speakers listed above, CLICK HERE.

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Rethink! – A Seminar for Sustainable Peace: Recommendations
Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation
Stockholm, Sweden, 14 October 2004
In order to generate concrete recommendations for implementing the women, peace and security agenda, on 14 October 2004 the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation held a seminar on women's role in peace building and rebuilding of conflict struck countries. Speakers at the seminar were experts from five different conflict areas: Georgia, Liberia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Israel/Palestine as well as from the UN system and the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation. Participants were practitioners and scholars from NGOs, universities, government institutions and authorities.

Implementing resolution 1325 will require further leadership and concrete directives from the Security Council, and the recommendations generated at our conference are submitted as a contribution towards your thinking and action.

The 7 recommendations developed at the seminar, and sent to Security Council Members, are summarized below:

1. Mechanisms with sufficient seniority and authority are needed to monitor and coordinate implementation of resolution 1325.

2. It is necessary to repeat the request in resolution 1325 that Member States nominate women candidates for senior international positions.

3. Special Representatives of the Secretary-General (SRSGs) require explicit guidance and training in order to play their role in implementing resolution 1325.

4. Regular quality information on Women, Peace and Security is needed for the Security Council to implement resolution 1325.

5. Repeated emphasis is needed from the Security Council on strict adherence to the Code of Conduct, which will encourage efforts by Member States to adequately train their personnel.

6. Efforts to realize the Security Council's recommendation in 1325 on DDR will require that the traditional definition of a "combatant" be abandoned.

7. It has been proven through numerous failed disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes that cash in exchange for weapons does not work.

For the full text of the above 7 recommendations and cover letter, CLICK HERE.

For more information about the seminar and Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation visit: http://www.iktk.se

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Letter to Security Council Members on 28 October Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security
NGO Working Group on Women Peace and Security
13 October 2004
In preparation for the UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security on 28 October 2004, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security sent a letter to Security Council Members, encouraging them to make a statement in support of implementation of SCR 1325 at national, regional and international levels, with five concrete recommendations for furthering implementation of the resolution.

These recommendations addressed a number of issues, some of which were highlighted in the NGOWG statement presented at the 21 October Arria Formula Meeting on Women, Peace and Security, excerpted above: the establishment of a UN system-wide action plan for the coordinated implementation of 1325; annual reporting on the implementation of 1325; establishing a focal point and expert-level working group to ensure integration of 1325 in the work of the Security Council; calling for an audit of the UN's current available resources for work on implementation of 1325; and development national action plans for coordinated implementation of 1325.

For the full letter, CLICK HERE.

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7. FEATURE INTERVIEW

Gender Issues in the UN Peacekeeping Operation in Haiti: An Interview with Nadine Puechguirbal, Senior Gender Advisor, UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
Sarah Shteir, WILPF PeaceWomen Project, October 2004

Nadine Puechguirbal is the Senior Gender Advisor in the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Deployed at the onset of the mission, Ms. Puechguirbal has been working in Haiti since June 2004. In addition to Ms. Puechguirbal, there are nine other gender advisors serving in UN peacekeeping operations, out of a total of 17 peacekeeping operations.

While there has been substantial discussion about the role and position of peacekeeping gender advisors at the policy level, there have been few opportunities to understand how these gender advisors operationalize their mandates in their day-to-day work on gender issues within the UN's peacekeeping operations.

In order to raise awareness about the critical role of gender advisors in UN peacekeeping operations, the WILPF UN Office PeaceWomen Projectconducted the following interview with Ms. Puechguirbal:

1. PeaceWomen: According to the UN Secretary-General, “the role of gender advisors in gender units is to promote, facilitate, support and monitor the incorporation of gender perspectives in peacekeeping operations” (Secretary-General's Study on Women, Peace and Security, 2002). Using this policy language as the basis, how did you envision your role and work as MINUSTAH's Senior Gender Advisor before arriving in Haiti?

Nadine Puechguirbal: I participated as a Gender Advisor in a needs assessment mission in March 2004 that was deployed to prepare the new peacekeeping mission in Haiti. During the assessment mission, I established contacts with the main women's organizations on the ground and other key partners (mainly UN and national authorities) to get an idea of the situation in the fields of human rights, police, justice, violence, etc. from a gender perspective. In addition, I used to live and work in Haiti for the UN Observation Mission of Human Rights (MICIVIH) in 1995 and from 1998 to 2000, so I already had a fairly good idea of the main challenges in the country. I also think that my experience as a Gender Affairs Officer for the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) in 2003 had prepared me to take over this new position. What I had in mind before taking up my duties at the beginning of June 2004 was to adopt a twofold strategy: i) working closely with each component of the mission to ensure that gender mainstreaming would be taken seriously and effectively implemented and ii) getting involved with women's organizations to build up confidence and a constructive partnership. Most importantly, I wanted to work with both the men and the women of the mission and of the country and try to go beyond the traditional activities of a Gender Unit. The challenge was to bring creative and innovative ideas to the field of gender and peacekeeping that would make my work appealing to others (what I call a “gender-friendly approach”).

2. PeaceWomen: How does the Secretary-General's policy language translate into the concrete day-to-date work of the MINUSTAH Gender Unit?

The MINUSTAH Gender Unit currently consists of 2 staff: a Senior Gender Advisor and a national Program Officer. Recruitment for additional staff is going on, mainly for a national administrative assistant who will be stationed in Port-Au-Prince and two more national Program Officers who will be posted in the regions. A Gender Affairs Officer (P3) should be recruited in the near future.

Nadine Puechguirbal: First of all, I had to get settled and assert my authority as Head of the Gender Unit. Since no plan had been made for the allocation of space for the Gender Unit, I had to fight to secure a desk, a computer, and a vehicle for the Unit. I also had to spend time to explain to my UN colleagues the role and function of the Gender Unit in a peacekeeping mission. The UN staff's understanding of gender issues slowly improved, especially after the first two induction courses that I gave to international civilian staff. A few allies were found in the political, civil affairs and Civilian Police (CivPol) divisions as well as among senior administrative officers and the Officer in Charge, Acting SRSG. While disseminating information on gender issues within the mission, I also began initiating and consolidating contacts with key national and international partners, UN agencies and members of Haitian civil society, including women's organizations. I initially planned for having ten national Program Officers and two United Nations Volunteers in the Gender Unit, however a severe cut in the budget left the Unit with only three national Program Officers. I was therefore compelled to reduce my expectations and revise my plan for staff deployment in the regions as well as readjust my workload. I think that a Gender Unit should be more substantially staffed to be able to achieve its goals and implement its mandate. Maybe after we have succeeded in showing that gender makes a difference in peacekeeping missions, we will be given the means of action we need in the near future.

At the beginning of August 2004, I hired a male Haitian Program Officer, Ernst Lucceus. Mr. Lucceus' role is to help build up confidence on gender issues within the male-dominated MINUSTAH Mission, and with outside partners. Mr. Lucceus is now in charge of delivering all gender-related training to MINUSTAH military, CivPol and the Haitian National Police (HNP). As a matter of interest, a CivPol officer congratulated him at the end of an induction course, remarking that he was glad to hear a “real man” deliver such a course instead of a woman; according to the officer, it gave the course more credibility. Mr. Lucceus is also in charge of following up on a new project the Unit is starting, in partnership with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), to develop a peer education system with men addressing issues of masculinity within the Haitian context. He will bring to this project his experience as a member of a small organization of Haitian men working to fight sexism…

For the full interview, CLICK HERE.

For more resources on gender and peacekeeping issues, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/Peacekeeping/peacekeepingindex.html

For information about the NGO Working Group, CLICK HERE.

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8. FEATURE RESOURCES

Inventory of UN Resources on Women, Peace and Security
UN Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI), October 2004

In light of the fourth anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), the Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) has released an inventory of United Nations resources on various thematic areas related to women, peace and security. These areas include disarmament demobilization and reintegration (DDR), gender-based violence, humanitarian response, peace operations and post-conflict reconstruction. The inventory includes guidelines, training materials, manuals and reports developed by UN entities in line with the critical area of concern “women and armed conflict” of the Beijing Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995).

The list will be continuously updated to provide Member States, United Nations entities, civil society and non-governmental organizations with readily available access to United Nations resources in the field of women, peace and security. The inventory and the electronic versions of most of the resources are available at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi.

The Inter-Agency Taskforce on Women, Peace and Security, chaired by OSAGI, hosted a “Marketplace on women, peace and security: An exhibition and dialogue on resources related to women, peace and security” at UN Headquarters, 26 October. For more information about this event, and to find out how to receive copies of the resources featured in the Marketplace, contact Kate Burns at burns2@un.org.

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FACES: Women as Partners in Peace and Security
Produced jointly by UN Department of Public Information (DPI) and OSAGI, October 2004

The FACES publication brings to life Security Council resolution 1325 by profiling ten women whose work in international peace and security and humanitarian assistance embodies the essence of the resolution in action.

Let these FACES tell the story….

Women Prepare for First Elections highlights a courageous Afghan woman – Husai Fazel Qadir – who participated as an electoral registration worker in the country's first presidential election in order to enable other women to enjoy their right to participate in the electoral process.

The ABCs of Walking in a Minefield features two young women - Saba and Zahra - who are teaching groups of women and children in Eritrea about the dangers of landmines - lessons that may save their students lives.

Women Fight for an Equal Voice demonstrates the continuing struggle to have women's voices heard in the process of building peace and democracy in post-conflict Guatemala, featuring a strong indigenous leader – Lucia Teleguario.

“What Is a Gender Adviser?” looks at the role of a gender adviser in a United Nations peacekeeping mission and illustrates the significant move made by the UN to include for the first time a gender component, led by Nadine Puechguirbal, from the very outset of its operations in Haiti.

More Than Just Numbers looks at the issue of women's participation in political and electoral processes, speaking to Carina Perelli from the UN's Electoral Assistance Division regarding her extensive experience in overseeing elections and highlighting the courageous female Commissioners on Iraq's Electoral Management Body.

AIDS Fighter is an inspirational story of a former army colonel from Zaire – Joyce Puta – whose family was devastated by HIV/AIDS. She has now declared war on the deadly disease and works in Liberia educating others about the risks and means of prevention of HIV/AIDS.

One Refugee Can Change the World tells the story of Dr. Cynthia, whose fearless humanitarian work along the border between Thailand and Myanmar has helped hundreds of thousands of desperate people obtain critically needed health care.

Refugees Have Rights Too features Partawmina Hashemee, a refugee from Afghanistan, who has dedicated her life to the empowerment of other Afghan women through her resource centre in Pakistan. The centre teaches refugee women vital skills for building their future and advocates for the rights of refugees in electoral processes.

Policing with Compassion features Kadi K. Fakondo, a senior female police officer in Sierra Leone, where the presence of female officers in special Family Support Units mean that victims of rape, domestic violence and other sexual crimes are assured compassionate, humane and appropriate assistance.

The Ugly Face of Trafficking features one of the many hidden victims of human trafficking and talks about the efforts that have been made and the challenges that still remain for all actors in combating this terrible crime.

There are many more such stories that could have been included and we hope that we can continue to add to these FACES, profiling both men and women who are working towards implementation of Security Council resolution 1325.

The FACES stories were gathered from the field with the help of members of the Interagency Taskforce on Women, Peace and Security, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, UN staff members in peacekeeping missions and at Headquarters, as well as other individuals and civil society organizations. We are very grateful for all the contributions received. FACES is also available in French entitled “VISAGES”.

To read the FACES stories in full, visit: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/resources/faces/index-en.htm

To request hard copies of the FACES publication, contact Renata Sivacolundhu at sivacolundhu@un.org or ph. +1-212-963-2932

For NGO and civil society reports, papers and statements, UN and government reports, and books, journals and articles on women, peace and security issues, CLICK HERE.

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9. UNIFEM UPDATE

Commemorating the 4th Anniversary of Resolution 1325

This October, UNIFEM has planned and/or supported activities worldwide to commemorate the 4th anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325, to highlight women's achievements in working for peace and to bring attention to the impact of armed conflict on women and girls. Events held in the first half of October included the following:

Peace Coalition Meeting (Yerevan, Armenia)
Armenian NGOs – key partners of the UNIFEM project “Conflict Resolution & Peace-building in the Southern Caucuses” and active members of Peace Coalition – gathered together for a meeting in support to the Security Council resolution 1325 to highlight past key achievements and discuss further activities towards promotion of women's active role in the negotiations and peace efforts and increase of women's participation in decision-making processes.

Regional Women's Meeting (Kigali, Rwanda)
One hundred women from the Great Lakes Region participated in the first Regional Women's Meeting, which was the third regional preparatory meeting for the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region. UNIFEM was a lead facilitator of the event. At the end of the meeting participants issued a declaration, calling for an end to impunity for perpetrators of crimes against humanity, the creation of a regional mechanism to ensure women's equitable participation at all levels of decision-making, and for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration processes to pay attention to the specific needs of women.

African Women's Peace Tent (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
To highlight the achievements of women in the past decade in their contributions to peace-building processes throughout the continent, UNIFEM, UNECA and UNDP held special sessions at the Seventh African Regional Conference on Women: Decade Review of Implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action (Beijing +10). The Peace Tent provided a venue for women from war-torn countries to come together and reconfirm their common agenda for peace, as well as to exchange and share experiences and information.

Poliphonic Forum (Cali, Colombia)
As part of the 3rd Exodum Expedition, the Corporación Colombiana de Teatro and the Teatro La Máscara organized this unique forum to explore the situation of displaced women in Colombia through theatre and cultural panels. Resolution 1325 was emphasized throughout.

National Symposium for Iraqi Women, Baghdad, Iraq
The First National Symposium for Iraqi Women, organized by the Ministry of Women's Affairs with UNIFEM support, brought Iraqi women from across the country together with key decision-makers for two days of dialogue. Over 500 women and men from across Iraq, including the deputy prime minister, the minister of defense, the minister of municipality and the minister of women's affairs, as well as female members of political parties, women representatives from national and international NGOs, professional women and independent women activists. The symposium created an opportunity for participants to feed into the draft national strategy for the advancement of Iraqi women and will support the creation of a common platform for action on gender issues.

More information on these and upcoming events can be found on UNIFEM's October 2004 Events Calendar: http://www.womenwarpeace.org/oct2004/october2004eventscalendar.pdf

In the latter half of the month, UNIFEM are releasing a number of new publications:

Getting it Right, Doing it Right: Gender and Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration
In order to propel the implementation of the thirteenth paragraph of resolution 1325, UNIFEM is launching a new publication on Gender and DDR that offers guidance and lessons-learned from previous experiences so that DDR can be democratic, inclusive and ultimately successful in the future. The publication includes two in-depth case studies, one on Liberia and one on Bougainville-Papua New Guinea, key lessons learned and recommendations gleaned from UNIFEM's desk study of DDR processes to date, and Standard Operating Procedures on Gender and DDR. Developed as part of an inter-agency process to develop a coherent UN approach to DDR, the Standard Operating Procedures offer policy makers and practitioners the guidance needed to incorporate gender analysis and perspectives into DDR planning and execution to ensure that women and girl combatants, supporters and dependants are not excluded from disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes. Targeted at decision makers and practitioners, Getting it Right, Doing it Right is intended to influence policy and procedure in order to foster successful and inclusive transitions to peace in post-conflict societies.
http://www.womenwarpeace.org/issues/ddr/gettingitright.pdf
http://www.womenwarpeace.org/issues/ddr/sop.pdf

Las Mujeres Colombianas en Busca de la Paz: Una Aproximación a Sus Iniciativas y Propuestas
(Colombian Women in Search for Peace: Initiatives and Proposals)
To mark the 4th anniversary of resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, UNIFEM Andean Region is launching their newest publication on 2 November 2004. This publication addresses the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on Colombian women with emphasis on forced displacement, sexual violence and sociopolitical violence. It also helps make visible women's daily efforts to resist and face this encroaching violence. This study recognizes the important role of women in preventing and resolving conflict in Colombia, as well as in peace-building. It focuses on the invaluable contributions Colombian women have made to peace, listing a wide spectrum of women's initiatives, organizations and alliances. Despite their differences, they agree that attention to gender issues related to conflict and the full inclusion of women in decision-making are essential to building sustainable peace in Colombia. Recommendations to strengthen women's participation in conflict negotiation and peace-building are proposed at the end of the book.
UNIFEM Andean Region: http://www.unifem.org/global_spanner/index.php?f_loc=andean

Women, Peace and Security: UNIFEM Supporting Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325
Since the Security Council unanimously passed resolution 1325 in October 2000, UNIFEM has been advocating for and supporting its implementation around the world. This publication highlights UNIFEM's programmes and advocacy on women, peace and security, and its efforts to ensure that the international commitments made in resolution 1325, the Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination against Women are translated into action.
http://www.womenwarpeace.org/supporting1325.pdf

Report on the Conference on Gender Justice in Post-Conflict Situations: Peace Needs Women and Women Need Justice
UNIFEM and the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) co-organized a conference on gender justice in post-conflict situations from 15-17 September 2004 in New York City (with the theme Peace Needs Women and Women Need Justice). The conference brought together women in key legal and judicial positions from over 12 conflict-affected areas across the globe – an important group of national stakeholders – as well as representatives of Member States, regional organizations, NGOs, academic institutions, foundations and relevant UN bodies (including peace operations) to facilitate a broad-based exchange of views on how best to proceed with implementation of the UNIFEM-commissioned Independent Experts' recommendations on justice within the context of UNIFEM's programmes. Leading women, many at the ministerial level, from Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Liberia, Namibia, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Haiti, Burundi and Rwanda discussed, from first-hand experience, why gender justice is so crucial to establishing the rule of law and consolidating peace in their countries/regions.

The conference provided a platform for these critical national women stakeholders, who have seen and felt the painful effects of war but also managed to assume key legal and judicial roles, to share their views on (1) the most critical gender justice concerns and requirements in their countries/regions and the implementation action needed; (2) best practices that have emerged in the gender justice area in their countries/regions; and (3) the assistance most needed from potential international/bilateral partners (e.g., Member States, regional organizations, NGOs, academic institutions) to support such implementation action. By bringing together key groups of international players to engage in this dialogue, the conference aimed to forge more coordinated and effective assistance by multilateral and bilateral partners to such national stakeholders in the conflict-affected countries/regions concerned so that they may develop and implement their own strategies and approaches for making institutional and legal reforms to achieve gender justice. One of the outcomes of the conference was the launching of the "Partners for Gender Justice Initiative" to foster integrated and complementary partnerships of support to respond to the requirements and recommendations articulated by the national women stakeholders present. The report on the conference conclusions and recommendations will be conveyed by the UNIFEM and ILAC Executive Directors to the Secretary-General and to the President of the Security Council so that they may be taken into account during the Council's open debate on the fourth anniversary of resolution 1325 in October 2004. The report will also be available on UNIFEM'S Web portal on women, peace and security by 28 October 2004.
http://www.womenwarpeace.org/justice/docs/conferencereport.pdf

UNIFEM website: http://www.unifem.org/
UNIFEM Portal on Women, Peace and Security: http://www.womenwarpeace.org/

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10. FEATURE ANALYSIS

UNMIK Office of Gender Affairs Places Gender Concerns at the Top of the PeaceKeeping Political Agenda in Kosovo
Maddalena Pezzotti, Chief, Office of Gender Affairs, United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), October 2004

Pursuant to the deployment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo under UNSCR 1244, and the Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self-Government in Kosovo, Kosovo is an entity under interim international administration. Following the elections of the Kosovo Parliamentary Assembly in November 2001, the administrative responsibility for a wide range of functions was transferred to democratically elected bodies within the Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG). On 10th December 2003, the Standards for Kosovo were launched as a means of measuring the progress of the PISG within the "standards before status" policy. They were prepared in close consultation with the PISG and all major local political parties and, depending on quarterly assessments of progress, a first opportunity to comprehensively discuss Kosovo's future status could occur in mid 2005. Subsequently to the leadoff of the Standards for Kosovo, and under the auspices of a Steering Group co-chaired by the Special Representative of the Secretary General and the Kosovo Prime Minister, UNMIK and the PISG convened working groups with the task of preparing plans, outlining policies and specific, concrete and measurable steps for the implementation of the eight sets of standards, namely Functioning Democratic Institutions, Rule of Law, Freedom of Movement, Sustainable Returns and the Rights of Communities and their Members, Economy, Property Rights, Dialogue, and Kosovo Protection Corps.

According to its mandate, the UNMIK Office of Gender Affairs is requested to facilitate the mainstreaming of a gender equality perspective into the substantial operations of the Mission and in doing so contribute to the promotion of gender equality in Kosovo. In line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the Office of Gender Affairs advocated for the inclusion of gender equality goals in the Standards for Kosovo (2003) and the Standards Implementation Plan (2004). For this purpose, the Office of Gender Affairs successfully liased with key actors in the offices of the Special Representative of the Secretary General, the Principal Deputy SRSG, and the Deputies SRSG for Police and Justice, Civil Administration, Democratization and Institution Building, and Reconstruction, as well as other relevant units, positioning itself as a mission-wide advisory unit on gender issues. The incorporation of a gender focus in the above-mentioned processes represents a crucial achievement for the advancement of the gender equality agenda in Kosovo and a historical improvement from the previous benchmarks. At the same time, it opens up an avenue for comprehensively addressing the issues raised by the UNSCR 1325 in terms of women and men equal participation in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, the need to increase women's involvement in decision-making, and the necessity of full implementing international humanitarian and human rights law that protects the rights of women and girls…

For the full analysis, CLICK HERE.

For more resources on gender and peacekeeping issues, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/Peacekeeping/peacekeepingindex.html

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11. WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY CALENDAR

Recent Events in Celebration of the 4th Anniversary of SCR 1325

Rethink! – A Seminar for Sustainable Peace
Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation
Stockholm, Sweden, 14 October 2004
In order to generate concrete recommendations for implementing the women, peace and security agenda, on 14 October 2004 the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation held a seminar on women's role in peace building and rebuilding of conflict struck countries. Speakers at the seminar were experts from five different conflict areas: Georgia, Liberia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Israel/Palestine as well as from the UN system and the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation. Participants were practitioners and scholars from NGOs, universities, government institutions and authorities.

See ‘Feature Statements' above for a summary of the recommendations produced at the seminar.

For more information about the seminar and Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation visit: http://www.iktk.se

Gender and Disarmament in Africa
UNIFEM and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Benin to the UN
UN Headquarters, New York City, 19 October 2004
On 19 October 2004, UNIFEM and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Benin to the UN hosted a panel to discuss disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration and to launch UNIFEM's new publication, “Getting it Right, Doing it Right: Gender and Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration.” The publication serves as an evaluation of the extent to which gender has been mainstreamed throughout DDR efforts undertaken by the UN system.
For a full summary of the panel, visit: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/FCM/2004wk3.html#ddr

Dialogue on Gender Issues in the UN Peacekeeping Operation in Haiti with the MINUSTAH Senior Gender Advisor
NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security
UN Headquarters, New York City, 22 October 2004
On 22 October 2004, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security hosted a dialogue to discuss gender issues in the current UN peacekeeping operation in Haiti with Nadine Puechguirbal, Senior Gender Advisor in the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). The dialogue included a brief introduction by Comfort Lamptey, Gender Advisor in the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit. Ms. Puechguirbal addressed a variety of issues in her presentation, including: what it means to be a peacekeeping gender advisor; the situation of violence against women in Haiti; current advocacy efforts by women's organizations and the Gender Unit in preparation for the upcoming elections; and the impact of the deadly storm and subsequent humanitarian response in Gonaïves, on women and girls.

See ‘Feature Interview' for an interview with Ms. Puechguirbal, carried out by the WILPF PeaceWomen Project.

Ms. Puechguirbal will be speaking again in an upcoming panel “Gender and Peacekeeping: Practical Tools for Change,” organized by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, on 29 October, (see “The Final Days of Women, Peace and Security Month - October 2004” above).

Afternoon Tea and Discussion: What Next? Research and Training for the Implementation of SCR 1325
UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, INSTRAW
UN Headquarters, New York City, 27 October 2004
INSTRAW organized a participatory workshop to brainstorm future research and training needs related to SCR 1325, and to discuss INSTRAW's new activities in the area of gender, peace and security.

For more information about INSTRAW's discussion, contact Kristin Valasek at: kvalasek@un-instraw.org.

For the complete calendar, CLICK HERE.

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