Executive Summary: Women Count for Peace: The 2010 Open Days on Women, Peace and Security

At the heart of landmark UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security (2000) are commitments to enable women's contributions to all stages of peacebuilding, peacemaking, peacekeeping and conflict prevention.

On the 10th anniversary of resolution 1325, the UN organized Open Days on Women, Peace and Security in conflict-affected areas. These extraordinary meetings were designed to enable direct dialogue between women's peacebuilding organizations and women community leaders, and senior UN representation at the country level. The purpose was to seek women's views on means of improving implementation of resolution 1325. These open and inclusive forums for women peacebuilders and activists also provided the opportunity to deepen local ownership of the resolution.

At these meetings, women expressed their expectation that the United Nations will take advantage of the critical opportunity provided by the 10th anniversary of resolution 1325 to act as a partner and lead on women's rights in conflict and post-conflict settings. At the launch of the Open Day events, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recalled the core message of the resolution, stating that “sustainable peace is possible only with women's full participation — their perspectives, their leadership, their daily, equal presence wherever we seek to make and keep the peace.”

This report provides an account of the Open Days. It details women's perspectives on resolving conflict and building peace more effectively, identifies issues of common concern across different contexts — as well as areas of divergence — and makes proposals for improving international, regional and national efforts to protect women and promote peace.