EXHIBITION: Multimedia exhibition on NATO's contribution to women, peace and security opens

On 13 September, Deputy Secretary General Claudio Bisogniero opened an exhibition entitled “Women, Peace and Security: NATO's contribution to 10 years of UN Security Council Resolution 1325” at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

As an important part of NATO's comprehensive approach policy, the Alliance has been striving to work with other international actors such as the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the European Union to implement the resolution. The aim of UNSCR 1325 is three-fold: to prevent the disproportionate impact of conflicts on women and children, protect them during conflict, and promote women's participation in decision-making and peace-building.

“NATO's contribution to the implementation of UNSCR 1325 … is a very good and important story – but one which has yet to be told,” said Acting Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Stefanie Babst, before introducing the Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Bisogniero. She spoke about NATO's efforts to protect women and girls in conflict zones, its peace-keeping operations that have started to include gender perspectives, and its commitment to empowering women to play their rightful role in shaping peace and security.

And “while the international community, including the Alliance, has made some progress in the past, we still have some way to go,” she said.

Explaining the resolution's importance, Deputy Secretary General Bisogniero said that because women and children are affected the most by conflict, they “have the most to gain from reconciliation and conflict prevention initiatives.”

Ambassador Bisogniero described concrete steps NATO has taken to promote women in peace and security, including: developing guidelines to integrate gender issues into all levels of planning and operations, establishing a code of behaviour for all military personnel deploying gender advisors at NATO headquarters in Kosovo and Kabul, and employing gender experts in several provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan.

He said that NATO's senior civilian and military leadership also have key roles to play in promoting the participation of women at all levels of decision-making.

“We have already made some significant progress – but I hope that the 10th anniversary of this landmark resolution will provide an inspiration for all of us to contribute even more – as an organization, as Allies and as Partners,” he said

The NATO Public Diplomacy Division will support a number of public events on UNSCR 1325 in Allied and Partner countries centred around the resolution's 10th anniversary.

With video stories from NATO's operations and activities, the multimedia exhibition explains how the Alliance has been implementing the UN resolution and offers information brochures, a related DVD with video footage as well as an interactive quiz. The exhibition is open until 24 September in NATO's press area.