Middle East (S/PV.7020)

Mr. Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, briefed the Council on recent developments in the Middle East, including resumed

direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians, the continuing crisis in Syria (and effects upon the Golan), and several security incidents within Lebanon.

There is no mention of women, peace and security.

Mr. Fernandez-Taranco missed the opportunity to promote the role of women in the Israel/Palestine and regional peace processes, to call for the end to violations

that target women and girls (such as through the demolition of homes, and the denial of adequate access to education and healthcare through restrictions on building

schools, clinics, and roads in “Area C” of the West Bank), and to highlight the profound consequences of sexual violence upon the men, women and children of

Syria.

Given no specific reference to women, peace and security in the briefing, there is little alignment with recent MAPs on Israel/Palestine (August 2013), Syria (May

2013) and Lebanon (August 2013). The briefing does acknowledge the importance of human rights protections (Israel/Palestine), of obligations under international

human rights law and humanitarian law, accompanying accountability, and the need for greater access to humanitarian assistance (Syria), and the spillover effects of

the Syrian conflict upon Lebanon (Lebanon), but offers no gender-specific analysis.

The previous briefing on the Middle East situation on 23 July 2013 (S/PV.7007) similarly contained no reference to women, peace and security. However, that

briefing was accompanied by the larger quarterly open debate on the Middle East in the Security Council, which led to several references to protection of civilians

including women and children from Member States.