Syria (S/2014/348)

The Security Council met on 22 May 2014 to discuss the agenda item entitled, the situation in the Middle East and voted on the draft resolution document

S/2014/348, vetoed by China and the Russian Federation, thus was not adopted. A discussion followed the veto.

Issues of women, peace and security were referenced on five occasions during the meeting in regards to women’s protection concerns including; violence against

civilians and crimes of widespread sexual and gender-based violence. These references were nearly identical to references made by speakers at previous meeting on

Syria.

There were significant missed opportunities to reference women’s participation and empowerment concerns during the meeting. Particularly, all speakers failed to

acknowledge the important role of women in seeking a political solution to the conflict, including any mediation efforts or peace talks. Further, there was no call for

gender-specific health and psychosocial services for women who have suffered violence. Finally, there was no discussion of gender in the context of the delivery and

access to humanitarian aid. Consistent with past meetings, Council members failed to integrate gender as a crosscutting issue in their discussion of the Syrian conflict.