Ireland
I might begin with a personal recollection. Almost 17 years ago, in December ...
I might begin with a personal recollection. Almost 17 years ago, in December 1992, I went to the former Yugoslavia as a member of the EU mission to investigate the rape of women during the Balkan conflict. The experience left a deep imprint on all who participated. It was the end of any illusion that barbarity is confined to faraway places. There, in the heart of Europe on the threshold of the twenty-first century, rape was once again an instrument of war. In an article written with a colleague after that mission, we discussed a number of aspects of what had happened. We included the following point: “A distribution of roles whereby men negotiate peace in Geneva while women devise aid programmes for victims is fundamentally unacceptable.”
That issue of roles and responsibilities remains central to our consideration...
That issue of roles and responsibilities remains central to our consideration today. It is imperative that the duality of women's situation — as both victims and actors — be fully recognized. Men have always inhabited those two spaces simultaneously — as victims and victors, waging the wars and authoring the peace. Women have largely been imprisoned in the victim role, as the collateral damage of war and, if present at all, a kind of add-on at the peace table. Resolution 1325 (2000), which has been on the books for nine years, is trying to overthrow the patterns of centuries. The story recurs again and again, with the fundamentals almost always the same. Men who have been in the front line of conflict feel they have earned the exclusive right to broker the peace. Women who are struggling to get hearth and home together after the fighting have other priorities. Implementing resolution 1325 (2000) therefore means climbing mountains. To get to first base camp, we need real, transformative and attitudinal change.
Overall, the Secretary-General's report (S/2009/465) makes for sober reading....
Overall, the Secretary-General's report (S/2009/465) makes for sober reading. There are some bright spots, in particular on the training front, and all successes deserve recognition and commendation. But the statistics — to take just one example, only 2.4 per cent of signatories to peace agreements since 1992 have been women — tell their own story.
In searching for practical ways forward, the Secretary-General's report right...
In searching for practical ways forward, the Secretary-General's report rightly emphasizes the importance of national plans. Ireland is currently developing its own national action plan. As part of that process, we have embarked on a cross-learning initiative guided by the experiences of women and men in countries emerging from conflict. We are currently working in partnership with Liberia and Timor-Leste in a tripartite cross-learning exercise. Through that collaboration, our aim is to ensure the achievement of real and immediate change for women who have experienced conflict and who can and should be stakeholders in State-building and peacebuilding. A first cross-learning meeting was held in June 2009, a second is to be held in Timor-Leste this December and a third is proposed for Liberia in early 2010. A report on the process will be shared with the United Nations in advance of the tenth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000).
A further effort to stimulate cross-regional discussion on implementing resol...
A further effort to stimulate cross-regional discussion on implementing resolution 1325 (2000) was the hosting in Dublin earlier this year of the ministerial meeting of the Human Security Network. The Permanent Representative of Costa Rica described that initiative in his statement this morning, and I will not repeat what he has said.
A final point is the importance of coordination. Within the United Nations sy...
A final point is the importance of coordination. Within the United Nations system there should be a one-stop shop to offer guidance and advice to Member States in drawing up national plans. We suggest that the Inter-Agency Task Force on Women, Peace and Security be asked to identify such a focal point. At the national level, too, there is a role for focal points to provide drive and leadership. In Ireland Nuala O'Loan, a distinguished woman of wide and very relevant experience, has been appointed to the role of special envoy on women, peace and security. Perhaps that model could be of relevance elsewhere.
None of us here is in any doubt about the scale of the challenge and the urge...
None of us here is in any doubt about the scale of the challenge and the urgency of action. Next year's tenth anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1325 (2000) is an opportunity to be seized — not for another talkfest but to assess, strategize and commit. In the collective effort to prepare for and mark that anniversary, we look to the Security Council to continue to show leadership and determination.