SPECIAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON THE AFRICAN UNION-UNITED NATIONS HYBRID OPERATION IN DARFUR (IMPLEMENTATION OF UNAMID’S STRATEGIC REVIEW AND REVISED STRATEGIC PRIORITIES)
Code: S/2015/163
Period of Time and Topic: Implementation of UNAMID’s strategic review and revised strategic priorities (no time period, but resolution requesting report was dated 27 August 2014)
Women, Peace and Security
The report is almost entirely devoid of women, peace and security agenda content. The report references the mass rapes in Thabit in the context of restrictions on UNAMID access by Sudan (S/2015/163, para. 40). The report also mentions that UNAMID had provided health services to pregnant women in Um Baru, including delivery facilities (S/2015/163, para. 25).
References in Need of Improvement
Both references to the women, peace and security agenda could be much stronger if they were expanded upon to focus on women instead of UNAMID (S/2015/163, para. 40). The reference to the mass rapes Thabit should include information on the rapes instead of just information on UNAMID. Despite UNAMID not being able to access the area, the report should include information on what UNAMID is doing to investigate and report on the mass rapes, how it is involved with trying to support survivors, and next steps it could take to prevent mass rape in the future and support women and girls’ human rights (S/2015/163, para. 40). The reference to health services for pregnant women should also include women and women’s civil society organizations’ participation to ensure the facilities and programs are actually meeting women’s needs and next steps on how to spread best practices in the provision of comprehensive health services to other UNAMID sites to ensure equal access (S/2015/163, para. 25).
Missed Opportunities
The report misses the opportunity to respond to most of the requests in resolution 2173 (2014) in regards to both women’s protection and participation. The report fails to include information on UNAMID’s protection of women in the protection of civilians section to have consistent reporting on women’s protection concerns and what UNAMID is doing to address gaps and challenges in their protection of civilians mandate in the protection of civilians section (Resolution 2173 (2014), OP 8). The report fails to monitor sexual and gender-based violence and human rights violations against women, including what steps, if any, parties to the conflict are taking to implement time-bound commitments to end SGBV and UNAMID is taking to respond to SGBV, to reflect women’s protection concerns and the promotion of their human rights in all sections of the report (Resolution 2173 (2014), OP 19, 20, 24). Although mandated, reporting on Women Protection Advisors to more comprehensively provide information on the protection and promotion of women’s human rights, especially protection from SGBV, is entirely absent from the multiple sections discussing UNAMID’s structure and future configurations (Resolution 2173 (2014), OP 24.).
Furthermore, the report fails to include women and women’s civil society organizations’ full participation in the internal dialogue and in all stages of the peace process, including conflict resolution and post-conflict planning and reconstruction, in the inclusive peace process section to ensure women’s human rights concerns and a gender lens is incorporated into any peace process as a part of the call on the Secretary-General to ensure that the relevant provisions of resolution 1325 (2000), and subsequent women, peace and security resolutions, are implemented (Resolution 2173 (2014), OP 12, 24).
Ideal Asks for WPS Transformation
The report should be improved with an explicit reference to and analysis of all genders, emphasizing diverse masculinities and femininities, including the dynamics between and among genders as well as the power relations and hierarchies at play, and the intersection of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, class, and age across all political, peace, and security processes.