AFGHANISTAN (ISAF)

Security Council Resolution 2120 (2013), adopted unanimously during the 10 October 2013 Security Council meeting (S/PV.7041), extends the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) by 14 months until 31 December 2014. In this Resolution, the Council highlights progress already made and future challenges that persist. In particular, the Council calls on States to contribute personnel, equipment, and other resources to ISAF; welcomes the commitment by NATO and the Afghan Government to develop the 2010 NATO-Afghanistan Enduring Partnership until 2014 and beyond; articulates the need for continued cooperation to develop the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), in particular ISAF’s role in training, mentoring, and empowering Afghan forces; and calls for coordination between ISAF and the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA).
The Resolution references women, peace, and security in the preambular section on numerous occasions, balancing between progress made and continued challenges in promoting and protecting women’s human rights. Resolution 1325 (2000) and related women, peace and security resolution are recalled. The council condemns the continued targeting of women and girls, in particular female officials, and calls on parties to ensure the protection of women against sexual violence and all other forms of gender-based violence. Further, the Council recognizes the important role of women in peace and reconciliation processes as well as women’s inclusion and participation in political, economic, and social spheres of Afghan life. Further, the Council acknowledges the need for accelerated gender integration and training in ANSF.
The Council welcomes Afghanistan’s commitments to develop and implement a 1325 National Action Plan; the Government’s presentation of Afghanistan’s first progress report on the implementation of CEDAW; and in the Government’s commitment to develop a strategy to implement the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law. In welcoming the Government’s commitment to key issues of women, peace, and security, the Council recognizes that the realization of women’s rights in regards to the National Action Plan and the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law is a continuous process, signaling a change in how the Council talks about gender in comparison to previous ISAF resolutions. [1] Finally, in operative paragraph 4, the Council urges for continued support from ISAF nations to train an Afghan Security Force capable of protecting the human rights of women.
Missed opportunities to reference women, peace, and security include the absence of women’s participation and inclusion in critical spheres from the operative paragraphs.
In relation to the recommendations put forth in the September 2013 MAP, the Resolutions record is inadequate - because WPS is only referencedpp except for one operative paragraph mention focused on protection] The MAP calls for, women’s participation at all decision-making levels in peace and security processes, for women’s political participation, for the promotion and protection of women’s human rights, and for women’s inclusion and gender-sensitive training in ANSF, particularly in the Afghan National Police.[2] Encouragingly, the Resolution discusses these critical women, peace, and security issues. However, only the protection and promotion of women’s human rights is articulated in operative paragraph 4. The Resolution could have been improved by articulating gender inclusion and participation in political, peace, and security processes in the operative paragraphs.

The numerous references to women, peace, and security issues in Resolution 2120 of 10 October 2013 is an improvement from the previous Resolution of 9 October 2012 (2069). The current Resolution mentions the protection and promotion of women’s human rights one time in the operative paragraphs. Specifically, the Council urges for the continued support to train ANSF to be capable of protecting the human rights of women. In addition, the Council explicitly mentions violence against women, sexual and gender-based violence in the preambular paragraphs, missing from Resolution 2069 (2012). Finally, there is a change in how the Council talks about gender compared to previous Resolutions. Specifically, the Council highlights the development and implementation of Afghanistan’s 1325 National Action Plan and the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law as a continuous process. [3]

[1] http://www.whatsinblue.org/2013/10/afghanistan-international-security-as...
[2] http://womenpeacesecurity.org/media/pdf-MAP_September2013.pdf
[3] [3] http://www.whatsinblue.org/2013/10/afghanistan-international-security-as...