CÔTE D’IVOIRE (S/2014/2164)
During this meeting that took place on 16 June 2014, the Council discussed the Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire and the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire. The Council heard from Ms. Aïchatou Mindaoudou, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire and Mr. Bamba, the representative of Côte d’Ivoire. The speakers addressed the current situation in the country and the security challenges that remain in face of the upcoming Presidential elections in October 2015.
This meeting offered brief and superficial references to the women, peace and security agenda. During her intervention, Ms. Mindaoudou talked about the need to restore public security, which is considered as an immediate priority and she mentioned how it requires the participation of women in security institutions. Furthermore, she also addressed the security challenges in the border areas and called for the encouragement of the efforts made to empower local communities and the inclusion of traditional leaders, youth and women in initiatives designed to promote stability.
Throughout this meeting, the speakers missed several opportunities to provide a gender lens in regards to the following issues that were discussed: the reconciliation process including compensations; the political dialogue; the upcoming elections in 2015; impact of criminal activities; the promotion of security sector reform; DDR; the creation of a quick-reaction force within UNOCI; and the training and mentoring for the national police and gendarmerie. Also, there was no use of gender-disaggregated data when figures were discussed such as ex-combatants or civilian victims, for example.
In comparison to the June 2014 MAP[1], this meeting’s record is inadequate as it did not address the following concerns that were recommended in the MAP: comprehensive information on ongoing impunity, in particular for sexual and gender-based violence, and on barriers to women’s full participation in justice and reconciliation processes; progress made in regards to women’s participation in DDR programs, including the socio-economic factors affecting female ex-combatants and associates of ex-combatants. However, the meeting did touch on the promotion of women’s full participation in security institutions but it failed to discuss it in regards to the electoral process and land reform as the MAP suggested.
This meeting is on par with the previous one S/PV. 7102 from 27 January 2014, as both included minimal mentions of the WPS agenda. The previous meeting only included one reference, by Mr. Bamba, the representative of Côte d’Ivoire, which called for the adoption of gender perspective in the country’s overall policies. However, the fact that the mentions on the current meeting are specifically related to women’s participation could be considered a slight improvement.
This resolution dated 25 June 2014 (S/RES/2162) extended the mandate of UNOCI for a year until 30 June 2015 and provided the mandate with the following components: Protection of civilians; Political support; Address remaining security threats and border-related challenges; Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme (DDR) and collection of weapons; Reconstitution and reform of security institutions; Monitoring of the arms embargo; Support for compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law; Support humanitarian assistance; Public information; and Protection of United Nations personnel. The resolution also emphasizes the importance of pursuing a national and social cohesion strategy, particularly ahead of the October 2015 presidential election, as well as the creation of an environment conducive to the holding of free, fair, transparent, and inclusive elections. Furthermore, the resolution calls upon the Government of Côte d’Ivoire to complete the DDR process in a transparent and inclusive manner before such elections and to accelerate the implementation of the national security sector reform strategy as well as bring to justice all those responsible for serious abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law.
The resolution includes ten references to the women, peace and security agenda, two of them taking place in the preambular paragraphs while the rest are part of the operational paragraphs. Throughout the two mentions on the preambular paragraphs the Council recognized the vital role of women in conflict resolution and peacebuilding and the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security; it reaffirmed the importance of implementing the Côte d’Ivoire National Action Plan for the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) adopted in 2008 (PP. 14) and it expressed its concern about human rights and humanitarian law violations and abuses including against women and in particular sexual violence, stressing the importance of investigation and prosecution (PP. 15). The preambular section of the resolution is balanced in terms of attention to both the participation and the protection of women. In the operative paragraphs of the resolution, the Security Council urged the Government to develop solutions for the sustained social and economic integration of former combatants, including former female combatants (O.P. 8); Called on those responsible to cease committing acts of sexual and gender-based violence immediately (O.P. 16); Recalled the importance of training in human rights, child protection and sexual – and gender-based violence of security and law-enforcement agencies (O.P. 17); Requested that the implementation of the national DDR programme takes into account the rights and needs of the distinct categories of persons to be disarmed, demobilized and reintegrated, including children and women (O.P. 19 (d)); Called for the mission to advise the Government to facilitate the provision of training in human rights, child protection and protection from sexual and gender-based violence to the security and law enforcement institutions (O.P. 19 (e)); asked the mission to contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights with special attention to grave violations and abuses committed against children and women, notably sexual- and gender-based violence, in close coordination with the Independent Expert; Called for the development of a nationally owned multisectoral strategy to combat sexual- and gender-based violence; and Requested the provision of specific protection for women affected by armed conflict to ensure gender expertise and training, as appropriate and within existing resources, in accordance with resolutions 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013) (O.P. 19 (g)). The operative section of this resolution addressed issues of inclusive and full participation of women, as well as the importance of using a gender lens to identify differentiated needs among men and women, and it calls for the protection of women from violence directed towards them.
Despite the noteworthy mentions of the women, peace and security agenda, this resolution did not include gender-disaggregated data whenever it discussed former combatants, internally displaced persons, military troops and police officers. The Security Council also missed an opportunity to provide a gender lens on the delivery of humanitarian assistance, the progress on the security sector reform as well as identity and land tenure issues. Furthermore, even though the Security Council calls for the following processes to be inclusive, there is no mention of women in particular when it comes to national reconciliation, a social cohesion strategy and the upcoming presidential elections.
In comparison with the May 2014 MAP[1] this resolution’s record is mixed, it did follow the MAP’s suggestions regarding the inclusion of female ex-combatants and women’s participation on DDR programs as mandated by SCR 2106 (Ops 16a, b) and SCR 2122 (OP 6c) respectively. However, it failed to promote women’s full participation and protection in security sector and judicial reform, as well as land reform, per SCR 2122 (OP 4). The May 2014 MAP also calls for the following during the mandate renewal of UNOCI: the provision of comprehensive information on ongoing impunity, in particular for sexual and gender-based violence, and on barriers to women’s full participation in justice and reconciliation processes, as per SCR 2106 (OP 16c) and SCR 2122 (OP 2c).
The current resolution is on par with SCR 2112 (2013) from 30 July 2013 which renewed the mandate of UNOCI until 30 June 2014. Both addressed the same issues and had a similar amount of references to the women, peace and security agenda (10 and 12 respectively). However, resolution 2112 (2013) does make reference to Women Protection Advisers while the current resolution does not mention the topic.