General Women, Peace and Security

Welcomes the Afghan Government’s commitment to strengthen the participation of women in the Afghan political life and in all Afghan governance institutions, including elected and appointed bodies and the civil service, notes the progress in this regard, welcomes its continued efforts to protect and promote the full participation of women in the electoral process, supports efforts to accelerate full implementation of the National Action Plan for Women in Afghanistan and to integrate its benchmarks into the National Priority Programmes, calls on the Government of Afghanistan to urgently develop a strategy to implement fully the Elimination of Violence against Women law, including services to victims and access to justice, welcomes in this regard the launch in November 2014 by the Ministry of Public Health of the Gender-based Violence Treatment Protocol for Healthcare Providers recalls that the promotion and protection of women’s rights are an integral part of peace, reintegration and reconciliation, recalls that women play a vital role in the peace process, welcomes the Afghan Government’s commitment to developing, implementing and monitoring the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security and identifying further opportunities to support participation of women in the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process, notes the UNAMA report into the Implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan, and the importance of its full implementation, and requests the Secretary-General to continue to include in his reports to the Security Council relevant information on the process of integration of women into the political, economic and social life of Afghanistan;

Recognizes that despite progress achieved on gender equality, enhanced efforts, including on measurable and action oriented objectives, are necessary to secure the rights and full participation of women and girls and to ensure all women and girls in Afghanistan are protected from violence and abuse, that perpetrators of such violence and abuse must be held accountable, and that women and girls enjoy equal protection under the law and equal access to justice, welcomes the adoption, in October 2014, of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), emphasizes the importance of maintaining adequate legislative protections for women, strongly condemns discrimination and violence against women and girls, in particular violence aimed at preventing girls from attending schools, stresses the importance of implementing Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013) and 2122 (2013), and notes the mainstreaming commitments introduced therein, and of ensuring that women fleeing domestic violence are able to find safe and secure refuge;

Encourages all Afghan institutions, including the executive and legislative branches, to work in a spirit of cooperation, recognizes the Afghan Government’s continued efforts in pursuing legislative and public administration reform in order to tackle corruption and to ensure good governance, as agreed at the Bonn Conference, with full representation of all Afghan women and men, and accountability at both national and subnational levels, welcoming the issuance of the Presidential decree of July 2012, and stresses the need for further international efforts to provide technical assistance in this area, recognizes Government of Afghanistan efforts in this regard, and reiterates the importance of the full, sequenced, timely, and coordinated implementation of the National Priority Programme on National Transparency and Accountability;

Takes note of the ongoing efforts of the Afghan authorities to enhance the capabilities of the Afghan National Police, calls for further efforts towards that goal and stresses the importance, in this context, of international assistance through financial support and provision of trainers and mentors, including the contribution of the NATO Resolute Support Mission, as agreed to and accepted by the Government of Afghanistan the European Gendarmerie Force (EGF) contribution to this mission and the European Union through its police mission (EUPOL Afghanistan), as well as the German Police Project Team (GPPT), noting the importance of a sufficient and capable police force for Afghanistan’s long-term security, welcomes the ten-year vision for the Ministry of Interior and Afghan National Police, including the commitment to develop an effective strategy for coordinating increased recruitment, retention, training, and capacity development for women in the Afghan National Police, as well as furthering the implementation of their gender integration strategy, and welcomes UNAMA’s continued support for women police associations;

Reiterates the importance of increasing, in a comprehensive framework, the functionality, professionalism and accountability of the Afghan security sector through appropriate vetting procedures, training, including on child rights, mentoring, equipping and empowerment efforts, for both women and men, in order to accelerate progress towards the goal of self-sufficient, ethnically balanced and women-inclusive Afghan security forces providing security and ensuring the rule of law throughout the country, and stresses the importance of the long-term commitment by the international community to ensure a capable, professional and sustainable Afghan National Security Force and notes in this context the establishment of the non-combat, train, advise and assist Resolute Support Mission, based on the bilateral agreements between NATO and Afghanistan and at the invitation of Afghanistan;