Implementation of the UN Security

Council Resolutions on the Women,

Peace, and Security Agenda in Latin
America and the Caribbean

Peace Operations
Training Institute®

Peace Operations Training Institute

®
Implementation of the UN Security
Council Resolutions on the Women,
Peace, and Security Agenda in Latin
America and the Caribbean

D E V E LO P E D BY

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the

Empowerment of Women (UN Women)

I N C O L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H

The Peace Operations Training Institute (POTI)

S E R I E S E D I TO R

Harvey J. Langholtz, Ph.D.

Peace Operations Training Institute

®
UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for
women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women sup-
ports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil
society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women’s
equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation;
ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women’s
economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN Women
also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality.

© 2011 United Nations. All rights reserved.

Second edition: 2013

First edition: 2011
Cover: Paulo Filgueiras/UN Photo

The material contained herein does not necessarily reflect the views of the Peace Operations Training Institute (POTI), the
Course Author(s), or any United Nations organs or affiliated organizations. The Peace Operations Training Institute is an
international not-for-profit NGO registered as a 501(c)(3) with the Internal Revenue Service of the United States of America.
The Peace Operations Training Institute is a separate legal entity from the United Nations. Although every effort has been
made to verify the contents of this course, the Peace Operations Training Institute and the Course Author(s) disclaim any and
all responsibility for facts and opinions contained in the text, which have been assimilated largely from open media and other
independent sources. This course was written to be a pedagogical and teaching document, consistent with existing UN policy
and doctrine, but this course does not establish or promulgate doctrine. Only officially vetted and approved UN documents may
establish or promulgate UN policy or doctrine. Information with diametrically opposing views is sometimes provided on given
topics, in order to stimulate scholarly interest, and is in keeping with the norms of pure and free academic pursuit.
 Implementation of the UN Security
Council Resolutions on the Women,
Peace, and Security Agenda in Latin
America and the Caribbean

FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VIII

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IX

METHOD OF STUDY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XI

LESSON 1: THE UNITED NATIONS AND WOMEN, PEACE, AND

SECURITY AGENDA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.2 Overview of the United Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.3 The UN Security Council and Peacekeeping Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.4 Defining Gender and Important Related Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.5 Navigating the Gender Equality Regime within the United Nations . . . . . 26

LESSON 2: GENDER DIMENSIONS OF ARMED CONFLICT AND POST-

CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.2 The Nature of Contemporary Armed Conflict. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.3 The Gendered Impact of Armed Conflict. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.4 Women’s Roles in Armed Conflict. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.5 Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in Conflict Resolution
and Post-conflict Reconstruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE,
AND SECURITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.2 The Origins of SCR 1325 (2000) and Subsequent Resolutions . . . . . . . . 65
3.3 Reconceptualizing Security: The Human Security Approach . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.4 The SCR 1325 (2000) Mandate: What is Required and Who is
Responsible?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

3.5 Implementation of SCR 1325 (2000) and Subsequent Resolutions in the . .

UN System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.6 Implementation of SCR 1325 (2000) and Subsequent Resolutions at the
National and Regional Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

LESSON 4: WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY: CHALLENGES FOR

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.2 Peace and Security in Latin America and the Caribbean . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.3 The Relevance of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and . .
Subsequent Resolutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.4 Impact of Contemporary Armed Conflict on Women and Girls . . . . . . . . . 92

LESSON 5: WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY: PRIORITIES FOR LATIN

AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
5.2 Prevention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
5.3 Participation and Representation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5.4 Protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

APPENDIX A: LIST OF ACRONYMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

APPENDIX B: LIST OF UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS . . . . . . . 132

APPENDIX C: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325 (2000). . . . 135

APPENDIX D: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1820 (2008). . . . 139

APPENDIX E: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1888 (2009) . . . . 144

APPENDIX F: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1889 (2009) . . . . 151

APPENDIX G: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1960 (2010). . . . 156

APPENDIX H: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 2106 (2013). . . . 161

APPENDIX I: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 2122 (2013). . . . . 167

APPENDIX J: CEDAW GENERAL RECOMMENDATION

NUMBER 30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

APPENDIX K: PRESIDENTIAL STATEMENTS ON WOMEN, PEACE,

AND SECURITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

END-OF-COURSE EXAM INSTRUCTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

UN e-Learning
Programme, WPS-LAC
Foreword

The historic adoption of UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) culminated in one revolutionary idea: that
peace is inextricably linked with equality between men and women, and that women are an untapped resource
for building peace. It called on national and international actors to fully involve women in preventing, resolving
and recovering from conflict, and to ensure that all peacebuilding efforts are consistent with the principles of
gender equality. Since its adoption in 2000, the core principles of resolution 1325 have been reinforced by six
other resolutions which build on its provisions for protection of women’s rights during and after conflict, and
for addressing their needs during and after peacebuilding. These resolutions provide an essential framework for
women’s full participation in conflict resolution and gender equality in all aspects of building peace and security.

The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region has a long history of political violence and conflict. Women
have not been passive in this region; indeed women and girls have actively participated both in the conflicts
themselves and in the peace and transition processes that follow. Yet, despite enormous progress towards
peace in the region, challenges remain. Guerrilla movements persist in Colombia after 50 years, and new rebel
groups in Bolivia, Mexico (Chiapas) and Peru are gaining strength. A pervasive culture of corruption, widespread
organised crime and proliferation of criminal gangs across the region remind us that Latin America’s progress
towards democracy and peace is still fragile. Within this context, we must not lose sight of the achievements
reached so far.

Empowering women and ensuring women’s active role in the prevention of conflict, the participation of
women and girls in decision-making processes and the protection of women and girls continue to be crucial for
sustainable peace in the Latin American and Caribbean countries.

UN Women (the Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women) is dedicated to providing
continued support and assistance in these processes and to increase awareness and implementation of the UN
resolutions on women, peace and security at all levels. One of UN Women’s contributions in this regard is this
e-learning programme. The course is a practical tool for policy decision makers, practitioners and civil society
to understand the impact of conflict on women, and women’s role as agents of change in peace and security
efforts. It should inspire commitment and innovation and help a wide range of peace and security actors to
integrate this perspective in their daily work. This e-learning experience similarly ought to support governments,
regional and international stakeholders and civil society in promoting gender-responsive peacebuilding and
post-conflict recovery. At UN Women we are committed to a vision where women play an equal role with men
in building peace for all.

Until women and women’s needs, priorities and concerns are identified, addressed and resourced in a timely and
systematic way in conflict and post-conflict contexts, peace processes and peacebuilding will continue to fall far
short of delivering effective and sustainable peace dividends. This course should offer the ingredients for critical
thinking on these issues and the guidance to reshape and modernise policies, so as to effectively engage women
– in all their roles – in conflict prevention, resolution and recovery. I hope that recipients of this training will feel
inspired and determined to strive for what is achievable: peaceful equality between women and men.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, 220 East 42nd St, Suite 19-00, New York, NY 10017
T: + 1 646-781-4515 F: + 1 646-781-4496 www.unwomen.org
Executive Director, UN Women

viii | UN WOMEN
 WATCH:
United Nations Under-Secretary-General Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UN WOMEN

To view this video introduction by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, visit <www.peaceopstraining.

org/videos/364/un-women-executive-director-phumzile-mlambo-ngcuka-introduces-wps/>

Acknowledgements

This project was initiated and carried out under the overall guidance and supervision of Natalia
Zakharova, Lead Specialist on women, peace, and security at UN Women headquarters.

UN Women would like to thank and acknowledge specifically the collaboration with the Peace
Operations Training Institute (POTI) in delivery of this course. UN Women also owes very particular
thanks to the Government of Norway, whose generous support allowed the first edition to be
launched in 2011. UN Women would like to express its appreciation to all the participants of the
High-Level Policy Dialogue on the National Implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000)
in Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by the former OSAGI in collaboration with ECLAC
in November 2007 in Santiago, Chile, for their comments and feedback for the initial version of the
course.

This second and revised edition of the course was a collective effort and became possible thanks
to many people who participated in the project and contributed in various ways and to the fruitful
collaboration between the UN Women Peace and Security Cluster and the Training Centre.

UN Women thanks the following individuals very warmly for their valuable contributions: Corey Barr,
Amelia Berry, Natalie Hudson, Ximena Jimenez, Judith Large, Ilja Luciak, Nicola Popovic, and Aisling
Swaine.

I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N | ix
Method of Study

The following are suggestions for how to proceed with this course. Though the student may have alternate
approaches that are effective, the following hints have worked for many.

• Before you begin actual studies, first browse
through the overall course material. Notice the
lesson outlines, which give you an idea of what
will be involved as you proceed.
• The material should be logical and
straightforward. Instead of memorizing
individual details, strive to understand concepts
and overall perspectives in regard to the United
Nations system.
• Set up guidelines regarding how you want to
schedule your time.
• Study the lesson content and the learning
objectives. At the beginning of each lesson,
orient yourself to the main points. If you are able
to, read the material twice to ensure maximum
understanding and retention, and let time elapse
between readings.
• When you finish a lesson, take the
End-of-Lesson Quiz. For any error, go back to
the lesson section and re-read it. Before you
go on, be aware of the discrepancy in your
understanding that led to the error.
• After you complete all of the lessons, take time
to review the main points of each lesson. Then,
while the material is fresh in your mind, take the
End-of-Course Examination in one sitting.
• Your exam will be scored, and if you achieve
a passing grade of 75 per cent or higher, you
will be awarded a Certificate of Completion. If
you score below 75 per cent, you will be given
one opportunity to take a second version of the
End-of-Course Examination.
• One note about spelling is in order. This course
was written in English as it is used in the United
Kingdom.

Key features of your course classroom:

• Access to all of your courses;
• A secure testing environment in which to
complete your training;

• Access to additional training resources, including

Multimedia course supplements; and

• The ability to download your Certificate of

Completion for any completed course.

Access your course classroom here:

http://www.peaceopstraining.org/users/user_login

x | UN WOMEN
Introduction

Aim

The purposes of this course are to raise awareness about Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and
subsequent resolutions 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), and 2122
(2013); to mobilize governments and civil society to mainstream a gender perspective into all areas of
peace and security; and to build national and regional capacities for mainstreaming the women, peace,
and security agenda.

Scope

The course provides information about intergovernmental processes, including in the area of gender
equality and empowerment of women and girls, that led to the adoption of Security Council resolutions
1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), and 2106 (2013). It will describe the
efforts of various United Nations entities towards the implementation of the resolutions.

The course will analyse the efforts of Member States, civil society, and the UN system in general with a
focus on Latin America and the Caribbean, to mainstream a gender perspective into the area of peace
and security. It will explain the gender dimensions of armed conflict and peace processes in the region
and provide evidence of the important role women play in ensuring a sustainable and lasting peace.

Approach

The course will identify national and regional priorities and challenges in Latin America and the
Caribbean in the areas of women, peace, and security and will provide practical information about how to
address them, including through the development of national/regional action plans and strategies for the
implementation of SCRs on women, peace, and security.

Audience

This course was designed as an accessible resource for decision makers, government officials,
civil servants and Members of Parliament, practitioners, and civil society who are involved in policy
development, planning, and programming in the area of peace and security.

I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A
I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N | xi
LESSON 1
THE UNITED NATIONS AND
WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY
AGENDA
 LESSON
1

LESSON OBJECTIVES

1.1 Introduction This lesson provides a brief history of the United Nations (UN) and an
overview of its current work on international peace and security. More
1.2 Overview of the specifically, this lesson introduces the ways in which the UN addresses
United Nations the issues of women, peace, and security (WPS) as one component of the
broader agenda aimed at achieving gender equality and the empowerment
1.3 The UN Security
of women and girls. The lesson will cover the fundamental documents and
Council and decisions that constitute the framework for the UN’s work in this arena.
Peacekeeping This lesson also discusses key developments in legal and procedural
trends in UN peacekeeping operations, particularly as they relate to
Operations
women’s and gender issues with increasing focus on civilian protection
1.4 Defining Gender and and conflict prevention.
Important Related
By the end of Lesson 1, the student should be able to meet the following
Concepts objectives:
1.5 Navigating the • Have a working knowledge of the United Nations system, especially in
Gender Equality the area of peace and security;

Regime within the • Understand how approaches to peace and security are adapting over
time in response to critical changes in contemporary conflict: the shift
United Nations from “conventional” military battles to complex internal and cross-border
Annex A wars with high levels of civilian casualties;
• Understand how peacekeeping operations have changed, including
UNSCRs on Women, their goals and challenges;
Peace, and Security • Understand the importance of promoting gender equality and the
empowerment of women and girls and fully grasp key concepts related
to gender and gender mainstreaming; and
• Identify the main documents and decisions of the UN system that affirm
the equal rights of men and women as they relate to international peace
and security.
1.1 Introduction
This lesson consists of four sections:
• An introduction to the origins and basic functions
of the UN in relation to the promotion of
international peace and security.
• An overview of the purpose of the UN Security
Council and its multidimensional peace
operations.
• An introduction to concepts critical to
understanding WPS and the UN’s broader
commitment to gender equality.
• An overview of legal documents and
organizational structures as part of the
institutional framework that guides policymaking
and programme implementation in this area.
1.2 Overview of the United Nations
Replacing the League of Nations, the UN was
established in 1945, in the aftermath of the death
and destruction of World War II. Its primary
purpose was, and continues to be, conflict
prevention and the promotion and protection of
international peace and security. By providing a
platform for dialogue between states, the UN seeks
to end existing wars and prevent future armed
conflict between both state and non-state actors.
The Charter of the United Nations is the
foundational treaty of the organization that was
unanimously approved by 51 states attending a
1945 conference in San Francisco. Its first article
states that the UN’s purposes are as follows:
1. To maintain international peace and security,
and to that end: to take effective collective
measures for the prevention and removal of
threats to the peace, and for the suppression
of acts of aggression or other breaches of
the peace, and to bring about by peaceful
means, and in conformity with the principles
of justice and international law, adjustment
or settlement of international disputes or
situations which might lead to a breach of
the peace;
L E S S O N 1 : T H E U N I T E D N AT I O N S A N D W O M E N , P E A C E , A N D S E C U R I T Y
UN Headquarters’ iconic Secretariat building reflects the autumn sky. (UN
Photo #535067 by Rick Bajornas, November 2012)
2. To develop friendly relations among nations
based on respect for the principle of equal
rights and self-determination of peoples,
and to take other appropriate measures to
strengthen universal peace;
3. To achieve international co-operation
in solving international problems of an
economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian
character, and in promoting and encouraging
respect for human rights and for fundamental
freedoms for all without distinction as to
race, sex, language, or religion; and
4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of
nations in the attainment of these common
ends.1
The Charter defines six main organs within the
UN: the General Assembly, the Security Council,
the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship
Council, the International Court of Justice, and the
Secretariat. While all six organs are important to
the overall mission of the UN, the Security Council
is the centre of UN power and acts as the primary
decision-making body in the area of international
peace and security.
1 Charter of the United Nations, Chapter 1:
Purposes and Principles, available from <http://
www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter1.shtml>,
accessed 9 January 2010.
| 15
 The United Nations System
Principle Organs

General Security Economic and International Trusteeship

Secretariat
Assembly Council Social Council Court of Justice Council5

Subsidiary Bodies Subsidiary Bodies Departments and Offices

Main and other sessional Counter-terrorism EOSG Executive Office of the
Functional Commissions
committees committees Secretary-General
Disarmament Commission International Criminal Crime Prevention DESA Department of Economic and
Human Rights Council Tribunal for and Criminal Justice Social Affairs
International Law Commission Rwanda (ICTR) Narcotic Drugs DFS Department of Field Support
Standing committees International Criminal Population and Development DGACM Department for General
and ad hoc bodies Tribunal for the former Science and Technology Assembly and Conference
Yugoslavia (ICTY) for Development Management
Military Staff Committee Social Development Statistics DM Department of Management
Programmes and Funds
Peacekeeping operations Status of Women DPA Department of Political Affairs
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development DPI Department of Public
and political missions
Trade and Development United Nations Forum on Forests Information
Sanctions committees
• ITC International Trade Centre DPKO Department of Peacekeeping
(ad hoc) Regional Commissions
(UNCTAD/WTO) Operations
Standing committees
UNDP United Nations Development ECA Economic Commission DSS Department of Safety and
and ad hoc bodies
Programme for Africa Security
•UNCDF United Nations Capital ECE Economic Commission OCHA Office for the Coordination
Development Fund for Europe of Humanitarian Affairs
•UNV United Nations Volunteers ECLAC Economic Commission OHCHR Office of the United Nations
UNEP United Nations Environment Advisory for Latin America and High Commissioner for Human
Programme Subsidiary Body the Caribbean Rights
UNFPA United Nations Population Fund ESCAP Economic and Social OIOS Office of Internal Oversight
UN-HABITAT United Nations Human UN Peacebuilding Commission for Asia and Services
Settlements Programme Commission the Pacific OLA Office of Legal Affairs
UNHCR Office of the United Nations High ESCWA Economic and Social OSAA Office of the Special Adviser
Commissioner for Refugees Commission for Western Asia on Africa
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund OSRSG/CAAC Office of the Special
UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs Other Bodies
Representative of the Secretary-
and Crime Committee for Development Policy General for Children and Armed
UNRWA1 United Nations Relief and Committee of Experts on Conflict
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Public Administration UNODA Office for Disarmament
the Near East Committee on Non-Governmental Affairs
UN-Women United Nations Entity for Gender Organizations UNOG United Nations Office at
Equality and the Empowerment of Women Permanent Forum on Geneva
WFP World Food Programme Indigenous Issues UN-OHRLLS Office of the High
United Nations Group of Experts Representative for the Least
Research and Training Institutes
on Geographical Names Developed Countries, Landlocked
UNICRI United Nations Interregional Crime Other sessional and standing Developing Countries and Small
and Justice Research Institute Specialized Agencies4 committees and expert, Island Developing States
UNIDIR1 United Nations Institute ad hoc and related bodies UNON United Nations Office at
ILO International Labour
for Disarmament Research Nairobi
Organization
UNITAR United Nations Institute for UNOV United Nations Office at
FAO Food and Agriculture
Training and Research Vienna
Organization of the United IMF International Monetary Fund
UNRISD United Nations Research Institute
Nations ICAO International Civil
for Social Development NOTES:
UNESCO United Nations Aviation Organization
UNSSC United Nations System Staff College 1 UNRWA and UNIDIR report only to the General
Educational, Scientific and IMO International Maritime
UNU United Nations University Assembly.
Cultural Organization Organization 2 IAEA reports to the Security Council and the
Other Entities WHO World Health Organization ITU International General Assembly.
World Bank Group Telecommunication Union 3 WTO has no reporting obligation to the General
UNAIDS Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS
•IBRD International Bank UPU Universal Postal Union Assembly (GA) but contributes on an ad-hoc ba-
UNISDR United Nations International sis to GA and ECOSOC work inter alia on finance
for Reconstruction and WMO World Meteorological
Strategy for Disaster Reduction and developmental issues.
Development Organization
UNOPS United Nations Office for Project 4 Specialized agencies are autonomous orga-
•IDA International WIPO World Intellectual
Services nizations working with the UN and each other
Development Association Property Organization through the coordinating machinery of ECOSOC
•IFC International Finance IFAD International Fund at the intergovernmental level, and through the
Related Organizations Corporation for Agricultural Development Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) at
CTBTO PrepCom Preparatory Commission •MIGA Multilateral Invest UNIDO United Nations the inter-secretariat level. This section is listed in
ment Guarantee Agency Industrial Development order of establishment of these organizations as
for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban specialized agencies of the United Nations.
Treaty Organization •ICSID International Centre Organization 5 The Trusteeship Council suspended operation
IAEA2 International Atomic Energy Agency for Settlement of UNWTO World Tourism on 1 November 1994 with the independence of
OPCW Organisation for the Prohibition of Investment Disputes Organization Palau, the last remaining United Nations Trust
Chemical Weapons Territory, on 1 October 1994.
WTO3 World Trade Organization
This is not an official document of the United Nations, nor is it intended to be all-inclusive.

For a hyperlinked PDF of the UN system chart, visit <http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/structure/org_chart.shtml>

16 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
1.3 The UN Security Council and
Peacekeeping Operations
According to the UN Charter, the mandate of
the Security Council is to “maintain international
peace and security.” Thus, it is the UN organ
committed specifically to the central mission of
the UN. Its mandate is also the most challenging
to implement, given that the second article in the
UN Charter affirms that “the Organization is based
on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its
Members.” Tension can thus emerge between the
obligation of UN Member States to take collective
measures, including the use of force, to defend
international peace and security, on the one hand,
and the sovereign rights of state actors on the
other. The UN Charter grants the Security Council
significant power by stating that “in order to ensure
prompt and effective action by the United Nations,
its Members confer on the Security Council primary
responsibility for the maintenance of international
peace and security, and agree that in carrying
out its duties under this responsibility the Security
Council acts on their behalf” (Article 24). In other
words, the Security Council is in charge of these
responsibilities and acting consequently. Further,
according to Article 25, UN Member States are
legally obligated to “accept and carry out the
decisions of the Security Council in accordance
with the present Charter.” The decisions of the
Security Council are passed through resolutions
that should be formally adopted by the Member
States.
The activity of the Security Council is influenced
greatly by its members. Currently, it consists of
15 members, of which five are permanent. The
10 non-permanent members are elected by the
General Assembly and reflect the regional diversity
of the world. They serve for two years. The five
permanent members, which have the power to
veto Security Council resolutions unilaterally, are
China, France, the Russian Federation, the United
Kingdom, and the United States. They represent
the great powers which emerged as victors in
the Second World War and were central to the
founding of the UN.
To maintain international peace and security in
conformity with the purposes and principles of
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the United Nations, the Security Council does the
following:
• Investigates any dispute or situation that may
cause international tension or conflict;
• Recommends methods or conditions for
settlement of disputes;
• Formulates plans for the establishment of a
system to regulate armaments;
• Determines whether there is a threat to the
peace or an act of aggression and recommends
which measures should be taken;
• Encourages members to apply economic
sanctions and other measures that do not involve
the use of force in order to prevent or stop
aggression;
• Employs military action against aggressors;
• Recommends the incorporation of new
members;
• Exercises United Nations trusteeship functions in
“strategic zones;” and
• Recommends to the General Assembly the
appointment of the Secretary-General and, in
conjunction with the Assembly, appoints the
magistrates of the International Court of Justice.
Although this is not an exhaustive list, it is clear
that in fulfilling its mission, the Security Council
engages in a range of actions. Preventive and
provisional measures, such as requesting a
ceasefire or sending observers to supervise a
truce, take place under Chapter VI of the UN
Charter. Coercive measures (with or without the
use of force), such as an economic blockade or
military intervention, occur under Chapter VII.
Chapter VII on peacekeeping operations not
only allow but require peacekeepers to use all
necessary means to protect civilians, prevent
violence against UN staff and personnel, and deter
armed elements from ignoring peace agreements.
Chapter VII provisions have also led the Security
Council to establish ad hoc war crimes tribunals in
the aftermath of certain horrific instances of armed
conflict, such as those in Rwanda and the former
Yugoslavia. In addition, as a result of the way
that peacekeeping missions have been evolving,
and because they have begun to address both
| 17
 preventive and coercive approaches, Chapter Six
and a Half came into existence.
The United Nations Charter and the Resolution of
Disputes
Chapter 6, “Pacific Settlement of Disputes,” stipulates that
parties to a dispute should use peaceful methods such
as mediation and negotiation for resolving disputes and
authorizes the Security Council to make recommendations
which are generally advisory and not binding.
Chapter 7, “Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace,
Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression,”
authorizes more direct influence through measures such as
economic coercion (sanctions) and severance of diplomatic
relations. In extreme cases the Security Council may “take
such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary
to maintain or restore international peace and security.”
Informally, the term “Chapter 6 and a Half” refers to UN
peacekeeping that falls between the two.
Chapter 8 deals with regional arrangements and authorizes
regional organizations such as the AU or NATO to
seek dispute resolution through their good offices and
application prior to intervention by the Security Council for
the maintenance of international peace and security.
Despite these mandated functions and activities,
the term peacekeeping does not appear in the
UN Charter. This is not surprising, given that the
Charter was designed to provide mechanisms that
could prevent the sort of border aggression and
violence between nations that triggered the Second
World War. The concept of peacekeeping did not
emerge until the late 1940s, in a series of ad hoc
interventions that began in the Middle East with
the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization
(UNTSO) in 1948 and along the border between
India and Pakistan with the United Nations Military
Observer Group (UNMOGIP) in 1949. As the
nature of armed conflict has changed since then,
so too has the response of the UN.
UN peacekeeping operations between 1945 and
1988 involved the “inter-positioning” of forces
between formerly warring parties, with their
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consent, to monitor ceasefire agreements. The
close of the Cold War in 1989 witnessed the
emergence of more complexity and a need for
multidimensional peace operations. The Security
Council authorized missions with a mandate to
reduce armed tensions, implement peace accords,
and prevent atrocities against civilians in states
ravaged by conflict.
The transition away from two dominant “power
blocks” (led by the Soviet Union and United States)
opened up new challenges for international peace
and security. In response to these changes,
UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
formulated An Agenda for Peace (1992),2 which
called for the UN to play a more proactive role
in peace missions by going beyond simply
peacekeeping and to engage in both peacebuilding
and peace enforcement over the long term.
He asserted that “the sources of conflict and
war are pervasive and deep” and asked that
peace missions be enhanced in size, scope,
and complexity to better address the needs of
the changing world. As a result, peacekeeping
operations expanded in terms of nature, scope,
and frequency. This evolution is often referred to as
second- and third-generation peacekeeping. The
functions of these multidimensional missions go far
beyond simply monitoring a ceasefire to include the
following:
• Truce supervision and military observation;
• Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration
(DDR);
• Humanitarian aid;
• Electoral assistance;
• Human rights (HR) protection;
2 An Agenda for Peace, written by
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, served
as a blueprint for post-Cold War peacekeeping
missions. People who study this document all
recognize that it called for “an expansion in the
size, scope, and complexity of UN peacekeeping
missions” although those specific words never
appear together in the document. For the full text,
see <http://www.un.org/Docs/SG/agpeace.html>.
• Mine action;
• Use of UN Police (UNPOL); and
• Cooperation with local and regional
organizations, as well as non-governmental
organizations (NGOs).
UN peacekeeping missions expanded not only in
size, scope, and complexity but also in frequency.
Of the 67 operations that had been deployed as of
August 2012, 13 were established between 1948
and 1989, while 54 were established from 1990 to
2012. See the table below for a summary of the
shifting trends in UN peacekeeping activity.3
Peacekeeping missions have become a vital
UN instrument. Because their mandates are
established by Security Council resolutions,
they obligate UN Member States to act. These
missions are managed and coordinated by the UN
Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)
and operate on a separate budget from the UN

Summary of Peacekeeping Operations

Type Action Actors Examples

First UN Emergency Fund, Suez
Observation and Canal (UNEF I), 1956–1967
First Generation: monitoring Military
UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus
personnel under
Traditional Separation of combat (UNFICYP), 1964–present
the UN mandate
Peacekeeping forces
only UN Disengagement Observer Force,
Limited use of force Syrian Golan Heights (UNDOF),
1974–present
Humanitarian assistance
Institution-building UN Transition Assistance Group,
Second Namibia (UNTAG), 1989–1990
Encouragement of Military and
Generation: political parties civilian UN UN Observer Mission in El Salvador
Complex personnel plus (ONUSAL), 1991–1995
Protection of human NGOs
Peacebuilding rights UN Transition Authority in Cambodia
(UNTAC), 1992–1995
Support of democratic
elections
UN Protection Force, Former
Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR),
Use of air, navy, and 1992–1995
Third land forces to restore Military and
Generation: peace civilian UN UN Mission in the Democratic
personnel plus Republic of the Congo (MONUC),
Peace Creation of safe havens NGOs 1999–2010
Enforcement*
Humanitarian assistance UN Mission in Support of East Timor
2002–2005(UNMISET)
*In some cases, peace enforcement operations have been replaced with successor missions, e.g., MONUSCO (2010–present)
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and UNMIT (2006–present) in East Timor.

3 Information in the table is drawn from

International Organization by Margaret P. Karns
and Karen A. Mingst (Boulder, Lynne Rienner,
2004).

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 system. See the table below for details about include the consent of the main parties to the
current peacekeeping missions.4 conflict to have a mission there.

Status of UN Peacekeeping Operations

Statistics
Peacekeeping operations since 1948 67
Current peacekeeping operations 15
Current peace operations directed and supported by DPKO 16
Personnel
Uniformed personnel*
93,305
(81,974 troops, 14,373 police, and 2,235 military observers)
Countries contributing uniformed personnel 115
International civilian personnel* (31 July 2012) 5,392
Local civilian personnel* (31 July 2012) 12,573
UN Volunteers* 2,245
Total number of personnel serving in 14 peacekeeping operations* 116,515
Total number of personnel serving in 15 DPKO-led peace operations** 118,488
Total number of fatalities in peace operations since 1948*** 3,025
Financial Aspects
Approved budgets for the period from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013 About $7.23 billion
Estimated total cost of operations from 1948 to 30 June 2010 About $69 billion
Outstanding contributions to peacekeeping About $3.09 billion
* Numbers include 15 peacekeeping operations only. Statistics for UNAMA, a special political mission directed and supported
by DPKO, can be found at http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/documents/ppbm.pdf
** This figure includes the total number of uniformed and civilian personnel serving in 15 peacekeeping operations and
DPKO-led special political mission—UNAMA

*** Includes fatalities for all UN peace operations

The profound effects of armed conflict on civilian
populations necessitated changes in response from
the UN system. The protection of civilians became
increasingly highlighted. For example, the Security
Council first used the wording “to afford protection
to civilians under imminent threat of physical
violence” in October 1999 in Resolution 1270,
which established the UN Mission in Sierra Leone.
Peacekeeping operations are meant to operate
impartially, with a proportionate and minimum use
of force. This is in part a legacy from origins based
in “inter-positioning” between hostile parties to
assist in stabilizing situations and holding (keeping)
the peace. Conditions necessary for peacekeeping
A set of norms has evolved to address the
need for increased protection of the civilian
population. The creation of the Responsibility to
Protect (RtoP)5 framework reflects the idea that
sovereignty is not a right, but a responsibility. A
state has a responsibility to protect its population
from mass atrocities. This approach holds that
the international community has a responsibility
to assist a state to fulfil its primary responsibility
to protect its citizens. On 28 April 2006, the UN
Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution
1674 on the Protection of Civilians in Armed
Conflict (POC). Resolution 1674 contains the
first official Security Council reference to the

4 United Nations Department of Peacekeeping 5 See <http:// www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/

Operations, UN Peacekeeping Operations Fact adviser/responsibility.shtml>. The United Nations
Sheet, <http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/ General Assembly passed a resolution on
resources/statistics/factsheet.shtml>, accessed 18 ‘the Responsibility to Protect,’ A/RES/63/308,
October 2012. September 14 2009.

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responsibility to protect, often referred to as RtoP.
It demonstrates the Council’s readiness to address
gross violations of human rights, as genocide and
mass crimes against humanity may constitute
threats to international peace and security.
feminine. Gender roles and expectations attributed
to being male or female are learned. Gender is a
broad social and political issue that determines
men’s and women’s rights, participation, access to
power, and social and political status.

The Three Pillars of the Responsibility to Protect

1. The State carries the primary responsibility for protecting populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes
against humanity and ethnic cleansing, and their incitement;

2. The international community has a responsibility to encourage and assist States in fulfilling this responsibility;
and

3. The international community has a responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian, and other
means to protect populations from these crimes. If a State is manifestly failing to protect its populations, the
international community must be prepared to take collective action to protect populations, in accordance with
the Charter of the United Nations.

(stipulated in the Outcome Document of the 2005 United Nations World Summit)

1.4 Defining Gender and Important
Related Concepts
Before we can begin to understand the UN’s
approach to WPS and the many obstacles and
challenges it faces, it is important to define several
key gender-related terms.
Although often used interchangeably, the words
sex and gender do not mean the same thing. They
refer to two different, albeit interconnected, aspects
of our world. Sex has an exclusively biological
connotation, whereas gender refers to socially
constructed notions about masculine and feminine
roles that may or may not exactly coincide with
notions of a person’s sex.
The concept of gender is vital to examine systems
of subordination and domination, as well as how
such systems are socially constructed. Gender
roles, responsibilities, norms, expectations, and
stereotypes that are accorded to men and women
in different ways directly affect power relationships
in society, such as division of labour and
decision-making structures. Gender is relational
because it does not exclusively refer to women
or to men but rather to relations between them.
Gender defines certain roles that men and women
play in society; socialization and stereotypes
teach and reinforce these ideas and expectations.
Gender roles are not fixed but can and do change
over time.

More specifically, gender refers to the social Distinction between Sex and Gender
attributes, roles, and responsibilities associated
with being male or female and to the relationships A person’s sex is a biological category.
between women and men and girls and boys, as
well as the relationships between women and A person’s gender is socially constructed, reflecting
those between men. It also includes expectations learned behaviours. It can change over time and within and
about the characteristics, aptitudes, and likely between cultures.
or appropriate behaviours of both women and
men, including what it means to be masculine or

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 Gender Equality
Gender equality refers to the equal rights and
opportunities of women and men and of girls and
boys. Equality does not mean that women and
men will become the same but that women’s and
men’s rights, responsibilities, and opportunities
will not depend on whether they are born male or
female. Gender equality implies that the interests,
needs, and priorities of both women and men are
taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity
of different groups of women and men. Gender
equality is not a women’s issue; it should concern
and fully engage men as well as women. Equality
between women and men is seen both as a human
rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator
of, sustainable people-centred development and
security.
Gender equality is not gender equity.
Gender equity goes further than equality of
opportunity to look at outcomes. Treating women
and men, or girls and boys, equally does not
automatically ensure that they obtain equal
outcomes and benefits, since there are many
structural factors that may militate against this.
Work towards gender equity therefore looks
at structural power relations in society as well
as material resources, and may include taking
positive or affirmative action to ensure that
policies and programmes benefit women/girls
and men/boys equally.6
Within the UN system, gender equity is often
associated with notions of justice and fairness
and, therefore, requires a value judgment. Such
judgments can, of course, be subjective, since
factors like tradition, custom, religion, and culture
weigh into what constitutes fairness. From a
gender perspective, these factors can certainly
be detrimental to women and girls, particularly in
6 Commonwealth Secretariat, The
Commonwealth Plan of Action for Gender
Equality 2005–2015 (Commonwealth Secretariat:
London, 2005), p. 18. Available from <http://www.
thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/GFSR.
asp?NodeID=142576>, accessed 1 April 2011.
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societies in which gender relations have historically
been asymmetrical and biased against women
and girls. From this perspective, it is necessary to
first achieve gender equality before trying to define
what gender-equitable policies and practices might
look like in a society.
Gender Mainstreaming
Gender mainstreaming is the central overarching
concept in addressing issues of WPS. Gender
mainstreaming is both a strategy to achieve gender
equality and a goal in itself. It means bringing the
perceptions, experience, knowledge, and interests
of women and men to bear on policymaking,
planning, and decision-making. Mainstreaming
does not replace the need for targeted,
women-specific policies, programmes, and positive
legislation, nor does it do away with the need for
gender units or focal points.
According to the UN Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC, 1997/2), mainstreaming a
gender perspective is the process of assessing
the implications for women and men of any
planned action, including legislation, policies, or
programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is
a strategy for making both women’s and men’s
concerns and experiences an integral dimension
of the design, implementation, monitoring, and
evaluation of policies and programmes in all
political, economic, and societal spheres, so that
women and men benefit equally and inequality is
not perpetuated.
This definition, which is drawn from the ECOSOC
document cited above, points to five areas in which
such gender mainstreaming efforts are critical:
1. The intergovernmental processes of the UN;
2. Institutional requirements for gender
mainstreaming in all policies and programmes;
3. The role of gender units and focal points in
gender mainstreaming;
4. Capacity-building for gender mainstreaming;
and
5. Gender mainstreaming in the integrated follow-
up to global United Nations conferences.
Gender mainstreaming goes beyond a discussion
of ending discrimination against women. It takes
into account a number of other gender-relevant
concepts as part of the process towards the
goal of equality. Therefore, it is critical to define
such concepts briefly, as they can enhance our
understanding of the nature and scope of gender
mainstreaming.
Gender mainstreaming “must be institutionalized
through concrete steps, mechanisms and
processes in all parts of the United Nations
system.”7 This means that putting gender
mainstreaming into practice requires system-wide
change at the highest levels.
The degree of mainstreaming a gender perspective
in any given project can be seen as a continuum,
as shown in the following table. The table is useful
as an approach to practical programming and
implementation:

Gender Negative  Gender Neutral  Gender Sensitive  Gender Positive  Gender Transformative
Involves the Does not consider Recognizes that Sees addressing Sees addressing
intentional use of gender roles and gender roles and gender relations gender relations
gender norms, norms relevant to relations affect all and inequalities as and inequalities as
roles, and desired outcomes; aspects of society central to achieving central to achieving
stereotypes to thus, often and, therefore, have desired outcomes. desired outcomes.
reinforce gender unintentionally implications for Project outcomes Approach tends to be
inequalities in order reinforces gender achieving desired specifically more strategic and
to achieve desired inequalities in a goals. Addresses address changing long-term in terms of
outcomes. society. gender inequalities gender roles and transforming unequal
insofar as raising expectations, from gender relations to
awareness about how a practical and promote shared power,
such issues affect largely immediate control of resources,
mission goals. or short-term decision-making,
perspective. and support for
women’s and girls’
empowerment.

7 UN Economic and Social Council, Agreed

Conclusions 1997/2, 18 July 1997, 1997/2.
Available from <http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/
docid/4652c9fc2.html>, accessed 25 January 2010.

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 Examples of Mainstreaming

In Burundi, significant progress was made when the traditional judicial institution for conflict resolution, the
Bashingantahe, amended its Charter to allow for the effective involvement of women. For the first time, women
were admitted to participate in judicial decisions and to sit as judges. Women felt more able to come forward with
cases affecting them and to feel more trust in seeking assistance.

In Colombia, mainstreaming approaches were used to ensure that policing services were receptive to women’s
concerns and needs. A special police station for family issues was established, gender sensitization for public
employees was undertaken, and steps to increase police capacities to identify risks and respond to gender-based
violence were also taken. This came about as a result of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women
support to the Centro de Apoyo Popular (CENTRAP), a national women’s group which establishes safe spaces
in which to talk about violent experiences. The risks women faced in the city were mapped and used to persuade
the municipal government to incorporate these changes in its municipal development plan.

In Hungary, participation of women in the armed forces was raised from 4.3 per cent in 2005 to 17.56 per cent
in 2006 – not through a quota but by using strategies to increase the recruitment, retention, and deployment
of women, including a new military service law that upheld equal rights and guaranteed non-discrimination, a
standing committee to identify problem areas and action plans to remedy them, and a network of women focal
points and improved resting and hygienic conditions in the bases.

For additional information on gender mainstreaming, see <http://www.unifem.org/gender_issues/...women/

unifem_takes_action.html> and <http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/gendermainstreaming.htm>. See also
<http://www.eplo.org/.../EPLO_GPS_WG_Case_Studies_UNSCR_1325_in_Europe>...for 21 case studies on
implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Europe and <http://www.peacewomen.org/portal_resources_resource.
php?id=1278>. All accessed 28 Nov. 2012.

Gender Balance
Gender balance refers to the equal representation
of women and men at all levels of an organization.
Efforts that increase the number of women in
decision-making positions constitute gender
balancing. The UN’s goal is to achieve a 50-50
gender balance in all professional posts. While
achieving a gender balance is certainly an
important part of gender mainstreaming, it is only
one component of a larger process.
Sex-Disaggregated Data
Effective gender mainstreaming requires the
availability and use of sex-disaggregated data
because such empirical evidence is critical to
determining the differentiated impact of policies
on women and men. Sex-disaggregated data are
statistics that are usually collected and presented
separately for men and women. Such data are
extremely valuable because they provide insight
into how given gender roles lead to distinct needs
being met in order to fulfil those roles effectively.
Gender Analysis
Gender analysis is a detailed examination used
to understand the relationships between men and
women, their access to resources, their activities,
and the constraints they face relative to each other.
It recognizes that gender and its intersection with
race, ethnicity, culture, class, age, disability, or any
other status are important in understanding the
different patterns of involvement, behaviour, and
activities that women and men have in economic,
social, political, and legal structures.
At the local level, gender analysis makes visible
the varied roles women, men, girls, and boys

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play in the family, in the community, and in social,
economic, legal, and political structures. An
analysis of gender relations can tell us who has
access, who has control, who is likely to benefit
from a new initiative, and who is likely to lose.
Gender analysis asks questions about why a
situation has developed the way it has. It explores
assumptions about issues such as the distribution
of resources and the impact of culture and tradition.
It can provide information on the potential direct
or indirect benefit of a development initiative on
women and men, on some appropriate entry points
for measures that promote equality in a particular
context, and on how a particular development
initiative may challenge or maintain the existing
gender division of labour. Implementing an effective
gender analysis requires skilled professionals with
adequate resources, as well as the use of local
expertise. The findings from a gender analysis
must be used to shape the design of policies,
programmes, and projects.
Gender Impact Assessment
Gender impact assessment refers to the differential
impact – intentional or unintentional – of various
policy decisions on women, men, girls, and boys.
It enables policymakers to picture the effects of
a given policy more accurately and to compare
and assess the current situation and trends with
the expected results of the proposed policy.
Gender impact assessment can be applied to
legislation, policy plans and programmes, budgets,
reports, and existing policies. However, it is most
successful when carried out at an early stage in the
decision-making process so that changes and even
the redirecting of policies can take place.
Empowerment
Empowerment is about men and women taking
control of their lives: setting their own agendas,
gaining skills (or having existing skills and
knowledge recognized), building self-confidence,
solving problems, and developing self-reliance.
Empower­ment is sometimes described as being
about the ability to make choices, but it must also
involve being able to shape what choices are
available or seen as possibilities. The process
of empowerment is as important as the goal.
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Empowerment should not be seen as a zero-sum
game in which gains for women automatically
imply losses for men. In empowerment strategies,
increasing women’s power does not refer to power
over others, or controlling forms of power, but
rather to alternative forms of power – power to,
power with, and power from within – all of which
focus on utilizing individual and collective strengths
to work towards common goals without coercion or
domination.8
Misunderstandings about the Meaning of
Gender
It is important to understand some typical
misconceptions about gender and its place in
discussions of international peace and security:
• First, even though in many languages there
is little or no linguistic distinction between the
terms, gender and sex are not the same, and the
difference is critical.
• Second, addressing gender is not the same as
addressing women’s issues. Women’s issues are
a part of gender issues, but gender also involves
the relationship between men and women and
boys and girls, as well as the impact of ideas
about masculinity and femininity within a given
society.
• Third, gender concerns are not an “add-on” but
central to effective work for peace and security.
This is because they go to the heart of issues
concerning both power relations and the well-
being of society in general.
8 IDRC 1998; see <http://archive.idrc.ca/
library/document/annual/ar9899/>. For additional
information, see Z. Oxaal and S. Baden, “Gender
and Empowerment: Definitions, Approaches and
Implications for Policy,” BRIDGE (development
– gender) (Brighton: Institute for Development
Studies, 1997), available from <http://www.bridge.
ids.ac.uk/go/home&id=23334&type=Document>;
and S. Longwe, Gender Equality and Women’s
Empowerment, paper presented at a working
seminar on methods for measuring women’s
empowerment in a Southern African Context,
17–18 October 2001, Windhoek, Namibia.
| 25
 1.5 Navigating the Gender Equality
Regime within the United Nations
When trying to understand the many institutions
and complex legal frameworks that seek to promote
gender equality within the UN system, thinking
in terms of an “international regime of gender
equality” is a useful starting point. The term regime
refers to agreed-upon “principles, norms, rules, and
decision-making procedures around which actors’
expectations converge in a given issue area.”9
Such rules and procedures may be explicit, such
as the codification of international law in the form
of treaties, or they may be implicit or less formally
binding. Whether or not these principles are
formalized in a treaty or are more informally part
of international agencies and conferences, they
constitute a regime because they come together in
a way that can influence state action. The gender
equality regime, like other regimes, includes a
web of organizations – from the global to the local,
including governmental and non-governmental
organizations. Many actors, organizations, and
pieces of legislation make up the gender equality
regime even beyond the UN. The following section
highlights some of the key institutions, principles,
and rules that contribute to the establishment of
global normative standards for gender equality in
the context of the UN system.
The UN’s contribution to the international regime of
gender equality begins with the UN Charter. This
founding document commits the organization to
ensuring and protecting equal rights for men and
women. Specifically, the Preamble to the Charter
reaffirms “faith in fundamental human rights, in
the dignity and worth of the human person, in the
equal rights of men and women and of nations
large and small, and…to promote social progress
and better standards of life in larger freedom.” It
also places special emphasis on non-discrimination
against women and girls and the promotion of
equality, balance, and gender equity in Chapters
I, III, IX, and XII. However, a number of other key
9 Stephen D. Krasner, “Structural causes and
regime consequences: Regimes as intervening
variables,” International Organization, vol. 36, No. 2
(Spring 1982), p. 186.
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principles that emerge in the Charter, including
sovereign equality of states, maintenance of peace
and security, and non-intervention in the domestic
affairs of states, often operate in direct opposition
to such gender-related goals and can ultimately
override them.
Gender equality as a human rights issue received
institutional reaffirmation within the UN in what
is informally known as the International Bill of
Human Rights: the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (1948), the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), and
the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (1966). While these foundational documents
were important in establishing a normative
legal framework as substantial components of
international law, their implementation often falls
short. From a gender equality perspective, this
declaration and two subsequent treaties’ approach
to gender equality is fairly narrow, often excluding
certain issues from the human rights agenda, such
as those that occur in the private realm. In this
sense, their mandates are often criticized for not
taking women’s and girls’ human rights seriously.
In fact, the United Nations’ commitment to gender
equality was also visible in the establishment of
the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
in 1946. This is a functional commission of the
ECOSOC, dedicated exclusively to the promotion of
gender equality and the advancement of women’s
rights. Established originally with 15 members,
CSW now has 45 members elected by ECOSOC
for a period of four years and meeting each year to
evaluate and debate progress on achieving gender
equality and the empowerment of women.
There is no doubt that CSW both set the scene
and contributed to momentum for the first legally
binding document specifically devoted to the rights
of women and girls as part of the gender equality
regime. The UN General Assembly adopted the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1979,10
the first international human rights instrument to
define explicitly all forms of discrimination against
10 For a full account of CSW see <http://
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/CSW60YRS/
CSWbriefhistory.pdf>.
women as fundamental human rights violations.
Much of the text of this convention was drafted by
the CSW.
As of March 2011, 187 of 194 countries (over 90
per cent of UN members) have ratified the CEDAW.
The 7 countries that have not ratified CEDAW
include the United States, Iran, Somalia, Sudan,
South Sudan, and two small Pacific island nations,
Palau and Tonga.
This international treaty, often referred to as the
international bill of rights for women, defines
discrimination against women as “any distinction,
exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex
which has the effect or purpose of impairing or
nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise
by women, irrespective of their marital status,
on a basis of equality of men and women, of
human rights and fundamental freedoms in the
political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any
other field.” By accepting CEDAW, states commit
themselves to undertake a series of measures
to end discrimination against women in all forms,
including the following: “To incorporate the
principle of equality of men and women in their
legal system, abolish all discriminatory laws and
adopt appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination
against women; To establish tribunals and other
public institutions to ensure the effective protection
of women against discrimination; and To ensure
elimination of all acts of discrimination against
women by persons, organizations or enterprises.”11
Often, human rights treaties are followed by
“Optional Protocols” which may either provide for
procedures with regard to the treaty or address
a particular issue related to the treaty. Optional
Protocols to human rights treaties are treaties
in their own right and are open to signature,
accession, or ratification by countries who are
party to the main treaty. The Optional Protocol to
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, which entered into
force in 2000, further enhanced the gender equality
regime by putting procedures and mechanisms
in place that hold states accountable to the
Convention. By ratifying the Optional Protocol, a
11 For more information, see <http://www.un.org/
womenwatch/daw/cedaw/>.
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state recognizes the competence of the Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
– the body that monitors states parties’ compliance
with the Convention – to receive and consider
complaints from individuals or groups within its
jurisdiction. More specifically, the Protocol contains
two procedures:
1. A communications procedure allows individual
women, or groups of women, to submit claims
of violations of rights protected under the
Convention to the Committee. In order for
individual communications to be admitted for
consideration by the Committee, a number of
criteria must be met; for example, domestic
remedies must have been exhausted.
2. Another procedure enables the Committee
to initiate inquiries into situations of grave or
systematic violations of women’s rights.
In either case, states must be party to the
Convention and the Protocol,12 which means they
agree to be legally bound to it.
The United Nations human rights machinery
has as a central element the mechanism of
Special Procedures, which covers all human
rights: civil, cultural, economic, political, and
social. Independent human rights experts who
are working within the scope of that mechanism
are called Special Rapporteurs. (“Rapporteur”
is a French-derived word for an investigator who
reports to a deliberative body.) Their mandate is to
report and advise on human rights from a thematic
or country-specific perspective. As of 1 April 2013
there were 36 thematic and 13 country mandates.
With the support of the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),
special rapporteurs undertake country visits; act
on individual cases and concerns of a broader,
structural nature by sending communications to
States and others concerned with alleged violations
or abuses; conduct thematic studies and convene
expert consultations; contribute to the development
of international human rights standards; engage
in advocacy; raise public awareness; and
provide advice for technical cooperation. Special
12 See: <http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/
cedaw/protocol/>.
| 27
 Procedures, such as rapporteurs, report annually action for the advancement of women and girls.
to the Human Rights Council; the majority of To this end, the General Assembly identified three
the mandate holders also report to the General key objectives that would become the basis for UN
Assembly. Their tasks are defined in the resolutions work on gender equality:
creating or extending their mandates.
1. Full gender equality and the elimination of
gender discrimination;
In 1994 through Resolution 1994/45, the UN
(former Human Rights Commission and now) 2. The integration and full participation of women in
Human Rights Council appointed a “Special development; and
Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its
3. An increased contribution by women in the
causes and consequences” for an initial period of
strengthening of world peace.
three years (which was subsequently extended).
This special rapporteur has a mandate to seek
The conference, along with the United Nations
and receive information from state parties, treaty
Decade for Women (1976–1985), proclaimed by the
bodies, other special rapporteurs, and civil
General Assembly five months later at the urging
society and to respond to this information with
of the conference, launched a new era in global
recommendations to eliminate all forms of violence
efforts to promote the advancement of women by
against women in comprehensive ways. She
opening a worldwide dialogue on gender equality.
undertakes fact-finding country visits with reports
A process of learning was set in motion that would
of her findings on issues of violence against women
involve deliberation, negotiation, setting objectives,
in these contexts and also issues thematic reports
identifying obstacles, and reviewing progress.
to the UN Human Rights Council annually.13
This process continued with the second world
In 2004 another special rapporteur was appointed
conference for women in Copenhagen in 1980,
to deal with issues of trafficking in persons,
building upon the objectives laid out five years
especially in women and children.14

World Conferences on Women

International discussion on gender equality norms

was taken further at four world conferences
on women held between 1975 and 1995 in
Mexico, Copenhagen, Nairobi, and Beijing.
These conferences provided platforms for
intergovernmental negotiations and gave women’s
organizations an international arena for making
their claims and for networking. The first was
convened in Mexico City to coincide with the 1975
International Women’s Year, observed to remind The World Conference of the United Nations Decade
the international community that discrimination for Women (1976-1985), meeting in Copenhagen, was
against women and girls continued to be a the second global meeting to be devoted exclusively to
women’s issues. (UN Photo #66207 by Per Jacobsen, July
persistent problem in much of the world. The UN
1980)
General Assembly called for this first conference
to focus international attention on the need to
earlier. In terms of the UN’s work on peace and
develop goals, effective strategies, and plans of
security, the report from this second conference
13 UN Human Rights Commission, Resolution specified the following: “In accordance with
1994/45. their obligations under the Charter to maintain
14 Special rapporteur on Trafficking in persons, peace and security and to achieve international
especially in women and children, E/CN.4/ cooperation in promoting and encouraging respect
DEC/2004/110, 21 April 2004. for human rights and fundamental freedoms,

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bearing in mind, in this respect, the right to live in Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action,
peace, States should help women to participate in which was produced at a global human rights
promoting international cooperation “for the sake conference in 1993. In terms of WPS, the Beijing
of the preparation of societies for a life in peace” Platform for Action was critical because it identified
(paragraph 33). In this way, the UN began to frame women and armed conflict as one of 12 critical
women’s rights and gender equality as important areas of concern. Within this area, six strategic
components of their peace and security work. objectives were identified:
1. Increase the participation of women in conflict
The third world conference in 1985 adopted
resolution at decision-making levels and protect
the Nairobi Forward-Looking Strategies for
women living in situations of armed and other
the Advancement of Women, with the goals of
conflicts or under foreign occupation;
equality, development, and peace as a blueprint
for action until 2000. This document clearly linked 2. Reduce excessive military expenditures and
the promotion and maintenance of peace to the control the availability of armaments;
eradication of violence against women at all levels
3. Promote non-violent forms of conflict resolution
of society. Paragraph 13 states that the full and
and reduce the incidence of human rights abuse
effective promotion of women’s rights can best
in conflict situations;
occur in conditions of international peace and
security. Peace includes not only the absence of 4. Promote women’s contributions to fostering a
war, violence, and hostilities at the national and culture of peace;
international levels, but also the enjoyment of
5. Provide protection, assistance, and training to
economic and social justice, equality, and the entire
refugee women, internally displaced women, and
range of human rights and fundamental freedoms
other displaced women in need of international
within society. Peace cannot be realized under
protection; and
conditions of economic and sexual inequality,
denial of basic human rights and fundamental 6. Provide assistance to the women of colonies and
freedoms, deliberate exploitation of large sectors of non-self-governing territories.
the population, unequal development of countries,
and exploitative economic relations. The document
urges Member States to take constitutional and
legal steps to eliminate all forms of discrimination
against women, as well as to tailor national
strategies to facilitate the participation of women in
efforts to promote peace and development. At the
same time, it contains specific recommendations
for women’s empowerment in regard to health,
education, and employment.

The fourth world conference on women, held in

Beijing in 1995, produced the Beijing Declaration
and Platform for Action. The Declaration committed
governments to implement the strategies agreed
to in Nairobi in 1985 before the end of the
twentieth century and to mobilize resources for
the implementation of the Platform for Action.
The Platform is the most complete document Panelists and guests celebrate the 30th anniversary of CEDAW. (UN Photo
produced by a UN conference on women’s rights #422063 by Eskinder Debebe, December 2009)
since it incorporates achievements from earlier
conferences and treaties, such as the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, CEDAW, and the

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 Institutional Development on Gender Equality
and the Empowerment of Women
To promote and advance progress towards gender
equality and the empowerment of women, a new
entity, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality
and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women),
was formed and became operational in 2011. This
organization is dedicated to streamlining the work
on gender equality. Four previously separate UN
agencies – the Division for the Advancement of
Women (DAW), the International Research and
Training Institute for the Advancement of Women
(INSTRAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on
Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women
(OSAGI), and the United Nations Development
Fund for Women (UNIFEM) – have been brought
together under the UN Women umbrella. The first
appointed Under-Secretary-General and Executive
Director of UN Women was Ms. Michelle Bachelet,
former President of Chile.
Among its goals, UN Women aims to do the
following:
• Support inter-governmental bodies, such as the
Commission on the Status of Women, in their
formulation of policies, global standards, and
norms;
• Help Member States to implement these
standards, standing ready to provide suitable
technical and financial support to those countries
that request it, and to forge effective partnerships
with civil society; and
• Hold the UN system accountable for its own
commitments on gender equality, including
regular monitoring of system-wide progress.
Gender Regime Relating to Peace and Security
Beyond these efforts specifically focused on
gender issues, other areas within the UN system
have shifted, creating space for gender issues
to appear in new contexts, particularly that of
international peace and security. For example,
in the late 1990s in the context of the horrific
violence in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, the
Security Council undertook a series of meetings to
address the issue of responsibility to protect civilian
populations during times of war. It was in this
30 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
context that SCR 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace,
and Security, the focus of this course, was adopted.
As will be discussed in Lesson 3, SCR 1325
(2000) was passed unanimously on 31 October
2000.15 It was the first resolution ever passed by
the Security Council that specifically addressed
the impact of war on women and girls, as well as
women’s contributions to conflict resolution and
the maintenance of peace and security. Although
gender mainstreaming has been official UN policy
since 1997, this resolution specifically emphasized
the importance of gender mainstreaming in the
armed conflict and security side of the UN.
Since adopting SCR 1325 (2000), the Security
Council has adopted several additional resolutions
related to WPS. On 19 June 2008, the Council
held an open debate on “Women, Peace and
Security: Sexual Violence in Situations of Armed
Conflict” and unanimously passed SCR 1820
(2008), which recognizes that sexual violence
as a tactic of warfare is a matter of international
peace and security.16 This resolution states that
widespread and systematic sexual violence can
exacerbate armed conflict, can pose a threat
to the restoration of international peace and
security, and has an impact on durable peace,
reconciliation, and development. Sexual violence
not only has grave physical, psychological, and
health consequences for its victims but also has
direct social consequences for communities and
entire societies. SCR 1820 (2008) reinforces and
complements SCR 1325 (2000) by urging all actors
to incorporate gender perspectives in all United
Nations peace and security efforts.
Two further resolutions were adopted the next
year. In September 2009, SCR 1888 (2009)17
was introduced, further enhancing SCR 1820
(2008) by not only highlighting the grave threat
of sexual violence during armed conflict but also
calling for the rapid deployment of gender advisers
and experts to monitor such situations and work
with UN personnel, as well as calling for the
15 For the full text of Security Council resolution
1325 (2000), see Appendix C.
16 For the full text of Security Council resolution
1820 (2008), see Appendix D.
17 For the full text of Security Council resolution
1888 (2009), see Appendix E.
appointment of a Special Representative to the
Secretary-General (SRSG) on sexual violence and
conflict.
In October 2009, the Security Council adopted
SCR 1889 (2009).18 This resolution reinforces
the goals of SCR 1325 (2000), much in the same
way that SCR 1888 (2009) continues the aims
of SCR 1820 (2008). SCR 1889 (2009) calls for
greater participation of women in all areas of
peacebuilding, specifically citing the need for
monitors to ensure that this inclusion happens
and that indicators will be developed to ensure the
effective implementation and monitoring of SCR
1325 (2000). Both SCR 1888 (2009) and SCR 1889
(2009) emphasize the need for accountability to
their predecessor resolutions.
Despite these accountability efforts, the Security
Council remains “deeply concerned over the slow
progress on the issue of sexual violence in armed
conflict in particular against women and children.”19
On 16 December 2010, the Security Council
adopted SCR 1960 (2010). While reaffirming the
previously mentioned resolutions, SCR 1960
(2010) most closely strengthens SCR 1888 (2009)
in working to protect women and children from
sexual violence by deploying gender experts and
by reminding states to prosecute those who commit
sexual violence.
UNSCR 1820 resulted in the appointment of a
Special Representative of the Secretary-General
on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG SVC). The
mandate of the SRSG, who serves as the United
Nation’s lead advocate on conflict-related sexual
violence, is to address the priority areas of ending
impunity for conflict-related sexual violence,
empowering women to seek redress, mobilizing
political ownership of the issues, increasing
recognition of rape, and harmonizing the UN’s
response. SCR 1888 (2009) further requested that
the Secretary-General rapidly deploy teams of
experts to situations of concern and that this issue
area be included in reports from UN peacekeeping
missions to the Security Council. This resolution
18 For the full text of Security Council resolution
1889 (2009), see Appendix F.
19 Security Council resolution 1960 (2010). See
Appendix G.
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specified the appointment of women protection
advisers and cross-cutting attention to sexual
violence in political participation.
On 24 June 2013, the UN Security Council
unanimously adopted a sixth resolution under
its women, peace, and security agenda item.
Resolution 2106 focuses on sexual violence
in armed conflict, reiterating commitments to
prevent and respond to this issue as a matter of
international peace and security.20 The resolution
sets out many provisions in this regard, including
the following:
• A focus on efforts to end impunity for sexual
violence affecting not only large numbers
of women and girls, but also men and boys,
while emphasizing the need for consistent and
rigorous investigation and prosecution of sexual
violence crimes as the main point of concern in
prevention efforts;
• Further deployment of Women Protection
Advisers (WPAs) in accordance with UNSCR
1888 and the strengthening of data collection on
sexual violence;
• The need to ensure women’s participation in all
aspects of mediation, post-conflict recovery, and
peacebuilding; and
• The need to address sexual violence in conflict
in the establishment of mandates, missions, and
other relevant work of the Security Council.
On 18 October 2013, the Security Council
unanimously passed resolution 2122 that sets
in place stronger measures to enable women to
participate in conflict resolution and recovery. It
also seeks to strengthen the Council’s working
methods on this agenda: to bring women, peace,
and security issues into other thematic areas such
as terrorism, non-proliferation, conflict prevention in
Africa, and rule of law.
These resolutions will be discussed further in
Lesson 3. A full matrix of the first four resolutions,
showing more details on the content and
application, may be found in Annex A.
20 For the full text of Security Council resolution
2106 (2013), see Appendix H.
| 31
 Summary and Key Learning
• The origins of the United Nations, grounded
in the commitment to maintaining international
peace and security, shaped the emergence
and development of international peacekeeping
operations which originally helped to supervise
agreements and positioning between
adversaries.
• The UN system has sought to adapt its peace
and security capabilities in response to
changes in conflict patterns which emerged
in the past decades, leading to greater focus
on the protection of civilians in peacekeeping,
peacemaking, and peacebuilding.
• For social transformation (relevant to both
conflict dynamics and building the peace) it is
vital to understand and work with the difference
between gender and sex; the process of gender
mainstreaming; and the meanings of gender
equality, gender balance, sex-disaggregated
data, gender analysis, gender impact analysis,
and gender empowerment.
• The key components of the international regime
of gender equality include the UN Charter,
human rights treaties – in particular CEDAW,
the outcome documents of the four world
conferences on women, and selected General
Assembly declarations and Security Council
resolutions. SCR 1325 (2000) is the most
comprehensive work to date on linking the issues
of gender equality with peace and security and
has been further substantiated through sister
resolutions 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889
(2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), and 2122
(2013).

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Annex A: UNSCRs on Women, Peace, and Security

1325
(2000)
Women’s leadership in peacemaking and conflict prevention
DESCRIPTION
First Security Council resolution to link women’s experiences of conflict to the maintenance of international
peace and security. Asserts women’s leadership and role in conflict resolution, peace talks and recovery,
requires build-up of gender response capability in peacekeeping missions and gender training for all
involved in the maintenance of peace and security.
Presented by Namibia, 2000
ACTORS
UN Secretary-General (SG) must:
• Increase numbers of women in UN decision-making on peace and security.
• Ensure women participate in peace talks.
• Provide information on women and conflict in country reports to the Security Council.
States must:
• Provide training on gender and conflict.
• Address gender in Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration programmmes.
Parties to armed conflict must:
• Protect women from sexual and gender based violence (SGBV).
• Respect civilian character of refugee and IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps.
• Prevent impunity and avoid amnesty for war crimes against women.
Security Council must:
• Take into account impact of its actions on women and girls.
• Meet with women’s groups on its missions.
FOCAL POINT/LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE UN
UN women leads in ensuring coordination and coherence in programming on women and girls in relation
to peace and security (Presidential Statement S/PRST/2010/22).
MONITORING AND REPORTING MECHANISM
The UN Strategic Framework on Women and Peace and Security 2011-2020.

Informal reviews: Open Debate every October, and informal Council meetings on the subject.

Periodic briefings of the Council by the Under-Secretary-General, UN Women.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM
(consequences for violating the resolution)
None. No reference to sanctions for perpetrators.

Tentative on amnesty—parties urged to avoid giving amnesty for war crimes against women “where
feasible” [OP 11].
RESOURCES
www.unwomen.org/1325plus10

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 1889
(2009)
Women’s leadership in peacemaking and conflict prevention
DESCRIPTION
Addresses women’s exclusion from early recovery and peacebuilding and lack of adequate planning
and funding for their needs. Asks for a strategy to increase numbers of women in conflict-resolution
decisionmaking, and asks for tools to improve implementation: indicators and proposals for a
monitoring mechanism.
Presented by Viet Nam, 2009
ACTORS
UN Secretary-General must:
• Produce a strategy to increase numbers of female peacemaking and peacekeeping
decision-makers.
• Produce a global report on women’s participation in peacebuilding
• Enable UN entities to collect data on women’s post-conflict situation.
• Place gender advisors and/or women protection advisors in peacekeeping missions.
• Produce a global set of indicators of implementation of 1325.
• Propose a Council mechanism for monitoring 1325.
States must:
• Promote women’s participation in political and economic decision-making from the earliest stage
of peacebuilding.
• Track money spent on women in postconflict and recovery planning, invest in women’s physical
and economic security, health, education, justice, and participation in politics.
Security Council must:
• Add provisions for women’s empowerment to mandate renewals for UN missions.
Peacebuilding commission must:
• Address women’s engagement in peacebuilding.
FOCAL POINT/LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE UN
The 2010 SG report on Women’s Participation in Peacebuilding (S/2010/466) sets out a 7 – point plan
for gender-responsive peacebuilding.

The Peacebuilding Support Office and UN women are co-coordinators.

MONITORING AND REPORTING MECHANISM
Global indicators on 1325 are the foundation for monitoring. The indicators are presented in the SG
report to the Council (S/2010/498).
ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM
(consequences for violating the resolution)
None—but calls for recommendations in 2010 on how Council will receive, analyze, and act upon
information on 1325 [OP 18].
RESOURCES
www.unwomen.org/1325plus10

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 1820
(2008)
Prevention of and response to conflict-related sexual violence
DESCRIPTION
First Security Council resolution to recognize conflict-related sexual violence as a tactic of warfare and a matter of
international peace and security, requiring a peacekeeping, justice, services and peace negotiation response.
Presented by the USA, 2008
ACTORS
UN Secretary-General (SG) must:
• Ensure sexual violence is addressed in conflict resolution as well as post-conflict recovery efforts.
• Raise the issue of sexual violence in dialogue with parties to armed conflict.
• Ensure women are represented in peacebuilding institutions.
• Ensure sexual violence is addressed in UN-assisted Demobilization, Disarmament, and Reintegration
processes, justice and security sector reform.
Parties to armed conflict must:
• Stop sexual violence, enforce command responsibility, and protect civilians from sexual violence including by
vetting suspected perpetrators from armed forces and by evacuating civilians at risk.
• Categorically prohibit amnesty for war crimes of sexual violence.
States must:
• Build awareness of and take steps to prevent sexual violence including through contributing women
peacekeeping personnel.
• Provide training to troops on prevention of sexual violence.
• Apply policy of zero tolerance to acts of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by UN peacekeepers.
• Develop measures to improve protection and assistance, particularly in relation to justice and health
systems.
Security Council must:
• Address root causes of sexual violence to expose myths about the inevitability and non-preventability of
sexual violence in war.
• Include sexual violence as criteria in country-specific sanctions regimes if relevant.
Peacebuilding Commission must:
• Advise on ways to address sexual violence.
FOCAL POINT/LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE UN
Department of Peacekeeping Operations best practices unit produced 1820 + 1 report in 2009.
UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict (a network of 13 UN entities) supports coordination.
MONITORING AND REPORTING MECHANISM
Annual report (but no clear monitoring and reporting parameters).
Monthly consideration by the Security Council expert group on Protection of Civilians [briefed by the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs].
ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM
(consequences for violating the resolution)
Sexual violence relevant to country-specific sanctions regimes [OP 5].
SG to develop a strategy for addressing SV in dialogue with parties to armed conflict [OP 3].
Categorical exclusion of sexual violence crimes from amnesty provisions [OP 4].
RESOURCES
www.stoprapenow.org

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 1888
(2009)
Prevention of and response to conflict-related sexual violence
DESCRIPTION
Strengthens tools for implementing 1820 through assigning high-level leadership, building judicial response
expertise, strengthening service provision, and building reporting mechanisms.
Presented by the USA, 2009
ACTORS
UN Secretary-General must:
• Appoint Special Representative of the Secretary-General on UN response to Sexual Violence (SRSG-SVC)
in Conflict.
• Appoint women protection advisors to UN peacekeeping missions in contexts with high levels of sexual
violence.
• Establish a rapid response team of judicial experts.
• Ensure that peace talks address sexual violence.
• Appoint more women as mediators.
• Propose ways the Security Council can improve monitoring and reporting on conflict-related sexual violence.
• Make improvements in data on trends and patterns of sexual violence.
• Provide details to the Security Council on parties to armed conflict credibly suspected of perpetrating
patterns of rape.
UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict (a network composed of 13 UN entities) must:
• Improve coherence in the UN’s response.
States must:
• Improve national legal frameworks and judicial systems to prevent impunity.
• Improve support services for sexual violence survivors.
• Ensure traditional leaders prevent stigmatization of victims.
• Support comprehensive national/UN strategies to stop sexual violence.
Security Council must:
• Raise sexual violence in designation criteria for sanctions committees.
FOCAL POINT/LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE UN
SRSG to build coherence and coordination in the UN’s response to conflict-related SV.
Linked to UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict for coordination.
MONITORING AND REPORTING MECHANISM
Invites a proposal on monitoring and reporting mechanism.
Annual report to provide details on patterns and perpetrators.
ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM
(consequences for violating the resolution)
Sanctions committees must add criteria pertaining to acts of rape and other forms of sexual violence
[OP 10].
National and local leaders, including traditional/religious authorities, to combat marginalization and
stigmatization of survivors [OP 15].
RESOURCES
www.stoprapenow.org

36 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
 1960
(2010)
Prevention of and response to conflict-related sexual violence
DESCRIPTION
Provides an accountability system for addressing conflict-related sexual violence, including by listing perpetrators
and establishing monitoring, analysis, and reporting arrangements.
Presented by the USA, 2010
ACTORS
UN Secretary-General (SG) must:
• List in Annex to annual reports parties credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of
sexual violence in situations on the Council’s agenda.
• Establish monitoring, analysis, and reporting arrangements on conflict-related sexual violence.
• Submit annual reports – including a strategic and coordinated plan for timely and ethical collection of
information.
SRSG-SVC must:
• Provide briefings to the Council.
• Brief Sanctions Committees and groups of experts.
States must:
• Dialogue with parties to armed conflict to secure/track protection commitments.
• Provide all military and police personnel deployed in peace operations with adequate training on sexual and
genderbased violence, sexual exploitation and abuse.
• Deploy more female military and police personnel in peace operations.
Parties to armed conflict must:
• Implement specific and time-bound commitments to combat sexual violence, which should include, inter
alia, issuance of clear orders to prohibit sexual violence through chains of command and Codes of Conduct,
military field manuals, or equivalent, and the timely investigations of alleged abuses in order to hold
perpetrators accountable.
Security Council must:
• Provide systematic consideration of SV in mandate authorizations and renewals.
• Consider the use of sanctions against parties.
FOCAL POINT/LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE UN
Office of the SRSG on Sexual Violence in Conflict, with the support of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in
Conflict.
MONITORING AND REPORTING MECHANISM
Requests the SG to establish monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements (MARA) on conflict-related sexual
violence, including rape in situations of armed conflict, postconflict and other situations of concern [OP 8].
ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM
(consequences for violating the resolution)
Calls for time-bound commitments to end sexual violence by parties to the conflict and inclusion of sexual violence
in criteria considered by sanctions committees [OPs 3, 5, 7].
Report listing perpetrators to be reviewed in Council [OP 18].
RESOURCES
www.stoprapenow.org

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End-of-Lesson Quiz
1. Which of the following is a function of the
UN Security Council?
A. To determine whether there is a threat to the
peace or an act of aggression and recommend
which measures should be taken;
B. To encourage Member States to apply all
necessary measures in order to prevent or stop
aggression, including the employment of force;
C. To consider and approve the United Nations’
budget and establish the financial assessments
of Member States;
D. To establish UN-sanctioned governments in
unstable states.
2. The concept of peacekeeping has changed
over the years because:
A. Member states have devised new weapons and
standing armies;
B. A series of ad hoc interventions needed further
steps for mission effectiveness to be mandated
by the Security Council;
C. The nature of war has radically changed, from
national armies conducting battles between
states to devastating violent conflicts within
states that can also spill across borders;
D. An Agenda for Peace was written by UN
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
3. How is traditional peacekeeping different
from complex peacebuilding?
A. Traditional peacekeeping allows the use of
armed force, while complex peacebuilding
employs only diplomacy and humanitarian
assistance;
B. Traditional peacekeeping involves public
opinion and protection of human rights, while
complex peacebuilding deals only with the
heads of nations and factions;
C. Traditional peacekeeping requires the
separation of combat forces, while complex
38 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
peacebuilding employs air, navy, and land
forces to keep the peace;
D. Traditional peacekeeping emphasizes
observation and monitoring, while complex
peacebuilding involves protection of human
rights and institution building.
4. Why did peace missions change in nature
and expand to encompass electoral
assistance, protection of human rights,
and disarmament, demobilization, and
reintegration, among other functions?
A. The number of overall deaths related to
conflicts increased;
B. The beginning of the Cold War brought a new
environment of international diplomacy and
cooperation, facilitating this expansion;
C. Complex and violent conflicts emerged during
the 1990s which have necessitated new
responses and forms or engagement;
D. The traditional methods of peacekeeping were
invalidated by a new interpretation of Chapter
IV of the UN Charter.
5. Which of the following attributes can be
used to describe sex?
A. It is a social construction, reflecting learned
rather than instinctive behaviours;
B. It is biologically determined;
C. It can change over time and within and between
cultures;
D. It includes roles and relationships between men
and women that are learned and transmitted by
family, society, and culture.
6. Gender equality:
A. Refers to the equal rights, responsibilities,
and opportunities of women and men where
the interests, needs, and priorities of both are
taken into consideration;
B. Is an issue that affects only women;
C. Is the same as gender equity;
D. Necessitates a special emphasis on
non-discrimination against both men and
women, with the exception of nations with a
historical culture of prescribed and clearly
delineated gender roles.
7. What is the goal of gender mainstreaming?
A. To replace targeted, women-specific policies
and programmes and positive legislation;
B. To reinforce gender norms, roles, and
stereotypes in order to achieve desired
outcomes in terms of peace, security, and
order;
C. To promote the concerns and experiences
of women in political, economic, and social
spheres so that women benefit more than men;
D. It is both a process and a goal, bringing the
perception, experience, knowledge, and
interests of women and men to bear on
policy-making, planning, and decision-making.
C. Are not related to the Security Council’s work in
international peace and security;
D. Only affect women during war.
10. Since adopting SCR 1325 (2000), the
Security Council has adopted several
additional resolutions related to WPS.
UNSCRs 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889
(2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), and 2122
(2013) are:
A. Each bringing a totally new theme to the
debate;
B. Waiting to be formally ratified;
C. Exploratory documents;
D. Sister resolutions to UNS CR 1325 which
build on its provisions for protection of
women’s rights during and after conflict and
for addressing their needs during and after
peacebuilding.

8. Which of the following documents is

considered the first international treaty
focused specifically on protecting and
promoting women’s human rights?
A. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
B. The International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights;
C. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women;
D. Security Council resolution 1325 (2000).

9. Systematic rape and sexual violence during

armed conflict:
A. Are crimes that are not covered by international
law;
ANSWER KEY
B. Constitute war crimes and crimes against
1A, 2C, 3D, 4C, 5B, 6A, 7D, 8C, 9B, 10D
humanity;

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LESSON 2
GENDER DIMENSIONS OF ARMED
CONFLICT AND POST-CONFLICT
RECONSTRUCTION
 LESSON
2

LESSON OBJECTIVES

2.1 Introduction This lesson provides a brief overview of the nature and scope of
contemporary armed conflict and how conflict today affects women,
2.2 The Nature of men, girls, and boys in different and significant ways. The gendered
Contemporary Armed consequences of armed conflict include sexual and gender-based
Conflict violence, socioeconomic shifts, forced migration, and displacement,
as well as challenges to health and education systems. This lesson
2.3 The Gendered Impact also introduces the various ways that women participate in conflict as
of Armed Conflict both combatants and peacemakers at the grass-roots level, as these
roles are often invisible at higher levels of decision-making. It discusses
2.4 Women’s Roles in women’s involvement in formal and informal peace processes, gender
Armed Conflict mainstreaming in UN peacekeeping missions, and what it means to take
gender seriously in post-conflict reconstruction efforts.
2.5 Mainstreaming a
Gendered Perspective By the end of Lesson 2, the student should be able to meet the following
in Conflict Resolution objectives:
• Understand the ways in which contemporary armed conflict has
and Post-conflict
differential impacts on society;
Reconstruction
• Recognize the many ways that sexual and gender-based violence
(SGBV) manifests in modern armed conflict;
• Appreciate the various ways that women participate in armed conflict
and work for peace;
• Apply a gender perspective to multiple dimensions of the peace
process;
• Identify a number of UN activities aimed at mainstreaming a gender
perspective into peacekeeping operations; and
• Understand the importance of addressing gender inequalities in
post-conflict reconstruction processes, including disarmament,
demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform
(SSR).
 2.1 Introduction
It is critical to understand how culturally embedded
gender roles and expectations shape the
experience of armed conflict today. Such socially
constructed ideas and identities have direct
implications for how a society transitions out of
conflict and successfully works towards peace
and stability. Armed conflict and post-conflict
reconstruction efforts explicitly and implicitly affect
women and men in different, but related, ways.
Gender affects the challenges that women, men,
girls, and boys face during and after conflict as
both victims and participants. By understanding
the importance of the gender dimension of armed
conflict, we can improve our ability to design and
implement appropriate and effective post-conflict
reconstruction strategies.
2.2 The Nature of Contemporary
Armed Conflict
In the opening words of the Preamble to the
UN Charter, Member States pledge “to save
succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”
Since the Charter was signed in 1945, the nature
of conflict has shifted significantly. Wars between
states have decreased, while conflicts within states
have increased dramatically. According to the
(independent) Human Security Report, intrastate
conflicts now make up more than 95 per cent of
all conflicts.1 The report also defines conflict as
having at least 25 battle-related deaths (including
both combatants and civilians) per year and war as
having at least 1,000 battle-related deaths per year.
Today’s conflicts tend to be played out through
popular movements or on behalf of causes which
look to civilians for support. They can be long and
drawn out and involve irregular militias and other
opposition groups engaging with each other or with
the conventional armies of nation-states. These
conflicts frequently involve protracted struggles
between competing principles and ideologies.
Tactics range from subversion to the use of armed
force, employing political, economic, informational,
and military instruments. Low-intensity conflicts are
1 Human Security Centre, Human Security
Report 2005: War and Peace in the 21st Century
(Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 23.
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often localized, generally in the developing world,
but have regional and global security implications.
Most wars now occur in the Global South, which is
home to the highest number of states, the largest
populations, the lowest income levels, and the
fewest stable governments.2 More people were
being killed in wars in sub-Saharan Africa at the
turn of the twenty-first century than in the rest of
the world combined.3 The combination of pervasive
poverty, declining gross domestic product (GDP)
per capita, poor infrastructure, weak administration,
external intervention, and an abundance of cheap
weapons makes armed conflict in these countries
difficult to avoid, contain, or end. While these
trends can be generalized across the globe, each
region of the world faces specific challenges in the
context of armed conflict.
Generally speaking, the shift in the types of conflict
has meant a decline in post-Cold War battle-related
deaths, from nearly 700,000 in 1950 to about
27,000 in 2008.4 The nature of long, drawn-out
internal conflict, high-tech weaponry, and the
increased movement of displaced people, among
other factors, have all contributed to this trend.
This does not, however, necessarily mean that
there are fewer victims of war. The consequences
of war are complex, and the impact of armed
conflict must be examined in longer-term, more
nuanced ways. With the prevalence of civil wars,
many of which have no clear political objectives
or defined actors, the line between combatants
and non-combatants and between victims and
perpetrators is often blurred, further exacerbating
the lasting consequences of conflict. In this sense,
conflicts have increasingly involved attacks on
civilians and gross, often systematic, human rights
abuses.
2 Nils Petter Gleditsch, Peter Wallensteen, Mikael
Eriksson, Margareta Sollenberg, and Harvard
Strand, “Armed Conflict 1946–2001: A New
Dataset,” Journal of Peace Research, vol. 39, No. 5
(2002), pp. 615–637.
3 Op. cit., Human Security Report 2005, p. 4.
4 Tara Cooper, Sebastian Merz and Mila Shah,
A More Violent World? Global Trends in Organised
Violence (Berghof Foundation, Berlin, 2011), p. 31.
| 43
 The World Development Report 2011: Conflict,
Security and Development examines in detail
how violence disrupts and damages society and
notes that human rights abuses increase sharply
during civil war. It also notes that after a conflict
ends, the average society takes more than
10 years to return to the level of human rights
observance before the conflict.5
Beyond this link with human rights abuses,
contemporary armed conflict is also associated
with a significant upward trend in numbers of
refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
As a report by the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) stated, “Refugee movements
are no longer side effects of conflict, but in many
cases are central to the objectives and tactics
of war.”6 Refugees and IDPs are particularly
vulnerable to malnutrition, disease, sexual violence,
other forms of abuse, and death. Despite the
efforts of the UNHCR to find durable solutions,
the number of refugees and IDPs under its care
rose by 1 million during 2009, surpassing an
unprecedented 26 million receiving UNHCR aid by
the end of that year. During that time, the number
of refugees under UNHCR’s responsibility was
10.4 million, out of the 15.2 million worldwide.
The number of people affected globally by
conflict-induced internal displacement increased
globally from 26 to 27.1 million, with UNHCR
providing protection or assistance either directly or
indirectly to 15.6 million of them.7
5 See The World Development Report 2011:
Conflict, Security and Development, Chapter One,
page 64. Accessed via <http://web.worldbank.
org/> . See also S. Carey, M. Gibney and S. Poe,
The Politics of Human Rights (2010) Cambridge
University Press.
6 United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, The State of the World’s Refugees:
Fifty Years of Humanitarian Action (Oxford, Oxford
University Press, 2000).
7 United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, 2009 Global Trends: Refugees,
Asylum-Seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced
and Stateless Persons (June 2010). Available from
<http://www.unhcr.org/4c11f0be9.html>, accessed
19 March 2011. See also the Internal Displacement
Monitoring Centre of the Norwegian Refugee
Council, <http://www.unhcr.org/4c11f0be9.html>,
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Children in the town of Labado, where roughly 60,000
of the town’s inhabitants had fled from violence and
attacks. (UN Photo #77096 by Evan Schneider, May 2005)
In short, the impact of armed conflict is complex,
widespread, and often indiscriminate. Combatants
and civilians of all ages suffer. Women, men, girls,
and boys are all victims. However, the ways that
women, men, girls, and boys experience armed
conflict are often very different. Women also rarely
have the same resources, political rights, authority,
or control over their environment and needs as men
do. In addition, just as men and boys participate
in contemporary conflict, so too do women and
girls. “The situation of women in armed conflicts is
systematically neglected.”8 Thus, their situation and
needs deserve further explanation and analysis, as
detailed below.
2.3 The Gendered Impact of Armed
Conflict
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV)
SGBV is violence that is directed against
individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of
their gender or sex. It includes, but is not limited
to, sexual violence which includes forms of rape,
sexual slavery, forced impregnation, sexual
accessed 19 March 2011. See also the Internal
Displacement Monitoring Centre of the Norwegian
Refugee Council.
8 Elisabeth Rehn and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,
Women, War and Peace: The Independent Experts’
Assessment on the Impact of Armed Conflict on
Women and Women’s Role in Peace Building
(New York, United Nations Development Fund for
Women, 2002), p. 1.
 mutilation, harassment, and humiliating treatment,
such as being forced to disrobe publicly.9 SGBV
includes acts that inflict physical, psychological,
social, or sexual harm or suffering, threats of
such acts, coercion, and other deprivations of
liberty. In this sense, SGBV can target males or
females, based on their gender role in society.
Although the term SGBV provides a new context
for understanding violence against women,
because it reflects the unequal power relationship
between women and men in society, it does not
mean that all violence against women and girls is
SGBV or that all victims of SGBV are female. The
rape of men in war is a violation which severely
humiliates the victim, and many cannot talk about
their experience. Gender conditioning plays a part
in this, as in some societies shame is attributed
to such violation of women and girls; and “being a
man” (even as a victim) means not talking about
feelings or revealing intimate experience. For both
women and men, the effects of SGBV on human
dignity and the impact of humiliation and physical
pain are long lasting.
While SGBV can be a key threat in different
societies and in varying degrees, it is particularly
problematic during times of armed conflict and, in
general, affects more women and girls. Violations
of the rights of women and girls are pervasive and
form a central component of today’s armed conflict.
All of these violent acts are deeply embedded in
gender roles and relations: the sex and gender of
the victim, the sex and gender of the perpetrator,
and gender relations in the society and culture.10
These violent acts seek to attack not only the
individual but also the society more broadly
because such forms of humiliation and dominance
take on both political and symbolic meaning.
Women’s bodies become a battleground over
which opposed forces struggle. This is a critical
security issue that the international community

Synthesis Definition of “Conflict-Related Sexual Violence”

Conflict-related sexual violence refers to incidents or…. patterns of sexual violence, that is rape, sexual slavery,
forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable
gravity, against women, men, girls or boys. Such incidents or patterns occur in conflict or post-conflict settings
or other situations of concern (e.g., political strife). They also have a direct or indirect nexus with the conflict or
political strife itself, i.e. a temporal, geographical and/or causal link. In addition to the international character
of the suspected crimes (that can, depending on the circumstances, constitute war crimes, crimes against
humanity, acts of torture or genocide), the link with conflict may be evident in the profile and motivations of
the perpetrator(s), the profile of the victim(s), the climate of impunity/weakened State capacity, cross-border
dimensions and/or the fact that it violates the terms of a ceasefire agreement.

See “Analytical and Conceptual Framing of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence” UN Action Against Sexual
Violence in Conflict, http://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/AnalyticalConceptualFramingCon-
flictrelatedSexualViolence_UNAction2011.pdf

has taken steps to deal with; for example, the

9 Human Rights Watch, We’ll Kill You If You Cry:
Sexual Violence in the Sierra Leone Conflict (New
York: Human Rights Watch, 2003). Division for the
Advancement of Women, Department of Economic
and Social Affairs, “Sexual violence and armed
conflict: Answers of the nations,” in 2000 Report
(Beijing +5), available from <http://www.un.org/
womenwatch/daw/public/w2apr98.htm#part2>.
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
now recognizes and prosecutes, as war crimes
10 United Nations, Integration of the Human
Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective:
Violence against Women, Report of the Special
Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Radhika
Coomaraswamy (E/CN.4/2001/73).

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 and crimes against humanity, sexual and gender
violence – including rape, sexual slavery (including
trafficking of women), forced prostitution, forced
pregnancy, forced sterilization, other forms of grave
sexual violence, and persecution on account of
gender. SCR 1820 (2008) also recognizes that
“rape and other forms of sexual violence can
constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a
constitutive act with respect to genocide.”
After the end of war, or when a ceasefire has
been brokered, levels of SGBV may still remain
high according to levels of vulnerability. Gender
relations can be visibly affected in the household;
returning male spouses may have been demeaned
by the armed conflict, crippled by guilt, or angered
or humiliated by having failed to live up to their
perceived responsibility to protect their women.11
Tensions can arise if men return to find women
in roles they had held previously, and feelings of
displacement arise. In some cases, this violence
reflects patterns that existed before the conflict.
Further, everyday violence can also increase in
a post-conflict society – as well as in militarized
environments – in which the rule of law often does
not exist. If occupying armed forces look to women
(who can be desperate for survival and to provide
for family units) for sexual services in exchange for
food or other resources, this tends to contribute
to such a violent environment. This is a frequently
observed trend in post-conflict zones.
In this way, everyday abuse, political violence, and
armed conflict are often indistinguishable from a
gender perspective. Thus, focusing on time frames
like pre- and post-conflict can be misleading when
trying to understand SGBV. As this section has
shown, high levels of SGBV tend to persist well into
the post-conflict period and even beyond, creating
long-term threats to security and to women’s
health, livelihoods, and ability to participate in
reconstruction and peacebuilding.
11 A. El Jack, “Gender perspectives on the
management of small arms and light weapons in
the Sudan,” in Gender Perspectives on Small Arms
and Light Weapons: Regional and International
Concerns, Brief 24, V. Farr and K. Gebre-Wold,
eds. (Bonn, Bonn International Center for
Conversion, 2002).
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One long-term threat that is increasingly more
prevalent is human trafficking, another form of
SGBV. Human trafficking and sexual slavery are
inextricably linked to conflict. Although the global
scale of human trafficking is difficult to quantify,
as many as 800,000 people may be trafficked
across international borders annually, with many
more trafficked within the borders of their own
countries.12 Trafficking of persons can involve “the
recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or
receipt of persons, by means of threat, use of force
or other means of coercion, of abduction, of fraud,
of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position
of vulnerability or of the receiving or giving of
payment…to a person having control over another
person, for the purpose of exploitation.”13 Common
abuses experienced by trafficked persons include
rape, torture, debt bondage, unlawful confinement,
and threats against their families or other people
close to them, as well as other forms of physical,
sexual, and psychological violence. Although
the demands for cheap labour, sexual services,
and certain criminal activities are root causes of
trafficking, armed conflict and systems of gender
inequality are often the enabling factors in this
growing industry, as such conditions exacerbate
women’s and children’s vulnerabilities.
The vulnerabilities to SGBV that men and boys
face during and after armed conflict must also
be addressed in any gender analysis of armed
conflict and post-conflict reconstruction. Most
of the harms men and older boys face during
wartime – sexual mutilation, forced conscription,
and sex-selective massacre – may also qualify
conceptually as gender-based violence.14 Such
12 International Organization for Migration,
Counter-Trafficking. Available from <http://www.
iom.int/jahia/Jahia/counter-trafficking/lang/en>,
accessed 19 March 2011.
13 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes,
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and
Children, Supplementing the UN Convention
Against Transnational Organized Crime, Article 3.
Available from <http://www.uncjin.org/Documents/
Conventions/dcatoc/final_documents_2/
convention_%20traff_eng.pdf>, accessed 19 March
2011.
14 Op. cit., Human Security Report 2005;
 acts of violence attack and seek to destroy men’s
and boys’ masculinity, which threatens their
honour and sense of self. Research has shown
that men and boys also face major risks of abuse
and violence based upon culturally constructed
notions about gender roles. Such risks include
summary execution, sexual violence, mutilation,
and conscription; they constitute both human
rights abuses and a wider security problem.15
Recognizing these risks and vulnerabilities and
taking them seriously through processes of
transitional justice and societal reconciliation are
essential to rebuilding a secure and stable society.
Socioeconomic Consequences
In war-torn regions, gendered divisions of labour
often emerge or are reinforced in the interest of
serving a war economy. It can be the case that
sheer desperation or coercion drives women and
girls into working for warlords and criminal militias
or entering into exploitative informal sects of the
labour force. For example, women and girls are
used as sexual slaves for militia commanders and
soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and as cooks and domestic servants in Myanmar.
Women and girls are often forced to carry supplies,
sort gems, launder clothes, carry messages
between work gangs or fighting forces, and
perform other activities deemed suitable to their
size, gender, and age.16 These gendered divisions
of labour have lasting consequences not only for
women and girls but also for society more broadly,
particularly when rebuilding after war.
Contemporary armed conflict also causes shifts in
demographics when significant proportions of the
men and boys in a society are killed, as seen in
Kosovo and Rwanda. While these shifts may create
Women’s Caucus, “Clarification of the term
‘gender.’” Available from <http://www.iccwomen.
org/resources/gender.htm>, accessed 2 February
2006.
15 R. Charli Carpenter, “Recognizing
gender-based violence against civilian men and
boys in conflict situations,” Security Dialogue, vol.
37, No. 1 (2006), pp. 83–103.
16 Dyan Mazurana, Angela Raven-Roberts, and
Jane Parpart, Gender, Conflict and Peacekeeping
(Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield, 2005).
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opportunities for women, such as enabling them
to own land, women’s workloads as providers and
caregivers increase. Further, the destructive nature
of conflict means that wells become poisoned, land
is mined, and marketplaces are destroyed, making
the daily tasks of collecting water, farming, and
buying and selling goods increasingly dangerous.17
In many cultures, women and girls tend to
engage most often in these essential activities.
Such conditions make women’s and girls’ labour
increasingly time-consuming and dangerous.
Unsurprisingly, many war-torn societies see rising
numbers of female- or child-headed households.
For example, as a result of war, women now head
about one-third of all households in Angola.18 All of
these factors related to demographic composition
contribute to dramatic decreases in school
enrolment especially for women and girls during
and after conflict.
Refugees collect water at a well in the Dakhla Refugee Camp. (UN Photo
#21977 by Evan Schneider, June 2003)
In short, the changing demographic structures
of communities affected by war create additional
burdens on women and girls when male family
members are killed, disabled, driven into militia
17 United Nations, Report of the
Secretary-General to the Security Council on
the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, 8
September 1999 (S/1999/957).
18 United Nations Secretary-General Report,
Women, Peace and Security (New York, United
Nations, 2002). See also <http://www.unwomen.
org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/05B-Women-
Working-for-Recovery.pdf>, accessed 1 Nov. 2012.
| 47
 forces, or forced to flee. Usually girls, and then
boys, are pulled out of school, the elderly out of
retirement, and women out of the home to seek
employment, intensify agricultural production, and
help gather water, fuel, and food.19 In this way,
contemporary armed conflict often has long-term
implications for socioeconomic structures and
networks, particularly for the women and girls who
survive the violence.
Flight, Displacement, and Health
According to the UNHCR, there are about 50
million uprooted people around the world –
refugees who have sought safety in another
country and people displaced within their own
country – and 75 to 80 per cent of them are
believed to be women and children.20 The 1951
Refugee Convention defines a refugee as any
person who, “owing to well-founded fear of being
persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality,
membership of a particular social group or political
opinion, is outside the country of his nationality
and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling
to avail himself of the protection of that country;
or who, not having a nationality and being outside
the country of his former habitual residence as a
result of such events, is unable or, owing to such
fear, is unwilling to return to it.” While IDP status is
not defined by international law, IDPs are certainly
a central concern of the UN. UNHCR defines an
IDP as “someone who, like a refugee, has been
displaced by crisis or conflict but, unlike a refugee,
has not crossed an international border.” In other
words, IDPs are displaced within their own home
countries. This can make assistance and protection
much more difficult.
Each phase of displacement – including forced
eviction, initial displacement, flight, protection,
assistance, resettlement, and reintegration –
affects people differently. In all phases, women and
girls confront discrimination and suffer significant
human rights abuses, especially SGBV, largely
because of the weakening of existing community-
19 Op. cit., Mazurana.
20 “Statistics: the world of refugee women
at a glance,” Refugees Magazine, vol. 1, No.
126 (2002), available from <http://www.unhcr.
org/3cb5508b2.html>, accessed 21 March 2011.
48 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
and family-protection mechanisms, the lack of
physical security, and sometimes the need to rely
on armed groups for protection. For many, the
violence that causes people to flee their homes
and countries is only the beginning. From this
perspective, many refugee advocates maintain
that flight must be seen in the broad context of
international issues such as good governance,
sustainable development, trade, and most
importantly, peace and security.21
IDPs arrive at Zamzam Camp in Sudan. (UN Photo
#401314 by Olivier Chassot, June 2009)
Examining the deteriorating health of those in flight
is one way to understand this issue in this broader
context. Armed conflict often means the looting and
destruction of the health-care infrastructure, and
those in flight – especially women and children –
often do not have access to health-care facilities
and medical treatment. Additionally, it is important
to remember that medical care goes beyond
attending to physical ailments to include access to
medical information, including on the prevention
of HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases,
and early pregnancy. Disease, particularly HIV/
AIDS, spreads faster where there is poverty,
lawlessness, and social instability, and these are
the conditions that often give rise to, or accompany,
forced displacement. In this way, women’s and
girls’ physical, nutritional, reproductive, and mental
health is negatively affected during armed conflict
and especially during forced migration.
21 James Milner and Gil Loescher, “New safety
or old danger? UN ‘protection areas’ for refugees,”
Open Democracy (13 February 2003).
 2.4 Women’s Roles in Armed
Conflict
Women as Combatants
As the previous section demonstrated, the targeting
of women, girls, men, and boys based on their
gender roles within particular societies and cultures
is often systematic and thorough. Women and
girls are not only victims of contemporary armed
conflict; they often assume more active roles,
including as combatants, spies, messengers, and
porters. There are few armed forces worldwide
from which women are totally absent. Women can
be found in both conventional and paramilitary
forces.
Like men and boys, women and girls engage in
armed conflict for a variety of reasons, including
opposition to unjust or predatory governments,
support of religious or ideological goals, and pursuit
of economic incentives. For example, women
have fought in liberation struggles in Colombia, El
Salvador, Eritrea, Guatemala, Namibia, Palestine,
and Timor-Leste. Women and girls are also
forced into combatant roles through abduction,
intimidation, and forced recruitment, such as in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Sri
Lanka, Turkey, and northern Uganda.22 Women
have also served in oppressive and extermination
institutions in totalitarian regimes, as well as
terrorist organizations.
Armed conflict often provides women the
opportunity to transcend gender roles and
stereotypes that limit them to the home or the
private sphere by picking up arms and fighting on
the front lines. Particularly when women fight with
a group opposing a repressive government, their
empowerment is often framed as an example of
the group’s emancipating intentions. The reality is,
however, that women are mostly relegated to their
subordinate positions in society after conflict for the
sake of peace or stability. The presence of women
22 Dyan Mazurana, Susan McKay, Khristopher
Carlson, and Janel Kasper, “Girls in fighting forces:
Their recruitment, participation, demobilization,
and reintegration,” Peace and Conflict, vol. 8, No. 2
(2002), p. 97.
L E S S O N 2 : G E N D E R D I M E N S I O N S O F A R M E D C O N F L I C T A N D P O S T- C O N F L I C T R E C O N S T R U C T I O N
in conventional or unconventional armed forces has
never fundamentally changed their social position.23
Women as Peacemakers
Although more needs to be done to include women
in formal circles of power and decision-making
during armed conflict and the peace processes
that follow, women’s contributions for recovery and
the informal, grass-roots level of peacebuilding
activities have long been substantial. Research
into women’s peacebuilding work in conflict and
post-conflict situations has found the following:
Women, although less visible than men,
have long been integrally involved in seeking
solutions to issues intrinsic to building peace,
including ecological balance, demobilization
and reintegration of former child soldiers,
demilitarization and disarmament, and
sustainable economic, environmental, and
political development. Furthermore, women
are resource managers, advocates for other
women in emergency and crisis situations,
leaders in political processes, and community
influentials. …Women often develop informal or
formal groups and processes that contribute to
peacebuilding and the construction of democratic
societies.24
23 Marie Vlachová and Lea Biason, eds., Women
in an Insecure World: Violence against Women
Facts, Figures and Analysis (Geneva, Geneva
Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed
Forces, 2005), p. 136.
24 Dyan Mazurana, Susan McKay, and
International Centre for Human Rights and
Democratic Development, “Women and
peacebuilding,” Essays on Human Rights and
Democratic Development, No. 8 (Montreal,
International Centre for Human Rights and
Democratic Development, 1999), p. 2. See also
“From the ground up: Women’s roles in local
peacebuilding in Afghanistan, Liberia, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sierra Leone” (2012) Action Aid,
IDS and Womankind <http://www.actionaid.
org/publications/ground-womens-role-local-
peacebuilding- afghanistan-liberia-nepal-paki-
stan-and-sierra-le>.
| 49
 While women’s peace activism is not a new
phenomenon, it seems to be shifting to reflect the
realities of contemporary armed conflict. It is not
limited to any one region, class, race, or religion. It
is a global phenomenon that is growing every year
and with every conflict. “It is both highly localized
in nature and increasingly a global movement with
its own characteristics, linked to the UN and the
system of international conferences and networks
that have emerged since the early 1990s. As wars
(particularly civil wars) destroy the social taboos
and mores that protected women, so women
themselves are taking a stand and saying enough
is enough.”25 From Afghanistan and Iraq, to Israel
and Palestine, to Liberia and Sierra Leone, to
Nepal and Sri Lanka, women are organizing at the
local level and effectively pushing their societies
towards greater peace, stability, and democratic
governance. 26
2.5 Mainstreaming a Gender
Perspective in Conflict Resolution and
Post-conflict Reconstruction
Women, Gender, and the Peace Process
Women’s activism at the grass-roots level does
not often translate into official recognition during
the peace process, in which women are rarely
included in formal negotiations as members of the
opposition group, political parties, civil society,
or even special-interest groups. UN Women
conducted a review of 21 major peace processes
from 1992 to 2008 and found strikingly low
numbers of women participants, even after the
passage of SCR 1325 (2000). At that time findings
indicated that only 2.4 per cent of signatories were
women. No women had been appointed as lead
peace mediators in UN-sponsored peace talks, but
in some talks sponsored by the African Union or
other institutions, women had been part of a team
of mediators – for example, Graça Machel, former
Education and Culture Minister of Mozambique and
25 Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, Women Building
Peace: What They Do, Why It Matters (Boulder,
Lynne Rienner Publishers), p. 5.
26 For a comprehensive overview on this work
see: <http://www.unwomen.org/wp-content/
uploads/2012/10/05C-Gender-and-Post-Conflict-
Governance.pdf.> . Accessed 26 Nov. 2012.
50 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
First Lady of South Africa and Mozambique, was
one of three mediators for the Kenya crisis in 2008.
By 2011 women were represented in the mediation
support teams of 12 of the 14 United Nations co-led
peace negotiations (86 per cent). Of these 14
peace processes, only 4 of the negotiating party
delegations included a woman delegate. Gender
experts were deployed to 5 of 11 relevant peace
negotiations (45 per cent). Consultations with
women’s civil society organizations were conducted
on a regular basis in 7 of those 11 negotiations (64
per cent).27
As the following table demonstrates, women
continue to be underrepresented in peace
processes, and this poses serious challenges
to the international community in upholding and
protecting women’s rights. These numbers are
problematic from both a legal and a social justice
perspective. For many practitioners, however, the
issue is not simply what the peace process can
or should do for women but what women can do
for the peace process that can benefit society as
a whole. According to Elisabeth Rehn and Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf, “When women are present, the
nature of the dialogue changes. Women’s concerns
come not merely out of their own experiences
but out of their rootedness in their communities.
They represent different constituencies: those
in need of education, of health care, of jobs and
of land. They have a different experience of war
from male fighters and politicians.”28 In this way,
many believe that women bring different skills
and a different approach to problem-solving, and
they are a resource that needs to be utilized in
these extremely complex and difficult processes.
27 Three of the 14 peace negotiations in 2011 –
two on border demarcation disputes and one on
a country name dispute – were negotiated at the
ministerial level at United Nations Headquarters
and did not explicitly involve women, peace,
and security dimensions. See the Report of the
Secretary General on women and peace and
security, Oct. 2, 2012 S/2012/732 ‘Indicator:
Representation of women among mediators,
negotiators and technical experts in formal peace
negotiations’, p.9. < http://www.un.org/en/sc/
documents/sgreports/2012.shtml>.
28 Cited in Rehn, op.cit, p.81.
 with consultative access to negotiators and mediators poses
involvement of women’s groups during the peacemaking phase Nepal
another. Women’s groups often represent and voice women’s
can only support their engagement during the always-difficult 18 Compre
priorities and concerns, and indeed are more likely to do so than of Nepa
phase of implementation and peacebuilding.
The Ph
19 Commu
MNLF a
Table 1: Women’s participation in 31 peace processes (1992 - 2011) DRC (2
Women in
20 Acte D’E
Women Women Lead Women
Negotiating
Signatories Mediators Witnesses Teams
DRC (2
El Salvador (1992) 21
1 Chapultepec Agreement
12% 0% — 13% Acte D’E

Ugand
Croatia (1995) 22
2 The Erdut Agreement
0% 0% 0% 11% Juba Pe

Kenya
3 Bosnia (1995)
0% 0% 0% 0% 23 Agreem
The Dayton Accords Coalitio

Centra
4 Guatemala (1996)
11% 0% — 10% 24 Accord d
Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace

Zimba
Northern Ireland (1998)
5 Good Friday Agreement.
10% 0% — 10% 25 Agreem
PF) and
the cha
Kosovo (1999)
6 Interim agreement for Peace and Self-Government in Kosovo 0% 0% 0% 3% Soma
(The Rambouillet Accords) 26 Agreem
the Allia
Sierra Leone (1999)
7 0% 0% 20% 0% Hondu
The Lomé Peace Agreement
27 Diálogo
y el fort
Burundi (2000) – Arusha
8 0% 0% — 2% Iraq (2
Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi
28 Erbil Ag
Papua New Guinea (2001)
9 Accord Papua New Guinea
7% 0% — 4% Philip
29 Oslo Joi

Macedonia (2001)
10 The Ohrid Peace Agreement
0% 0% 0% 5% Centra
30 Accord d
Afghanistan (2001) – Bonn
11 Agreement on Provisional Arrangements in Afghanistan Pending the 9% 0% — 9% Yemen
Re-establishment of Permanent Government Institutions 31 Agreem
in accor
Somalia (2002) - Eldoret
12 Declaration on Cessation of Hostilities and the Structures and Principles. Principles 0% 0% 0% —
of the Somalia National Reconciliation Process
their
Cote d’Ivoire (2003)
on 13 Linas-Marcoussis Peace Accords
0% 0% 0% —
tary-
tives DRC (2003)
4 14 The Sun City Agreement (“The Final Act”)
5% 0% 0% 12%
society 5

ment Liberia (2003) – Accra

hat 15 Peace Agreement between the Government of Liberia, the Liberians United for
Reconciliation and Democracy, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia and the
0% 0% 17% —
n the political parties

ender- Sudan (2005) - Naivasha

nces 16 The comprehensive peace agreement between the Government of the
Republic of Sudanand the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/
0% 0% 9% —
nnot Sudan People’s Liberation Army.

one can Darfur (2006) – Abuja

17 Darfur Peace Agreement
0% 0% 7% 8%
and
phase Nepal (2006)
ficult 18 Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Government 0% — 0% 0%
of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)

The Philippines (2007)

19 Communique on the Tripartite Meeting between the GRP, 0% 0% — —
MNLF and OIC

DRC (2008) - Goma - North Kivu

en in
20 Acte D’Engagement
5% 20% 0% —
iating
s
DRC (2008) - Goma - South Kivu
3%
21 Acte D’Engagement
0% 20% 0% —

Uganda (2008)
1%
22 Juba Peace Agreement
0% 0% 20% 9%

Kenya (2008) – Nairobi

0% 23 Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the 0% 33% 0% 25%
Coalition Government

Central African Republic (2008)

0% 24 Accord de Paix Global
0% 0% 0% —

Zimbabwe (2008) 0% 0% 0%
0% 25 Agreement between the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-
PF) and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations, on resolving
—
the challenges facing Zimbabwe

3% Somalia (2008)
26 Agreement between the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) and 0% 0% 10% —
the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) (The Djibouti Agreement)

Honduras (2009) 33% 0%

0%
27 Diálogo Guaymuras Acuerdo Tegucigalpa/San José para la reconciliacion nacional — —
y el fortalecimiento de la democracia en Honduras - Intra-State Agreement

2% Iraq (2010)
28 Erbil Agreement
0% 0% 0% —

4% Philippines (2011)
29 Oslo Joint Statement 33% 0% 0% 35%

5% Central African Republic (2011)

30 Accord de cessez-le-feu entre l’UFDR et le CPJP 0% 0% 0% —

9% Yemen (2001)
31 Agreement on the implementation mechanism for the transition process in Yemen 0% 0% — —
in accordance with the initiative of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
—

From Women’s Participation in Peace Negotiations: Connections between Presence and Influence, UN Women,
available from <http://www.unwomen.org/~/media/Headquarters/Media/Publications/en/03AWomenPeaceNeg.pdf>
5
L E S S O N 2 : G E5 N D E R D I M E N S I O N S O F A R M E D C O N F L I C T A N D P O S T - C O N F L I C T R E C O N S T R U C T I O N | 51
 Including more women in the peace process
demands that female participants feel safe and
secure, receive adequate resources and training,
and have access to decision-makers at the highest
levels.
From this perspective, it is important to debunk the
myth that peace accords can be gender neutral.
International policymakers often believe that by
broadly referencing human rights and justice, they
have adequately addressed women’s rights and
concerns. Being gender blind or “gender neutral”
often translated into discrimination against women
because the decisions made at the negotiating
table rarely consider the experiences of women
who have to live with the results. Policies such as
reintegration of combatants became problematic
when it was too late. In some cases, where men
returned to homes where women had learned to
live without them, the result was an increase in
domestic violence, alcoholism, and drug abuse.29
There is increasing evidence of gender dimension
and women’s needs being included in the agenda
“at the table” and in agreements reached for
peace accords. In 2011 this was a reality for
both the Yemen Transitional Agreement and
the Somali Road Map. The 2012 Report of the
Secretary-General on Women, Peace, and
Security notes that the combination of a strong
gender analysis, active efforts by the Special
Adviser on Yemen, and close engagement with
women leaders and groups resulted in the inclusion
of gender-specific commitments. The Somali Road
Map included a quota for women’s representation
in transitional bodies and in implementation.
The renegotiation of power relations is central
to peace agreements. Arrangements for
constitution building or reform will in turn have an
impact on property rights, electoral reform and
representation, and access to justice questions for
the future. Peace agreements are important in that
they “not only formalize political priorities but also
articulate a nation’s political aspirations and their
enduring nature.”30 Therefore, the differing priorities
29 Donald Steinberg, “Initiative for inclusive
security”, speech, Policy Forum, Washington, DC,
16 January 2007.
30 Alexandra Dobrowolsky, “Women’s
52 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
of men and women need to be accounted for and
included in all peace negotiations.
Gendering Peacekeeping Operations
We know from Lesson 1 that peacekeeping
operations have evolved since their introduction
in 1948. Initially, they emphasized monitoring,
observing, and reporting of ceasefire truces
between parties. Most of the conflicts they
addressed were between states and arose from
border disputes. The UN personnel involved
were exclusively military. With the end of the
Cold War, the nature and complexity of most
conflicts changed, demanding that peacekeepers
tackle much more diverse tasks, many of them
humanitarian in nature:
The face of modern warfare is not only
burned-out tanks and fallen soldiers on the
battlefield, but also smuggling of diamonds,
drugged child soldiers, starvation of civilians,
mass rape and genocide. The conflicts in the
Balkans and the Great Lakes region have proven
that a sustainable peace requires much more
than disarming and supervising soldiers. It
needs a multifaceted response that addresses
all sectors of society, not only the military, but
also the civilian population, the justice and
political system, the economy and educational
infrastructure.31
In addition to UN, military, and other personnel,
missions now include police and civilian personnel
who must interact with other international
agencies such as NGOs and intergovernmental
organizations. Certainly in such multidimensional,
human-rights-oriented approaches to
constitutional organizing across time and space,”
in Women’s Movements Facing the Reconfigured
State, Lee Ann Banaszak, Karen Beckwith, Dieter
Rucht, eds. (Cambridge, Cambridge University
Press, 2003), p. 114.
31 Nadine Puechguirbal, Martin Bohnstedt, and
Lea Biason, “Gender mainstreaming of peace
support operations,” in Women in an Insecure
World: Violence Against Women Facts, Figures
and Analysis, Marie Vlachová and Lea Biason,
eds. (Geneva, Geneva Centre for the Democratic
Control of Armed Forces, 2005).
 peacekeeping, men and women of all ages emerge • Created a gender affairs office or unit or at least
as conflict victims, aid recipients, and potential the position of gender adviser for the mission;
partners in reconstruction efforts, and this is and
the spirit of SCR 1325 (2000). It calls on all the
• Integrated some form of gender-sensitive training
stakeholders in UN peacekeeping operations to
for peacekeeping personnel once in mission.
mainstream a gender perspective in training for
peacekeepers, to take action to protect women and
This means that gender-based concerns and
girls, and to support local women’s peace initiatives
women’s rights have become at least part of the
and their involvement in all stages of post-conflict
peacekeeping efforts in Burundi, Chad, the Central
reconstruction.
African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Darfur, Haiti,
Liberia, Sudan, and Timor-Leste, in procedures and
The mainstreaming of a gender perspective needs
practices that did not exist before.33 For example,
to start at the very beginning of a peacekeeping
mission. Thus, when the Security Council
establishes a mission, it is critical that it explicitly
mentions women and gender as part of the mission
objectives. Even before a mandate is agreed
upon, gender expertise ought to be utilized during
assessment missions or field surveys conducted
prior to mission design. After these initial planning
stages, it is important to monitor and report on
progress (or lack thereof) in implementing this
aspect of the mandate. Despite the importance of
these strategies and resources, most are not in
place.

Still, several important gains and best practices

have occurred since the passage of SCR 1325
(2000). As Alain Le Roy, former Under-Sec-
retary-General for DPKO, stated at the 2008
Security Council open debate, SCR 1325
(2000) “has changed the way we do business
in peacekeeping.”32 These gains are largely
in terms of procedural changes. By looking at
DPKO missions that started after 2000, as well as
those started in the late 1990s whose mandates
extended significantly into the twenty-first century, Nadine Puechguirbal, Gender Adviser for the United
one can see significant procedural shifts in terms Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH),
of the planning process, training programmes, addresses a press conference on gender issues in
and staffing structures. More specifically, all 15 peacekeeping operations. (UN Photo #167759 by Jenny
Rockett, January 2008)
missions that have been established since 2000
have accomplished the following:
gender advisers and gender advisory offices
• Incorporated SCR 1325 (2000) in the mission were non-existent prior to 2000. They are now
mandate; 33 These indicators only tell part of the story.
32 Security Council Strongly Condemns All As Sandra Whitworth (2004) points out in her
Violations of International Law Committed Against research, it is one thing to establish a gender
Women and Girls During, After Armed Conflict, in affairs unit, but it is quite another to allocate the
Presidential Statement, available from <http://www. basic funding that such a unit needs. While these
un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9487.doc.htm>, procedural shifts are important, they are simply the
accessed 19 March 2011. beginning of a very long road.

L E S S O N 2 : G E N D E R D I M E N S I O N S O F A R M E D C O N F L I C T A N D P O S T- C O N F L I C T R E C O N S T R U C T I O N | 53
 included and have a dual role, supporting gender
mainstreaming internally within peacekeeping
missions as well as externally with government
counterparts and women’s organizations in the host
country.
DPKO appointed a gender adviser at its
headquarters on a full time-basis in 2004 and
implemented gender-sensitive training for
peacekeepers prior to and during their service.
Gender training is becoming more standard
in peacekeeping missions, and trainers often
introduce SCR 1325 (2000) in their in-mission
training programmes as a useful entry point to
establishing their mandate from the Security
Council to conduct such training.34 Mandates,
gender units, and training programmes, then,
become factors in terms of the allocation of mission
funding, and funding is always an issue when it
comes to mainstreaming gender. Furthermore,
these data illustrate a move from an ad hoc
consideration, at best, to a more systematic
consideration of gender perspectives by the
Security Council in peace missions.35
In addition to these systematic changes within
DPKO, several states have made important
gender-sensitive contributions to UN peacekeeping
operations as a direct result of SCR 1325 (2000). In
2007, the first all-female unit of UN peacekeepers
was created and sent to Liberia as part of India’s
contribution to the mission there. In 2008,
Samoa followed suit by providing an all-female
police contingent to the peacekeeping mission in
Timor-Leste. Ghana, the seventh largest contributor
to UN peacekeeping operations as of December
2008, reported the highest level of women
peacekeepers – 12 per cent of the total number of
military personnel (just over 400 women). While
inserting female personnel certainly does not
guarantee gender sensitivity in UN peacekeeping
34 Minna Lyytikäinen, “Gender training for
peacekeepers: Preliminary overview of United
Nations peace support operations,” Gender, Peace,
and Security Working Paper #4 (Washington, DC,
INSTRAW, 2007). Available from <http://www.
un-instraw.org>.
35 Natalie Florea Hudson, Gender, Human
Security and the United Nations (London,
Routledge, 2009).
54 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
operations, there is much anecdotal evidence to
suggest that female UN personnel are perceived as
more accessible and less threatening by the local
population, particularly local women.36 Along these
lines, DPKO also disseminated a policy directive on
Gender Equality in UN Peacekeeping Operations
in 2006 and submitted an action plan on SCR 1325
(2000) for 2008–2009, reiterating the necessity
of increasing women’s civilian and military roles
in field missions.37 The mere fact that DPKO has
been reporting sex-disaggregated data on police
and troop contributions to its missions reflects an
awareness that did not exist before.38
Many significant challenges remain. In 60 years
of UN peacekeeping – from 1948 to 2008 –
only seven women held the post of Special
Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG),
who serves as the head of the mission.39 Lack of
accountability and capacity are glaring obstacles.
Training is needed in order to acquire the
knowledge and skills needed to be gender sensitive
36 Jane Lloyd, “Women peacekeepers making
a difference,” UN Chronicle, vol. XLIII, No. 1
(2006). Available from <http://www.un.org/Pubs/
chronicle/2006/issue1/0106p06.htm>, accessed
January 2009.
37 For more information, see PeaceWomen,
Peacekeeping, available from <http://www.
peacewomen.org/resources/Peacekeeping/
DPKO/policy_directive.pdf> and 2008-2009
UN System-Wide Action Plan on Security
Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women,
Peace and Security, available from <http://
www.un.org/womenwatch/ianwge/
taskforces/wps/actionplan20082009/pdfs/
DPKO%202008-2009%201325.pdf>, accessed 19
March 2011.
38 For the most recent statistics, see United
Nations Peacekeeping, Gender Statistics, available
from <http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/
resources/statistics/gender.shtml>. Accessed 22
Oct. 2012.
39 Camille Pampell Conaway and Jolynn
Shoemaker, “Women in United Nations peace
operations: Increasing leadership opportunities,”
in Women in International Security (Washington,
DC, Georgetown University, 2008). Available
from <http://wiis.georgetown.edu/Publications/
PeaceOpsExecSummary.pdf>.
 and to be aware of the unique challenges that men demobilize, and reintegrate (DDR) combatants
and women face in post-conflict societies. Simply in society, and it is essential to construct DDR
being a woman, for example, does not make one programmes that respond to the actual (rather than
a gender expert. Further, bringing gender advisers assumed) needs of all those involved, both men
into peacekeeping missions and increasing
women’s presence in post-conflict reconstruction
efforts require simultaneous institutional reforms
that support these individuals in a systematic and
legitimate way.

Another challenge is that while the deployment

of UN peacekeepers is intended to help keep the
peace, it can sometimes lead to gender-based
violence or sexually exploitative behaviours
by some of the peacekeepers themselves. As
a result UN standardized training modules on
Sexual Exploitation and Abuse/Zero Tolerance
are increasingly used by contributing states.40
DPKO has developed disciplinary directives for
all personnel serving in peace operations and
has participated in an Inter-Agency Standing
Committee Task Force on sexual exploitation
and abuse. The UN set up system-wide focal
points responsible for dealing with charges of
gender-based violence. These Personnel Conduct
Officers are appointed in peacekeeping missions
for monitoring sexual incidents and identifying risk.

Women and Gender Issues in Post-conflict
Reconstruction
We have seen that armed conflict affects women
and men differently. Each conflict has specific
characteristics and dynamics. In general, however,
men often have been more active in organized
fighting, while women often have had to flee to
refugee camps, have been subjected to violence,
have had to assume non-traditional responsibilities,
and have seen their domestic responsibilities
intensified in their efforts to secure food, shelter,
and security for their families. These different
experiences need to be recognized in order to
begin rebuilding a society in which peace and
security are sustainable.
One of the first orders of business in any
post-conflict reconstruction effort is to disarm,
A female medical personnel (left) from the Sudanese
Armed Forces (SAF) signs the Disarmament,
Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) pre-registration
forms at the Al-Askaryia military hospital site, then the
only SAF site registering female candidates. (UN Photo
#135242 by Fred Noy, December 2006)
and women. Collecting weapons, disbanding armed
groups, and offering services that help fighters find
alternative livelihoods can help consolidate peace
in formerly violent societies. The reality is, however,
that women and men have different access to
these services in post-conflict situations. Many
women are unable to access services and benefits
that they should receive upon demobilization due
to the “invisibility” of many female ex-combatants
and other females associated with armed groups,
as well as the presumption that women performing
roles that support male combatants are not
entitled to benefits.41 This false presumption has

40 See: <http://www.dcaf.ch/content/ 41 UN Women, Disarmament, Demobilization and

download/36856/528929/.../Peacekeepers. Reintegration (DDR). Available from
pdfSCR>. <http://www.womenwarpeace.org/node/4>.

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 implications not only for the initial stabilization
of war-torn societies but for their long-term
development. It causes additional problems if
assistance is given along stereotypical lines which
make assumptions about roles. So a woman who
has fought in the national liberation struggle may
only be offered opportunities linked to perceptions
of women’s roles in society. For example, a woman
may be offered sewing skills or given a sewing
machine, while her male colleague receives a
motorbike or machine tool training, which is more
lucrative and will bring in more opportunity and
higher wages.
The objective of the DDR process is to contribute to
security and stability in post-conflict environments
so that recovery and development can begin. The
DDR of ex-combatants is a complex process, with
political, military, humanitarian, and socioeconomic
dimensions. It aims to deal with the post-conflict
security problems that arise when ex-combatants
are left without livelihoods or support networks
(apart from their former comrades) during the
vital transition period from conflict to peace and
development. Throughout the process of removing
weapons from the hands of combatants, taking the
combatants out of military structures, and helping
them to reintegrate socially and economically into
society, DDR seeks to support ex-combatants so
that they can become active participants in the
peace process.
In this regard, DDR lays the groundwork for safe
and self-sustaining communities in which these
individuals can live as law-abiding citizens while
building national capacity for long-term peace,
security, and development. DDR alone cannot
resolve conflict or prevent violence. It can, however,
help establish a secure environment so that other
elements of a recovery and peacebuilding strategy
can proceed.
SCR 1325 (2000) specifically mentions the need
to consider the different needs of female and male
ex-combatants and their dependants in DDR.
Paragraph 8 calls on all actors involved, when
negotiating and implementing peace agreements,
to adopt a gender perspective, with attention to the
following issues:
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• The special needs of women and girls
during repatriation and resettlement and for
rehabilitation, reintegration, and post-conflict
reconstruction;
• Measures that support local women’s peace
initiatives and indigenous peace processes for
conflict resolution and that involve women in
all implementation mechanisms of the peace
agreements; and
• Measures that ensure the protection of and
respect for human rights of women and girls,
particularly as they relate to the constitution, the
electoral system, the police, and the judiciary.
In addition, paragraph 13 encourages all those
involved in the planning for DDR to consider the
different needs of female and male ex-combatants
and to take into account the needs of their
dependants.
DDR programmes often focus on economic and
social reintegration but deal inadequately with the
psychosocial needs of ex-combatants. Trauma
and post-traumatic stress disorder, combined
with difficulty expressing masculinity except
through violent behaviour, may become pervasive
in conflict settings. This can often translate into
an increased risk of gender-based violence for
many women and girls in post-conflict situations.
Furthermore, communities often stigmatize
female ex-combatants both for being part of the
destruction inflicted upon them and for stepping
out of traditional gender roles by taking up arms
(this applies even where women have been forced
into these roles). Women combatants who have
been raped, forcibly impregnated, or infected
with HIV/AIDS face heightened discrimination
upon their reintegration to their home or receiving
communities.
Women have always participated to some extent
in combat, and several recent wars have seen
them fighting on the front lines. Additionally, while
the roles of female ex-combatants vary widely,
they seem to share one unfortunate characteristic:
limited access to benefits when peace and
demobilization come. This is also true for girls
abducted for sexual services and the families of
ex-combatants in the receiving community. These
 groups are often neglected during demobilization
and reintegration; at best, women, men, girls, and
boys may receive equal benefits but are treated
as a homogeneous group, which prevents their
specific needs from being addressed. Thus, it is
critical that DDR planners consider the participation
of women, girls, and dependants in DDR
programmes. An approach based on a “one man,
one gun” policy (i.e., where men are presumed to
be fighters with guns to exchange for access to the
DDR programme) is likely to exclude a significant
number of women and girls, who frequently
perform support functions for armed groups and
may not possess arms. DDR planners must also
seriously consider the way that these programme
interventions affect gender roles and relationships
in both the public and private spheres in the short
and long terms. Such an approach pushes the
international community to pursue post-conflict
reconstruction comprehensively.
DDR programmes are often part of larger
post-conflict reconstruction efforts aimed at
reforming a society’s security sector. Security
sector reform (SSR) is increasingly prioritized by
governments and is on the agenda of international
development, peace, and security communities.
The security sector – or security system – is made
up of state institutions and other entities with the
role of ensuring security for the state and civilians,
especially those with the capacity and authority to
use force. Security forces in post-conflict societies
can include both international (external) and
domestic (internal) elements. Reform can include a
wide range of activities that improve accountability
mechanisms, restructure the security apparatus
for democratic governance, strengthen civilian
control, rebuild training and recruiting programmes,
eliminate corruption, and balance resources spent
throughout the system.
Civilian control of the security sector includes
oversight mechanisms; for example, the Police
Ombudsman in Northern Ireland was established
to handle complaints from the public regarding
the reformed policing service following the peace
process there. SSR includes judicial reviews,
parliamentary scrutiny of military budgets or police
practice, independent commissions on human
rights, and implementation of accountability
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requirements for correctional or prison facilities.
Such reforms shift understandings of security to a
“public good,” not just institutional control of force.
In Guatemala, a security-focused NGO called
Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales
(FLACSO) convened civil society representation,
government representatives, and members of
the security sector in a consultative process to
develop solutions to specific reform challenges
jointly.42 The National Security Council in Liberia
provides a platform for political and military
leaders to exchange views and discuss issues of
national security, with a National Security Strategy
that “places the citizen at the centre of a new
arrangement that focuses on human rights as the
cardinal ingredient for National Security.”43
SSR thus opens a window of possibility to
transform security policies, institutions, and
programmes, creating opportunities to mainstream
gender issues. The mainstreaming of gender
issues is recognized as a key to operational
effectiveness, local ownership, and stronger
oversight. For example, increasing the recruitment
of female staff, preventing human rights violations,
and collaborating with women’s organizations help
create an efficient, accountable, and participatory
security sector which responds to the specific
needs of women, men, girls, and boys. Two
complementary strategies can be used to integrate
gender issues into SSR and security institutions:
gender mainstreaming and the promotion of equal
participation by men and women. These strategies
can be applied both to the SSR process itself (for
example, by providing gender training for personnel
responsible for SSR policy and planning) and to
the institutions undergoing SSR (for example, by
including gender training for new recruits as part of
a police reform process).44
42 Anderlini, Sanam Naraghi, and Camille
Pampell Conaway. “Security Sector Reform.” In
Inclusive Security , Sustainable Peace: a Toolkit for
Advocacy and Action. <http:www.internationalalert.
org/sites/.../TKSecuritySectorReform.pdf>.
43 PBSO Briefing Note on Security Sector Reform
– Liberia, June 2011, cited on <http://www.un.org/
en/peacebuilding/.../chairs mission report 5 2012.
pdf>.
44 See UN Women, Security Sector Reform
and Gender Toolkit. Available from <http://
| 57
 The many components of women’s participation
in peace processes, politics, military and police
services, and peacekeeping missions in Latin
America and the Caribbean are discussed in
greater detail in Lesson 5. As that lesson will
demonstrate, the forms and facets of women’s
participation in various spheres of power are
context specific, each facing unique local
challenges. What remains universal, however,
is that women continue to be underrepresented
in positions of power in all states throughout the
world.

www.un-instraw.org/gtcop/training-materials/
item/801-security-sector-reform-and-gen-
der-toolkit>.

58 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
 Summary and Key Learning
• Contemporary conflict affects civilians,
destroying and disrupting the lives of women,
men, girls, and boys; includes experiences
of SGBV, forced migration, and detrimental
impacts on health, education, and economic
development; and results in changing gender
roles.
• The roles of women in armed conflict are
multiple: they may be combatants, crucial
support for armed groups, victims of violence,
or deliberate targets either as representatives
of an opposing group or simply because of the
extreme violence unleashed in war. In so far as
peace accords reconstitute power relations in a
given society, it is important to ensure women’s
participation during peace negotiations.
• Gender is significant at all stages of post-
conflict reconstruction, including peacekeeping
operations, DDR, and SSR. Including and
recognizing the differentiated needs of men
and women will contribute to a more balanced
recovery from conflict.
• Key mechanisms and tools have been
developed by the UN for mainstreaming a
gender perspective into peace agreements,
peacekeeping operations, and post-conflict
reconstruction efforts.

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End-of-Lesson Quiz
1. Contemporary armed conflicts tend to be:
A. Low-intensity civil wars, or asymmetric wars
in which irregular militias and other opposition
groups engage with each other or with the
conventional armies of nation-states;
B. More deadly in terms of battle-related
deaths but less violent and disruptive to
non-combatants;
C. A more frequent occurrence in countries with
few human rights violations;
D. High-tech international wars waged by national
armies.
2. Sexual and gender-based violence:
A. Can target a man or a woman, based on his or
her specific gender role in society;
B. Usually declines significantly after armed
conflict;
C. Only affects women in conflict;
D. Never affects young girls or women beyond
child-bearing age.
3. In regions of armed conflict, women and
girls:
A. Never engage in conflict as conventional
soldiers, insurgency fighters, or suicide
bombers;
B. May be targeted for violence as a
demonstration of political and symbolic power;
C. May experience decreased violence from the
men within their households in the post-conflict
period;
D. Experience exactly the same disruptions and
violence as men.
4. Peace Accords are not “gender neutral”
because:
A. Only men sit at the top negotiating table;
60 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
B. The main task is redefining maps and what to
do with weapons;
C. Women’s concerns are addressed elsewhere;
D. Conflicts are experienced differently by men
and women and peace accords need to take
account of these differentiated experiences,
as well as the different ways that men and
women may access or be excluded from peace
processes.
5. Women combatants may seem invisible to
formal DDR processes because:
A. They return home immediately on cessation of
conflict and have family support.
B. Being a fighter may be at odds with how
they are expected to live in peace time, even
bringing some shame or exclusion.
C. Many disguise themselves as men.
D. Training and funds are intended for male
soldiers because they are the key economic
drivers for peace time.
6. Peace process negotiations must:
A. Include at least one woman at the negotiating
table;
B. Ensure quotas for women in reconstruction
employment;
C. Adopt a gender perspective during repatriation
and resettlement and in rehabilitation,
reintegration, and post-conflict reconstruction,
as well as constitutional measures to protect
and respect the human rights of women and
girls (electoral system, police, judiciary);
D. Convene women’s meetings once a year
for examining protocols and international
provisions for women’s rights.
 7. Reforming the security sector of a given
society:
A. Rarely creates opportunities to mainstream
gender issues;
B. Involves UN peacekeepers enforcing equal
participation by men and women;
C. Must be prioritized and implemented by
governments before humanitarian relief,
the removal of weapons from the hands of
combatants, infrastructure building, and
gender-sensitive training can proceed;
D. Aims at improving accountability mechanisms,
restructuring the security apparatus for
democratic governance, strengthening civilian
control, rebuilding training and recruiting
programmes, eliminating corruption, and
balancing resources spent throughout the
system.
8. The implementation of Security Council
resolution 1325 (2000) in UN peacekeeping
operations has resulted in:
A. The implementation of completely
gender-neutral language in all peace
agreements;
B. The creation of a gender affairs office or unit
within missions established after 2000;
C. A small but positive amount of ad hoc
consideration of gender perspectives in UN
missions;
D. Very little change in any peacekeeping mission.
hold for the sake of the initial stabilization of a
war-torn society;
C. Understanding such programmes as complex
processes, with political, military, humanitarian,
and socioeconomic dimensions, that affect
men and women in important and different
ways;
D. Taking into consideration the needs of those
who fought the longest.
10. Those who advocate for women’s
participation in the peace process often rely
upon:
A. Legal justifications that point out gender
equality rights in the context of international
law;
B. Moral justifications in the context of social
justice and other normative considerations;
C. Effective arguments that maintain that women
bring different concerns and even different skill
sets to such challenging processes;
D. All of the above.

9. Mainstreaming a gender perspective and

implementing Security Council resolution
1325 (2000) in disarmament, demobilization,
and reintegration programmes involves:
A. Recognizing that collecting guns has very
little to do with women in a society, given that ANSWER KEY
combatants are mostly men;
B. Realizing that human rights, and women’s 1A, 2A, 3B, 4D, 5B, 6C, 7D, 8B, 9C, 10D
rights in particular, often have to be put on

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LESSON 3
SECURITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN,
PEACE, AND SECURITY
 LESSON
3

LESSON OBJECTIVES
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The Origins of SCR 1325 This lesson focuses on the history of the adoption of SCR 1325 (2000)
(2000) and subsequent and identifies its conceptual framework. It provides information on the
efforts of the UN system and Member States to ensure its coherent and
resolutions
full implementation, as well as efforts to fully realize and implement it at
3.3 Reconceptualizing the regional and national level around the globe.
Security: The Human
By the end of Lesson 3, the student should be able to meet the following
Security Approach
objectives:
3.4 The SCR 1325 (2000) • Understand the conceptual and political framework that led to the
Mandate: What is passage of SCR 1325 (2000) and its importance for promoting a gender
Required and Who is perspective in the area of peace and security;
Responsible? • Identify how the concept of human security is closely linked with the
UN’s approach to international peace and security and, consequently,
3.5 Implementation of the implementation of SCR 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions;
SCR 1325 (2000) and
• Understand which actors are responsible for upholding and
Subsequent Resolutions operationalizing these resolutions at the global, regional, or national
in the UN System level; and

3.6 Implementation of • Understand the importance of developing an action plan or a strategy

SCR 1325 (2000) and for the implementation of the SCRs on women, peace, and security.

Subsequent Resolutions
at the National and
Regional Level
Annex B
Prevention,
Participation, and
Protection
3.1 Introduction
Since the adoption of SCR 1325 (2000), the
international community has explored various
means to translate its objectives into concrete and
effective actions at all levels of international and
national politics. Essentially, this means turning
rhetoric into reality on the ground. This lesson
begins by examining the build-up to SCR 1325
(2000) in October 2000, particularly in the context
of the human security framework. A further three
supporting resolutions (1820, 1888, and 1889)
were passed before the marking of the tenth
anniversary of SCR 1325 in October 2010, and
SCR 1960 followed soon after. SCR 2106 was then
adopted in June 2013. The lesson examines each
of these for their specific contributions, reviewing
how SCR 1325 is being implemented in the UN
system and what challenges the UN still faces in
operationalizing it. Lastly, the lesson examines
what it means for Member States to implement
SCRs on WPS at the regional and national level,
including through the development of national
action plans or strategies.
3.2 The Origins of SCR 1325 (2000)
and Subsequent Resolutions
As noted in Lesson 1, a significant international
regime for gender equality has developed,
especially since the establishment of the UN in
1945. From international human rights treaties to
the series of four world conferences on women,
the UN system has significantly affected women’s
rights across the globe. In this context of global
activity and international institutions’ promotion of
gender equality and the empowerment of women
and girls, SCR 1325 (2000) emerged.
The conceptual framework for SCR 1325 (2000)
first emerged with the Beijing Platform for Action,
which identified the issue of women and armed
conflict as one of 12 strategic objectives.1 In 1998,
the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
took up this theme and discussed the obstacles to
implementing this critical area of concern from the
1 United Nations Fourth World Conference on
Women, Beijing Platform for Action. Available
from <http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/
platform/plat1.htm>, accessed 22 March 2011.
LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY
Beijing Platform for Action. It was at this meeting,
with women from a number of different conflict
zones attending, that the NGO network for WPS
began to take shape, and the idea of advocating
for a Security Council resolution was first raised.2
After the Commission on the Status of Women,
the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and
Security officially formed and agreed to pursue
two recommendations that came from the CSW
Women and Armed Conflict Caucus: to encourage
women’s participation in peace agreements and to
push for the convening of a special session of the
Security Council on WPS.
The NGO Working Group initiated the notion
of working for a Security Council resolution on
women in the late 1990s and began working with
a number of UN agencies on issues of gender
equality and women’s empowerment. Together,
these groups played an important role in circulating
the idea among members of the Security Council
and generating support for a resolution on
women and gender issues in armed conflict. By
March 2000, on International Women’s Day, then
Security Council President Anwarul Chowdhury of
Bangladesh delivered a critical speech that drew
attention to the campaign for such a resolution
and, more importantly, the ways in which gender
equality was essential to international peace,
security, and conflict resolution. This was the
first time that a President of the Security Council
addressed the International Women’s Day
proceedings. Ambassador Chowdhury said, “Peace
is inextricably linked with equality between women
and men. They affirm that the equal access and
full participation of women in power structures
and their full involvement in all efforts for the
prevention and resolution of conflicts are essential
for the maintenance and promotion of peace and
security.”3 Thus, he placed women’s rights and
2 Carol Cohn, Helen Kinsella, and Sheri
Gibbings, “Women, peace and security: Resolution
1325,” International Feminist Journal of Politics, vol.
6, No. 1 (2004), pp. 130–140.
3 Peace Inextricably Linked with Equality
Between Women and Men Says Security
Council, in International Women’s Day Statement,
available from <http://www.un.org/News/Press/
docs/2000/20000308.sc6816.doc.html>, accessed
22 March 2011. For more information on SCR
| 65
 gender equality squarely in the security framework
as an issue to be addressed by the Security
Council, no longer just under the jurisdiction of the
General Assembly. This speech not only helped
mobilize women’s organizations into an effective
and heterogeneous transnational advocacy
network, but it also helped open the political space
for this network to operate in the mainstream
security arena of the UN system.
Organized by the Government of Namibia
and the Lessons Learned Unit of DPKO, a UN
seminar in May 2000, “Mainstreaming a Gender
Perspective in Multidimensional Peace Support
Operations,” produced the Windhoek Declaration
and the Namibia Plan of Action.4 This plan of
action established several objectives for gender
mainstreaming in UN peace missions, as well as
the need for leadership on gender mainstreaming
from UN Headquarters. This established further
support for the conceptual framework behind SCR
1325 (2000).
Following an Arria formula meeting5 in October
2000, in which women from global and local
NGOs addressed the Security Council about
both their victimization and agency in conflict
situations around the globe, the Security Council
unanimously adopted SCR 1325 (2000). The Arria
formula meeting was a unique opportunity for
Council members to be briefed by relevant actors
who were not high government officials or part
of UN delegations. Such informal arrangements
enabled women in war zones around the world
to address the Security Council – a significant
interaction that has occurred every October since
2000. The resolution was passed the day after the
Arria formula meeting, and although a number of
issues were not included in the final document, the
1325 (2000), see <http://www.peacewomen.org/
un/UN1325/1325index.html>. This language is
very similar to that in the 1995 Beijing Platform for
Action.
4 For the full text of this declaration, see <http://
www.peacewomen.org/portal_resources_resource.
php?id=375>.
5 An Arria formula meeting is an informal
consultation process that allows members of the
Security Council to hear persons in a confidential
setting.
66 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
language in its preamble was identical to the draft
the NGO Working Group had submitted.6 Although
SCR 1325 (2000) represents the broadest political
interpretation of gender issues ever articulated by
the UN peace and security agenda, it does not
address all issues relating to gender equality and
women’s empowerment in the peace and security
arena.
Despite these limitations, SCR 1325 (2000) proved
to be a landmark resolution for those working to
promote gender equality and the empowerment
of women and girls. The adoption of SCR 1325
(2000) was largely due to the efforts of NGOs that
successfully lobbied UN Member States to include
WPS issues on their agendas. In addition, their
collaboration with UN entities working in the area
of gender equality and women’s empowerment
and several key Member States on the Security
Council – including Bangladesh, Canada, Jamaica,
Namibia, and the Netherlands – was essential to
passing the resolution.
Resolution 1325 has been strengthened by
the adoption of six additional Security Council
resolutions on women, peace, and security.
Three of these address sexual violence in armed
conflict as a tactic of warfare (resolutions 1820
(2008), 1888 (2009), and 1960 (2010)). The fourth,
resolution 1889 (2009), specifically addresses
gender equality and women’s empowerment issues
in the context of post-conflict peacebuilding and
long-term conflict prevention and calls for indicators
to monitor the implementation of SCR 1325. The
fifth, resolution 2016 (2013), strengthens efforts to
end impunity for sexual violence affecting not only
large numbers of women and girls, but also men
and boys.
The sixth, resolution 2122 (2013), defines
stronger measures to enable women to participate
in conflict resolution and recovery. It calls for
increased engagement by women’s civil society
6 Felicity Hill, “How and when has Security
Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace
and security impacted negotiations outside the
Security Council?” Master’s thesis, Uppsala
University, 2004–2005. Available from <http://www.
frauensicherheitsrat.de/data/felicity-hill-thesis.pdf>,
accessed April 2011.
groups and for the development by Member States
of specialized funding mechanisms to support
capacity building of women’s groups in conflict
contexts.
This body of resolutions represents a coherent
international legislative framework but does not
stand alone. These resolutions reinforce existing
global commitments, treaties, and conventions on
women’s rights, including the Convention on the
Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW (1979)) and the 1995 Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action.
A substantive synergy emerging between the
women, peace, and security agenda and human
rights frameworks is evident in moves by the
CEDAW Committee. On 18 October 2013,
CEDAW adopted General Recommendation
Number 30 on women in conflict prevention,
conflict, and post-conflict. A key United Nations
human rights body has provided authoritative
guidance to countries that have ratified the
women’s rights convention on measures they need
to take to ensure women’s rights are protected
before, during, and after conflict.
The General Recommendation provides
authoritative guidance to Member States that have
ratified the women’s rights convention on measures
they need to take to ensure women’s rights are
protected before, during, and after conflict.
This General Recommendation is extremely
important as it reinforces the need to ensure
national implementation of the Security Council
resolutions as well as allocation of adequate
budgets for these processes. It reflects a model
of substantive equality and takes into account
the impact of conflict and post-conflict contexts
on all rights enshrined in the Convention,
in addition to those violations concerning

Snapshot: All Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace, and Security

SCR 1325 (2000)
First landmark resolution linking women’s experiences of conflict to the maintenance of international peace and
security.

SCR 1820 (2008)

First resolution of the Security Council to recognize conflict-related sexual violence as a tactic of warfare and its
prevention as a critical component of the maintenance of international peace and security, requiring a peacekeeping,
justice, and peace negotiation response.

SCR 1888 (2009)

Strengthens tools for implementing 1820 through assigning leadership, building judicial response expertise, and
establishing reporting mechanisms.

SCR 1889 (2009)

Addresses women’s exclusion from early recovery and peacebuilding and lack of adequate planning and funding for
their needs.

SCR 1960 (2010)

Provides an accountability system for addressing conflict-related sexual violence.

SCR 2106 (2013)

Strengthens efforts to end impunity for sexual violence affecting not only large numbers of women and girls, but also
men and boys.

SCR 2122 (2013)

Makes it clear that gender equality and women’s empowerment is a contribution to international peace and
security, and that matters of conflict prevention and recovery cannot be separated from human rights and
development work

LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY | 67

 conflict-related gender-based violence, such as
sexual violence. The General Recommendation
also promotes collaboration with civil society and
non-governmental organizations working on the
implementation of the Security Council agenda on
women, peace, and security.
The Security Council resolutions do not envisage
obligatory reporting on their implementation.
On the other hand, the CEDAW General
Recommendations become appendices to CEDAW
and are therefore subject to the same enforcement
procedures as the treaty itself. It is thus a
progressive move towards holding state parties
to account on their implementation of the women,
peace, and security agenda through the CEDAW
reporting processes.
3.3 Reconceptualizing Security: The
Human Security Approach
In adopting SCR 1325 (2000) on 31 October 2000,
the UN Security Council, for the first time in
history, formally recognized the distinct roles
and experiences of women in the distinct phases
of conflict, its resolution, and its long-term
management: from armed conflict to peacemaking
to peacekeeping and finally to peacebuilding and
post-conflict reconstruction. In part, this reflected
the growing concern within the UN system to
mainstream human rights into the UN’s approach to
conflict management and conflict resolution.
Taken together, these thematic Security Council
resolutions are significant in that they represent
a shift in how the UN defines and addresses
international peace and security. Their mere
existence reflects an expanded understanding
of the meaning of security – what constitutes a
threat to security and who or what security is being
threatened. Much of this shift – moving beyond
state-centred security to security that focuses on
the individual – coincided with the emergence
of the human security framework within the UN
during the 1990s. Human security was first defined
by the UN Development Programme’s Human
Development Report in 1994. The concept of
security, the report argues, “has for too long been
interpreted narrowly: as security of territory from
external aggression, or as protection of national
68 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
interests, or as global security from the threat of
nuclear holocaust.” The report made clear that the
politics of security must widen its focus and include
not only “the security of borders [but] also…the
security of people’s lives.”7 Expanding this notion,
the report identified seven elements of human
security: economic security, food security, health
security, environmental security, personal security,
community security, and political security.
The UN Secretary-General’s report Objectives for
the Millennium follows this line of thought. Freedom
From Want and Freedom From Fear are calls to
place the human at the heart of the international
agenda.8 They promote a concept of security built
simultaneously upon the right to development and
the right to live in a secure environment.
Following the Objectives for the Millennium report,
the Commission on Human Security produced
the 2003 report Human Security Now. This report
emphasizes economic security and universal
access to socioeconomic rights, guaranteed civil
liberties and political freedoms, and protection
of citizens against threats and violence,
particularly small-arms violence. It also discusses
environmental security, access to education, and
political participation, demonstrating the breadth of
the concept of human security. The report presents
human dignity as a central value, requiring the
international community to seek solutions that aim
for genuine autonomy rather than simply assisting
individuals.9 It connects different types of freedoms
– freedom from want, freedom from fear, and
freedom to take action on one’s own behalf – and
offers two general strategies to promote these
freedoms: protection and empowerment.
7 United Nations Development Programme, UN
Human Development Report (New York, Oxford
University Press, 1994), pp. 22–23.
8 Freedom from Fear and Freedom from Want,
see United Nations, We the Peoples: The Role
of the United Nations in the Twenty-first Century
(A/54/2000), paras. 194 and 202.
9 Commission on Human Security, Human
Security Now (New York, 2003), p. 4. Available
from <http://www.humansecurity-chs.org/
finalreport/index.html>, accessed May 2007.
Human security has come to have meaning in
terms of individuals or people collectively, moving
beyond purely state-based notions of military and
territorial security. National security traditionally
refers to a state’s ability to defend itself from
external threats and to maintain survival through
the use of economic, military, and political power.
The goal of national security is the protection of
state power and its institutions. In this sense, the
term human security has developed as a concept
that can be compared and contrasted to the
more traditional term of national security, thereby
directing attention to an emerging and wider
spectrum of security threats from both within and
outside of the state.
Although the term human security was not
explicitly written in the passage of SCR 1325
(2000), the language surrounding the concept
certainly supports the idea that gender equality and
women’s issues constitute legitimate concerns in
the area of international peace and security. This
means that the Security Council needs to address
such concerns in its work. In other words, human
security is seen as both a conceptualization,
which has allowed women’s issues and gender
equality to be included in the security discourse,
and a framework for action, which changes the
way the UN approaches the maintenance of
international peace and security.10 Human security
allows gender issues that were once considered
irrelevant or non-essential to be taken seriously in
international peace and security discourse. The
focus on human security thus shifts to include
threats to the individual’s personal integrity and
dignity. The protection of personal integrity means
that individuals may live without fear of abusive
acts from state or non-state actors, such as
harassment, detention, disappearance, and sexual
violence.
As a result of SCR 1325 and the framework of
understanding human security, the UN system went
from identifying needs to raising awareness and
developing mechanisms for response and improved
action.
10 Natalie Hudson, Gender, Human Security
and the UN: Security Language as a Political
Framework for Women (London, Routledge, 2009).
LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY
Levels and Actors Involved in SCR
1325 (2000)
• Security Council
• Secretary-General and the Secretariat
• UN Agencies, Funds, and Programmes
• UN Member States
- Governments (national institutions,
agencies, and mechanisms)
- All parties to a conflict
• Non-governmental Organizations
- Grass-roots (national and local)
women’s rights organizations
- International women’s rights
organizations
- Human rights organizations
- Actors involved in peace
agreements and negotiations
- Academia
• Other Regional and International
Governmental Organizations
- European Union, African Union,
Organization of American States
- Many others
3.4 The SCR 1325 (2000) Mandate:
What is Required and Who is
Responsible?
Previous UN mandates on gender equality,
including CEDAW (1979) and the Beijing Platform
for Action (1995), have addressed WPS issues, but
SCR 1325 (2000) is one of the most specific WPS
mandates. It directly addresses a number of actors
in the UN system – including the UN Member
States, parties to armed conflict, and all UN bodies,
particularly those involved in peace and security
work – and calls on them to increase the protection
of women and girls from violence during all stages
of conflict, to fully mainstream a gender perspective
in peace and security work, and to increase the
participation of women in all decision-making
processes to both prevent and resolve armed
conflict.
| 69
 In short, SCR 1325 (2000) is a call to action for
all multilateral, regional, bilateral, and national
stakeholders, including civil society, that are
involved in conflict resolution. Its implementation
depends, on the one hand, on defining measurable
objectives and targets and, on the other hand,
on creating appropriate strategies and allocating
sufficient resources.

The tenth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000)

provided an impetus to renew commitments and
launch new strategies to address gender equality
issues in peace and security processes. Across
these efforts, some shared priorities emerged,
including the need for accountability for results
and improved coordination of implementation; to
strengthen women’s participation and leadership
in conflict prevention, resolution, and long-term
peacebuilding; for a more effective justice and
security environment for women and girls during
and after conflict; and to increase resources for all
aspects of the women, peace, and security agenda.
Approaches to implementation are based upon
a 3P approach – Prevention, Participation,
and Protection. Using the 3P approach to
understanding and implementing SCR 1325 (2000)
leads to more coherent and effective collective
actions because it is based on the identification of
roles, processes, and methods envisaged by all
actors. See Annex B at the end of the lesson.
Prevention
The thematic area of prevention includes initiatives
aimed at mainstreaming a gender perspective into
all conflict prevention activities and strategies, the
development of effective gender-sensitive early
warning mechanisms and institutions, and the
strengthening of efforts to prevent violence against
women and girls, including gender-based violence.
Local women and children at a community centre newly
inaugurated by UN Women in the village of Tapo, Timor-
Leste.The Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-
General for Timor-Leste visited the centre as part of
activities commemorating the adoption of Security
Council resolution 1325, a landmark text on women,
peace and security. (UN Photo # 525487 by Martine
Perret, September 2012)
an impediment to successful prevention. Gender
dimensions of pre-conflict situations may include
increased commercial sex trade around military
bases at times of greater mobilization of soldiers, a
rise in gender-based violence influenced by political
instability, or gender stereotypes propagated by the
mass media as part of mobilization campaigns.12
Civil society organizations, particularly women’s
groups, can be effective allies in the detection and
reporting of early warning signs.
In Timor-Leste under a conflict prevention
initiative, UNDP supported national community
mediators, half of whom are women, to be part of
the new Department of Peacebuilding and Social
Cohesion. The all-women contingent of the civilian
international monitoring team in Mindanao, the
Philippines, is another example of mainstreaming
in action. They assist with regular patrols and
community visits, providing on-site assistance and
an early warning function.

All countries share a common interest in preventing

conflict. However, “there is very limited information
on gender and conflict prevention.”11 For example,
there is a serious lack of in-depth analysis of the
gendered dynamics of violence, which is certainly
12 INSTRAW, Securing Equality, Engendering
11 Tsjeard Bouta, Georg Frerks, and Ian Bannon, Peace, Table 14.
Gender, Conflict and Development (Washington,
DC, The World Bank, 2005), p. 145.

70 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
Participation
The thematic area of participation focuses on
initiatives that promote women’s active and
meaningful participation in all peace processes, as
well as their representation in formal and informal
decision-making at all levels. Initiatives aimed at
improving partnership and networking with local
and international women’s rights organizations
are also included in this thematic area. Initiatives
aimed at recruiting and appointing women to
senior positions in the UN, including the Special
Representatives of the Secretary-General, and in
peacekeeping forces, including military, police, and
civilian personnel, fall into this area as well.
As these paragraphs demonstrate, SCR 1325
(2000) reaffirms women’s human right to participate
at all levels of decision-making, both in the field
and at UN Headquarters. This translates to the
inclusion of women at the peace table during
formal and informal peace processes and as part
of UN peace operations, particularly in terms of
post-conflict reconstruction. Women must be able
to participate in all phases, from assessment and
project design to implementation to monitoring
and evaluation; thus, gender equality must be
achieved at all levels of UN activity. This thematic
area recognizes and promotes women’s agency
and ability to contribute to conflict resolution and
peacebuilding.
A group of young children, all survivors of sexual abuse,
are shown at a safe house in Monrovia, Liberia. (UN
Photo #535616 by Staton Winter , October 2012)
LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY
Protection
The thematic area of protection encompasses
initiatives that strengthen and amplify efforts to
secure the safety, physical and mental health,
well-being, economic security, and dignity of
women and girls. Initiatives that promote and
safeguard the human rights of women and
mainstream a gender perspective in legal and
institutional reforms also fall into this area. In this
way, protection is seen as a key component to
establishing international peace and security.
These paragraphs from the text of SCR 1325
(2000) demonstrate that the protection of women
and girls is deeply rooted in international law.
Member States are legally obligated to protect the
basic rights of women and girls during times of
conflict and of peace. SCR 1325 (2000) recognizes
the unique ways that women and girls suffer during
conflict and how vulnerable they are even after
a ceasefire has been established. For example,
women and girls are the primary targets of sexual
violence during conflict. Rape of female civilians
is widespread and has been recognized as a
war crime and a crime against humanity. Sexual
violence was rampant during the wars in the
Balkans, as well as in conflicts in Africa, Asia, and
Latin America.
SCR 1325 (2000) also addresses the protection
of refugees and IDPs and the reintegration into
society of ex-combatants and displaced people.
This is a key challenge for many governments.
Protection of those who are forcibly displaced
during and after conflict is key to establishing
and re-establishing the rule of law and human
security for societies emerging from violence
and war. In addition to provisions that can be
understood through the 3P framework described
above, SCR 1325 (2000) also “emphasizes
the responsibility of all States to put an end to
impunity and to prosecute those responsible
for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war
crimes including those relating to sexual and
other violence against women and girls, and in
this regard, stresses the need to exclude these
crimes, where feasible from amnesty provisions”
(paragraph 11). Many refer to this provision as
the fourth “P,” prosecution. This fourth thematic
| 71
 area applies to both the perpetrators that are a
part of the armed conflict and the UN personnel
deployed in peace operations (in the context of the
UN’s zero-tolerance policy for sexual exploitation
and abuse). Thus, SCR 1325 (2000) affirms the
responsibility of all governments to put an end to
impunity and to uphold the rule of law, specifying
that crimes against women and girls should not be
included in amnesty provisions of peace treaties.
Peace agreements that include amnesty provisions
are difficult to reconcile with the goal of ending the
culture of impunity.
Despite the UN’s affirmation of the 3P framework,
significant challenges to fully implementing SCR
1325 (2000) still exist. Most importantly, the
resolution lacks a mechanism for monitoring
implementation at the national or international
level. It does not require regular reporting from
Member States or set forth any assessment tools to
measure implementation and overall effectiveness.
These obstacles are linked to the fact that many
actors lack the political will to implement the
resolution or to fund programmes that do. Gender
is still seen as a soft issue, not part of the security
mainstream, and women are assumed to be victims
of armed conflict instead of active agents in conflict
resolution. In general, the lack of information and
awareness regarding the resolution, as well as
insufficient financial and institutional backing and
political will, continue to pose significant challenges
to implementation.
3.5 Implementation of SCR 1325
(2000) and Subsequent Resolutions in
the UN System
Despite the significant challenges mentioned
above, the UN has taken important steps to put
SCR 1325 (2000) into action. These can largely
be understood as procedural shifts in the planning
process, training programmes, and staffing
structures. For example, the Security Council
marks the anniversary of SCR 1325 (2000) every
year, revisiting the commitment it made in October
2000 and outlining ways to better address issues
of gender equality and women’s empowerment in
conflict situations around the world. As another
example, in the six-year period before SCR 1325
(2000)’s adoption, only 4 per cent of Security
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Council resolutions included references to women,
girls, or gender.13 Between August 2011 and July
2012, 30 out of 48, or 63 per cent, of relevant
resolutions adopted by the Security Council
referred to the women, peace, and security
agenda.14
As a matter of internal UN rule-making, SCR
1325 (2000) has also been interpreted by various
UN departments to operate as a mandate to
consider the gender impacts of different policies.
For example, DPKO states that SCR 1325 (2000)
created its mandate to mainstream gender issues
and conduct gender training in peacekeeping
missions.15 DPKO has a gender adviser and
has implemented gender sensitivity training for
police officers and peacekeepers on mission.
Gender advisers have also been appointed to
missions to assist in the gender mainstreaming of
peacekeeping operations. As of June 2011, 100
per cent of field missions managed by DPKO have
gender components, and 60 per cent of these are
led by a senior gender expert. In addition, women’s
concerns were made prominent in the mandate of
the Peacebuilding Commission and are treated as
cross-cutting issues, not just the subject of a limited
number of programmes, in the Commission’s
recent strategic frameworks for peacebuilding in
Burundi and Sierra Leone.
The Report of the Secretary-General on Women’s
Participation in Peacebuilding (2008) put forward
a seven-point Action Plan for the UN system for
tracking progress, noting specific commitments
and measures for acting on these. (See the facing
page.)
13 See Resolution Watch, available from <http://
www.peacewomen.org/un/sc/1325_Monitor/
countryindex.htm>, accessed 3 February 2010.
14 See ‘Mapping Women, Peace and Security
in the UN Security Council 2011-2012’, Report of
the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and
Security, at <http://www.womenpeacesecurity.
org/.> Accessed 22 Nov. 2012.
15 DPKO traces its mandate for gender
mainstreaming directly to SCR 1325 (2000). See
DPKO Best Practices Unit, Gender Resource
Package for Peacekeeping Operations (United
Nations, 2004), pp. 1, 9–10.
 Report of the Secretary-General on Women’s Participation in Peacebuilding (A/65/354–S/2010/466)
Commitment
1. Conflict resolution
UN entities will take more
systematic action to ensure
women’s participation in and the
availability of gender expertise to,
peace processes.
2. Post-conflict planning
The UN system will more
systematically institutionalize
women’s participation in (and apply
gender analysis to) all post conflict
planning processes so that women
and girl’s specific needs and gender
discrimination is addressed at every
stage.
3. Post-conflict financing
The UN commits to increasing
financing for gender equality and
women’s and girl’s empowerment in
post conflict situations.
4. Gender-responsive civilian
capacity
Civilian capacity will include
specialized skills to meet women
urgent needs and expertise in
rebuilding state institutions to make
them more accessible to women
and girls and less prone to gender-
Commitment
based discrimination.
5. Women’s representation in
post-conflict governance
The UN will ensure that technical
assistance to conflict-resolution
processes and countries emerging
from conflict promotes women’s
participation as decision-makers in
public institutions, appointed and
elected, including through the use of
temporary special measures such
as positive action, preferential
treatment and quota-based systems,
as enshrined in international human
rights law
6. Rule of Law
The UN’s approach to the rule of law
– before, during and after conflict –
will systematically promote women
and girls’ rights to security and
justice.
7. Economic recovery
The UN system will ensure that
women’s equal involvement as
participants and beneficiaries in
local-development, employment-
creation, frontline service-delivery
and DDR programmes in post-
conflict situations.
LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY
Tracking Progress: 7-Point Action Plan
Measures
a) Appointment of women as chief mediator/special envoy to UN-led peace processes. [para. 28]
b) UN will include gender expertise, at senior levels, in mediation support activities. [para. 28]
c) UN will invest in strategies for the inclusion of more women in negotiating parties. [para. 28]
d) UN entities will assist in establish women’s CSO forums to ensure that mediation teams and
negotiating teams engage in consultation with women’s CSOs. [para. 28]
a) Relevant UN entities will undertake a comprehensive review of existing institutional
arrangements for incorporating gender issues into post-conflict planning.
Principles will apply to all post-conflict strategy & planning processes. [para. 32]
b) Standard procedures to be developed on donor conferences – to ensure not only that a cross-section
of women’s representatives from civil and political society are invited, but that they are provided
access to all conference documentation, space on the agenda to present issues of concern and
assistance in convening preparatory meetings and developing policy papers. [para. 33]
a) All UN-funded projects in support of peacebuilding must demonstrate how they will benefit men
and women. [para. 35]
b) Each UN entity will initiate a process, in line with its specific institutional mandate and governance
arrangements, for laying ground work and investing in systems to track gender post conflict financing,
and to work toward a goal of ensuring that at least 15 percent of UN-managed funds in support
of peacebuilding is dedicated to projects whose principal objective (consistent with existing
mandates) is to address women’s specific needs, advance gender equality or empower
women. [para. 36]
UN leaders will ensure that missions and humanitarian planners revise their procedures to improve
the UN’s ability to address women and girls post conflict needs. [para. 39]
Measures
a) To build structures of inclusive governance, the UN will ensure that technical assistance to conflict-
resolution processes and countries emerging from conflict includes rigorous assessment of the
potential value of temporary special measures, including quotas for women [para. 42]
b) As part of its assistance, the UN will ensure that gender discrimination is addressed at every stage
in the political process. [para. 43]
c) UN technical assistance to public administrative reform will ensure full consideration of measures,
including quotas and fast-tracking promotion schemes, to increase proportion of women in state
institutions at all level, and capacity-building to improve their effectiveness. [para. 44]
a) Peace operations to initiate immediate and longer-term efforts to prevent and respond to SGBV
as detailed in para 46 of the SG’s Report on Women’s Peacebuilding. [para. 46]
b) Legal Support Services (LSSs) for women and girls – implemented early and on a scale sufficient
to demonstrate commitment to ending impunity and protecting victims – will become a standard
component of the UN’s rule-of-law response in the immediate post-conflict period. [para. 47]
c) Minimum standards of gender-responsiveness to be established (and options for ensuring their
implementation incorporated into the technical advice activities of relevant UN actors) for TRCs,
reparations programmes and related bodies. [para. 48]
a) Where local development and infrastructure programs are based on a participatory/community-
development approach, these should require direct involvement of women and women CSOs in
setting priorities, identifying beneficiaries, and monitoring implementation. [para. 50]
b) Post-conflict employment programs should specifically target women as a beneficiary group.
A range-of-parity principle should be applied to ensure that neither sex receives more than 60 percent
of employment person-days. In addition employment programmes must ensure that women workers
receive daily payments directly and that barriers to equitable participation are addressed. [para. 50]
c) Women should be promoted as “frontline” service-delivery agents – e.g., in health, agricultural
extension, education, and the management of natural resources, including forests. [para. 51]
d) Ensure women’s equal participation in all stages of DDR – from negotiation of peace agreements
and establishment of national institutions to the design and implementation of programmes. [para. 52]
| 73
 Since then the UN has agreed to a system-wide • Percentage of appointed SRSGs, Envoys, and
action plan focused on results-based programming, Resident Coordinators who are women
monitoring, and reporting tools. This system-wide
• Ratio of women to men participating in
approach is founded on a results-based
government structures
framework, a dynamic process that provides
feedback throughout the full programme cycle: • Number of women participating in peace talks
planning, programming, budgeting, monitoring,
and evaluation. Thus, implementation within the Protection
UN system has focused on the development and
• Number of relevant international treaties ratified
application of system-wide indicators as a means
to measure results. • Number of judicial and non-judicial accountability
mechanisms in place
The indicators facilitate understanding of current
• Number of cases brought before court by female
peace and security issues, trends, and the distance
victims of violence
between the current situation and desired goals.
The Security Council urged the Secretary-General • Number of SEA focal points appointed at the
to “ensure that country-specific and relevant country office
thematic issues reports and briefings” include
information on implementation of resolution 1325 Relief and Recovery
(2000) “using this set of indicators, as appropriate.”
• Number of women and men of all ages who
Member States were encouraged to “take into
receive information about and have the
account the set of indicators” in implementing
opportunity to comment on assistance
resolution 1325 (2000). The Secretary-General’s
programmes
2011 and 2012 reports to the Security Council on
Women and Peace and Security (S/2011/598 and • Number of targeted activities focused on the
S/2012/732) initiated reporting on the indicators. specific constraints facing women and girls as a
A growing number of regional and national percentage of the total reconstruction budget
implementation frameworks are using measures
that align with the resolution 1325 (2000) indicators Normative
tracking framework. Examples would be the
• Number of policies (action plans and
following:16
programmes) in place
Prevention • Implementation rate of policies
• Number of gender-sensitive early warning
Implementation of SCR 1325 (2000) at the UN
mechanisms
system level focuses on formulating concrete
• Number of policies and programmes on strategies, actions, and programmes effectively
prevention of SGBV and efficiently in order to increase women’s roles
in the areas of peace and security. This means
Participation that the UN must develop and ensure effective
support for Member States and other actors in the
• Number of consultations with women’s
implementation of SCR 1325 (2000) at a national
organizations
and regional level. Such implementation relies
on strengthening accountability and increasing
inter-agency cooperation and coordination at all
16 For more information, see Tracking levels of UN activity.
Implementation of Security Council Resolution
1325 (2000) October 2012. <www.unwomen.
org/.../2012/.../02A-Tracking-Implementa-
tion-of-Security Council Resolution 1325>
Accessed 30 Oct. 2012.

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Goretti Ndacayisaba of Burundi, a member of the
NGO Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security,
speaking to journalists at a press conference on the
implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 at
UN Headquarters. (UN Photo #100627 by Mark Garten,
October 2005)
3.6 Implementation of SCR 1325
(2000) and Subsequent Resolutions at
the National and Regional Level
At the national and regional levels, it is the
responsibility of Member States and regional
organizations to ensure a coherent approach
to the implementation of all SCRs on WPS and
to promote a gender perspective in peace and
security issues nationally and regionally. It is
important to link the implementation to national
constitutions, international instruments such as
the Beijing Platform for Action and CEDAW, and
relevant regional commitments. Newly adopted
CEDAW General Recommendation Number 30
on women in conflict prevention, conflict, and
post-conflict has provided authoritative guidance
to countries that have ratified the women’s rights
convention on measures they need to take to
ensure women’s rights are protected before,
during, and after conflict. It provides guidance
LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY
to Member States that have ratified the women’s
rights convention on measures they need to take
to ensure women’s rights are protected before,
during, and after conflict, and reinforces the need
to ensure national implementation of the Security
Council resolutions as well as allocation of
adequate budgets for these processes.
The Security Council has called on UN Member
States to advance implementation of SCR 1325
(2000) through the development of national
action plans or other national and regional
level strategies.17 The creation of an action
plan provides an opportunity to initiate strategic
actions, identify priorities and resources, and
determine responsibilities and time frames for
implementation of the WPS resolutions. As well
as developing and agreeing on concrete actions,
the process of developing an action plan facilitates
awareness-raising and capacity-building on
WPS at national and regional levels and helps to
overcome gaps in knowledge and awareness on
how to implement the resolutions fully.18
Actions at the National Level
National implementation is essential to fully realizing
and implementing SCR 1325 (2000). A National
Action Plan (NAP) on WPS is one of many methods
for Member States to implement the resolutions in
their specific national context. The creation of an
action plan provides the space for situation analysis,
consultation with stakeholders, and planning to
identify strategic measures aimed at ensuring
concrete change in relation to gaps on WPS.
In 2005 the Danish government launched the first
NAP on how the intentions of Resolution 1325
could become reality. Initially the agreed plan was
a result of cooperation between the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence. This
was revised in 2007 by a working group consisting
of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign
17 See, for example, Presidential Statements
S/PRST/2004/40, S/PRST/2005/52, and S/
PRST/2012/23, Appendix I.
18 National Action Plans: National Implementation
Overview, available from <http://www.
peacewomen.org/pages/about-1325/national-ac-
tion-plans-naps>, accessed 25 October 2012.
| 75
 Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, and the National
Commissioner of Police, in cooperation with NGOs
and civil society organizations (CSOs). Denmark
chose to review the action plan in an attempt to
include a more systematic approach to incorporate
gender issues in all development activities related
to armed conflicts. This is an example of how an
initial framework was broadened and deepened
as understanding and viable implementation were
cultivated over time, monitored, and evaluated.
As of 2013, there are 43 NAPs in existence, 25
have been developed in Europe, 12 in Africa, three
in the Americas, and three in the Asia Pacific. As
Figure 1 demonstrates, many of those have been
created in the last few years, and nine NAPs have
already undergone at least one review and revision
process. In 2013, the processes to develop NAPs
has been in the early stages in Argentina, Iraq,
Japan, South Korea, and South Sudan. (For the
full text of each NAP, please go to <http://www.
peacewomen.org/pages/about-1325/national-ac-
tion-plans-naps>.)
Each country must find the best way of
implementing the WPS agenda within the national
context. Stand-alone NAPs are not the only means
of advancing implementation at national levels.
The key elements of the WPS resolutions can be
integrated, as relevant, with priorities of national
76 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
Ministries of Defence, Interior, Justice, Economic
and Social Development, Gender, Development,
and Foreign Affairs. Alternatively the development
process of a NAP can be used to trigger budget
allocations and actions within each Ministry
and relevant department so as to promote WPS
objectives. Some countries have attempted to
integrate WPS issues into their existing initiatives,
laws, policies, and plans on peace and security
and/or on promoting gender equality and the
empowerment of women.
Integrating the implementation of these resolutions
with overarching national development plans (like
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs),
national development plans (NDPs), and
national security/defence strategies) can ensure
comprehensive and sustainable implementation
over the long term.
Action plans can be developed quickly or through
a lengthy consultation process, and they can be
used as a tool for generating more awareness
and ownership among different government
stakeholders who will play a direct or indirect role in
implementation. The table below lists some of the
pros and cons of each approach:19
Integrating WPS resolutions with national policy
is relevant not just to conflict-affected countries
19 INSTRAW “Securing equality, Engendering
peace: a guide to policy and planning on women,
peace and security (UN SCR 1325),” 2006, pp.
18-19.
and regions, as the resolutions also address
the maintenance of international peace and
security and the prevention of internal conflicts.
Many countries contribute in one way or another
to conflict resolution, preventive diplomacy,
peacekeeping, and post-conflict recovery. The
very first set of countries to develop NAPs were
those involved in financing international conflict
resolution, peacekeeping, and post-conflict
recovery efforts. Their NAPs focused on integrating
WPS goals with their foreign and development
cooperation policies.
Developing a NAP can increase the visibility of
national efforts through transparent reporting and
a robust accountability system to implement WPS
policies. The development of a NAP has a number
of other benefits, including these:
• Coherence and coordination between
government agencies: The seven WPS
resolutions contain goals that require Member
State action in a number of different areas.
A NAP is therefore a good mechanism for a
government to reflect on what is already being
done, ensure coherence, identify any further
priorities and unanticipated opportunities, and
set agreed timelines for meeting targets. A NAP
allows government departments to have a clear
division of labour, as well as an understanding
of the required financial resources, and can
help to identify potential partners, including civil
society, to consolidate the implementation of the
resolutions.
• Improved monitoring and evaluation and
enhanced accountability: NAPs can identify
coherent objectives, benchmarks, and indicators,
which can enhance implementation and increase
accountability.
• Increased ownership and awareness: The
development of a NAP provides a forum for
discussion and the sharing of experiences on
WPS issues for people from diverse government
agencies, CSOs, and international organizations.
• Increased relevance: NAPs help to make the
WPS resolutions relevant to domestic and
foreign policy-making.
There are a number of ways in which countries
have operationalized the WPS resolutions at
the national level. A number of governments
have made attempts to mainstream a gender
perspective into their peace and conflict policies.
For example, Argentina has developed an action
plan to mainstream gender into its defence policies.
The UK initially developed its NAP at the level of
setting shared targets and approaches across its
departments for foreign affairs, development, and

Plan Type Advantages Disadvantages

Integrated with • Development of the actions may • WPS issues might become an add-
existing plans require fewer resources. on, a one-line token statement.
• Can help ensure that WPS issues • Resources may be diverted from
are mainstreamed to major national WPS issues to other programmes
directions and initiatives on security, that receive more attention within
justice, development. the policy/law/plan.
Stand-alone • Raises national awareness about • Might require more efforts and
the WPS agenda in particular. resources to initiate the process,
• Focuses on the implementation of justify the need, and implement.
WPS goals in the context of national • Might duplicate the efforts of the
priorities. existing national gender plans.
• Makes it easier to monitor progress • The plan might be marginalized,
and failures in implementation. regarded as simply symbolic, and
• If based on participatory planning not be implemented.
and implementation, it can involve
stakeholders from various areas in
a community of practice that can
build commitment.

LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY | 77

 security. Germany has eschewed a stand-alone
plan but integrates key priorities from the WPS
resolutions with mainstream security and foreign
policy and regularly reports on its implementation
to the Parliament. In other cases, actions to
implement WPS resolutions have been integrated
with overall gender equality action plans, as was
the case in Colombia and Indonesia. This may
be a particularly effective course of action in
conflict-affected countries, where it is difficult to
make a clear distinction between activities under
the WPS agenda and the broader gender equality
and women’s empowerment agenda since they
overlap so substantially. In other countries, such
as Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, and Uganda, stand-alone
WPS NAPs have been developed by Ministries of
Gender and cross-linked to existing national efforts
to prevent violence against women or promote
women’s rights. The United States’ NAP, released
in December 2011, includes an Executive Order
that requires relevant and identified government
departments to produce their implementation
plans and budget allocations to ensure effective
institutionalization within six months.
Fernanda Tavares (second from left), the United Nations Operation in
Burundi (ONUB) Gender Adviser, addresses a workshop to assess woman
participation in the electoral process in Burundi, flanked by Pascasic
Ndeberi (left), spokesperson for Synergie, a group of local associations;
Françoise Ngendahayo, Minister of National Solidarity, Human Rights
and Gender; and Gorethi Nduwayo, United Nations Development Fund
for Women (UNIFEM) Director in Burundi. (UN Photo #120381 by Mario
Rizzioli, May 2006)
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Localization
Recently a localization strategy has been
advocated by the Global Network of Women
Peacebuilders (GNWP). This is a means of
decentralizing the implementation of NAPs
from national to local levels and involving local
governance structures such as provincial, district,
and traditional leadership in implementation.
Localization was first piloted by the GNWP in
Burundi and is also now operational in Colombia,
Nepal, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.
The program engages key local actors in the
implementation of UNSCRs 1325, 1820, and
supporting resolutions in local communities.
It brings together local authorities, such as
provincial governors, mayors, vice mayors, district
councillors, community leaders, paramount chiefs,
tribal leaders and traditional leaders, religious
leaders, the security sector, women leaders,
teachers, and other key local actors to analyse
UNSCR 1325 and 1820 NAPs. The other main
component of the program is the production of local
development guidelines that will not only serve as
a reference to authorities in integrating NAPs into
community development plans, but also generate
commitments and buy-in from a number of local
actors in Burundi.
“This people-based, bottom-up approach to
policy-making goes beyond the local ratification of
a law. It is not designed to increase bureaucratic
functions or add more work for local officials.
Instead, it is a way for local communities to
analyse their everyday government functions
and policies to see what is promoting and/
or hindering the principles of UNSCRs 1325
and 1820. It guarantees the alignment of local,
national and international policies and community
driven strategies to ensure local ownership and
participation. Guided by the principle of local and
national ownership and good governance, the
Localization program creates channels for better
coordination, cooperation and coherence among
national and local stakeholders around the women,
peace, and security resolutions.”20
20 UN Women, ‘Women and Peace and
Security: Guidelines for national and regional
Implementation’ in the Sourcebook on Women,
Peace and Security, (2012), p.9.
Localization is a key pathway for moving from
high level resolutions with global intent to changes
in the conditions and the human security of
communities and individuals. It means working
through how implementation will bring meaningful
change to lived experience. In the Pacific, New
Caledonia provides a good example of localizing
the WPS agenda. Women in this francophone
territory have gained a regionally unique level
of political representation (roughly 50 per cent)
thanks to electoral parity laws that were adopted
in the territory in 2001. However, beyond a simple
statistical increase in women’s representation,
these laws have also enabled women political
representatives to mobilize public resources to
fund a series of agencies specifically devoted
to women’s well-being known collectively as la
secteur de la condition féminine.21
In the Philippines during 2012 the Office of the
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
(OPAPP) and the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) Regional Steering Committee
conducted a series of training workshops in
Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, and
Maguindanao to help representatives of provincial
planning units, military, and policy in planning
gender-sensitive projects in their respective
areas. January 2013 saw the inauguration of the
Sulu Provincial Women and Children’s Center,
as reflective of NAP intent and commitment to
an ongoing peace process. Farther north, in
the Filipino province of Abra, an initiative took
root at the same time that a women’s centre
drew on NAP inspiration for its own activism to
prevent election violence, working with mayors,
traditional and religious leaders, political parties,
and electoral bodies. Through raising women’s
participation and organizing along monitoring
and prevention lines, activists made inroads on
both equality and violence prevention agendas.
Localization strategies thus can bring measures
to decentralized levels such as provincial, district,
21 Nicole George, “Supporting the WPS Agenda
in the Pacific Islands: Participation in the Spotlight,”
posted 8 March 2013, the Gender and War
Project, available from < http://www.genderandwar.
com/2013/03/08/supporting-the-women-peace-
and-security-agenda-in-the-pacific-islands-partici-
pation-in-the-spotlight/>.
LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY
municipality, party, and traditional leadership
structures.
Actions at the Regional Level
Steps have been taken at the regional level to
improve coordination and accountability in support
of national efforts to implement WPS objectives.
Regional inter-governmental organizations that
have membership from a specific sub-region,
region, or continent are also important sites for
SCR 1325 policies and implementation. The
African Union (AU), the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS), and the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) have
all adopted instruments directly related to the
objectives of SCR 1325. The Council of the
European Union (EU) adopted two documents
(2008) outlining the EU strategy to further the
implementation of UNSCRs 1325 and 1820 in what
is generally referred to as the “Comprehensive
Approach” (CA) and followed this with a set of 17
indicators for assessing progress that are closely
linked to the UN’s list of indicators on implementing
1325.22 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) revised its approach in 2011 and nominated
Gender Advisers at Strategic Commands and in
Afghanistan and Kosovo. In August 2012, with
support from Norway, a Special Representative
for WPS was appointed at NATO Headquarters in
Brussels.
The Pacific Forum in 2012 adopted a Regional
Action Plan that provides a framework at the
regional level for Forum Members and Pacific
Territories to enhance women’s and young
women’s leadership in conflict prevention and
peacebuilding, mainstreaming gender into security
policy-making, and ensuring women’s and girls’
human rights are protected in humanitarian crises,
transitional contexts, and post-conflict situations.
22 See Women and Peace and Security:
Guidelines for National Implementation, developed
by Natalia Zakharova, UN Women (2012), available
from <http://www.unwomen.org/wp-content/
uploads/2012/10/02B-Plan-on-Women-and-Peace-
and-Security.pdf>. This document provides the
foundation for much of this lesson.
| 79
 It also sets out a regional mechanism that will
support regional and national efforts.23
Regional dialogue can help push forward the
WPS agenda and provide support to growing
internal networks who work on these concerns.
For example, in 2011, the DRC and Rwanda met
to in Burundi discuss a Regional Action Plan on
the implementation of Resolution 1325 through
the integration of women in conflict prevention,
peace processes, and post-conflict reconstruction
in the Great Lakes Region.24 In April 2013 an
event supported by UN Women and co-organized
by five CSOs from Serbia, Macedonia, Albania,
Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina was held in
Macedonia to create a platform for “an exchange
of real life challenges to the implementation
of UNSCR 1325” and to identify good practice
alongside the drafting of a regional assessment
report.25
However, progress on the implementation of SCRs
on WPS at the national and regional level is still
slow. Women continue to be marginalized from
official peacemaking and peacebuilding processes;
the percentage of women globally at the highest
level of decision-making remains very low, and
violence against women continues with impunity.
It is critical that more Member States and regional
organizations take responsibility for the successful
implementation of SCRs on WPS and ensure that
they are integrated into their national and regional
policies and training programmes.
23 See <http://www.forumsec.org/pages.cfm/
political-governance-security/human-securi-
ty-framework/regional-action-plan-on-women-
peace-security.html>.
24 Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), in
collaboration with the Ministries of Gender of
the three countries, organized a meeting 14-15
February 2011 in Kinshasa. See “Burundi, RDC
and Rwanda adopt a Regional Action Plan on
UNSCR 1325” at <http://www.fasngo.org/2nd-RE-
GIONAL-CONSULTATION-1325-GL.html>.
25 See <http://www.bezbednost.org/Events/5095/
Regional-dialogue-on-gender-and-security.shtml>.
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According to UN Women Guidelines26 the following
conditions have proven useful for effective
implementation:
1. There is a high-level government commitment,
including at the top of key peace and security
ministries and this political commitment and
determination is clearly communicated to all
stakeholders.
2. Partnerships are built with key stakeholders,
including civil society, the academic community,
regional organizations, and the UN (entities such
as UN Women, UNFPA, and UNDP).
3. An effective inter-agency (inter-ministerial)
coordination body exists. Usually this means that
the working group that coordinated the drafting
process converts from a drafting body to a body to
support implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
4. There is an adequate budget allocation for the
short and long term.
5. Accountability procedures are established and
the adequate indicators for monitoring audits are
defined and reviews are scheduled.
6. Positive incentives are created for performance,
such as awards for high-performing components
of the action plan or public recognition or
opportunities for learning for the stakeholders
involved.
7. Capacity development for stakeholders is
built into implementation as an ongoing process
involving training administrators on women, peace
and security issues, on monitoring techniques,
and on other tools for implementation such as the
development and application of guidelines.
8. Civil society engagement via observer
representation on the inter-agency coordination/
implementation body or via structured consultations
with the implementation body.
26 UN Women, ‘Women and Peace and
Security: Guidelines for national and regional
Implementation’ in the Sourcebook on Women,
Peace and Security, (2012), p. 20.
9. Broad-base consultations are conducted with
local communities and populations directly affected
by conflict.
10. Awareness-raising including via engagement of
mass media helps to build national ownership and
provide early alerts of implementation challenges.
11. Collection of good practices has been initiated
to promote a platform for intra-regional or global
exchange.
As these guidelines highlight, NAPs and RAPs do
not represent implementation in itself, but rather
represent a tool, to be used among many, for
implementation. Further, it is clear that no action
plan gets it right the first time around. These
are living and evolving documents that can and
should be improved upon over time and revised
as priorities change and needs shift. Thus, the
importance of reliable, regular and rigorous reviews
as essential components of any action plan cannot
be overstated.
• National and regional action plans on WPS are
methods that UN Member States can use to
implement the WPS resolutions in their specific
national and regional contexts. Stand-alone
action plans have been developed by some
states and regional organizations, while others
have opted to mainstream WPS provisions into
the policies and strategies of different ministries.
The development process of a national action
plan can be used to trigger budget allocations
and actions on WPS within each Ministry at
national levels to promote advancement of the
WPS objectives. The implementation of the
Security Council resolutions on WPS is relevant
to all countries as the resolutions also address
the maintenance of international peace and
security and the prevention of internal conflicts.

Summary and Key Learning

• Major developments in the promotion of gender
quality and the empowerment of women,
accompanied by a major re-think of the concept
of security as being less state-centric and more
people-centred, were prerequisites for the
adoption of Resolution 1325 on WPS.
• Sister resolutions reinforced Resolution 1325
and furthered the WPS agenda (notably SCRs
1889, 1829, 1888, 1960, and 2106) calling for
increased women’s participation; recognizing
conflict related sexual violence as a tactic of
war and invoking responsibility in the chain
of command; prohibiting amnesty for war
crimes of sexual violence; requesting the
application of tools for improved monitoring and
implementation; and delegating for high level
leadership.
• The 3P approach encompassing strategies
for Prevention, Participation, and Protection of
civilians constitutes a conceptual framework for
the implementation of SCR 1325 and other SCRs
on WPS.

LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY | 81

Annex B: Prevention, Participation, and Protection:
3Ps in Security Council resolution 1325 (2000)
SC resolution 1325 (2000)
Prevention
“Urges Member States to ensure
increased representation of women at
all decision-making levels in national,
regional and international institutions
and mechanisms for the prevention,
management, and resolution of
conflict”
(paragraph 1)
Participation
“Encourages the Secretary-General
to implement his strategic plan of
action (A/49/587) calling for an
increase in the participation of women
at decision-making levels in conflict
resolution and peace processes”
(paragraph 2)
“Further urges the Secretary-General
to seek to expand the role and
contribution of women in United
Nations field-based operations, and
especially among military observers,
civilian police, human rights and
humanitarian personnel”
(paragraph 4)
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Interpretation and Application*
Conflict prevention is an increasingly important part of the
UN’s work on international peace and security issues. An
essential aspect of conflict prevention is the strengthening
of the rule of law and, within that, the protection of women’s
human rights achieved through a focus on gender equality in
constitutional, legislative, judicial, and electoral reform. This
paragraph is also applicable to women’s contributions to early
warning information collection and response mechanisms.
Gender equality has long been a goal within the UN system
and involves targeting the recruitment and promotion of
women in key areas. Women’s participation also relies upon
corrective or new measures within the UN for women in
terms of career development, management training, and
management culture change, including implementation of a
new performance appraisal system, review and improvement
of recruitment processes, introduction of more effective
systems to deal with mobility and spousal employment, and
measures and procedures to prevent sexual harassment.
In addition to high-level posts such as SRSGs,
Deputy SRSGs, and Special Envoys, which are very much
dependent on the candidates put forward by UN Member
States, this paragraph urges the Secretary-General to use his
discretion to place more women staff in UN field missions in
those areas in which they are traditionally underrepresented
– particularly in the field, where the United Nations has
an opportunity to provide a positive example of women’s
leadership in the rebuilding of societies. Further, this includes
the recruitment of female soldiers by troop-contributing
countries. A good example is the all-female police unit sent to
Liberia by India.
 SC resolution 1325 (2000)
“Calls on all actors involved, when
negotiating and implementing peace
agreements, to adopt a gender
perspective, including, inter alia: …
(b) Measures that support local
women’s peace initiatives and
indigenous processes for conflict
resolution, and that involve women in
all of the implementation mechanisms
of the peace agreements”
(paragraph 8)
Protection
“Calls on all actors involved, when
negotiating and implementing peace
agreements, to adopt a gender
perspective, including, inter alia:
…(c) Measures that ensure the
protection of and respect for human
rights of women and girls, particularly
as they relate to the constitution, the
electoral system, the police and the
judiciary”
(paragraph 8)
“Calls on all parties to armed conflict
to take special measures to protect
women and girls from gender-based
violence, particularly rape and other
forms of sexual abuse, and all other
forms of violence in situations of
armed conflict”
(paragraph 10)
LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY
Interpretation and Application*
Peace processes occur at formal and informal levels,
which are closely interrelated. What is referred to as ‘Track
I’ diplomacy involves official government dialogue and
interaction that takes place between governments; ‘Track
II’ processes are unofficial dialogues that involve non-state
actors. Most often, women are excluded from official
peace talks, despite being quite active peacemakers at the
grass-roots level. This paragraph demands that attention be
given to women’s peacemaking activities that are already
occurring, as well as to the inclusion of women in formal
peace negotiations and the incorporation of a gender
perspective into any peace accord.
At times, the cessation of armed conflict and implementation
of subsequent peace agreements entail the opportunity
for Member States to rewrite constitutions and enshrine
gender equality. Key issues, including women’s and men’s
equal access to land, property, education, health care, work,
and politics, can be given constitutional rank. Further, the
incorporation of international treaties and conventions that
protect women’s rights, foremost SCR 1325 (2000) and
CEDAW, highlights the importance that a new constitution
gives to gender equality.
Gender-specific threats to women and girls compound the
challenges of ensuring their protection. During armed conflict,
women and girls are continually threatened by rape, domestic
violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking, sexual humiliation,
and mutilation. Adolescent girls are specifically targeted
for abduction and forced recruitment into armed forces and
armed groups, and they are targets for sexual exploitation
and abuse. These practices put them at great risk of sexually
transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. International
responses in conflict situations must include systematic
reporting on sexual violence, emphasize the special
reproductive health needs of women and girls, and reflect
strengthened policy guidance on responses to gender-based
violence and sexual exploitation.
| 83
End-of-Lesson Quiz
1. The first idea for a resolution on women,
peace, and security first emerged:
A. As part of an International Women’s Day
speech by Security Council President,
Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury of
Bangladesh;
B. During a 1998 General Assembly discussion of
the protection of women and girls from violence
in armed conflict;
C. As an agenda item during the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women;
D. With the Beijing Platform for Action and its
articulation of women and armed conflict as
one of 12 strategic objectives.
2. Economic security, environmental security,
and health security are defining elements in:
A. Human security;
B. National security;
C. Global security;
D. Political security.
3. The emergence and adoption of SCR 1325
(2000) was largely due to the organizing and
advocacy of:
A. Non-governmental organizations and their
partnerships with UN entities and interested
Member States committed to gender equality
and women’s empowerment;
B. The National Organization for Women;
C. The Office of the Secretary-General;
D. A conglomeration of independent grass-roots
women’s organizations.
4. Prior to SCR 1325 (2000), which UN
document, international treaty, or functional
84 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
commission addressed issues related to
women, peace, and security?
A. The Commission on the Status of Women;
B. The Windhoek Declaration and the Namibia
Plan of Action;
C. Both A. and B.
D. None.
5. Security Council resolution 1325 (2000)
requires that the resolution be implemented
by:
A. Only UN Member States;
B. Only troop-contributing countries, UN mission
staff, and local actors in the field;
C. All UN bodies, UN Member States,
non-governmental organizations, and civil
society;
D. All actors involved in negotiating and
implementing peace agreements.
6. The 3P approach refers to implementing
strategies in the areas of:
A. Prevention, participation, and protection;
B. Prevention, participation, and peace;
C. Participation, protection, and peace;
D. Participation, protection, and prosecution.
7. The implementation of SCR 1325 (2000) is
limited by:
A. Lack of monitoring mechanisms or
accountability tools;
B. Lack of political will by many within the UN
system;
C. Lack of general awareness among many
international actors;
D. All of the above.
8. The WPS agenda may be implemented by
Member States:
A. Only through National Actions Plans because
you need one document to be the basis for new
laws;
B. Through general measures according to what
women’s groups want;
C. In several ways, including stand-alone
plans, integrated approaches that work
across ministries and departments according
to their remits and priorities, or through
broad promotion of gender equality and
empowerment for women within related
security and peacebuilding processes;
D. Only by agreement with the United Nations.

9. Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks are

intended to:
A. Both measure and assist implementation
processes;
B. Keep activity going after the NAP has been
ratified;
C. Keep a record of activities undertaken;
D. Serve as a reminder for progress reports.

10. Budgets for implementing National Action

Plans on WPS:
A. Are not really necessary as long as there is
sufficient political will to implement the plan;
B. Are critical to ensuring that the plan is
implemented;
C. Do not need to be specifically allocated for this
purpose;
D. Are only important in countries emerging from
conflict.

ANSWER KEY
1D, 2A, 3A, 4C, 5C, 6A, 7B, 8C, 9A, 10B

LESSON 3: SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY | 85

LESSON 4
WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY:
CHALLENGES FOR LATIN AMERICA
AND THE CARIBBEAN
 LESSON
4

LESSON OBJECTIVES

4.1 Introduction This lesson addresses the challenges that Latin America and the
Caribbean countries face regarding WPS issues. It introduces basic
4.2 Peace and Security information about contemporary armed conflicts and security threats in
in Latin America and Latin America and the Caribbean. It explains the relevance of Resolution
the Caribbean 1325 and the WPS agenda in a region that is largely free from formal
armed conflict. The bulk of the lesson focuses on the impact of armed
4.3 The Relevance of violence on women and girls.
Security Council
By the end of Lesson 4, the student should be able to meet the following
Resolution 1325
objectives:
(2000) and
• Discuss the current state of armed conflict and peace and security in
Subsequent
Latin America and the Caribbean;
Resolutions
• Understand the relevance and importance of SCR 1325 (2000) for Latin
4.4 Impact of America and the Caribbean; and
Contemporary Armed • Understand the gendered dimensions of peace and security in Latin
Conflict on Women America and the Caribbean.
and Girls
4.1 Introduction
The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region
has a long history of political violence, including
conflicts of widely varying intensity, ideological
origins, and players. While other regions of
the world have experienced more international
conflicts, the LAC region’s more recent conflicts
have been of a largely internal nature. While
conflict still persists in some areas and countries,
many of these internal conflicts have been
formally resolved. Nevertheless, many countries
in the region have extremely high levels of armed
violence and many societies are still experiencing
the impacts of conflict.
As has been seen in previous lessons, the
impacts of armed conflict are different for women,
men, girls, and boys. In Latin America and the
Caribbean, as in other regions, women and girls
have actively participated both in the conflicts
themselves and in the peace and transition
processes that follow. In this lesson, we will look
at some of the ways peace and security issues
and armed conflict have had gendered effects
in LAC countries. We will learn about the issues
women and girls face and work to understand
the relevance of SCR 1325 and the other WPS
resolutions in a region that is largely free from
formal armed conflict.
4.2 Peace and Security in Latin
America and the Caribbean
The LAC region is made up of 33 countries, 23
in Latin America and 10 in the Caribbean.1 The
region is home to just over 600 million people2
1 Antigua and Barbuda,* Argentina, Bahamas,*
Barbados,* Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica,* Ecuador, El
Salvador, Grenada,* Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti,
Honduras, Jamaica,* Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Saint
Kitts and Nevis,* St. Lucia,* St. Vincent and the
Grenadines,* Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago,*
Uruguay, and (Bolivarian Republic of) Venezuela.
(Caribbean countries have been indicated with an
asterisk.)
2 The population in 2012 was 603,174,000.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the
L E S S O N 4 : W P S : C H A L L E N G E S F O R L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
and has one of the most diverse populations in the
world, with people of indigenous, African, Asian,
and European descent. A variety of languages are
spoken in the region. Some of the most prevalent
are Creole, English, French, Portuguese, and
Spanish, and many inhabitants speak indigenous
languages.
The region’s annual economic growth was
projected to be 4.4 per cent in 2011 and 4.1
per cent in 2012.3 This previous growth was
accompanied by improvements in labour market
indicators and a reduction in poverty, though
poverty remained rampant in some areas. The
gap between the rich and the poor in this region
is among the largest in the world.4 Indeed, recent
estimates show that the richest 20 per cent of
the population has an average per capita income
nearly 20 times the income of the poorest 20 per
cent. Statistics also show that poverty affects
female heads of household more than males in the
same role.5
Caribbean, Statistical Yearbook for Latin America
and the Caribbean 2011, December 2012. Available
from < http://www.eclac.org/cgi-bin/getProd.
asp?xml=/publicaciones/xml/8/45608/P45608.
xml&xsl=/deype/tpl-i/p9f.xsl&base=/prensa/tpl-i/
top-bottom.xsl >.
3 Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean and Development Centre for the
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and
Development, Latin American Economic Outlook
2012: Transforming the State for Development,
December 2011. Available from <http://www.cepal.
org/cgi-bin/getProd.asp?xml=/publicaciones/
xml/2/45452/P45452.xml&xsl=/de/tpl-i/p9f.
xsl&base=/tpl-i/top-bottom.xslt>.
4 Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean, Preliminary Overview of the
Economic of Latin America and the Caribbean
2010, December 2010. Available from <http://www.
cepal.org/cgi-bin/getProd.asp?xml=/publicaciones/
xml/2/45452/P45452.xml&xsl=/de/tpl-i/p9f.
xsl&base=/tpl-i/top-bottom.xslt>.
5 UN Habitat, State of Latin American and
Caribbean Cities 2012, August 2012. Available from
<http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.
aspx?PublicationID=3386>.
| 89
 LAC region continues to recover from decades of
110 100 90 80°
° ° °
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
30 ° 30
°
violent conflict that had an enormous impact on the
Gulf of Mexico
La Habana
Nassau
BAHAMAS

Turks and
region’s societies. The social fabric was deeply torn
by conflict and insecurity, and in some countries
CUBA
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MEXICO DOMINICAN ico
REPUBLIC to R rgin Isi.rgin Is.
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reconciliation is ongoing.
HAITI

Pu
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GUATEMALA Netherlands BARBADOS
NICARAGUA Aruba Antilles
Managua GRENADA SAINT VINCENT AND

ad R
or
DO THE GRENADINES
Port of Spain

Despite enormous progress in the region towards

VA l v
AL Sa TRINIDAD AND
EL S San San José PANAMA Caracas TOBAGO
COSTA RICA
10 ° Panamá town 10
VENEZUELA eo
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peace, challenges remain. Political instability

Medellín

G
SURINAME

GUYAN
Santa Fé Paramaribo
de Bogotá French Guiana
Cayenne
COLOMBIA

in Haiti erupted into violence in 2004, and the

A
Equator Quito

country’s stability was further undermined after the

0° ECUADOR 0°
Galapagos Is. Guayaquil Belém
Manaus

2010 earthquake that caused enormous damage.

Guerrilla movements persist in Colombia after 50
PERU Recife

Lima
B R A Z I L 10
10 ° °
PACIFIC OCEAN
La Paz Brasília
years, and the rise of new rebel groups in Bolivia,
Mexico (Chiapas), and Peru reminds us that Latin
BOLIVIA
Sucre

20 °
PA
RA G
São Paulo
20
° America’s progress towards democracy and peace
is still fragile. Furthermore, security challenges
Rio de Janeiro
UA
Y

Isla San Félix Asunción

100 ° 90 ° Isla San Ambrosio

Members:
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Bahamas
Honduras
Italy
Jamaica
30°
such as corruption, gangs, organized crime,
inadequate security forces, and armed violence
30
Barbados Mexico Islas
Juan Fernãndez A °
Belize Netherlands Santiago
N

URUGUAY
Bolivia Nicaragua ECLAC HQ
TI

Brazil Panama Buenos Aires Montevideo

EN

are widespread throughout the region, especially

Canada Paraguay
Chile Peru
E

ARG

Colombia Portugal
C H I L

Costa Rica Saint Kitts and Nevis

40°

in parts of the Caribbean, Central America, and

Cuba Saint Lucia
Dominica Saint Vincent and the
Dominican Republic Grenadines 40
Ecuador Spain
50
° 40
° °

Mexico. Indeed, while the incidence of political

El Salvador Suriname Capital city
France Trinidad and Tobago
Grenada United Kingdom The boundaries and names shown and the designations used
on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance
Guatemala United States of America by the United Nations.

violence has decreased, the entire region has seen

Guyana Uruguay
Haiti Venezuela Falkland Islands *A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United
50 °
(Malvinas) * Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over
Associate members: the Falkland Islands (Malvinas).

an explosion of social violence and a steep rise in

Aruba Netherlands Antilles
British Virgin Islands Puerto Rico 0 500 1000 1500 2000 km
Montserrat United States Virgin Islands
80 ° 70° 60 0 500 1000 mi
°
Map No. 3977 Rev. 4 UNITED NATIONS
May 2010
Department of Field Support
Cartographic Section
criminal violence.
Regional Map of Latin America and the Caribbean
UN Peacekeeping Operations in the Region
State of Armed Conflict in Latin America and
the Caribbean The history of peacekeeping in the LAC region
reflects the trend of conflicts in the region with
As noted above, the LAC region has experienced a most of the region’s peacekeeping missions
great deal of political violence. In the second half of occurring in the last part of the twentieth century.
the twentieth century, the region experienced civil The LAC region has seen a total of nine UN
wars, guerrilla movements, military interventions, peacekeeping operations, including missions in the
coups d’état, terrorism, and other forms of violent Dominican Republic (1965–1966), Central America
confrontation. In various countries in Central (1989–1992), El Salvador (1991–1995), Guatemala
America, many civil wars between guerrilla (1997), and five separate operations in Haiti, the
movements and the state broke out in late 1970s. first of which began in 1993 and the most recent of
The civil wars were marked by massive human which continues today.6
rights abuses.
The current mission in Haiti, the United Nations
In South America and the Caribbean a number of Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), is
countries were ruled by brutal dictatorships. These the region’s only ongoing mission. MINUSTAH
dictatorships were also marked by massive human was established in 2004 with the following
rights violations, including the disappearance of responsibilities:
thousands of people. Countries in the Andean
region, such as Peru and Colombia, experienced • Aiding Haiti’s transitional government in ensuring
political and economic instability in the mid-1970s, a secure and stable environment in the country,
with internal armed conflict pitting government
forces against guerrilla armies. In the late 1980s 6 United Nations Department of Peacekeeping
and 1990s, violence in the region began to wane Operations, United Nations Peacekeeping. <http://
and democratic processes expanded. Today, the www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations/>.

90 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
 UN Peacekeeping Operations in Latin America and the Caribbean to 2012
including assistance with police reform, DDR of
armed groups, and protection of civilians;
• Supporting Haiti’s constitutional and political
process, including helping to bring about a
process for national dialogue and reconciliation,
organizing and carrying out elections, and
extending state authority; and
• Assisting the transitional government, as well
as Haitian human rights organizations, in their
efforts to promote and protect human rights,
particularly of women and children, and to
monitor and report on the human rights situation
in the country.7
Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti in
January 2010, MINUSTAH increased its overall
force levels to support the immediate recovery,
reconstruction, and stabilization efforts. As of
August 2012, MINUSTAH consisted of over
10,000 uniformed personnel, with military or police
personnel from 56 countries.8 The most recent
resolution renewing the mission recognizes the
7 United Nations Department of Peacekeeping
Operations, MINUSTAH Mandate. Available from
<http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/minustah/
mandate.html>, accessed 11 May 2009.
8 United Nations Department of Peacekeeping
Operations, MINUSTAH Facts and Figures.
Available from <http://www.un.org/en/
L E S S O N 4 : W P S : C H A L L E N G E S F O R L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
security issues women and children have faced
in the aftermath of the earthquake. The resolution
requests that MINUSTAH support the Government
of Haiti in the protection and promotion of the rights
of women and children in accordance with the
WPS resolutions.9
4.3 The Relevance of Security
Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and
Subsequent Resolutions
The very high level of armed violence in Latin
America and the Caribbean despite the relative
absence of armed conflict raises a variety of
challenges in the area of women, peace, and
security. While Security Council Resolution 1325
and the sister WPS resolutions have a primary
focus on armed conflict, there are a number of
obligations set forth for all Member States including
those that are not currently experiencing armed
conflict. The WPS resolutions are relevant to all
countries and are particularly relevant for countries
contributing troops and personnel to peacekeeping
missions, countries undertaking DDR programmes,
post-conflict countries and countries dealing
with a legacy of human rights abuses, and
peacekeeping/missions/minustah/facts.shtml>,
accessed 2 October 2012.
9 Resolution 2012 (2011) October 14, 2011.
| 91
 countries involved in providing humanitarian and
development support.10
In addition to these countries, the WPS resolutions
are more broadly relevant to all countries in Latin
America and the Caribbean (and elsewhere) in
their emphasis on ensuring women’s representation
in peace and security organizations. This includes
both international organizations and national
peace and security organizations, such as
national security forces. Finally, SCR 1325 and
the other WPS resolutions emphasize the need
to take gender into account in all security policy
considerations.11 For these reasons, SCR 1325 and
its sister resolutions provide a framework by which
governments in the Latin America and Caribbean
region can address the differential impacts of
contemporary armed conflict on men and women in
the region.
4.4 Impact of Contemporary Armed
Conflict on Women and Girls
As in other regions of the world, the impact of
armed conflict and insecurity on women and girls
in the LAC region is complex, varying widely
from context to context and from one individual
to the next. Nevertheless, the following generally
observed issues apply as well in the LAC region:
• Ongoing armed violence and its differential
impacts on men, women, boys and girls;
• Increased prevalence of SGBV during and after
armed violence;
• Displacement and separation of individuals and
families;
• Threats to women’s health;
• Limitations to women’s and girls’ access to
education;
• Restrictions on women’s livelihoods and
economic development; and
• Changing gender roles.
10 UN-LIREC and UN-INSTRAW, The Relevance
of Security Council Resolution 1325 to the Latin
America and Caribbean Region (Lima: UNLIREC,
2010), p. 6.
11 Ibid.
92 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
In this section, we will look at examples of these
issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Ongoing Armed Violence
As countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean emerged from conflict, in many cases
democratization did not fully dismantle violent
structures and processes such as paramilitary
units. Delays or failures in constructing effective
state institutions has meant new challenges.
Indeed, it is a global experience that “peace is
more than the absence of war.”12 Whether due to
ongoing inequalities, grievances, or opportunism,
contemporary problems include the rise of drug
smuggling, human trafficking, illegal adoptions,
arms smuggling, and movement of other illicit
goods.13 Difficulties in addressing violence in the
region and resulting impunity have normalized
a culture of violence, including violence against
women. Additionally, government corruption
hinders dealing with criminal activity and negates
any trust the population has in the government.
Central America, in particular, is suffering from
criminal violence that affects both the public and
private spheres. According to 2010 UN data,
Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala ranked
among the countries with the highest homicide
rates in the world. In 2011, nearly 17,000 murders
occurred in these three countries. Other Central
American states also have rising rates of crime and
violence.14 Annual murder rates in the Caribbean,
estimated in 2007 at 30 per 100,000 population,
12 In contexts as different as Northern Ireland,
South Africa, and Aceh, peacetime transitions
have brought about new configurations of violent
behaviours despite the framework of rule of law
and citizen consensus on governance.
13 D. Farah, “Organized Crime in El Salvador:
Its Homegrown and Transnational Dimensions,”
in Cynthia J. Arnson and Eric L. Olson, eds.,
Organized Crime in Central America: The Northern
Triangle (Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars, September 2011).
14 UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 2011 Global
Study on Homicide (Vienna: UNODC, October
2011), <http://www.unodc.org/documents/
data-and-analysis/statistics/Homicide/Globa_
study_on_homicide_2011_web.pdf>.
are higher than for any other region of the world
and have increased in recent years for many of
the region’s countries.15 Brazil is also considered
one of the most violent countries in the world.
More generally, according to World Bank data, the
homicide rate in Latin America has increased by 50
per cent since the 1980s and the majority of victims
of such violence are young people between the
ages of 15 and 25.16 Such violent deaths prevail in
war-torn societies and societies with high levels of
armed violence, affecting men in disproportionate
numbers. Men and boys are killed and wounded
by gun violence much more often than women and
girls. In fact, global statistics show that over 90 per
cent of homicide victims are men.17 In Colombia,
for example, 25 per cent of all male deaths and
fully 60 per cent of deaths for males aged 15 to 44
years are attributed to violence.18 In 2003, it was
calculated that men were four times more likely to
die a violent death than women.19 In general, men
make up the vast majority of gun and gang violence
victims while also being the main perpetrators of
violence. This raises questions about gendered
behaviours as well as the socioeconomic and
cultural factors that reinforce them. formal conflicts have ended as war-related violence
One of the key factors in the high rate of homicides
and violence in Latin America and the Caribbean
is the high number of firearms. Countries in the
region show significantly higher proportions of
firearm homicides than the global average of 42
per cent. In 2011, firearms were used in an average
15 World Bank and UNODC, Crime, Violence, and
Development: Trends, Costs, and Policy Options in
the Caribbean, Report No. 37820 (Washington, DC:
UNODC and World Bank, March 2007), p. iii.
16 World Bank, Homicide Rate Data Set
1995-2008 (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010).
17 IANSA Women’s Network, “Voices of Survivors:
the different faces of gun violence,” May 2011,
<http://www.iansa-women.org/sites/default/fi les/
newsviews/iansa_wn_voices_of_survi-vors_2011_
web_0.pdf>.
18 Bouta, Frerks, and Bannon, Gender, Conflict
and Development, p. 149.
19 M. Correira, “Gender,” in Colombia: The
Economic Foundation of Peace, M. Guigale, O.
Lafourcade, and C. Luff, eds. (Washington, DC,
World Bank, 2003), cited in Bouta, Frerks, and
Bannon, Gender, Conflict and Development, p. 146.
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of 70 per cent of homicides in Central America, in
61 per cent in the Caribbean, and in 60 per cent in
South America.20 While men and boys constitute
the majority of the users and direct victims of
firearms, women are also affected by arms
proliferation and armed violence in gender-specific
ways. Firearms can facilitate and exacerbate
violence against women and girls in both conflict
and peace. Firearms play a particularly large role
in domestic violence: by some estimates, having
a firearm in the house increases the lethality of
domestic violence five-fold.21 Additionally, firearms
are often used to threaten women and communities
to facilitate the perpetration of sexual and
gender-based violence.22
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
As noted in previous lessons, SGBV is an area
of particular concern in conflict and post-conflict
situations as well as in places experiencing high
levels of armed violence. In the LAC region, the
incidence of SGBV increased during many of the
region’s conflicts, but it has also persisted after
has been transformed into criminal violence. In
fact, sub-regions in LAC show some of the world’s
highest rates of rape and other sexual violence.23
While SGBV covers a wide range of violence,
there are several types of SGBV in particular that
have been observed as especially problematic in
conflict and post-conflict situations, including in
Latin America. These include sexual violence as
a political strategy or weapon of war; domestic
violence, which often becomes more prevalent
20 Small Arms Survey, “A Fatal Relationship,” in
Small Arms Survey 2012 (Geneva, Small Arms
Survey, 2012).
21 IANSA Women’s Network, “Women,
Gun Violence and the Home,” <http://www.
iansa-women.org/sites/default/fi les/newsviews/
en-iansa-wn-information-kit.pdf>.
22 Corey Barr with Sarah Masters, “Why Women?
Effective engagement for small arms control,”
IANSA Women’s Network, October 2011.
23 World Bank and UNODC, Crime, Violence, and
Development: Trends, Costs and Policy Options
in the Caribbean, Report No. 37820 (Washington,
DC: UNODC and World Bank, March 2007), p. 12.
| 93
 in conflict-affected communities;24 and human
trafficking, which can be exacerbated by armed
conflict and insecurity. In the Latin America and
Caribbean context, two other forms of SGBV have
been widely reported in situations of insecurity:
femicide and violence against women human rights
defenders.
Sexual violence as a weapon of political violence
In recent years, the use of sexual violence as
a weapon of war and a political tactic has been
widely documented. While sexual violence in the
context of conflict and armed violence has been
given less attention in Latin America and the
Caribbean, there are many instances where it
was used as a political tactic. One example of the
legacy of sexual violence used as a tool of political
violence in Latin America and the Caribbean
was during Peru’s internal conflict between the
insurgent group Shining Path and the army
between 1980 and 2000. Testimonies given during
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up in
2001 showed how soldiers and police used sexual
violence to terrorize and torture the population and
how rape served as a weapon of war.25 Sexual
violence was used to serve the state’s overall
agenda of defeating the opposition as a tool to
punish political opponents.26 Impunity for these
and other human rights abuses have had a lasting
impact on Peruvian society today, where there are
still very high levels of sexual and gender-based
violence.
Sexual violence was also used as a tool to control
and punish women political prisoners during the
dictatorships in the Southern Cone, including in
Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. This punishment
aimed to communicate disapproval with their
political activities in general, but also disapproval
of the way women activists acted outside of their
culturally expected gender role. In this context,
24 Rehn and Ellen Sirleaf, Women, War and
Peace, p. 15.
25 Jelke Boesten and Melissa Fisher, “Sexual
Violence and Justice in postconflict Peru,” United
States Institute of Peace, 2012.
26 Michele L. Leiby, “Wartime Sexual Violence
in Guatemala and Peru,” International Studies
Quarterly (2009) 53, 445, 468.
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sexual torture, particularly gang rape, was used
by military and police forces to control and
subordinate women political prisoners. Additionally,
wives and daughters of male prisoners were
gang raped in front of their husbands, lovers, or
fathers. In these ways, military and police officers
forced confessions and terrorized families and
communities.27
Following the military coup of Jean-Bertrand
Aristide in Haiti in 1991, women suffered similar
abuses as part of the political turmoil and violence
conflict. Between 1991 and 1994, gangs and
armed actors affiliated with leaders of the coup
raped women in order to silence their political
activism and undermine their ability to resist and
organize against government.28 At that time, Haiti
had the highest rate of gender-based violence in
the Caribbean.29 Politically motivated rapes and
Haitian President René Préval (right) visits the residents
of Cité Militaire, a slum overcome by escalating gang
violence. (UN Photo #123231 by Sophia Paris, August
2006)
27 Ximena Bunster, “Surviving Beyond Fear:
Women and Torture in Latin America,” in Marjorie
Agosin ed., Surviving Beyond Fear: Women,
Children and Human Rights in Latin America (New
York: White Pine Press, 1993).
28 WomenWarPeace, Haiti [online], available at
<http://www.womenwarpeace.org/haiti/haiti.htm>
112 MINUSTAH, Les femmes, actrices ou victimes
de la violence.
29 United Nations Development Fund for
Women, “UNIFEM and IDB to conduct study on
gender-based violence in Haiti,” 8 June 2006.
Available from <http://www.unifem.org/news_
events/story_detail.php?StoryID=461>, accessed
11 May 2009.
high rates of domestic violence, as well as murder,
arson, and looting, have had a devastating impact
upon women, men, girls, and boys.
Domestic violence
In many conflicts around the world, domestic
violence has been reported to increase during and
after conflict. This can be attributed to a number
of factors, including the increased availability
of weapons; the frustration, humiliation, and
violence male family members have experienced
and economic reasons such as the lack of jobs.
Another factor is the incidence of displacement
that often goes hand in hand with armed conflict.
For example, in Colombia, NGOs’ treatment and
service provision programmes have shown how
domestic violence increases with displacement due
to pressures and changes in family dynamics.30
In many post-conflict situations, impunity for
conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence
seems to have a correlation with high levels of
SGBV and particularly domestic violence in the
aftermath of conflict. While criminal violence such
as homicide in Latin America and the Caribbean
has received a great deal of attention, domestic
violence is in fact the most pervasive type of
violence in the region. Various surveys indicate that
between 10 and 50 per cent of women in the region
have been beaten or physically maltreated by their
current or former partner. In fact, domestic violence
affects many more households in Latin America
and the Caribbean than criminal victimization.31
Femicide
Increasing numbers of women have been victims
of post-conflict and gang violence in the Latin
America and Caribbean region. Of particular
concern is the systematic and deliberate killing of
women and girls, or femicide. The 2012 Small Arms
30 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,
Violence and Discrimination against Women in the
Armed Conflict in Colombia, OEA/Ser.L/V/II. 18
October 2006.
31 Peter Imbusch, Michel Misse and Fernando
Carrión, “Violence Research in Latin America and
the Caribbean,” International Journal of Conflict
and Violence 5 (1) 2011, 87-154.
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Survey showed that 14 out of the 25 countries
with the highest femicide rates come from Latin
America and the Caribbean: four in the Caribbean,
four in Central America, and six in South America.32
In El Salvador, UN data shows that the number of
violent crimes against women has nearly doubled
in recent years, from 253 in 2008 to 465 in 2009.33
Data also shows that the majority of femicides are
perpetrated by an intimate partner or male family
member. For instance, in Peru 70 per cent of acts
of femicide are carried out by a current or former
intimate partner. Impunity for violence against
women contributes to the problem. For instance,
in Mexico, 60 per cent of the women who were
murdered by their intimate or ex-intimate partners
had previously reported domestic violence to public
authorities.34
Guatemala registered the murder of 383 women
in 2003, an increase of 135 per cent compared
with 2002. In 2004, 527 women were murdered.
During the first eight months of 2005, the death toll
amounted to 427, evidence that the murder rate
continued to rise.35 As of 2011, 705 Guatemalan
women lost their lives to gender-related violence.36
Though violence directed against women is part
of a general crime wave affecting the country,
the rate at which women are being murdered is
outpacing that of men. Between 2002 and 2004,
32 Small Arms Survey, Femicide: A Global
Problem, Research Notes: Armed Violence,
Number 14, February 2012.
33 United Nations, Report of the Special
Rapporteur on violence against Women, its causes
and consequences, Rashida Manjoo A/HRC/17/26/
Add.2, 14 February 2011.
34 United Nations, Report of the Special
Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes
and consequences, Rashida Manjoo A/HRC/20/16,
23 May 2012.
35 Congreso de la República, Bancada de la
Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca,
Feminicidio en Guatemala: Crimenes contra la
Humanidad (Guatemala City, Guatemalan National
Revolutionary Unity, 2005), p. 54–56.
36 Danilo Valladares, “Guatemala Heeds the
Cries of Femicide Victims,” Inter Press Service, 31
January 2012. Available from <http://www.ipsnews.
net/2012/01/guatemala-heeds-the-cries-of-femi-
cide-victims/>.
| 95
 the percentage of murdered women increased from
less than 9 per cent of the total number of murders
to over 11 per cent.37
The situation is similar in El Salvador, where 194
women were murdered in 2003. Between 2004 and
2009, the number increased from 260 femicides
to 579, the highest number of femicides recorded
in 11 years.38 Due to the high level of violence
affecting women in El Salvador, several United
Nations Special Envoy Rapporteurs on Violence
Against Women have gone to the country to
investigate and report on the situation. The 2011
report identified the ineffective implementation
of the law, restricted access to health and
reproductive rights, and the need for a coordinated
system of data collection and further training
initiatives as main challenges.39
Violence against Women Human Rights Defenders
Violence against women human rights defenders,
including femicide, is well documented in Latin
America and the Caribbean as in other regions.
Women human rights defenders are often more
at risk of suffering certain forms of violations,
prejudice, and exclusion because they are
perceived as challenging accepted sociocultural
norms, traditions, perceptions, and stereotypes
about femininity, sexual orientation, and the role
and status of women in society.40
Women human rights defenders seem to face
different threats in different regions. For example,
the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights
37 Congreso de la República, Bancada de la
Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca,
Feminicidio en Guatemala: Crimenes contra la
Humanidad (Guatemala City, Guatemalan National
Revolutionary Unity, 2005), p. 56.
38 United Nations, Report of the Special
Rapporteur on Violence against women, its causes
and consequences, Rashida Manjoo, Addendum,
Follow-up mission to El Salvador, A/HRC/17/26/
Add. 2, 14 February 2011.
39 Ibid. para. 57.
40 United Nations, Report of the Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders, Margaret Sekaggya A/HRC/16/44, 20
December 2010, para. 23.
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Defenders reported in 2010 that whereas in Asia
the majority of alleged violations were mostly
judicial in nature, in the Americas women human
rights defenders often faced threats of and actual
physical violence.41 Women defenders in the
Americas appear to be most at risk of being killed
or having an attempt made on their lives.42
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
has paid particular attention to the challenges
women defenders face in the region. The
Commission has noted that the work of these
defenders is particularly difficult in countries that
have experienced armed conflict or widespread
violence.43 Other groups which appeared to be
most at risk in Latin America and the Caribbean
are women defenders working to fight impunity
for alleged human rights violations, particularly in
Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru.
Additional groups include those working for the
rights of indigenous peoples, trade unionists, and
women’s rights and/or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender (LGBT) defenders in the region.44
Displacement, Separation, and Trafficking
According to UNHCR, at the end of 2011 there
were about 42.5 million forcibly displaced people
around the world, including 15.2 million refugees,
895,000 asylum-seekers, and 26.4 million internally
displaced persons (IDPs). Of these, 49 per cent
were women and girls.45 The agency calculates
that there are 4,315,819 forcibly displaced people in
Latin America and the Caribbean, the vast majority
of which are IDPs in Colombia.46 The region has
the smallest share of refugees globally.47
41 Ibid. paras. 38,39.
42 Ibid. para. 65.
43 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,
Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights
Defenders in the Americas, 31 December 2011, p.
115.
44 United Nations, Report of the Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders, Margaret Sekaggya A/HRC/16/44, 20
December 2010, para. 58.
45 UNHCR, Global Trends 2011 (Geneva:
UNHCR, 2012), pp. 2-3.
46 Ibid. pp. 38-40.
47 Ibid. p. 11.
As described in previous lessons, both in transit
and in refugee and IDP camps, women and girls
can be at risk of human rights abuses, including
SGBV. Displaced people also often have few or
no opportunities for livelihoods and, therefore,
must rely on relief agencies for food and other
essential goods and services. When humanitarian
assistance is not based on consultation with
women and does not take their needs into
account, food and supplies are often automatically
distributed to men or to the head of household,
meaning that they may not reach women and
girls.48
At the end of 2011 there were an estimated
3,888,309 IDPs in Colombia, making it the country
with the largest number of IDPs in the world.49
Recent trends show that the number of single adult
women in IDP populations has increased, with
nearly half of displaced families having reported
themselves as headed by women since 2006. This
gender balance of displacement in Colombia, as
elsewhere, has shown five general dimensions:
women assume new responsibilities as heads of
households; displacement affects the life projects
of women and men differently; women and men
differ in attitudes toward return; displaced women
suffer risk of SGBV before, during, and after
displacement; and women tend to participate in
local, grassroots IDP organizations.50
As stated in the 2012 Secretary-General’s report on
Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, “The breakdown
of families owing to men being killed, detained or
displaced during the conflict has left many women
and their children at heightened risk of sexual
exploitation and trafficking.”51 In fact, at any given
time, 2.5 million people are estimated to be trapped
48 Women, Peace and Security: Study Submitted
by the Secretary-General pursuant to Security
Council Resolution 1325 (2000), United Nations,
2002.
49 UNHCR, Global Trends 2011 (Geneva:
UNHCR, 2012), pp. 38-40.
50 Donny Meertens, “Forced Displacement
and Gender Justice in Colombia: Between
Disproportional Effects of Violence and Historical
Injustice,” International Center for Transitional
Justice and the Brookings Institute, July 2012.
51 S/2012/33.
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in forced labour globally as a result of trafficking,
of which 10 per cent are in Latin America and the
Caribbean.52 More and more women are being
trafficked within the LAC region, for example,
from Guatemala to Mexico and from Haiti to the
Dominican Republic.53
Countries in the Caribbean region serve as origin,
transit, and destination countries for trafficking
in men, women, girls, and boys. States in the
Caribbean are particularly susceptible to trafficking
and other irregular migratory movements due
to their exposed geographical positioning and
porous borders. In many countries, women and
girls are deceived by offers of good jobs in other
countries but are told soon after arrival that they
will have to engage in stripping and prostitution.
An International Organization of Migration study
also uncovered reports of Caribbean boys and
young men trafficked for sexual exploitation
often in association with the drug trade. In some
cases trafficking is associated with sex tourism in
Caribbean countries.54
In many cases, trafficking and sexual exploitation
are linked to a lack of effectiveness and corruption
in the security sectors. For example, in the case
of many Caribbean countries, corrupt police are
said to be linked to proprietors of clubs, bars, and
other venues, which results in fear and the lack of
reporting about exploitative practices and possible
trafficking cases. In some cases, immigration
officers and border officials play a large role in
trafficking and smuggling. For instance, in the
Bahamas, Jamaica, the Netherlands Antilles, and
Suriname, immigration officials were accused of
52 United Nations Development Programme,
Caribbean Human Development Report 2012:
Human Development and the Shift to Better Citizen
Security (New York: UNDP, 2012).
53 For more information on human trafficking
in the region, see the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime’s regional assessment on penal prosecution
capacities to investigate trafficking in persons in
Central America, available from <http://www.unodc.
org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/regional-assess-
ment-central-america.html>.
54 International Organization for Migration,
Exploratory Assessment of Trafficking in Persons
in the Caribbean Region, June 2005, p. 150.
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 facilitating or ignoring possible cases of human
trafficking.55
In Colombia, according to the anti-trafficking
association Fundación Esperanza, as many
as 50,000 women are being trafficked out of
the country annually.56 Despite reports of high
levels of SGBV in conflict-affected parts of the
country, Colombia exemplifies the fact that such
violence tends to be greatly underreported. In
2003, the National Police registered “only four
cases of sexual violence of persons protected
by international humanitarian law [those living in
recognized zones of conflict], two cases of sexual
violence and two of slavery or forced prostitution.”57
At the same time that female victims face hurdles in
denouncing sexually based crimes, justice officials
often lack a full understanding of gender-based
violence.
Health
Countries experiencing or emerging from violent
armed conflict have been the primary focus of
humanitarian aid. However, there is increasing
recognition that high levels of interpersonal
armed violence in countries that are relatively
stable merit greater attention due to the negative
impacts on public health and human security.
Studies sponsored by the Inter-American
Development Bank in the late 1990s showed the
impact of violence on health care services in Latin
America countries. Expressed as a percentage
of gross domestic product, the cost of health care
expenditures arising from violence was 5 per cent
in Colombia, 4.3 per cent in El Salvador, and 1.9
per cent in Brazil.58
55 Ibid. p. 151.
56 Rehn and Ellen Sirleaf, Women, War and
Peace, p. 13.
57 Patricia Buriticá Céspedes, “El papel de las
mujeres en el proceso de construcción de la paz
en Colombia,” Revista Futuros, vol. V, No. 18
(2007), p. 2.
58 Cited in World Health Organization, World
report on violence and health, Etienne Krug, Linda
Dahlberg, James Mercy, Anthony Zwi and Rafael
Lozano, eds. (Geneva: WHO, 2002).
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During armed conflict, health services often
break down or cease due to security threats. For
example, in August 2012, clashes between the
armed forces and armed groups in Colombia
disrupted health care services in southern districts
of the country. This incident is part of a worrying
trend of a rise of attacks targeting health care
services since 2010.59 The breakdown of the
health sector during conflict and armed violence
compromises the health of all members of society,
but women are especially vulnerable because of
their specific health needs.
Mothers and their young children attend a free clinic in
Port-au-Prince’s impoverished Cité Soleil neighbourhood,
where the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)’s
Violence Reduction Section is working with a volunteer
association to help disenfranchised women. (UN Photo
#501570 by Logan Abassi, August 2011)
The increased incidence of SGBV during armed
violence and insecurity further exacerbates
women’s health problems, leading to a higher
prevalence of HIV/AIDS and other sexually
transmitted infections. For example, victims of
trafficking in the Caribbean are increasingly at
risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other diseases.60
Another health-related security issue has
been violence committed against human rights
defenders who work on sexual and reproductive
59 International Committee of the Red Cross,
“Colombia: Fighting disrupts health-care services
in northern Cauca,” 21 August, 2012. Available
from <http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/
documents/news-release/2012/colombia-news-
2012-08-21.htm> and United Nations, Report of the
Secretary-General on children and armed conflict
in Colombia (S/2012/171), 21 March 2012.
60 UNDP, Caribbean Human Development Report
2012 (New York: UNDP, 2012), p. 32.
rights. Reports indicate that defenders around
the world often face risks including harassment,
discrimination, stigma, criminalization, and physical
violence due to the subject of their advocacy.61
In addition to the wide range of effects on
insecurity and health services, the January 2010
earthquake in Haiti has had a profound effect on
the level of SGBV in Haiti. While the country has
a long history of such violence, service providers
and human rights organizations have documented
hundreds of cases of sexual violence, particularly
in IDP camps, since the earthquake. As noted by
Rashida Manjoo, former Special Rapporteur on
the causes and consequences of violence against
women, the situation in Haiti demonstrates that
“in the aftermath of an emergency, pre-existing
vulnerabilities and patterns of discrimination and
human rights violations are often exacerbated,
putting women and girls at an increased risk of
human rights abuses.”62
In the aftermath of such violence, the dire
situations in IDP camps, as well as inadequate
patrolling, untrained law enforcement, and the
police’s denial of rape occurrences, allow rapes
to continue. Women and girls often lack access to
resources and information on what health services
are available and where to seek help. This is
complicated by the strong social stigma attached to
rape in Haiti.63
Education
Education systems are often disrupted during
conflict and armed violence because of general
insecurity, destruction of infrastructure, or lack of
61 Human Rights Council, Report of the Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders, Margaret Sekaggya (A/HRC/16/44), 20
December 2010.
62 United Nations, “Statement by Ms. Rashida
Manjoo, Special Rapporteur on violence against
women, its causes and consequences,” 65th
session of the General Assembly, Third Committee,
11 October 2010.
63 Hollyn Hammond, “Combating Gender-Based
Violence in Haiti’s Displacement Camps,”
International Affairs Review Volume XX, No. 3
(Spring 2012), p. 24.
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resources. Women and girls are often even less
able to access education during conflicts than
men and boys. The disruption also lasts long into
the aftermath of conflict, affecting generations
of people. Violent conflict worsens economic
disparities and gender inequality, including access
to education.
Women learn to read and write in Port-au-Prince’s impoverished Cité
Soleil neighbourhood, where the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH)’s Violence Reduction Section is working with a volunteer
association to help disenfranchised women. (UN Photo #483130 by Logan
Abassi, August 2011)
As we saw above, a major challenge in the Latin
America and the Caribbean region is the presence
of gangs and prevalence of organized crime. One
of the major effects of gang violence and organized
crime is the diversion of a country’s resources
towards crime prevention and control, particularly
from sectors such as education.64 There have also
been problems with gang involvement and violence
within schools themselves, particularly in Central
America. In countries in the region, gangs recruit
boys and adolescents from within schools. Families
with sufficient resources can send their children
to other schools, which leaves students from low
income families exposed to violence.65
Another issue is SGBV that occurs within schools.
While very little data is available, studies show
64 UNDP, Caribbean Human Development Report
2012 (New York: UNDP, 2012), p. 73.
65 UNESCO, Educación, Juventud y Desarrollo:
Acciones de la UNESCO en América Latina y el
Caribe (Santiago: UNESCO, 2010), p. 19.
| 99
 that sexual violence between peers does occur
in schools, but it is primarily between adults and
children and between adolescents. For example,
in Brazil, abusive conduct between teachers
and students includes lewd looks, gestures, and
comments, as well as proposals for sexual contact.
Additionally, there were documented cases of
coercion with teachers promising to change grades
in reward for sexual contact.66
Displaced populations face great challenges in
ensuring adequate education for children. For
example, studies have shown that only 51 per cent
of displaced children and adolescents in Colombia
enrolled in secondary school. Additionally, the
proportion of displaced boys and girls between
12 and 15 still trying to finish primary education
was twice as many as adolescents of this age
group belonging to the non-displaced population.
This data indicates that displaced children and
adolescents enter primary school late, repeat
courses more frequently, and drop out of school
more easily than non-displaced children and
adolescents.67
Economic Development and Livelihoods
Conflict and armed violence often have a
devastating effect on the economies of the
countries involved. The World Bank has
characterized conflict as “development in
reverse.”68 Estimates of the economic impact of
violence in the LAC region are very high, with
some authors estimating that the net accumulation
of human capital in the region has been cut in
half due to the increase in crime and violence
66 Plan International and UNICEF, Violencia
escolar en América Latina y el Caribe: Superficie
y fondo (Panama: Plan International and UNICEF,
2011), p. 31.
67 UNESCO, “Panorámica regional: América
Latina y el Caribe,” in Informe de Seguimiento de
la EPT en el Mundo (Santiago: UNESCO, 2011), p.
10.
68 Paul Collier, V. L. Elliott, Håvard Hegre, Anke
Hoeffler, Marta Reynal-Querol, and Nicholas
Sambanis, Breaking the Conflict Trap: Civil War
and Development Policy (Washington, DC, World
Bank & Oxford University Press, 2003).
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since 1980.69 When we consider the economic
destruction that conflict brings, together with the
fact that women are more likely than men to live
in poverty, we see why women tend to suffer
disproportionately from conflict-related economic
downturns.
Many conflicts and incidences of violence in Latin
America and Caribbean, as elsewhere, have left
women as heads of household. For example, after
the civil conflict in Guatemala ended in 1996,
an estimated 80,000 women were left widowed
and 250,000 children orphaned.70 Widows and
female heads of households are often particularly
vulnerable economically as they are left to support
families on their own. Furthermore, these women
often face barriers to property and land ownership
because of discriminatory inheritance, land, and
property laws and customs. This is especially true
for women who are displaced during the conflict, as
their claims to vacated land and property may not
be recognized. Without access to these assets that
allow for production and economic security, women
are exposed to long-term economic vulnerability.
Legal reforms are often necessary to guarantee
women’s equal access to land.
Wayuu women, part of Colombia’s largest indigenous
group, support themselves with artisan work in the
village of Pessuapa, near the border with Venezuela. (UN
Photo #461374 by Gill Fickling, July 2010)
69 Juan Luis Londoño, Alejandro Gaviria and
Rodrigo Guerrero, eds., Asalto al Desarrollo:
Violencia en América Latina (Washington, DC: BID,
2000).
70 Linda Green, Fear as a Way of Life: Mayan
Widows in Rural Guatemala (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1999).
Women’s economic insecurity is also closely landscape of the society. In the following chapter
related to SGBV, both as cause and consequence. we will look at women’s involvement in peace and
On the one hand, poverty and lack of economic security processes and how countries in the region
independence can make it difficult for women have worked to address WPS issues.
to avoid or escape situations in which they are
vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. On the other
hand, the health consequences of SGBV and the
fear of being exposed to SGBV can prevent women
from working.

Changed Gender Roles

As covered in Lesson 2, gender roles define what

is considered appropriate for men and women
within a given society and include both social
roles and labour divisions. Gender roles are not
static; they change over time. They vary greatly not
only across cultures but also within cultures – for
example, among different races, classes, religions,
ethnicities, and generations. Sudden crises, such
as wars or natural disasters, can radically and
rapidly change gender roles as societies adapt to
unexpected changes. It is noteworthy that Chile,
Costa Rica, Brazil, and Argentina have elected
women leaders to state positions long reserved for
men, which may in part be a product of electoral
quotas. It remains that the challenges to women’s
equality within these societies is ongoing.

Armed conflict and violence can change gender

roles and gender dynamics in a number of ways.
First, in most armed conflicts, more men than
women are killed, which changes the demographic
profile of the society and results in changes such
as an increase in female-headed households.
Second, conflict often triggers changes in the
division of labour between men and women.
For example, a society’s reliance on men for
agricultural work may become untenable when
many men are engaged as fighters, necessitating
women’s entrance into the agricultural sector.
These changes can persist post-conflict and
may even become permanent. Finally, conflict
often sparks an increase in women’s political
participation. Whether they participate as
combatants, through other involvement with
armed groups, as peace activists, or in other roles,
women’s participation can build their confidence
and lead to the formation of women’s organizations
and networks that change the social and political

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 Summary and Key Learning
• The LAC region has historically experienced a
great deal of political violence, particularly of
an internal nature, which was characterized by
massive human rights violations. While there is
little armed conflict in the region today, there has
been a steep rise in criminal violence.
• In comparison with other regions of the world,
the LAC region has seen a small number of
peacekeeping operations, and the majority of
those missions have been carried out in Haiti.
The region currently only has one ongoing
mission (MINUSTAH), operating in Haiti.
• While there is a relative absence of armed
conflict in the LAC region, the WPS resolutions
are still relevant for a number of reasons,
particularly in how countries deal with the legacy
of human rights abuses, address ongoing armed
violence, and ensure women’s representation in
peace and security organizations.
• The differential impacts of armed conflict on
women and men in the region have reflected
general issues prevalent in other regions of the
world as well, such as the increased prevalence
of SGBV, displacement and separation, limited
access to health and education services, and
changing gender roles.

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End-of-Lesson Quiz
1. In the second half of the twentieth century
the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC)
region experienced:
A. Civil wars, high inequality ratios between rich
and poor, guerrilla movements and a pattern of
coups d’etat;
B. Rapid economic growth due to the demand for
agricultural and mineral commodities;
C. New airport developments linking it globally for
improved tourism;
D. A general decline in educational performance.
2. Democracy and peace are still fragile in the
region because:
A. Media and social networking remain poorly
developed;
B. Electoral laws are in need of reform;
C. Corruption is widespread, gangs and organized
crime continue with often inadequate provision
of security and justice, and rebel movements
continue in many settings;
D. Neighbouring states pose threats to each other.
3. UN Peacekeeping in the LAC region has
been involved in how many missions?
A. None;
B. Four;
C. Twenty;
D. Nine.
4. The Women, Peace, and Security agenda is
important for the region not only because of
inequality and the fact that sexual violence
has been used as a tool during war, but also
because:
A. WPS is a key to economic development;
B. Sexual violence was also used to punish
women political prisoners under dictatorships,
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leaving a legacy of pain and a need even today
for security sector reform;
C. UN membership requires it;
D. There is competition between regions to have
good programmes.
5. The LAC region has the smallest share of
refugees globally, but an estimated over
4 million IDPs in 2011. The country with the
largest number of IDPs was:
A. Peru;
B. Colombia;
C. Argentina;
D. Brazil.
6. In February 2011 the Report of the Special
Rapporteur on Violence against women, its
causes and consequences, Rashida Manjo,
Addendum, Follow-up Mission to El Salvador
particularly identified challenges including:
A. Lack of effective implementation of the law,
limited access to health and reproductive
rights, and the need for coordinated systems of
data collection and further training;
B. Poor press coverage of femicide;
C. Need for firmer policing;
D. Shelters for women fleeing from threats of
violence.
7. Studies on International Migration have
found that trafficking in the Caribbean
countries is a particular problem due
to porous borders and geographical
positioning, and that it affects:
A. Young women caught in poverty;
B. Women and girls for use in domestic and sex
industries;
| 103
 C. Boys and young men caught up with the drug
and sex trade;
D. All of the above.

8. IDP camps present their own difficulties and

insecurities for women and girls. In Haiti,
for example, an obstacle to getting help for
rape victims even when health services may
be available is:
A. Transport;
B. Information;
C. Social stigma;
D. Opening hours.

9. The legacy of civil war includes

single-headed households and large numbers
of widows and orphans. This was the case in
__________, whose civil war ended in 1996.
A. Brazil;
B. Paraguay;
C. Bolivia;
D. Guatemala.

10. Chile, Costa Rica, Brazil, and Argentina

have what in common?
A. They have elected women to high office in
national leadership;
B. Weather patterns;
C. Shared border patrol trainings;
D. National Language.

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 ANSWER KEY
1A, 2C, 3D, 4B, 5B, 6A, 7D, 8C, 9D, 10A

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LESSON 5
WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY:
PRIORITIES FOR LATIN AMERICA
AND THE CARIBBEAN
 LESSON
5

LESSON OBJECTIVES

5.1 Introduction This lesson will introduce how countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean region have worked to address the challenges discussed
5.2 Prevention in Lesson 4. Regional priorities on WPS will be analysed within the
5.3 Participation and conceptual framework of SCR 1325 (2000) using the 3P approach of
prevention, participation, and protection.
Representation
5.4 Protection By the end of Lesson 5, the student should be able to meet the following
objectives:
• Discuss issues relating to WPS in the LAC region within the conceptual
framework of SCR 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions; and
• Describe strategies for implementing the resolution under the
framework of prevention, participation, and protection.

5.1 Introduction
The previous lesson introduced a number of
challenges that countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean (LAC) face in the realm of WPS. SCR
1325 (2000) and the other WPS resolutions provide
a framework for addressing these challenges. The
current lesson uses the implementation paradigm
of prevention, participation, and protection (3P) to
highlight women’s involvement as well as priority
areas of action for the region in peace and security.
As discussed in Lesson 3, the 3P framework was
originally conceived by the NGO community and
based on the idea that effective implementation
of the resolution requires attention to “principles
of conflict prevention, participation (and
representation) of women in peace and security,
and protection of civilians with consideration
to the specific needs of women, men, girls and
boys.”1 Expanding on this, we can think of SCR
1325 (2000) as calling for action on three broad
priorities:
1. Involving women and mainstreaming a gender
perspective in conflict prevention;
2. Ensuring women’s full and equal participation
in conflict resolution and post-conflict
peacebuilding; and
3. Protecting women and girls during and after
armed conflict.
This lesson provides detailed information on each
of the three Ps, focusing on how this framework
and the resolution itself apply to the priorities and
needs of the LAC region.
5.2 Prevention
Paragraph 1 of SCR 1325 (2000) “urges Member
States to ensure increased representation of
women at all decision-making levels in national,
regional and international institutions and
1 “NGO Watch: Security Council focuses on
women, peace and security,” UN Chronicle online
edition, <http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/
chronicle/>.
L E S S O N 5 : W P S : P R I O R I T I E S F O R L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
mechanisms for the prevention, management,
and resolution of conflict.” Thus, one important
aspect of the prevention part of the 3P framework
is increasing women’s participation in conflict
prevention activities and structures. However, this
is only part of the picture. The following approaches
can be used to mainstream a gender perspective
in conflict prevention efforts as envisioned by the
resolution:
• Ensuring that all conflict prevention activities and
strategies integrate a gender perspective and
involve women;
• Developing effective gender-sensitive early
warning mechanisms and institutions; and
• Strengthening and amplifying efforts to prevent
violence against women, including sexual and
other forms of gender-based violence and
exploitation and abuse.
Women are often active in conflict prevention
efforts, especially at the local level. One reason
that women’s involvement in conflict prevention is
so critical is that many early signs of violent conflict
(“early warning indicators”) are felt first at the
grassroots level, often by women. Identifying these
signs as early as possible is one important way
to prevent tensions from escalating into full-scale
armed conflict as well as to prevent disasters from
escalating. Mainstreaming a gender perspective
into conflict prevention and disaster risk reduction
requires that governments pay attention to
gender-sensitive early warning indicators – that is,
signs that reflect the changing circumstances of
men and women in society – as these are often the
earliest signs of impending conflict. Early warning
indicators include the following:2
• Increased SGBV, including rape, domestic
violence, and human trafficking;
• Hoarding of food and other household goods;
• Gender-specific refugee migrations, which have
been seen in Colombia;
2 Kristin Valasek and Kaitlin Nelson, Securing
Equality, Engendering Peace: A guide to policy and
planning on women, peace and security (UN SCR
1325) (UN-INSTRAW: Santo Domingo, Dominican
Republic, 2006).
| 109
 • Gender stereotypes propagated by the mass
media as part of mobilization campaigns;
• Abrupt changes in gender roles, such as the
imposition of restrictive laws;
• Rewards for aggressive behaviour and
propaganda emphasizing hyper-masculinity;
• An increasing number of single female-headed
households; and
• Increased prostitution around military bases
at times of greater mobilization of soldiers and
armed groups.
If their contributions are to build on broader efforts,
governments must draw on the contributions
of grassroots-level actors, support civil society
groups, and create and maintain mechanisms for
collaboration and communication so that these
groups have a voice in national conflict prevention
efforts. An example of how this can work in the
LAC region is Chile’s National Women’s Service,
which is part of the cabinet-level Ministry of
Planning and Cooperation. The Service’s activities
Participants in a workshop on domestic violence
in Valle, Honduras. The workshop is intended
to show the links between gender, poverty,
abuse, and disease. (UN Photo #138806 by Mark
Garten, June 2006)
110 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
include conflict prevention and prevention of
gender-based violence in armed conflicts.
One area of particular relevance to the LAC region
is the development of gender-sensitive early
warning mechanisms for disaster. This is especially
true for the Caribbean region, which is particularly
vulnerable to natural disasters, including hurricanes
and earthquakes. Natural disasters have specific
gendered effects. Female poverty is of specific
concern since poverty exacerbates people’s
vulnerability in situations of crisis. For example, an
assessment carried out in Grenada in the aftermath
of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 showed that 52 per cent
of poor households with the largest families were
headed by women.3 Early warning mechanisms
and disaster risk reduction programmes are
increasingly important in the context of climate
change. Another concern in this area is the
increased vulnerability of women living with HIV/
AIDS, which is a particularly feminized issue in the
Caribbean context.4
As noted above, the WPS prevention agenda
also refers to the prevention of violence against
women. A number of countries in the region have
undertaken efforts to prevent violence against
women and girls. For example, the government
of Paraguay has undertaken a gender and
domestic violence project that aims to enhance
inter-institutional collaboration on gender violence.
Part of the project focuses on developing a
preventive working system involving 2,600 citizens.
The project has also included the installation of
Specialized Attention Desks and the training of
1,300 police officers with a human rights, gender,
and domestic violence approach in dealing with
cases of violence.5 We will return to this subject
later in the protection section.
3 UNDP, Integrating Gender in Disaster
Management in Small Island Developing States: A
Guide (Cuba: UNDP, 2012), pp. 17.
4 UNFPA and Women’s Environment and
Development Organization, “Common Ground in
Bangladesh, Ghana, Nepal, Senegal and Trinidad
and Tobago,” Climate Change Connections (New
York: UNFPA and WEDO, 2009), pp. 6.
5 UNDP, A Decade of Work on Citizen Security
and Conflict Prevention in Latin America and the
Caribbean 2001-2010 (Panama City: UNDP, 2011),
p. 33.
5.3 Participation and Representation
Women’s participation is a central theme in SCR
1325 (2000) and in the WPS agenda. SCR 1325’s
preamble “stress[es] the importance of [women’s]
equal participation and full involvement in all efforts
for the maintenance and promotion of peace and
security, and the need to increase their role in
decision-making with regard to conflict prevention
and resolution.” It further recognizes that women’s
“full participation in the peace process can
significantly contribute to the maintenance and
promotion of international peace and security.”
The resolution also contains numerous operative
paragraphs that call on the UN and Member States
to take steps to expand women’s participation in all
aspects of peace and security.
In Latin America, as elsewhere, there is a need for
governments to increase women’s participation in
the following ways:
• Promote and support women’s active
participation in informal and formal peace
processes;
• Increase women’s political participation,
including women’s election to positions at all
levels of government; and
• Enhance efforts to recruit and appoint women to
all levels of police, security, and armed forces,
as well as to peacekeeping forces, including
military, police, and civilian personnel.
Women in the LAC region continue to be
underrepresented in peace processes, political
offices, and military and security posts, though
progress has been made in recent years. For each
area of participation, we will look at the current
situation of women’s participation in the region as
well as strategies to address remaining gaps.
Participation in informal and formal peace
processes
As we will see later in this lesson, women have
played a large role in some of the armed conflicts
in Latin America and the Caribbean. The strong
participation of women in armed movements
in the region has led to heightened attention to
women’s role in conflict and the ensuing peace
L E S S O N 5 : W P S : P R I O R I T I E S F O R L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
processes. Peace negotiations constitute a
crucial entry point for considerations of gender
justice. A more balanced gender composition of
the negotiating teams can be an important initial
signal that the gender dimension of a conflict will
be taken into account during negotiations and that
a gender perspective will inform the ensuing peace
agreements. Nevertheless, inclusive negotiating
teams are not the norm; overall, few women
participate in formal peace processes.
Peace agreements represent special opportunities
to redirect societies towards gender equality.
Silence in a peace agreement about the position
of women perpetuates and institutionalizes the
marginalization of women in the political processes
after the conflict. The lack of appropriate attention
to making a peace process inclusive can easily
lead to a reinforcement of gender inequalities, in
which the opposing sides in a conflict “establish
new constitutions or peace processes which
marginalize the needs of women” and restrict
their rights.6 Thus, in the wake of conflict, the
specific needs of both women and men need to be
recognized and awarded equal attention.
In Latin America, women have been part of several
high-profile peace negotiations, most notably in
El Salvador and Guatemala. During the peace
negotiations in El Salvador in the 1990s, women
were present at almost all post-accord negotiations
and made up 13 per cent of negotiating teams.7
However, despite women’s presence at the peace
table, women’s issues received little or no attention
in the peace negotiations. In fact, there was not
one reference to women in the accords. The
negotiations were conducted in secrecy with little
or no input from civil society. Partly because of this,
women on the Farabundo Martí National Liberation
Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación
Nacional, or FMLN) negotiating team could not rely
on input from strong women’s organizations. Only
6 Donna Pankhurst, Women, Gender and
Peacebuilding (Bradford, University of Bradford,
Department of Peace Studies, 2000), p. 6.
7 UN Women, Women’s Participation in Peace
Negotiations: Connections between Presence and
Influence (New York: UN Women, 2012).
| 111
 during the implementation phase of the accords did
gender concerns receive appropriate attention.8
In Guatemala, on the other hand, a vocal
women’s movement supported the efforts of a few
high-ranking female officials in the Guatemalan
National Revolutionary Unity to put gender equality
on the agenda of the peace negotiations. Only two
women were included in the negotiating teams, and
the necessity to incorporate a gender perspective
into the accords did not generally resonate
with either government or guerrilla negotiators.
However, the United Nations actively supported
civil society participation, including that of women’s
groups, in the negotiations. Partly because of this
support, the peace accords contained a number
of important provisions regarding gender equality.9
The Women’s Sector of the Guatemalan Assembly
of Civil Society, an umbrella organization of
Guatemalan organizations, played a central role in
advocating for incorporating women’s rights in the
agenda of the formal peace process.
Once the Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace
was signed in Guatemala in 1996, the Women’s
Sector also worked to ensure the implementation
of the agreements, particularly those provisions
concerning women’s rights.10 One of the Women’s
Sector’s key achievements was to promote the
establishment of the National Women’s Forum,
which organized Guatemalan women in defence
of the peace accords. In the view of Zulema de
Paz, President of the Women’s Commission in the
Guatemalan Congress, the progress made in the
arena of women’s rights can be mostly attributed
8 Ilja Luciak, Adding Value: Women’s
Contribution to Reintegration and Reconstruction
in El Salvador (Washington, DC: Hunt Alternatives
Fund, 2004).
9 UN Women, Women’s Participation in Peace
Negotiations: Connections between Presence and
Influence (New York: UN Women, 2012), p. 2.
10 Ilja A. Luciak, “Joining forces for democratic
governance: Women’s alliance building for post-war
reconstruction in Central America,” in Gendered
Peace: Women’s Search for Post-war Justice and
Reconciliation, Donna Pankhurst, ed. (London,
Routledge, 2007).
112 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
to the Forum’s work.11 For example, its concerted
organizing efforts led to the incorporation of the
concept of co‑ownership by husband and wife
into the Law of the Land Fund, the participation
of women in local and regional development
councils, the creation of a Presidential Women’s
Secretariat, and the design of a National Gender
Equity Policy.12 While Guatemala provides a
good example of the role of women, women’s
organization, and the representation of gendered
issues, the country has faced many issues and
delays in the implementation of the peace accords.
Colombia has a long history of peace negotiations
and provides an example of the continued
challenge to achieve a greater gender balance
in peace negotiations. Historically, women have
represented only 8 per cent of negotiation teams. In
the 2012 negotiations, only three women took part
in the negotiations: one ex-member of the Fuerzas
Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC),
one as part of the Ministry of Defence delegation,
and one on the government negotiation team.13
Though individual women have been part of the
Colombian peace process, women’s commitment
to find solutions to the conflict has not “translated
into substantial inclusion in formal peace
negotiations. Women and women’s organizations
have been excluded from every round of formal
peace talks between the government and armed
insurgent groups.”14
Despite their relative exclusion from formal peace
negotiations in many countries, women have
organized for years in an effort to play an active
role in the peace process as we saw in Guatemala.
Women’s organizations are “working at local,
11 Interview with Zulema de Paz, Guatemala City,
4 May 2001.
12 Misión de Verificación de las Naciones Unidas
en Guatemala, Los Desafíos para la Participación
de las Mujeres Guatemaltecas (Guatemala City,
2001), pp. 26–27.
13 Nancy Sánchez and Milburn Line, “Mujer,
Paz y Seguridad en Colombia,” Foreign Policy, 11
October 2012. Available from <http://www.fp-es.
org/mujer-paz-y-seguridad-en-colombia>.
14 Women Waging Peace, Preparing for
Peace: The Critical Role of Women in Colombia
(Cambridge, Hunt Alternatives Fund, 2004), p. 4.
regional, and national levels towards a peaceful participation in parliaments in various countries in
resolution” to the conflict.15 In many instances, the region.
“women’s social activism and mobilization for
Representation of Women in LAC National
peace have occurred alongside – and often prior
Parliaments, 201219
to – officially sanctioned calls for a negotiated
Lower or Upper
peace.”16 For example, in Colombia in June 2001,
Country Single House or
five women’s groups organized a major national
House Senate
peace march which succeeded in bringing women’s
Antigua and Barbuda 10.5% 29.4%
peace efforts to the public’s attention. Further, on
Argentina 37.4% 38.9%
the occasion of the talks between the government
Bahamas 13.2% 25.0%
and the FARC, the Colombian women’s movement
Barbados 10.0% 33.3%
decided to organize a special women’s forum.17 In
Belize 3.1% 38.5%
2002, the movement formulated a Women’s Peace
Bolivia 25.4% 47.2%
Agenda, containing 12 concrete proposals to
Brazil 8.6% 16.0%
achieve peace.
Chile 14.2% 13.2%
Colombia 12.1% 16.0%
Political Participation
Costa Rica 38.6% -
Women’s political participation can be one of Cuba 45.2% -
the most fundamental drivers of gender equality. Dominica 12.5% -
There are many steps that governments can take Dominican Republic 20.8% 9.4%
to increase women’s role in politics, including Ecuador 32.3% -
constitutional and electoral reform, adoption El Salvador 26.2% -
of quota systems, and promotion of women’s Grenada 13.3% 23.1%
participation in local politics. In 2012, women Guatemala 13.3% -
constituted only 20.2 per cent of representatives Guyana 31.3% -
in both lower and upper houses of parliament Haiti 4.2% 3.3%
worldwide, a figure that is more or less consistent Honduras 19.5% -
with trends at the sub-national and local levels.18 Jamaica 12.7% 23.8%
Women are also extremely underrepresented in Mexico 36.8% 32.8%
executive positions, including as heads of states, Nicaragua 40.2% -
presiding officers of parliaments, and cabinet Panama 8.5% -
positions. Furthermore, women continue to struggle Paraguay 12.5% 15.6%
to obtain decision-making positions within political Peru 21.5% -
parties. St. Kitts and Nevis 6.7% -
St. Lucia 16.7% 18.2%
Women’s political participation in the LAC region St. Vincent and the
largely reflects these broader international trends. Grenadines 17.4% -
The following data shows percentages of women’s Suriname 11.8% -
Trinidad and Tobago 28.6% 25.8%
15 Women Waging Peace, Preparing for Peace, Uruguay 12.1% 12.9%
p. 4. Venezuela 17.0% -
16 Peace Agreements as a Means for Promoting
Gender Equality and Ensuring Participation of While there are vast differences within both
Women, pp. 9–10. the Latin American and Caribbean regions
17 Céspedes, “El papel de las mujeres,” p. 8. respectively, overall there are more women in
18 Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in the Upper House or Senate in Latin American
Parliaments: World and Regional Averages. countries. The graphs below illustrate these
Available from <http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/world. percentages by region.20
htm>, accessed 23 October 2012. Data as of 19 Ibid.
30 September 2012. 20 Ibid.

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 Representation of Women in the Upper House or Senate in Latin America, 2012

Representation of Women in the Upper House or Senate in the Caribbean, 2012

114 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
As of 2012, five countries in the LAC region had
surpassed 30 per cent women’s representation in
the upper house or senate: Argentina, Barbados,
Belize, Bolivia, and Mexico. In 2007, in the
Bahamas Senate, women held “60 per cent of
the seats – the highest number ever reached in a
parliamentary chamber” at that time.21 However,
since that time, the rate in the country has
decreased to 25 per cent.22 In lower and single
houses of parliament, seven countries in the
region – Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador,
Guyana, Mexico, and Nicaragua – have reached
30 per cent or more women members.23 While
these levels represent significant gains, it is clear
that women remain grossly underrepresented in
the region’s parliaments, as most countries fall
far short of 30 per cent. On average, in the LAC
region as of 2012, women made up 23.8 per cent
of parliamentarians in single or lower houses and
24.6 per cent in senates.24
120.0%
Percentage of Women in Ministerial Cabinet Positions
100.0%
80.0%
60.0%
Men
84.6%
40.0%
20.0%
Women
15.4%
0.0%
Caribbean
21 “Women in Politics,” The World of Parliaments,
No. 29, April 2008, available from <http://www.ipu.
org/news-e/wop/29/4.htm>, accessed 6 April 2011.
22 Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in
Parliaments: World Classification. Available from
<http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm>, accessed
23 October 2012. Data as of 30 September 2012.
23 Ibid.
24 Ibid.
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Women are also underrepresented as cabinet
ministers in the region. As of April 2012, women
held 21 per cent of cabinet posts in Latin America
the Caribbean, with variations apparent in the
sub-regions as illustrated in the chart below.25
As we can see, in all three sub-regions, women
hold the minority of posts; however, women hold
a greater percentage of cabinet positions in both
Central and South America than in the Caribbean.
Women also tend to be clustered in the social and
cultural ministries, also known as “soft” ministries,
and are particularly unlikely to be appointed to the
“hard” (economic and political) ministries. Defence
committees in parliament also tend to have few or
no women. Nevertheless, progress is being made
in some countries. For instance, between 2002 and
2007, five South American countries named women
to head their defence ministries for the first time:
Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Uruguay.
As of 2012, three countries had female defence
ministers: Jamaica, Nicaragua, and Paraguay.26
Men Men
76.1% 74.4%
Women Women
23.9% 25.6%
Central America South America
25 Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean, Latin America and the Caribbean
Statistics, April 2012.
26 <http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/
Defence_ministers.htm>
| 115
 Local politics is a critical entry point for women’s
political participation. Positions at the local level are
more accessible to women largely because women
are more likely to be active informally at local
levels, to understand local issues, and to be known
in their communities. Women’s participation in local
politics in the LAC region has been mixed. Overall,
the percentage of female mayors in the region has
remained virtually unchanged for more than 10
years. Nevertheless, in some countries, progress
has been made. For example, in recent years, the
percentage of female mayors has increased from
6.2 to 28.4 in Costa Rica, and from 1.7 per cent to
11.9 per cent in the Dominican Republic. However,
other countries have seen the percentage of female
mayors decline, such as Puerto Rico (from 9 to 1.3)
and Jamaica (from 12.5 to 7.4). It is encouraging
that the percentage of female town councillors has
continued to grow, amounting to over 25 per cent
in the region in 2006. Greater efforts are needed to
encourage and facilitate women’s participation in
local politics.
Electoral and constitutional systems have a direct
impact on women’s participation in decision-making
bodies. As we have seen in previous lessons,
the reform of electoral laws and constitutions
can provide a critical window of opportunity to
make changes that advance women’s political
participation. Electoral quotas (mandatory or
targeted percentages of women candidates for
public elections) are one type of reform that has
been used quite successfully in the LAC region to
increase women’s political participation.
The real push for quotas came with the
implementation of quotas in Argentina in 1991
and the drafting of the Beijing Platform for Action
at the UN’s fourth world conference on women in
1995. Since 1995, the use of quotas has become
widespread. As of October 2012, International
IDEA identified 109 countries that have some sort
of quota system.27 In the LAC region, 11 countries
adopted quota systems for women’s participation
in legislative elections during what has been called
the “quota fever” of the 1990s. While results have
varied, in Latin America there has been a clear
27 quotaProject: Global Database of Quotas for
Women. Available from <http://www.quotaproject.
org/country.cfm>, accessed 30 October 2012.
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increase in women’s participation in those countries
where quotas have been implemented.
Growth Rates in Women’s Representation in
Latin American Houses of Congress28
Average Countries
Countries with
Growth without
Quotas (11)
1995–2004 Quotas (7)
Overall 9.5% 2.9%
In the Senate 15.8% 2.3%
Though they are heavily debated, quotas can be
an effective tool for increasing women’s political
participation. As of 2011, quotaProject reported
that 20 out of the 21 countries worldwide with
30 per cent or more women in national legislatures
adopted some type of quota.29 In Argentina,
representation went from 5 per cent to 25 per cent
and then 30 per cent in the span of two elections
with the use of quotas. However, it is also true
that quota systems may not be right for every
country, and there is no one-size-fits-all model.
Though quotas may dramatically increase the
representation of women, they are not the only
way to achieve this. In fact, quota systems may
allow parties to make concessions to women in
terms of numbers without necessarily addressing
key gender issues. Each country must consider
the pros and cons of adopting a quota system
in its particular context. If quotas are selected,
they should be just one of many approaches to
promoting women’s participation and gender
equality.
Participation as combatants, in the security
sector and in peacekeeping
Traditionally, men have been thought of as active
fighters, while women have often been perceived
as helpless victims of war. In fact, the situation
is far more nuanced. The gender composition of
irregular military forces has changed remarkably
in recent decades, with women playing much
28 quotaProject: Global Database of Quotas for
Women, Country overview. Available from <http://
www.quotaproject.org/country.cfm>, accessed 20
April 2011.
29 Ibid.
more active roles. This is also true for the formal, women make up only a small minority of Latin
government security sectors, where women have America’s armed forces and security sector. Part
increasingly participated. of this is because women have only recently been
able to join the armed forces. It is estimated that
In Latin America, female participation in irregular as of 2009, women constituted only 4 per cent
fighting forces during the first wave of revolutions of military forces in the region. Nevertheless,
(1956–1970) was limited. At the leadership level, countries in the region show a lot of variability, and
exclusively male structures were the norm and few countries that incorporated women into the armed
women served as armed combatants.30 Starting forces earlier historically show higher rates of
in the 1980s, however, women’s participation in women’s participation.34 Additionally, greater efforts
guerrilla movements accelerated and reached are being made to increase women’s participation
levels of up to one-third of the fighting forces in in the armed forces and other security sectors as
several countries. El Salvador, Guatemala, and we will see below.
Nicaragua all have gained notoriety because of the
reportedly high levels of female participation in the Women also make up a minority of police forces
armed conflicts.31 in the region and show a great deal of variability
between countries. As of 2009, Uruguay had
In El Salvador, of the 8,552 combatants of the the largest representation of women in its police
aforementioned FMLN who were registered by forces with 25.6 per cent of all personnel. Chile’s
the United Nations during the disarmament, investigative police also showed high participation
demobilization, and reintegration process, 2,485 at 23.4 per cent. The countries with the lowest
combatants (29.1 per cent) were women. Similarly, proportions of women in the police forces were
of the total FMLN membership of 15,009 (including Ecuador and El Salvador.35
political personnel and wounded non-combatants),
approximately one-third were women.32 As of Percentage of Women in the Armed Forces and
2005, the FARC claimed that “women constitute Police in Selected Countries, 200936
approximately 30 per cent of guerrilla units.”33
% of Women in % of Women in
Country
While women have constituted a large number of Armed Forces Police
some of the irregular fighting forces in the region, Argentina 10.5 9.7
Bolivia 0.4 10.5
30 Timothy P. Wickham-Crowley, Guerrillas and Chile 5.7 13.1
Colombia 0.8 N/A
Revolution in Latin America: A Comparative Study
Ecuador 1.1 8.7
of Insurgents and Regimes since 1956 (Princeton, El Salvador 6.6 7.8
Princeton University Press, 1993), p. 21. Guatemala 9.1 11.1
31 Whereas earlier reports on women’s Honduras 7.6 8.9
participation were generally based on estimates, Paraguay 3.1 10.2
we now have precise information for several Peru 5.6 10.6
countries because United Nations agencies Uruguay 15.2 25.6
overseeing disarmament processes, such as
The availability of trained, qualified female military
MINUGUA in Guatemala or ONUSAL in El
and police personnel directly affects a country’s
Salvador, have collected gender-specific data.
ability to nominate women for UN peacekeeping
32 Karen Kampwirth, Women and Guerrilla
operations.
Movements: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chiapas,
Cuba (University Park, Pennsylvania State 34 Red de Seguridad y Defensa de América
University Press, 2002), p. 90. Latina, La Mujer en Las Instituciones Armadas y
33 Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad/ Policiales: Resolución 1325 y Operaciones de Paz
Freedom Road Socialist Organization, “Las FARC en América Latina (Buenos Aires: RESDAL, 2009),
saludan a las mujeres,” <http://www.frso.org/ p. 56.
espanol/docs/2005/farcmujer.htm>, accessed 12 35 Ibid. p. 94.
May 2009. 36 Ibid. pp. 56, 95.

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 Latin American women only recently began
participating in peace operations, and in some
countries women still do not participate. As can
be seen in the chart below, most countries in
the region clearly still have a long way to go to
achieve equal representation of women in their
peacekeeping contingents, with the majority
of contributing countries having between 1
and 6.5 per cent of their forces made up of
women. The countries with the highest rate of
women’s participation have some of the smallest
contingents. This reflects global trends as well.
Worldwide, women represent 9 per cent of total
police contingents and only about 3 per cent of
military troops.37
Increased women’s participation is also important
in UN peacekeeping operations. In 2008, during
the VIII Conference of Defence Ministers of the
Americas, governments in the region declared
their will to carry out the inclusion of a gender
perspective in peacekeeping operations as
established in SCR 1325 and their commitment
to continuing the promotion of the inclusion of
a gender perspective in their defence scope.39
Nevertheless, the small percentage of women in
peace operation contingents as well as the general
absence of gender issues at personnel training
sessions demonstrate that there is a general
lack of a gender perspective in the peacekeeping
contributions from Latin America.40

Women as a Percentage of Troops in Despite these challenges, there are signs that
Peacekeeping Operations, September 201238 armed forces in the region are increasingly
Contributing opening up to women’s participation. At the most
Women Total Per cent fundamental level, the majority of countries in
Country
Argentina 67 1,027 6.5% the region now have a legal framework granting
support to the incorporation of women, and
Bolivia 15 231 6.5%
increasing numbers of countries have resolutions or
Brazil 23 2,220 1.0%
regulations on issues of maternity or breastfeeding
Chile 17 532 3.2%
leave entitlements. The majority of countries ban
Colombia 3 14 21.4% women’s pregnancy during military training. One
Ecuador 1 76 1.3% exception is Argentina, which passed legislation
El Salvador 4 86 4.7% establishing that no training institution could expel
Guatemala 16 305 5.2% or hinder the access of pregnant women.41 Armed
Honduras 0 12 0% forces in the region are also reforming to include
Jamaica 5 14 35.7% disciplinary action for sexual harassment. For
Paraguay 3 215 1.4% example, Brazil amended its Military Penal Code
to include the crimes of rape and violent assault as
Peru 9 393 2.3%
well as other violence-related crimes.42
Uruguay 94 2,173 4.3%
Total 257 7,298 3.5% The incorporation of women in the police forces
in Latin American and Caribbean countries has
been much slower. Nevertheless, countries in the
region have been working together to share good
practices on increasing the number of women in
the police forces. For example, the Meeting of
Central American and Caribbean High Ranking
Policewomen has been held periodically since
37 DPKO, “Gender Statistics by Mission,”
September 2012. Available from <http://www. 39 RESDAL, Women in the armed and police
un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/ forces: resolution 1325 and peace operations in
gender.shtml>. Latin America (Buenos Aires: RESDAL, 2010), p.
38 DPKO, “UN Mission’s Summary detailed by 112.
Country,” 30 September 2012. Available from 40 Ibid. p. 122.
<http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/ 41 Ibid. p. 64.
statistics/contributors.shtml>. 42 Ibid. p. 69.

118 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
1998. The Meeting discussions have fed into other
policy discussions such as meetings of police
chiefs in the region. In 2008, a discussion was held
on the identification and elimination of hindrances
to the entrance and promotion of women.43
Countries have also made efforts to incorporate
regulations on sexual harassment and intra-family
violence. For example, in 2008 the Chilean Ministry
of Defence worked to endorse regulations on
sexual harassment and the protection of maternity
and against intra-family violence.44
Components of Women’s Participation
As we can see, though countries in the region are
taking measures to address women’s participation,
the LAC region as a whole is still far from reaching
equal participation for women and men in peace
processes, politics, military and police services,
and peacekeeping missions. This, however, is
only part of the problem. Numbers are not enough
to ensure women’s full and equal participation
as envisioned in SCR 1325 (2000) and the other
WPS resolutions. Experiences around the world
have shown that even when women sit at the
decision-making table, they also need to be able to
make substantive contributions to decision-making
processes. They need to have a voice in setting the
agenda, including an agenda that brings a gender
perspective to conflict prevention, resolution, and
reconstruction.
The peace processes in El Salvador illustrate this
point. Women’s issues received little attention in
the peace negotiations despite the participation
of three high-ranking female FMLN commanders.
This shows that having women seated at the
negotiating table is not enough. It is essential
that the women at the table have a voice in the
negotiations and that the agreement itself is
informed by a gender perspective, addressing
the prevailing power relations between men and
women. While having a critical mass of women
participate in peace negotiations is an important
goal, governments should not ignore gender in the
meantime.
43 Ibid. p. 90.
44 Ibid. p. 91.
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Members of the Guatemalan contingent of the United Nations
Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) participate in a medal award
ceremony in recognition of their service. (UN Photo #399203 by Marco
Dormino, June 2009)
Finally, it is important to note that equality is not
only a women’s issue; men must be partners
if societies are to achieve the goals of gender
equality in political participation. First, as critical
actors they can play a role in promoting gender
equality and the empowerment of women. Second,
as allies they can support women’s initiatives and
movements in their efforts towards equality. Third,
men who hold positions of power can help women
access decision-making positions either through
direct appointment or by putting pressure on other
men. In this sense, men matter as much as women
in the struggle for gender equality.
5.4 Protection
SCR 1325 (2000) calls on the UN and Member
States to take steps to protect civilians during
armed conflict and in post-conflict situations, with
a special emphasis on women and girls. One of
the most critical aspects of protection in conflict
and post-conflict situations is the protection of
civilians from SGBV. Not only is action on this issue
mandated by SCR 1325 (2000), but it is also the
subject of the subsequent WPS resolutions. For
example, SCR 1820 (2008) explicitly links sexual
violence as a tactic of war with the maintenance
of international peace and security, recognizing
sexual violence as a security issue that justifies a
security response. The resolution demands that
parties to armed conflict adopt concrete protection
and prevention measures to end sexual violence. It
| 119
 also deals with issues of ending impunity, collecting
reliable data, and assisting victims of violence.
The WPS protection agenda encompasses a range
of issues and approaches to protect women from
violence and other abuses of their rights, including
the following:
• Constitutional and legal reforms that protect
women’s human rights;
• Planning disarmament, demobilization, and
reintegration schemes that consider the
differential needs of female and male ex-
combatants and account for the needs of their
dependants;
• Security Sector Reform (SSR) that incorporates
a gendered understanding of security issues and
ends impunity for perpetrators of SGBV;
• Addressing the particular needs of displaced
women and girls both during displacement and
during repatriation and resettlement;
• Incorporating gender training into national pre-
deployment programmes for military and civilian
police personnel preparing for secondment to
UN peacekeeping missions; and
• Inclusion of gendered considerations of violence,
women’s issues, and SGBV crimes in transitional
justice mechanisms.
Constitutional and Legal Reforms
The cessation of armed conflict and subsequent
negotiation and signing of peace agreements at
times offer the opportunity for Member States to
rewrite constitutions and enshrine gender equality
in constitutional provisions. In addition to providing
space for women’s increased participation
in political arenas, key issues can be given
constitutional rank, including women’s and men’s
equal access to land, property, education, health
care, work, and politics.45 A new constitution can
incorporate international treaties, conventions, and
resolutions that protect women’s rights, thereby
helping to enhance the importance given to gender
equality.
45 Op. cit., Bouta, p. 77.
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The foundation for constitutional reforms can be
explicitly mentioned in a peace agreement. The
1991 Colombian Constitution provides one example
of this since it was a result of a peace process.46
Between February and July 1991, the government
of César Gaviria brought together demobilized
guerrilla leaders and civil society groups to draft
a new constitution. The process “catalyzed more
extensive engagement by women on issues
pertaining to peace and security.”47 For example,
the National Network of Women (Red Nacional de
Mujeres), which emerged around this constitutional
process, is credited with achieving “a positive
normative reality concerning women’s rights.”48
Constitutions, however, have the same inherent
weakness as peace agreements: they can remain
lofty documents that formulate an ideal vision
of society instead of stating concrete principles
that can be translated into new societal practices
that improve people’s lives. Thus, constitutional
principles have to be implemented through specific
laws. In Guatemala, for example, women’s rights
were addressed in four of the seven substantive
agreements reached between July 1991 and
September 1996. Government commitments in
the accords included eliminating discrimination
against women; improving women’s access to
land, housing, and credit; and incorporating a
gender perspective into the country’s development
strategy. Indigenous women were also guaranteed
special protections under the law,49 and measures
to increase women’s roles in politics and civil
society were advocated.50 In order to make these
lofty goals reality, Guatemala held a referendum
in 1999 on the constitutional reforms necessary to
fully implement the peace accords. The referendum
failed to gain the necessary support and raised
46 Céspedes, “El papel de las mujeres,” p. 4.
47 Op. cit., Rojas, p. 10.
48 Op. cit., Céspedes, p. 6.
49 Acuerdo sobre Identidad y Derechos de los
Pueblos Indígenas, Mexico, 31 March 1995.
Available from <http://www.congreso.gob.gt/
Docs/PAZ/Acuerdo%20sobre%20identidad%20
y%20derechos%20de%20los%20pueblos%20
ind%C3%ADgenas.pdf>, accessed 22 March 2011.
50 Acuerdo sobre Fortalecimiento del Poder Civil y
Función del Ejército en una Sociedad Democrática,
Mexico, 19 September 1996.
serious questions regarding the viability of the
accords, proving to be a setback for women’s
rights.
Even when there is no need or opportunity to
rewrite a country’s constitution, powerful advances
in the protection of women’s rights can be achieved
through the adoption of legislation. Governments
need to apply a gender lens when revising existing
laws and creating new ones to eliminate gaps
in protection and the effective administration of
justice. For example, sexual violence against
women often goes unpunished because laws fail
to protect women sufficiently. Also, sentences for
rape and other forms of sexual violence are often
comparatively short and lack a deterrent function.51
These gaps can be addressed through legal
changes that criminalize SGBV, address gender
discrimination, and fortify protections for victims of
such abuses.
Several examples of the adoption of such
legislation can be drawn from the LAC region.
In 2007, Venezuela’s National Assembly passed
The use of mobile screens is launched to protect
survivors of sexual or criminal abuse during court
hearings. (UN Photo #537276 by Stanton Winter,
December 2012)
the Organic Law on the Right of Women to a Life
Free of Violence, which criminalized physical,
sexual, and psychological violence in the home, the
community, and the workplace and outlawed forced
sterilization, trafficking, forced prostitution, sexual
harassment, and slavery. Mexico passed a law the
same year that strengthened the right of women to
live free from violence. Ecuador’s law on violence
51 Bastick, “Ensuring women’s involvement in the
full reconciliation process,” p. 4.
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against women and the family helped to improve
training for law enforcement officials in responding
to violence against women, which, in turn, led to
increased reporting of SGBV to police.52 More
recently, the Chilean government passed a law,
Act 20.480, which criminalizes femicide, including
by ex-partners. The passage of this Act as well as
other government actions have led to a gradual
decrease in the number of femicides per year, from
57 in 2008 to 40 in 2011. In 2011, Chile also passed
the Human Trafficking Act, through which an
anti-trafficking programme was established.53
Disarmament, Demobilization, and
Reintegration (DDR) of Combatants
DDR is a strategic tool for reaching sustainable
peace during the resolution of a conflict. Because
men make up the majority of most armed
groups, women and girls are rarely consulted or
considered in the design and implementation of
DDR processes. Consequently, women’s and girls’
needs are not met. An effective DDR process
that attends to the needs of both male and female
combatants recognizes that women and men
experience conflict in different ways and are
differently affected by armed conflict. It analyses
the gender-specific problems of female and male
combatants, and it understands the needs of
civilian supporters who get caught in the conflict
because they are suspected sympathizers of
insurgent movements or simply live in a war zone.
Examples from around the globe have
demonstrated the high price of neglecting to
institutionalize a gender perspective during the
process of reintegrating former combatants into
society. Experiences in Latin America reflect
these negative consequences. For instance, in
El Salvador, reinsertion programmes failed to
consider the specific needs of women combatants,
including women heads of households, who made
52 Amnesty International, Amnesty International
Report 2007. Available from <http://www.
amnestyusa.org/about/annualreport07.pdf>,
accessed 22 March 2011.
53 CEDAW, Respuestas de Chile a la lista de
cuestiones que deben abordarse al examiner los
informes periódicos quinto y sexto combinados
CEDAW/C/CHL/5-6/Add.1, 24 May 2012.
| 121

Members of the FMLN (Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion
Nacional) celebrating as they are moved to cease-fire zones. An ONUSAL
vehicle (right) is accompanying the convoy. (UN Photo #160270 by J.
Bleibtreu, February 1992)
up approximately 30 per cent of the FMLN fighting
forces. The lack of a gender perspective in the
design of the reintegration programmes resulted
in discrimination when female combatants initially
did not receive equal treatment in the allocation of
crucial resources.54 This was particularly evident
in the case of the Land Transfer Program, which
was established to provide land to ex-combatants.
Female members of the FMLN also faced
discrimination because they did not conform to
stereotypical gender roles.55 The DDR programmes
thereby failed to consider these special needs
of women and resulted in women having greater
problems in reintegrating as productive members of
society.56
Security Sector Reform (SSR)
SSR is increasingly recognized as an essential
aspect of peacebuilding and the promotion of
human rights and the rule of law. It involves reform
of the institutions that are responsible for ensuring
people’s day-to-day security, including the police,
54 Irene Romero, “La reinserción de la mujer
ex-combatiente: Un legado de guerra,” Realidad,
vol. 44 (1995), pp. 370–371.
55 Fundación 16 de Enero, “Diagnóstico de la
situación actual de la mujer ex combatiente,” p. 11.
56 Alexander Segovia, Transitional Justice
and DDR: The Case of El Salvador (New York:
International Center for Transitional Justice, 2009),
pp. 19.
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the military, the judiciary, border patrol agencies,
penitentiary institutions, and other law enforcement
agencies. Because these entities have a direct
impact on people’s security, it is essential to ensure
that a gender perspective is mainstreamed into all
SSR initiatives so that security sector actors have
an understanding of the different security threats
and needs that women and men face.57
Justice and security laws and directives can be
revised where necessary to enable the prevention
and prosecution of SGBV. As noted above, several
countries in the region have also created women’s
police units that specialize in responding to SGBV.
For instance, in 1993 Nicaragua established its
first Women’s and Children’s Police Station in
response to the increasing incidence of rape.
As of 2008, the country had 32 such stations.
The stations work with women’s NGOs, as well
as other non-governmental and state actors, to
address sexual violence against adult women,
children, and adolescents. The stations’ mandate
is both preventive and responsive: the stations
provide training, advocate for victims, and maintain
a database that tracks cases of domestic and
sexual violence. Additionally, the stations provide
professional services to victims of violence,
including assistance in accessing legal processes
and psychosocial care.58 A similar approach is to
create specialized police, prosecution, and judicial
units to address SGBV specifically. For example,
Mexico established a Special Federal Prosecutor’s
Office for Crimes of Violence against Women.59
Venezuela’s law on violence against women
established tribunals specializing in gender-based
57 UN-INSTRAW, DCAF, and ODIHR, How to
Include a Gender Perspective into Security Sector
Reform. Starting the Debate: Virtual Discussion
with 170 Experts. Available from <http://www.
wunrn.com/news/2007/12_07/12_03_07/120307_
including.htm>, accessed 22 March 2011.
58 Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of
the Armed Forces, Gender and Security Sector
Reform: Examples from the Ground (Geneva:
DCAF, 2011), p. 12.
59 Amnesty International, Amnesty International
Report 2007: The State of the World’s Human
Rights: Mexico. Available from <http://archive.
amnesty.org/report2007/eng/Regions/Americas/
Mexico/default.htm>, accessed 22 March 2011.
violence.60 In Honduras, special domestic violence
courts have begun to function in selected areas.61
Initiatives have also been taken in the region
to mainstream gender into judicial reform. For
example, training programmes for judges on
“jurisprudence of equality” have had some success
in making the judicial establishment more aware
of SGBV. A three-year programme launched by
the International Association of Women Judges
provided training on the application of human rights
conventions to cases involving discrimination or
violence against women to more than 600 judges in
five South American countries and to 200 judges in
Central America.62
In Peru, the World Bank initiated a gender
assessment of issues women faced in access to
justice. The assessment showed that men were
more likely to use justice services and that men
and women had different justice needs and used
justice services differently. When women did seek
legal assistance in domestic violence cases, they
were often mistreated by authorities, they lacked
access to legal counsel, and their cases were
not treated as serious crimes. To address these
challenges, the World Bank’s Justice Services
Improvement Project trained community-based
“peace justices” and community leaders in
gender-related issues. Additionally, the World Bank
provided technical assistance to the family court
system so that courts could deal more effectively
with domestic violence, the dissolution of marriage,
and child support cases.63
60 Amnesty International, Amnesty International
Report 2007: The State of the World’s Human
Rights: Venezuela. Available from <http://archive.
amnesty.org/report2007/eng/Regions/Americas/
Venezuela/default.htm>, accessed 22 March 2011.
61 Amnesty International, Amnesty International
Report 2007: The State of the World’s Human
Rights: Honduras. Available from <http://archive.
amnesty.org/report2007/eng/Regions/Americas/
Honduras/default.htm>, accessed 22 March 2011.
62 International Association of Women Judges,
Jurisprudence of Equality Program, available from
<http://www.iawj.org/what/jep.asp>, cited in Kirstin
Valasek, Security Sector Reform and Gender
(Geneva, DCAF, 2007), p. 27.
63 Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of
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As mentioned in Lesson 4, gang violence,
organised crime, and gun violence are major
problems in many countries in Latin America and
the Caribbean. Several countries in the region
have worked to mainstream gender concerns
into their handling of such issues. For example,
the Jamaican government initiated an inclusive
approach to tackle violence, including women’s
groups and other actors to identify strategic
security goals. Using these prioritized issues, the
government drafted a National Security Policy
through a consultative process. The National
Security Policy notes the gender-specific concerns
of members of society, particularly emphasizing the
prevalence of domestic violence and its negative
effects on society. This successful collaboration
between civil society and the government led
to further action on gender-based violence,
culminating in the government’s creation of a
national plan of action to provide protective
measures.64
Gender Perspectives and Training in
Peacekeeping
As noted above, SCR 1325 (2000) emphasizes
mainstreaming a gender perspective in
peacekeeping operations. To this end, it asks
Member States to provide gender-sensitive
predeployment training to all nationals being
seconded to UN peacekeeping missions. Countries
in Latin America and the Caribbean that contribute
to peacekeeping missions have undertaken a
number of actions to mainstream gender into their
work.
Argentina was chosen by the UN Department of
Peacekeeping Operations for the development of
a pilot plan to implement Resolution 1325 at the
national level. As part of this process, the country’s
Ministry of Defence published its Action Plan in
the area of Defence for the effective application
of the Gender Perspective within International
Peacekeeping Operations.65 In 2012, the Argentine
the Armed Forces, Gender and Security Sector
Reform: Examples from the Ground (Geneva:
DCAF, 2011), p. 36.
64 Ibid. p. 75.
65 RESDAL, Women in the armed and police
forces, p. 120.
| 123
 Centre of Training for Peace Operations hosted UNHCR estimated that there were over 4.3 million
a workshop on gender violence in peacekeeping forcibly displaced people in Latin America and the
operations that aimed to train soldiers from Caribbean, most of whom were in Colombia.71
Argentina and Uruguay on legislation and good
practices in preventing and responding to sexual
violence.66

MINUSTAH has been active in providing training

on gender issues to its personnel as well as in
supporting women’s rights and gender equality
in Haiti. For example, in 2009, MINUSTAH
provided training on issues related to HIV/AIDS
for nearly 5,000 mission personnel.67 In the same
year, MINUSTAH launched an internal campaign
against transaction sex.68 MINUSTAH has worked
with a number of government departments and
agencies to address SGBV in the country. For
example, in October 2011, the mission worked
with the Haitian National Police and the Ministry
of Women’s Affairs and Women’s Rights to open
special reception areas for victims of SGBV in
several IDP camps in the capital. The mission also
supported the establishment of a coordination
and response office on SGBV within the Haitian
National Police. In 2011, MINUSTAH also provided
direct educational, health and psychosocial support
to women, including female juvenile inmates and
victims of SGBV.69 A mother and child collecting scrap in a garbage
dump in Guatemala city. (UN Photo #71026 by R.
Lord, January 1988)
The Gendered Needs of Refugees and
Displaced People
The Guatemalan peace accords were exemplary
As we learned in Lesson 4, women who are in considering the gendered needs of the returning
internally displaced or who have fled their countries refugees. In establishing procedures for the
as refugees often face particular challenges, resettlement of populations uprooted during the
including increased incidences of SGBV and war, the parties agreed “to emphasize in particular
economic hardship. In the LAC region, refugee the protection of families headed by women, as well
flows as a consequence of war have been massive as the widows and orphans who have been most
at times. El Salvador’s civil war created 1.5 million affected.”72
refugees, while the war in Guatemala displaced
an estimated 1.5 million people internally as well More recently Colombia has taken a number of
as in Mexico.70 As noted in Lesson 4, in 2011 measures to address the particular issues faced

66 <http://www.unwomen.org/2012/05/ accessed 22 March 2011. See also Spence, et

gender-training-for-peacekeepers-in-argentina/>.
67 S/2009/439.
68 S/2009/129.
69 S/2012/128.
70 Historical Clarification Commission, Guatemala:
Memory of Silence. Available from <http://shr.
aaas.org/guatemala/ceh/report/english/toc.html>,
al., Promise and Reality: Implementation of the
Guatemalan Peace Accords, p.4.
71 UNHCR, Global Trends 2011 (Geneva:
UNHCR, 2012), pp.38-40.
72 Acuerdo para el Reasentamiento de las
Poblaciones Desarraigadas por el Enfrentamiento
Armado, Oslo, 17 June 1994, Chapter II, Article 2.

124 | I M P L E M E N TAT I O N O F T H E U N S C R S O N T H E W P S A G E N D A I N L AT I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
by women displaced by the armed conflict. In
“Auto 092” in 2004, the country’s Constitutional
Court introduced comparison between national
and international standards, the concept of
effective enjoyment of rights, and recognition of
the differential impact of conflict on women. The
decision called upon the state to prevent SGBV
and ordered the government to design protection,
assistance, and restitution programmes to address
this extraordinary impact. Auto 092 also included
a series of measures to guarantee displaced
women’s access to health care, education, and
land, as well as their participation and protection
and rights to truth, justice, and reparations.73
Building on this, in 2010 the Colombian Congress
passed the Law on Victims and Land Restitution
(Law 1448), which was subsequently ratified by
the President in 2011. The two-part law includes
provisions regarding assistance to victims as
well as reparations. The law spells out a set
of special measures which seeks to create
equal opportunities and protect women’s rights.
These include a measure to protect women by
maintaining good security conditions for them
and their land. By including protection measures
as well as reparations, the law is an example of
the combination of humanitarian measures with
transitional justice procedures.74
Transitional Justice Mechanisms
In the aftermath of armed conflict and massive
violations of human rights, communities and
nations struggle with how to repair what has
been broken. Increasingly over the last 20 years,
countries have been turning to transitional justice
mechanisms, which according to the United
Nations are “the full range of processes and
mechanisms associated with a society’s attempt
to come to terms with a legacy of large-scale past
abuses, in order to ensure accountability, service
justice and achieve reconciliation.”75 Transitional
73 Donny Meertens, Forced Displacement
and Gender Justice in Colombia: Between
Disproportional Effects of Violence and Historical
Injustice (New York: ICTJ, 2012).
74 Ibid.
75 United Nations, Guidance Note of the
Secretary-General: United Nations Approach to
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justice mechanisms include criminal prosecutions,
truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs),
reparations programmes, institutional reform,
memorialization efforts, and other tools.
Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
have undertaken a variety of transitional justice
processes, including criminal prosecutions,
reparations programmes, and TRCs. Such
commissions have worked to investigate human
rights abuses that occurred during conflicts in
the region and have taken place in Brazil, Bolivia,
Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Chile, El Salvador, Haiti,
Ecuador, Guatemala, and Paraguay.76 Some of
these commissions have rewarded reparations to
victims of human rights violations. For example,
the Argentinian state has paid substantial
reparations to thousands of victims or families of
those who disappeared or were killed during the
dictatorship.77 Other countries, such as El Salvador,
undertook institutional reforms as the result of TRC
recommendations.78
In recent years, a great deal of work has
been carried out by various organizations
worldwide on gender and transitional justice,
particularly how women participate in transitional
justice mechanisms, how transitional justice
mechanisms handle gender issues, and how
those mechanisms can contribute to women’s
protection and empowerment in the aftermath of
conflict. This work has shown that women often
have less access to TRCs because of economic
disadvantages and greater family and household
responsibilities that restrict their mobility.79 When
victims lack access to TRCs, they are also impeded
from presenting claims for compensation. Further,
without the incorporation of gender into the policy
framework of TRCs, “gender issues, and women’s
voices in particular, will not be heard and accurately
recorded,” resulting in an incomplete record that
undermines the legitimacy of the process.80
Transitional Justice (New York: UN, 2010), p. 2.
76 Priscilla Hayner, Unspeakable Truths:
Transitional Justice and the Challenge of Truth
Commissions (New York: Routledge, 2011).
77 Ibid. p. 5.
78 Ibid. p. 5.
79 Op. cit., Bastick, p. 5.
80 Beth Goldblatt and Sheila Meintjes, “South
| 125
 The gender composition of the TRCs that have
been carried out in Latin America has varied
greatly. The region’s TRCs have not achieved
gender balance in their composition. A related
challenge is facilitating women’s access to the
TRCs’ proceedings and ensuring that women’s
specific violations and concerns are addressed
by TRCs and other transitional justice processes.
Early truth commissions such as those in Argentina
and Chile had a gender-neutral approach to truth
but were criticised because of this. Because of this,
later TRCs, such as those in Peru and Guatemala,
worked to actively seek women’s testimony.
In Peru, this proactive action led to women
providing the majority of the testimonies. Women’s
organizations in the country advocated for the
inclusion of gender issues in the truth-seeking
process, and the Peruvian TRC subsequently
decided to include a broad definition of sexual
crimes in its mandate.81
in the context of the country’s ongoing armed
conflict. The government established the National
Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation to
help ensure that all victims have access to truth,
justice, and full reparations. There is a gender unit
within the Commission that works to mainstream
gender in all of the Commission’s activities.82
Building on this work, the Law on Victims and
Land Restitution, which includes issues of gender
justice for displaced populations, came into effect
in 2011. The law includes a set of special measures
to create equal opportunities and protect women’s
rights.83

TRCs can also play a key role in establishing

grounds for reparations for human rights violations.
One example in the LAC region is Guatemala,
where the Historical Clarification Commission
made recommendations that the government
should establish a national programme of
reparations for the victims of human rights
violations and their families. The recommendations
included specific references to women, particularly
that women should be able to participate in the
implementing body and that widows of the conflict
should be considered priority beneficiaries. In
defining the human rights violations that warranted
reparation, the National Reparations Program
included sexual violence and rape as a separate
category. Additionally, the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights has addressed three cases with
women as direct victims and ordered the state to
provide a number of types of reparation.

There have also been reparations in Colombia

for victims of human rights abuses carried out
African women demand the truth,” in What Women
Do In Wartime: Gender and Conflict, M. Turshen
and C. Twagiramariya, eds. (London, Africa Zed
Books, 1998), p. 29.
81 Kimberly Theidon, “Gender in Transition:
Common Sense, Women, and War,” Journal of
Human Rights 6 (2007), pp. 453-478.
82 Carla Koppell and Jonathan Talbot,
“Strengthening Colombia’s Transitional Justice
Process by Engaging Women” (Washington, DC:
The Institute for Inclusive Security, March 2011).
83 Donny Meertens, Forced Displacement
and Gender Justice in Colombia: Between
Disproportional Effects of Violence and Historical
Injustice (New York: ICTJ, 2012).

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Summary and Key Learning
• Several countries in the region have undertaken
actions to mainstream gender into prevention
efforts, including establishing gender-sensitive
early warning mechanisms for disaster and in the
prevention of violence against women and girls.
• The substantial participation of women in
some of the armed conflicts in the LAC region
has led to heightened attention to women’s
roles in conflict and peace processes. Women
constituted a relatively large percentage of
the fighters in the conflicts in El Salvador,
Guatemala, and Nicaragua, for example.
• Women have been a part of several high profile
peace negotiations in the LAC region, including
in Guatemala and El Salvador. Additionally,
as in many regions of the world, women have
organized to play a role in informal peace
processes.
• Women’s political participation in the LAC region
largely reflects broader international trends, with
increasing women’s participation in lower and
upper houses of parliament in some countries,
but a lack of representation in executive
positions.
• Women make up only a small percentage of
Latin America’s armed forces and security
sector, partly due to their recent incorporation
into the armed forces in some countries.
Consequently, there is a small percentage
of women in the contributing countries’
peacekeeping operations.

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End-of-Lesson Quiz
1. The WPS agenda identifies priority areas
which are important for implementation,
regardless of whether a state is experiencing
direct conflict or not, in that they affect
women and girls worldwide. These are:
A. Improved nutrition, housing, and market space;
B. Quotas and laws on skills training;
C. Prevention, participation, and protection;
D. Recreational space and quality of environment.
2. Gender-sensitive early warning indicators
are relevant to:
A. Domestic violence and human trafficking;
B. The deliberate targeting of women for rape as a
political act or act of war;
C. Increased vulnerabilities and/or numbers of
single-headed households;
D. All of the above.
3. During armed conflicts in the LAC region
women:
A. Have played a large role;
B. Tend to be sidelined;
C. Are mostly victims;
D. Stay out of the way.
4. In Latin America women have been part of
several high profile peace negotiations and
accords, most notably in:
A. El Salvador and Bolivia;
B. Chile;
C. El Salvador and Guatemala;
D. None of the above.
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5. In 2012 five countries in the LAC region –
Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, and
Mexico – had distinguished themselves by:
A. Surpassing 30 per cent of women’s
participation in the upper house or senate;
B. Electing committee chairwomen;
C. Producing high levels of agriculture;
D. Improving their gross domestic products
(GDPs).
6. Factors which can improve women’s
participation in decision-making include:
A. Electoral systems;
B. Constitutional provision;
C. Electoral quotas;
D. All of the above.
7. Women’s participation has been gradually
increasing in the security forces and police,
with recent regional efforts at:
A. Educating male officers;
B. National legal frameworks which incorporate
regulations on maternity and breast-feeding
leave;
C. Adapting uniforms and weapons;
D. Recruitment aimed at women.
8. Constitutional reforms can push forward the
WPS agenda through provisions such as:
A. Equal access to land use and ownership by
women and men;
B. Property and inheritance rights;
C. Access to health care and education;
D. All of the above.
9. Domestic violence rates are still high in the
LAC region, and there are gaps in protection
and justice unless:
A. Laws change so that SGBV is criminalized,
gender discrimination is not allowed, and
provisions are made for protection from abuse;
B. Weapons for protection are available;
C. Prisons are made stronger;
D. Neighbourhoods organize with volunteer
security squads.

10. Argentina was chosen by the UN

Department of Peacekeeping Operations to
develop a pilot plan for implementing SCR
1325 at national level. As part of this process
in 2012 the country’s Ministry of Defence:
A. Issued a National Guideline on Gender and the
Military;
B. Began recruiting more women to be officers;
C. Received a larger share of the national budget;
D. Published an Action Plan in the area of
Defence for the Effective Application of Gender
Perspective within International Peacekeeping
Operations.

ANSWER KEY
1C, 2D, 3A, 4C, 5A, 6D, 7B, 8D, 9A, 10D

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Appendix A: List of Acronyms

Acronym Meaning

3P prevention, participation, and protection

ARMM Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

AU African Union

CA Comprehensive Approach

CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

CSO civil society organization

CSW Commission on the Status of Women

DAW Division for the Advancement of Women (now part of UN Women)

DDR Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration

DPKO Department of Peacekeeping Operations

ECOSOC UN Economic and Social Council

ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States

EU European Union

FARC Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia

FAS Femmes Africa Solidarité

FLACSO Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales

FMLN Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front/ Frente Farabundo Martí para la
Liberación Nacional

GDP gross domestic product

GNWP Global Network of Women Peacebuilders

HR Human rights

IDP internally displaced person

INSTRAW International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women
(now part of UN Women)

LAC Latin America and the Caribbean

LGBT lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender

MINUSTAH UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti

NAP National Action Plan

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization

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NDP national development plan

NGO non-governmental organization

OHCHR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

OPAPP Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process

OSAGI Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of
Women (now part of UN Women)

POC Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict

PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

RtoP Responsibility to Protect

SADC Southern African Development Community

SGBV sexual and gender-based violence

SRSG Special Representative to the Secretary-General

SRSG SVC Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in

Conflict

SSR security sector reform

TRC truth and reconciliation commission

UN United Nations

UN Women United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

UNHCR UN High Commissioner for Refugees

UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women (now part of UN Women)

UNMOGIP United Nations Military Observer Group

UNPOL United Nations Police

UNTSO United Nations Truce Supervision Organization

WPA Women Protection Adviser

WPS women, peace, and security

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 FACT SHEET: 30 June 2013
In January 2011, the title of this document was renamed from "UN Peacekeeping Operations Background Note" to "UN Peacekeeping Operations Fact Sheet

Appendix B: List of UN Peacekeeping Operations

………….… 68
………….… 15

…………… 16

……………… 90,905 *
itary observers)
…………… 114
……………… 5,032 *
……….. 11,693 *
…………… 2,057 *

…………… 109,687 *

…………… 111,512 **

…………… 3,120 ***

About 7.33 billion List of UN Peacekeeping Operations

About 1.24 billion DOMREP Mission of the Representative of the Secretary-General in the Dominican Republic
MINUGUA United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala
MINURCA United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic
MINURCAT United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad
only. Statistics for UNAMA, a special political mission directed and supported by DPKO, can be found at
MINURSO United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara*
ppbm.pdf.
MINUSMA United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali*
rmed and civilian personnel serving in 15 peacekeeping operations and one DPKO-led special political mission—UNAMA
MINUSTAH United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti*
s
MIPONUH United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti
MONUA United Nations Observer Mission in Angola
MONUC United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
MONUSCO United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo*
ONUB United Nations Operation in Burundi
ONUC United Nations Operation in the Congo

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ONUCA United Nations Observer Group in Central America
ONUMOZ United Nations Operation in Mozambique
ONUSAL United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador
UNAMIC United Nations Advance Mission in Cambodia
UNAMID African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur*
UNAMIR United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
UNAMSIL United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone
UNASOG United Nations Aouzou Strip Observer Group
UNAVEM I United Nations Angola Verification Mission I
UNAVEM II United Nations Angola Verification Mission II
UNAVEM III United Nations Angola Verification Mission III
UNCPSG UN Civilian Police Support Group
UNCRO United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia
UNDOF United Nations Disengagement Observer Force*
UNEF I First United Nations Emergency Force
UNEF II Second United Nations Emergency Force
UNFICYP United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus*
UNGOMAP United Nations Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan
UNIFIL United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon*
UNIIMOG United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group
UNIKOM United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission
UNIPOM United Nations India-Pakistan Observation Mission
UNISFA United Nations Organization Interim Security Force for Abyei*
UNMEE United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea
UNMIBH United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina
UNMIH United Nations Mission in Haiti
UNMIK United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo*
UNMIL United Nations Mission in Liberia*
UNMIS United Nations Mission in the Sudan
UNMISET United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor
UNMISS United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan*
UNMIT United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste
UNMOGIP United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan*
UNMOP United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka
UNMOT United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan
UNOCI United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire*
UNOGIL United Nations Observation Group in Lebanon

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UNOMIG United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia
UNOMIL United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia
UNOMSIL United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone
UNOMUR United Nations Observer Mission Uganda-Rwanda
UNOSOM I United Nations Operation in Somalia I
UNOSOM II United Nations Operation in Somalia II
UNPREDEP United Nations Preventive Deployment Force
UNPROFOR United Nations Protection Force
UNSF United Nations Security Force in West New Guinea
UNSMIH United Nations Support Mission in Haiti
UNSMIS United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria
UNTAC United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia
UNTAES United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and
Western Sirmium
UNTAET United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor
UNTAG United Nations Transition Assistance Group
UNTMIH United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti
UNTSO United Nations Truce Supervision Organization*
UNYOM United Nations Yemen Observation Mission

*Ongoing operations as of July 2013.

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Appendix C: Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

United Nations S/RES/1325 (2000)

Security Council Distr.: General
31 October 2000

Resolution 1325 (2000)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 4213th meeting, on
31 October 2000

The Security Council,

Recalling its resolutions 1261 (1999) of 25 August 1999, 1265 (1999) of 17
September 1999, 1296 (2000) of 19 April 2000 and 1314 (2000) of 11 August 2000,
as well as relevant statements of its President, and recalling also the statement of its
President to the press on the occasion of the United Nations Day for Women’s
Rights and International Peace (International Women’s Day) of 8 March 2000
(SC/6816),
Recalling also the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action (A/52/231) as well as those contained in the outcome document of the
twenty-third Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled
“Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First
Century” (A/S-23/10/Rev.1), in particular those concerning women and armed
conflict,
Bearing in mind the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations and the primary responsibility of the Security Council under the Charter for
the maintenance of international peace and security,
Expressing concern that civilians, particularly women and children, account
for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict, including as
refugees and internally displaced persons, and increasingly are targeted by
combatants and armed elements, and recognizing the consequent impact this has on
durable peace and reconciliation,
Reaffirming the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of
conflicts and in peace-building, and stressing the importance of their equal
participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion
of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision-making with
regard to conflict prevention and resolution,
Reaffirming also the need to implement fully international humanitarian and
human rights law that protects the rights of women and girls during and after
conflicts,

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S/RES/1325 (2000)

Emphasizing the need for all parties to ensure that mine clearance and mine
awareness programmes take into account the special needs of women and girls,
Recognizing the urgent need to mainstream a gender perspective into
peacekeeping operations, and in this regard noting the Windhoek Declaration and
the Namibia Plan of Action on Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in
Multidimensional Peace Support Operations (S/2000/693),
Recognizing also the importance of the recommendation contained in the
statement of its President to the press of 8 March 2000 for specialized training for
all peacekeeping personnel on the protection, special needs and human rights of
women and children in conflict situations,
Recognizing that an understanding of the impact of armed conflict on women
and girls, effective institutional arrangements to guarantee their protection and full
participation in the peace process can significantly contribute to the maintenance
and promotion of international peace and security,
Noting the need to consolidate data on the impact of armed conflict on women
and girls,
1. Urges Member States to ensure increased representation of women at all
decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and
mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict;
2. Encourages the Secretary-General to implement his strategic plan of
action (A/49/587) calling for an increase in the participation of women at decision-
making levels in conflict resolution and peace processes;
3. Urges the Secretary-General to appoint more women as special
representatives and envoys to pursue good offices on his behalf, and in this regard
calls on Member States to provide candidates to the Secretary-General, for inclusion
in a regularly updated centralized roster;
4. Further urges the Secretary-General to seek to expand the role and
contribution of women in United Nations field-based operations, and especially
among military observers, civilian police, human rights and humanitarian personnel;
5. Expresses its willingness to incorporate a gender perspective into
peacekeeping operations, and urges the Secretary-General to ensure that, where
appropriate, field operations include a gender component;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to provide to Member States training
guidelines and materials on the protection, rights and the particular needs of women,
as well as on the importance of involving women in all peacekeeping and peace-
building measures, invites Member States to incorporate these elements as well as
HIV/AIDS awareness training into their national training programmes for military
and civilian police personnel in preparation for deployment, and further requests the
Secretary-General to ensure that civilian personnel of peacekeeping operations
receive similar training;
7. Urges Member States to increase their voluntary financial, technical and
logistical support for gender-sensitive training efforts, including those undertaken
by relevant funds and programmes, inter alia, the United Nations Fund for Women
and United Nations Children’s Fund, and by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees and other relevant bodies;

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 S/RES/1325 (2000)

8. Calls on all actors involved, when negotiating and implementing peace

agreements, to adopt a gender perspective, including, inter alia:
(a) The special needs of women and girls during repatriation and
resettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction;
(b) Measures that support local women’s peace initiatives and indigenous
processes for conflict resolution, and that involve women in all of the
implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements;
(c) Measures that ensure the protection of and respect for human rights of
women and girls, particularly as they relate to the constitution, the electoral system,
the police and the judiciary;
9. Calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect fully international law
applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls, especially as civilians, in
particular the obligations applicable to them under the Geneva Conventions of 1949
and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977, the Refugee Convention of 1951 and
the Protocol thereto of 1967, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women of 1979 and the Optional Protocol thereto of 1999
and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 and the two
Optional Protocols thereto of 25 May 2000, and to bear in mind the relevant
provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
10. Calls on all parties to armed conflict to take special measures to protect
women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of
sexual abuse, and all other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict;
11. Emphasizes the responsibility of all States to put an end to impunity and
to prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war
crimes including those relating to sexual and other violence against women and
girls, and in this regard stresses the need to exclude these crimes, where feasible
from amnesty provisions;
12. Calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect the civilian and
humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements, and to take into account
the particular needs of women and girls, including in their design, and recalls its
resolutions 1208 (1998) of 19 November 1998 and 1296 (2000) of 19 April 2000;
13. Encourages all those involved in the planning for disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration to consider the different needs of female and male
ex-combatants and to take into account the needs of their dependants;
14. Reaffirms its readiness, whenever measures are adopted under Article 41
of the Charter of the United Nations, to give consideration to their potential impact
on the civilian population, bearing in mind the special needs of women and girls, in
order to consider appropriate humanitarian exemptions;
15. Expresses its willingness to ensure that Security Council missions take
into account gender considerations and the rights of women, including through
consultation with local and international women’s groups;
16. Invites the Secretary-General to carry out a study on the impact of armed
conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peace-building and the gender
dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution, and further invites him to

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S/RES/1325 (2000)

submit a report to the Security Council on the results of this study and to make this
available to all Member States of the United Nations;
17. Requests the Secretary-General, where appropriate, to include in his
reporting to the Security Council progress on gender mainstreaming throughout
peacekeeping missions and all other aspects relating to women and girls;
18. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

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Appendix D: Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008)

United Nations S/RES/1820 (2008)

Security Council Distr.: General
19 June 2008

Resolution 1820 (2008)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 5916th meeting, on
19 June 2008

The Security Council,

Reaffirming its commitment to the continuing and full implementation of
resolution 1325 (2000), 1612 (2005) and 1674 (2006) and recalling the Statements
of its president of 31 October 2001 (Security Council/PRST/2001/31), 31 October
2002 (Security Council/PRST/2002/32), 28 October 2004 (Security
Council/PRST/2004/40), 27 October 2005 (Security Council/PRST/2005/52),
8 November 2006 (Security Council/PRST/2006/42), 7 March 2007 (Security
Council/PRST/2007/5), and 24 October 2007 (Security Council/PRST/2007/40);
Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
Reaffirming also the resolve expressed in the 2005 World Summit Outcome
Document to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, including by
ending impunity and by ensuring the protection of civilians, in particular women
and girls, during and after armed conflicts, in accordance with the obligations States
have undertaken under international humanitarian law and international human
rights law;
Recalling the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
(A/52/231) as well as those contained in the outcome document of the twenty-third
Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled “Women 2000:
Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first Century”
(A/S-23/10/Rev.1), in particular those concerning sexual violence and women in
situations of armed conflict;
Reaffirming also the obligations of States Parties to the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Optional Protocol
thereto, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols
thereto, and urging states that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding
to them,
Noting that civilians account for the vast majority of those adversely affected
by armed conflict; that women and girls are particularly targeted by the use of
sexual violence, including as a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instil fear in,
disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group;

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S/RES/1820 (2008)

and that sexual violence perpetrated in this manner may in some instances persist
after the cessation of hostilities;
Recalling its condemnation in the strongest terms of all sexual and other forms
of violence committed against civilians in armed conflict, in particular women and
children;
Reiterating deep concern that, despite its repeated condemnation of violence
against women and children in situations of armed conflict, including sexual
violence in situations of armed conflict, and despite its calls addressed to all parties
to armed conflict for the cessation of such acts with immediate effect, such acts
continue to occur, and in some situations have become systematic and widespread,
reaching appalling levels of brutality,
Recalling the inclusion of a range of sexual violence offences in the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court and the statutes of the ad hoc
international criminal tribunals,
Reaffirming the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of
conflicts and in peacebuilding, and stressing the importance of their equal
participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion
of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision-making with
regard to conflict prevention and resolution,
Deeply concerned also about the persistent obstacles and challenges to
women’s participation and full involvement in the prevention and resolution of
conflicts as a result of violence, intimidation and discrimination, which erode
women’s capacity and legitimacy to participate in post-conflict public life, and
acknowledging the negative impact this has on durable peace, security and
reconciliation, including post-conflict peacebuilding,
Recognizing that States bear primary responsibility to respect and ensure the
human rights of their citizens, as well as all individuals within their territory as
provided for by relevant international law,
Reaffirming that parties to armed conflict bear the primary responsibility to
take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of affected civilians,
Welcoming the ongoing coordination of efforts within the United Nations
system, marked by the inter-agency initiative “United Nations Action against Sexual
Violence in Conflict,” to create awareness about sexual violence in armed conflicts
and post-conflict situations and, ultimately, to put an end to it,
1. Stresses that sexual violence, when used or commissioned as a tactic of
war in order to deliberately target civilians or as a part of a widespread or
systematic attack against civilian populations, can significantly exacerbate
situations of armed conflict and may impede the restoration of international peace
and security, affirms in this regard that effective steps to prevent and respond to
such acts of sexual violence can significantly contribute to the maintenance of
international peace and security, and expresses its readiness, when considering
situations on the agenda of the Council, to, where necessary, adopt appropriate steps
to address widespread or systematic sexual violence;
2. Demands the immediate and complete cessation by all parties to armed
conflict of all acts of sexual violence against civilians with immediate effect;

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3. Demands that all parties to armed conflict immediately take appropriate

measures to protect civilians, including women and girls, from all forms of sexual
violence, which could include, inter alia, enforcing appropriate military disciplinary
measures and upholding the principle of command responsibility, training troops on
the categorical prohibition of all forms of sexual violence against civilians,
debunking myths that fuel sexual violence, vetting armed and security forces to take
into account past actions of rape and other forms of sexual violence, and evacuation
of women and children under imminent threat of sexual violence to safety; and
requests the Secretary-General, where appropriate, to encourage dialogue to address
this issue in the context of broader discussions of conflict resolution between
appropriate UN officials and the parties to the conflict, taking into account, inter
alia, the views expressed by women of affected local communities;
4. Notes that rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute a war
crime, a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide,
stresses the need for the exclusion of sexual violence crimes from amnesty
provisions in the context of conflict resolution processes, and calls upon Member
States to comply with their obligations for prosecuting persons responsible for such
acts, to ensure that all victims of sexual violence, particularly women and girls, have
equal protection under the law and equal access to justice, and stresses the
importance of ending impunity for such acts as part of a comprehensive approach to
seeking sustainable peace, justice, truth, and national reconciliation;
5. Affirms its intention, when establishing and renewing state-specific
sanctions regimes, to take into consideration the appropriateness of targeted and
graduated measures against parties to situations of armed conflict who commit rape
and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls in situations of armed
conflict;
6. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Security
Council, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and its Working Group
and relevant States, as appropriate, to develop and implement appropriate training
programs for all peacekeeping and humanitarian personnel deployed by the United
Nations in the context of missions as mandated by the Council to help them better
prevent, recognize and respond to sexual violence and other forms of violence
against civilians;
7. Requests the Secretary-General to continue and strengthen efforts to
implement the policy of zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse in United
Nations peacekeeping operations; and urges troop and police contributing countries
to take appropriate preventative action, including pre-deployment and in-theater
awareness training, and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of such
conduct involving their personnel;
8. Encourages troop and police contributing countries, in consultation with
the Secretary-General, to consider steps they could take to heighten awareness and
the responsiveness of their personnel participating in UN peacekeeping operations
to protect civilians, including women and children, and prevent sexual violence
against women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations, including wherever
possible the deployment of a higher percentage of women peacekeepers or police;
9. Requests the Secretary-General to develop effective guidelines and
strategies to enhance the ability of relevant UN peacekeeping operations, consistent

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with their mandates, to protect civilians, including women and girls, from all forms
of sexual violence and to systematically include in his written reports to the Council
on conflict situations his observations concerning the protection of women and girls
and recommendations in this regard;
10. Requests the Secretary-General and relevant United Nations agencies,
inter alia, through consultation with women and women-led organizations as
appropriate, to develop effective mechanisms for providing protection from
violence, including in particular sexual violence, to women and girls in and around
UN managed refugee and internally displaced persons camps, as well as in all
disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration processes, and in justice and
security sector reform efforts assisted by the United Nations;
11. Stresses the important role the Peacebuilding Commission can play by
including in its advice and recommendations for post-conflict peacebuilding
strategies, where appropriate, ways to address sexual violence committed during and
in the aftermath of armed conflict, and in ensuring consultation and effective
representation of women’s civil society in its country-specific configurations, as
part of its wider approach to gender issues;
12. Urges the Secretary-General and his Special Envoys to invite women to
participate in discussions pertinent to the prevention and resolution of conflict, the
maintenance of peace and security, and post-conflict peacebuilding, and encourages
all parties to such talks to facilitate the equal and full participation of women at
decision-making levels;
13. Urges all parties concerned, including Member States, United Nations
entities and financial institutions, to support the development and strengthening of
the capacities of national institutions, in particular of judicial and health systems,
and of local civil society networks in order to provide sustainable assistance to
victims of sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations;
14. Urges appropriate regional and sub-regional bodies in particular to
consider developing and implementing policies, activities, and advocacy for the
benefit of women and girls affected by sexual violence in armed conflict;
15. Also requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the Council by
30 June 2009 on the implementation of this resolution in the context of situations
which are on the agenda of the Council, utilizing information from available United
Nations sources, including country teams, peacekeeping operations, and other
United Nations personnel, which would include, inter alia, information on situations
of armed conflict in which sexual violence has been widely or systematically
employed against civilians; analysis of the prevalence and trends of sexual violence
in situations of armed conflict; proposals for strategies to minimize the
susceptibility of women and girls to such violence; benchmarks for measuring
progress in preventing and addressing sexual violence; appropriate input from
United Nations implementing partners in the field; information on his plans for
facilitating the collection of timely, objective, accurate, and reliable information on
the use of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict, including through
improved coordination of UN activities on the ground and at Headquarters; and
information on actions taken by parties to armed conflict to implement their
responsibilities as described in this resolution, in particular by immediately and

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completely ceasing all acts of sexual violence and in taking appropriate measures to
protect women and girls from all forms of sexual violence;
16. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

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Appendix E: Security Council Resolution 1888 (2009)

United Nations S/RES/1888 (2009)*

Security Council Distr.: General
30 September 2009

Resolution 1888 (2009)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 6195th meeting,
on 30 September 2009

The Security Council,

Reaffirming its commitment to the continuing and full implementation of
resolutions 1325 (2000), 1612 (2005), 1674 (2006), 1820 (2008) and 1882 (2009)
and all relevant statements of its President,
Welcoming the report of the Secretary-General of 16 July 2009 (S/2009/362),
but remaining deeply concerned over the lack of progress on the issue of sexual
violence in situations of armed conflict in particular against women and children,
notably against girls, and noting as documented in the Secretary-General’s report
that sexual violence occurs in armed conflicts throughout the world,
Reiterating deep concern that, despite its repeated condemnation of violence
against women and children including all forms of sexual violence in situations of
armed conflict, and despite its calls addressed to all parties to armed conflict for the
cessation of such acts with immediate effect, such acts continue to occur, and in
some situations have become systematic or widespread,
Recalling the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
(A/52/231) as well as those contained in the outcome document of the twenty-third
Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled “Women 2000:
Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century”
(A/S-23/10/Rev.1), in particular those concerning women and armed conflict,
Reaffirming the obligations of States Parties to the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Optional Protocol
thereto, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols
thereto, and urging states that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding
to them,
Recalling that international humanitarian law affords general protection to
women and children as part of the civilian population during armed conflicts and
special protection due to the fact that they can be placed particularly at risk,

* Reissued for technical reasons on 22 June 2010.

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Recalling the responsibilities of States to end impunity and to prosecute those

responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other egregious
crimes perpetrated against civilians, and in this regard, noting with concern that
only limited numbers of perpetrators of sexual violence have been brought to
justice, while recognizing that in conflict and in post conflict situations national
justice systems may be significantly weakened,
Reaffirming that ending impunity is essential if a society in conflict or
recovering from conflict is to come to terms with past abuses committed against
civilians affected by armed conflict and to prevent future such abuses, drawing
attention to the full range of justice and reconciliation mechanisms to be considered,
including national, international and “mixed” criminal courts and tribunals and truth
and reconciliation commissions, and noting that such mechanisms can promote not
only individual responsibility for serious crimes, but also peace, truth, reconciliation
and the rights of the victims,
Recalling the inclusion of a range of sexual violence offences in the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court and the statutes of the ad hoc
international criminal tribunals,
Stressing the necessity for all States and non-State parties to conflicts to
comply fully with their obligations under applicable international law, including the
prohibition on all forms of sexual violence,
Recognizing the need for civilian and military leaders, consistent with the
principle of command responsibility, to demonstrate commitment and political will
to prevent sexual violence and to combat impunity and enforce accountability, and
that inaction can send a message that the incidence of sexual violence in conflicts is
tolerated,
Emphasizing the importance of addressing sexual violence issues from the
outset of peace processes and mediation efforts, in order to protect populations at
risk and promote full stability, in particular in the areas of pre-ceasefire
humanitarian access and human rights agreements, ceasefires and ceasefire
monitoring, Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), Security
Sector Reform (SSR) arrangements, justice and reparations, post-conflict recovery
and development,
Noting with concern the underrepresentation of women in formal peace
processes, the lack of mediators and ceasefire monitors with proper training in
dealing with sexual violence, and the lack of women as Chief or Lead peace
mediators in United Nations-sponsored peace talks,
Recognizing that the promotion and empowerment of women and that support
for women’s organizations and networks are essential in the consolidation of peace
to promote the equal and full participation of women and encouraging Member
States, donors, and civil society, including non-governmental organizations, to
provide support in this respect,
Welcoming the inclusion of women in peacekeeping missions in civil, military
and police functions, and recognizing that women and children affected by armed
conflict may feel more secure working with and reporting abuse to women in
peacekeeping missions, and that the presence of women peacekeepers may
encourage local women to participate in the national armed and security forces,

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thereby helping to build a security sector that is accessible and responsive to all,
especially women,
Welcoming the efforts of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to
develop gender guidelines for military personnel in peacekeeping operations to
facilitate the implementation of resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008), and
operational guidance to assist civilian, military and police components of
peacekeeping missions to effectively implement resolution 1820 (2008),
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General of 16 July 2009
(S/2009/362) and stressing that the present resolution does not seek to make any
legal determination as to whether situations that are referred to in the Secretary-
General’s report are or are not armed conflicts within the context of the Geneva
Conventions and the Additional Protocols thereto, nor does it prejudge the legal
status of the non-State parties involved in these situations,
Recalling the Council’s decision in resolution 1882 of 4 August 2009
(S/RES/1882) to expand the Annexed list in the Secretary General’s annual report
on Children and Armed Conflict of parties in situations of armed conflict engaged in
the recruitment or use of children in violation of international law to also include
those parties to armed conflict that engage, in contravention of applicable
international law, in patterns of killing and maiming of children and/or rape and
other sexual violence against children, in situations of armed conflict,
Noting the role currently assigned to the Office of the Special Adviser on
Gender Issues to monitor implementation of resolution 1325 and to promote gender
mainstreaming within the United Nations system, women’s empowerment and
gender equality, and expressing the importance of effective coordination within the
United Nations system in these areas,
Recognizing that States bear the primary responsibility to respect and ensure
the human rights of their citizens, as well as all individuals within their territory as
provided for by relevant international law,
Reaffirming that parties to armed conflict bear the primary responsibility to
take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of affected civilians,
Reiterating its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international
peace and security and, in this connection, its commitment to continue to address
the widespread impact of armed conflict on civilians, including with regard to
sexual violence,
1. Reaffirms that sexual violence, when used or commissioned as a tactic of
war in order to deliberately target civilians or as a part of a widespread or
systematic attack against civilian populations, can significantly exacerbate
situations of armed conflict and may impede the restoration of international peace
and security; affirms in this regard that effective steps to prevent and respond to
such acts of sexual violence can significantly contribute to the maintenance of
international peace and security; and expresses its readiness, when considering
situations on the agenda of the Council, to take, where necessary, appropriate steps
to address widespread or systematic sexual violence in situations of armed conflict;
2. Reiterates its demand for the complete cessation by all parties to armed
conflict of all acts of sexual violence with immediate effect;

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3. Demands that all parties to armed conflict immediately take appropriate

measures to protect civilians, including women and children, from all forms of
sexual violence, including measures such as, inter alia, enforcing appropriate
military disciplinary measures and upholding the principle of command
responsibility, training troops on the categorical prohibition of all forms of sexual
violence against civilians, debunking myths that fuel sexual violence and vetting
candidates for national armies and security forces to ensure the exclusion of those
associated with serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights
law, including sexual violence;
4. Requests that the United Nations Secretary-General appoint a Special
Representative to provide coherent and strategic leadership, to work effectively to
strengthen existing United Nations coordination mechanisms, and to engage in
advocacy efforts, inter alia with governments, including military and judicial
representatives, as well as with all parties to armed conflict and civil society, in
order to address, at both headquarters and country level, sexual violence in armed
conflict, while promoting cooperation and coordination of efforts among all relevant
stakeholders, primarily through the inter-agency initiative “United Nations Action
Against Sexual Violence in Conflict”;
5. Encourages the entities comprising UN Action Against Sexual Violence
in Conflict, as well as other relevant parts of the United Nations system, to support
the work of the aforementioned Special Representative of the Secretary-General and
to continue and enhance cooperation and information sharing among all relevant
stakeholders in order to reinforce coordination and avoid overlap at the headquarters
and country levels and improve system-wide response;
6. Urges States to undertake comprehensive legal and judicial reforms, as
appropriate, in conformity with international law, without delay and with a view to
bringing perpetrators of sexual violence in conflicts to justice and to ensuring that
survivors have access to justice, are treated with dignity throughout the justice
process and are protected and receive redress for their suffering;
7. Urges all parties to a conflict to ensure that all reports of sexual violence
committed by civilians or by military personnel are thoroughly investigated and the
alleged perpetrators brought to justice, and that civilian superiors and military
commanders, in accordance with international humanitarian law, use their authority
and powers to prevent sexual violence, including by combating impunity;
8. Calls upon the Secretary-General to identify and take the appropriate
measures to deploy rapidly a team of experts to situations of particular concern with
respect to sexual violence in armed conflict, working through the United Nations
presence on the ground and with the consent of the host government, to assist
national authorities to strengthen the rule of law, and recommends making use of
existing human resources within the United Nations system and voluntary
contributions, drawing upon requisite expertise, as appropriate, in the rule of law,
civilian and military judicial systems, mediation, criminal investigation, security
sector reform, witness protection, fair trial standards, and public outreach; to,
inter alia:
(a) Work closely with national legal and judicial officials and other
personnel in the relevant governments’ civilian and military justice systems to

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address impunity, including by the strengthening of national capacity, and drawing

attention to the full range of justice mechanisms to be considered;
(b) Identify gaps in national response and encourage a holistic national
approach to address sexual violence in armed conflict, including by enhancing
criminal accountability, responsiveness to victims, and judicial capacity;
(c) Make recommendations to coordinate domestic and international efforts
and resources to reinforce the government’s ability to address sexual violence in
armed conflict;
(d) Work with the United Nations Mission, Country Team, and the
aforementioned Special Representative of the Secretary-General as appropriate
towards the full implementation of the measures called for by resolution
1820 (2008);
9. Encourages States, relevant United Nations entities and civil society, as
appropriate, to provide assistance in close cooperation with national authorities to
build national capacity in the judicial and law enforcement systems in situations of
particular concern with respect to sexual violence in armed conflict;
10. Reiterates its intention, when adopting or renewing targeted sanctions in
situations of armed conflict, to consider including, where appropriate, designation
criteria pertaining to acts of rape and other forms of sexual violence; and calls upon
all peacekeeping and other relevant United Nations missions and United Nations
bodies, in particular the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, to share
with relevant United Nations Security Council sanctions committees, including
through relevant United Nations Security Council Sanction Committees’ monitoring
groups and groups of experts, all pertinent information about sexual violence;
11. Expresses its intention to ensure that resolutions to establish or renew
peacekeeping mandates contain provisions, as appropriate, on the prevention of, and
response to, sexual violence, with corresponding reporting requirements to the
Council;
12. Decides to include specific provisions, as appropriate, for the protection
of women and children from rape and other sexual violence in the mandates of
United Nations peacekeeping operations, including, on a case-by-case basis, the
identification of women’s protection advisers (WPAs) among gender advisers and
human rights protection units, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the
need for, and the number and roles of WPAs are systematically assessed during the
preparation of each United Nations peacekeeping operation;
13. Encourages States, with the support of the international community, to
increase access to health care, psychosocial support, legal assistance and socio
economic reintegration services for victims of sexual violence, in particular in rural
areas;
14. Expresses its intention to make better usage of periodical field visits to
conflict areas, through the organization of interactive meetings with the local
women and women’s organizations in the field about the concerns and needs of
women in areas of armed conflict;
15. Encourages leaders at the national and local level, including traditional
leaders where they exist and religious leaders, to play a more active role in

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sensitizing communities on sexual violence to avoid marginalization and

stigmatization of victims, to assist with their social reintegration, and to combat a
culture of impunity for these crimes;
16. Urges the Secretary General, Member States and the heads of regional
organizations to take measures to increase the representation of women in mediation
processes and decision-making processes with regard to conflict resolution and
peacebuilding;
17. Urges that issues of sexual violence be included in all United Nations-
sponsored peace negotiation agendas, and also urges inclusion of sexual violence
issues from the outset of peace processes in such situations, in particular in the areas
of pre-ceasefires, humanitarian access and human rights agreements, ceasefires and
ceasefire monitoring, DDR and SSR arrangements, vetting of armed and security
forces, justice, reparations, and recovery/development;
18. Reaffirms the role of the Peacebuilding Commission in promoting
inclusive gender-based approaches to reducing instability in post-conflict situations,
noting the important role of women in rebuilding society, and urges the
Peacebuilding Commission to encourage all parties in the countries on its agenda to
incorporate and implement measures to reduce sexual violence in post-conflict
strategies;
19. Encourages Member States to deploy greater numbers of female military
and police personnel to United Nations peacekeeping operations, and to provide all
military and police personnel with adequate training to carry out their
responsibilities;
20. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that technical support is
provided to troop and police contributing countries, in order to include guidance for
military and police personnel on addressing sexual violence in predeployment and
induction training;
21. Requests the Secretary-General to continue and strengthen efforts to
implement the policy of zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse in United
Nations peacekeeping operations; and urges troop and police contributing countries
to take appropriate preventative action, including predeployment and in-theater
awareness training, and other action to ensure full accountability in cases of such
conduct involving their personnel;
22. Requests that the Secretary-General continue to direct all relevant United
Nations entities to take specific measures to ensure systematic mainstreaming of
gender issues within their respective institutions, including by ensuring allocation of
adequate financial and human resources within all relevant offices and departments
and on the ground, as well as to strengthen, within their respective mandates, their
cooperation and coordination when addressing the issue of sexual violence in armed
conflict;
23. Urges relevant Special Representatives and the Emergency Relief
Coordinator of the Secretary-General, with strategic and technical support from the
UN Action network, to work with Member States to develop joint Government-
United Nations Comprehensive Strategies to Combat Sexual Violence, in
consultation with all relevant stakeholders, and to regularly provide updates on this
in their standard reporting to Headquarters;

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24. Requests that the Secretary-General ensure more systematic reporting on

incidents of trends, emerging patterns of attack, and early warning indicators of the
use of sexual violence in armed conflict in all relevant reports to the Council, and
encourages the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General, the Emergency
Relief Coordinator, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special
Rapporteur on Violence against Women, and the Chairperson(s) of UN Action to
provide, in coordination with the aforementioned Special Representative, additional
briefings and documentation on sexual violence in armed conflict to the Council;
25. Requests the Secretary-General to include, where appropriate, in his
regular reports on individual peacekeeping operations, information on steps taken to
implement measures to protect civilians, particularly women and children, against
sexual violence;
26. Requests the Secretary-General, taking into account the proposals
contained in his report as well as any other relevant elements, to devise urgently and
preferably within three months, specific proposals on ways to ensure monitoring and
reporting in a more effective and efficient way within the existing United Nations
system on the protection of women and children from rape and other sexual violence
in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, utilizing expertise from the United
Nations system and the contributions of national Governments, regional
organizations, non-governmental organizations in their advisory capacity and
various civil society actors, in order to provide timely, objective, accurate and
reliable information on gaps in United Nations entities response, for consideration
in taking appropriate action;
27. Requests that the Secretary-General continue to submit annual reports to
the Council on the implementation of Resolution 1820 (2008) and to submit his next
report by September of 2010 on the implementation of this resolution and
Resolution 1820 (2008) to include, inter alia:
(a) a detailed coordination and strategy plan on the timely and ethical
collection of information;
(b) updates on efforts by United Nations Mission focal points on sexual
violence to work closely with the Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator
(RC/HC), the United Nations Country Team, and, where appropriate, the
aforementioned Special Representative and/or the Team of Experts, to address
sexual violence;
(c) information regarding parties to armed conflict that are credibly
suspected of committing patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence, in
situations that are on the Council’s agenda;
28. Decides to review, taking into account the process established by General
Assembly resolution 63/311 regarding a United Nations composite gender entity, the
mandates of the Special Representative requested in operative paragraph 4 and the
Team of Experts in operative paragraph 8 within two years, and as appropriate
thereafter;
29. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

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Appendix F: Security Council Resolution 1889 (2009)

United Nations S/RES/1889 (2009)

Security Council Distr.: General
5 October 2009

Resolution 1889 (2009)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 6196th meeting, on
5 October 2009

The Security Council,

Reaffirming its commitment to the continuing and full implementation, in a
mutually reinforcing manner, of resolutions 1325 (2000), 1612 (2005), 1674 (2006),
1820 (2008), 1882 (2009), 1888 (2009) and all relevant Statements of its Presidents,
Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
and bearing in mind the primary responsibility of the Security Council under the
Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security,
Recalling the resolve expressed in the 2005 United Nations General Assembly
World Summit Outcome Document (A/RES/60/1) to eliminate all forms of violence
against women and girls, the obligations of States Parties to the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Optional
Protocol thereto, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional
Protocols thereto, recalling also the commitments contained in the Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action as well as those contained in the outcome
document of the twenty-third Special Session of the United Nations General
Assembly entitled “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the
Twenty-First Century” (A/S-23/10/Rev.1), in particular those concerning women
and armed conflict,
Having considered the report of the Secretary General (S/2009/465) of
16 September 2009 and stressing that the present resolution does not seek to make
any legal determination as to whether situations that are referred to in the Secretary-
General’s report are or are not armed conflicts within the context of the Geneva
Conventions and the Additional Protocols thereto, nor does it prejudge the legal
status of the non-State parties involved in these situations,
Welcoming the efforts of Member States in implementing its resolution 1325
(2000) at the national level, including the development of national action plans, and
encouraging Member States to continue to pursue such implementation,
Reiterating the need for the full, equal and effective participation of women at
all stages of peace processes given their vital role in the prevention and resolution of
conflict and peacebuilding, reaffirming the key role women can play in
re-establishing the fabric of recovering society and stressing the need for their

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involvement in the development and implementation of post-conflict strategies in

order to take into account their perspectives and needs,
Expressing deep concern about the under-representation of women at all stages
of peace processes, particularly the very low numbers of women in formal roles in
mediation processes and stressing the need to ensure that women are appropriately
appointed at decision-making levels, as high level mediators, and within the
composition of the mediators’ teams,
Remaining deeply concerned about the persistent obstacles to women’s full
involvement in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and participation in post-
conflict public life, as a result of violence and intimidation, lack of security and lack
of rule of law, cultural discrimination and stigmatization, including the rise of
extremist or fanatical views on women, and socio-economic factors including the
lack of access to education, and in this respect, recognizing that the marginalization
of women can delay or undermine the achievement of durable peace, security and
reconciliation,
Recognizing the particular needs of women and girls in post-conflict
situations, including, inter alia, physical security, health services including
reproductive and mental health, ways to ensure their livelihoods, land and property
rights, employment, as well as their participation in decision-making and post-
conflict planning, particularly at early stages of post-conflict peacebuilding,
Noting that despite progress, obstacles to strengthening women’s participation
in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding remain, expressing
concern that women’s capacity to engage in public decision making and economic
recovery often does not receive adequate recognition or financing in post-conflict
situations, and underlining that funding for women’s early recovery needs is vital to
increase women’s empowerment, which can contribute to effective post-conflict
peacebuilding,
Noting that women in situations of armed conflict and post-conflict situations
continue to be often considered as victims and not as actors in addressing and
resolving situations of armed conflict and stressing the need to focus not only on
protection of women but also on their empowerment in peacebuilding,
Recognizing that an understanding of the impact of situations of armed conflict
on women and girls, including as refugees and internally displaced persons,
adequate and rapid response to their particular needs, and effective institutional
arrangements to guarantee their protection and full participation in the peace
process, particularly at early stages of post-conflict peacebuilding, can significantly
contribute to the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security,
Welcoming the United Nations initiative to develop a system similar to that
pioneered by the United Nations Development Programme to allow decision-makers
to track gender-related allocations in United Nations Development Group
Multi-Donor Trust Funds,
Welcoming the efforts of the Secretary-General to appoint more women to
senior United Nations positions, particularly in field missions, as a tangible step
towards providing United Nations leadership on implementation of its resolution
1325 (2000),

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Welcoming the upcoming establishment of a United Nations Steering

Committee to enhance visibility and strengthen coordination within the United
Nations system regarding the preparations for the 10th anniversary of resolution
1325 (2000),
Encouraging relevant actors to organize events during 2009-2010 at the
global, regional and national levels to increase awareness about resolution 1325
(2000), including ministerial events, to renew commitments to “Women and peace
and security”, and to identify ways to address remaining and new challenges in
implementing resolution 1325 (2000) in the future,
1. Urges Member States, international and regional organisations to take
further measures to improve women’s participation during all stages of peace
processes, particularly in conflict resolution, post-conflict planning and
peacebuilding, including by enhancing their engagement in political and economic
decision-making at early stages of recovery processes, through inter alia promoting
women’s leadership and capacity to engage in aid management and planning,
supporting women’s organizations, and countering negative societal attitudes about
women’s capacity to participate equally;
2. Reiterates its call for all parties in armed conflicts to respect fully
international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls;
3. Strongly condemns all violations of applicable international law
committed against women and girls in situations of armed conflicts and
post-conflict situations, demands all parties to conflicts to cease such acts with
immediate effect, and emphasizes the responsibility of all States to put an end to
impunity and to prosecute those responsible for all forms of violence committed
against women and girls in armed conflicts, including rape and other sexual
violence;
4. Calls upon the Secretary-General to develop a strategy, including through
appropriate training, to increase the number of women appointed to pursue good
offices on his behalf, particularly as Special Representatives and Special Envoys,
and to take measures to increase women’s participation in United Nations political,
peacebuilding and peacekeeping missions;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that all country reports to the
Security Council provide information on the impact of situations of armed conflict
on women and girls, their particular needs in post-conflict situations and obstacles
to attaining those needs;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that relevant United Nations
bodies, in cooperation with Member States and civil society, collect data on, analyze
and systematically assess particular needs of women and girls in post-conflict
situations, including, inter alia, information on their needs for physical security and
participation in decision-making and post-conflict planning, in order to improve
system-wide response to those needs;
7. Expresses its intention, when establishing and renewing the mandates of
United Nations missions, to include provisions on the promotion of gender equality
and the empowerment of women in post-conflict situations, and requests the
Secretary-General to continue, as appropriate, to appoint gender advisors and/or
women-protection advisors to United Nations missions and asks them, in

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cooperation with United Nations Country Teams, to render technical assistance and
improved coordination efforts to address recovery needs of women and girls in post-
conflict situations;
8. Urges Member States to ensure gender mainstreaming in all post-conflict
peacebuilding and recovery processes and sectors;
9. Urges Member States, United Nations bodies, donors and civil society to
ensure that women’s empowerment is taken into account during post-conflict needs
assessments and planning, and factored into subsequent funding disbursements and
programme activities, including through developing transparent analysis and
tracking of funds allocated for addressing women’s needs in the post-conflict phase;
10. Encourages Member States in post-conflict situations, in consultation
with civil society, including women’s organizations, to specify in detail women and
girls’ needs and priorities and design concrete strategies, in accordance with their
legal systems, to address those needs and priorities, which cover inter alia support
for greater physical security and better socio-economic conditions, through
education, income generating activities, access to basic services, in particular health
services, including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights and
mental health, gender-responsive law enforcement and access to justice, as well as
enhancing capacity to engage in public decision-making at all levels;
11. Urges Member States, United Nations bodies and civil society, including
non-governmental organizations, to take all feasible measures to ensure women and
girls’ equal access to education in post-conflict situations, given the vital role of
education in the promotion of women’s participation in post-conflict decision-
making;
12. Calls upon all parties to armed conflicts to respect the civilian and
humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements, and ensure the protection
of all civilians inhabiting such camps, in particular women and girls, from all forms
of violence, including rape and other sexual violence, and to ensure full, unimpeded
and secure humanitarian access to them;
13. Calls upon all those involved in the planning for disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration to take into account particular needs of women and
girls associated with armed forces and armed groups and their children, and provide
for their full access to these programmes;
14. Encourages the Peacebuilding Commission and Peacebuilding Support
Office to continue to ensure systematic attention to and mobilisation of resources for
advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment as an integral part of post-
conflict peacebuilding, and to encourage the full participation of women in this
process;
15. Request the Secretary-General, in his agenda for action to improve the
United Nations’ peacebuilding efforts, to take account of the need to improve the
participation of women in political and economic decision-making from the earliest
stages of the peacebuilding process;
16. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure full transparency, cooperation
and coordination of efforts between the Special Representative of the Secretary-
General on Children and Armed Conflict and the Special Representative of the

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Secretary General on sexual violence and armed conflict whose appointment has
been requested by its resolution 1888 (2009);
17. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Security Council within
6 months, for consideration, a set of indicators for use at the global level to track
implementation of its resolution 1325 (2000), which could serve as a common basis
for reporting by relevant United Nations entities, other international and regional
organizations, and Member States, on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000)
in 2010 and beyond;
18. Requests the Secretary-General, within the report requested in
S/PRST/2007/40, to also include a review of progress in the implementation of its
resolution 1325 (2000), an assessment of the processes by which the Security
Council receives, analyses and takes action on information pertinent to resolution
1325 (2000), recommendations on further measures to improve coordination across
the United Nations system, and with Member States and civil society to deliver
implementation, and data on women’s participation in United Nations missions;
19. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the Security Council
within 12 months on addressing women’s participation and inclusion in
peacebuilding and planning in the aftermath of conflict, taking into consideration
the views of the Peacebuilding Commission and to include, inter alia:
a. Analysis on the particular needs of women and girls in post-conflict
situations,
b. Challenges to women’s participation in conflict resolution and
peacebuilding and gender mainstreaming in all early post-conflict planning,
financing and recovery processes,
c. Measures to support national capacity in planning for and financing
responses to the needs of women and girls in post-conflict situations,
d. Recommendations for improving international and national responses to
the needs of women and girls in post-conflict situations, including the
development of effective financial and institutional arrangements to guarantee
women’s full and equal participation in the peacebuilding process,
20. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

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Appendix G: Security Council Resolution 1960 (2010)

United Nations S/RES/1960 (2010)

Security Council Distr.: General
16 December 2010

Resolution 1960 (2010)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 6453rd meeting, on
16 December 2010

The Security Council,

Reaffirming its commitment to the continuing and full implementation, in a
mutually reinforcing manner, of resolutions 1325 (2000), 1612 (2005), 1674 (2006),
1820 (2008), 1882 (2009), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009) and 1894 (2009), and all
relevant statements of its President,
Welcoming the report of the Secretary-General of 24 November 2010
(S/2010/604), but remaining deeply concerned over the slow progress on the issue
of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict in particular against women and
children, and noting as documented in the Secretary-General’s report that sexual
violence occurs in armed conflicts throughout the world,
Reiterating deep concern that despite its repeated condemnation of violence
against women and children in situations of armed conflict, including sexual
violence in situations of armed conflict, and despite its calls addressed to all parties
to armed conflict for the cessation of such acts with immediate effect, such acts
continue to occur, and in some situations have become systematic and widespread,
reaching appalling levels of brutality,
Reiterating the necessity for all States and non-State parties to conflicts to
comply fully with their obligations under applicable international law, including the
prohibition on all forms of sexual violence,
Reiterating the need for civilian and military leaders, consistent with the
principle of command responsibility, to demonstrate commitment and political will
to prevent sexual violence and to combat impunity and enforce accountability, and
that inaction can send a message that the incidence of sexual violence in conflicts is
tolerated,
Recalling the responsibilities of States to end impunity and to prosecute those
responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other egregious
crimes perpetrated against civilians and, in this regard, noting with concern that
only limited numbers of perpetrators of sexual violence have been brought to
justice, while recognizing that in conflict and in post-conflict situations national
justice systems may be significantly weakened,

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Welcoming the progress made in rendering operational the team of experts to

assist national authorities to strengthen the rule of law in accordance with resolution
1888 (2009); reaffirming the importance of deploying it rapidly to situations of
particular concern with respect to sexual violence in armed conflict, working
through the United Nations presence on the ground and with the consent of the host
government and in this regard, appreciating the voluntary contributions to support
its work,
Recognizing that States bear the primary responsibility to respect and ensure
the human rights of all persons within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction
as provided for by international law,
Reaffirming that parties to armed conflict bear the primary responsibility to
take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of civilians,
Recalling that international humanitarian law affords general protection to
women and children as part of the civilian population during armed conflicts and
special protection due to the fact that they can be placed particularly at risk,
Reaffirming that ending impunity is essential if a society in conflict or
recovering from conflict is to come to terms with past abuses committed against
civilians affected by armed conflict and to prevent future such abuses, drawing
attention to the full range of justice and reconciliation mechanisms to be considered,
including national, international and “mixed” criminal courts and tribunals and truth
and reconciliation commissions, and noting that such mechanisms can promote not
only individual responsibility for serious crimes, but also peace, truth, reconciliation
and the rights of the victims,
Recalling the inclusion of a range of sexual violence offences in the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court and the statutes of the ad hoc
international criminal tribunals,
Reaffirming the importance for States, with the support of the international
community, to increase access to health care, psychosocial support, legal assistance,
and socio-economic reintegration services for victims of sexual violence, in
particular in rural areas, and taking into account the specific needs of persons with
disabilities,
Welcoming the proposals, conclusions and recommendations included in the
report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (A/64/19) on the need
for adequate capabilities and clear and appropriate guidelines to enable
peacekeeping missions to carry out all their mandated tasks, including prevention of
and response to sexual violence; stressing the importance of ensuring engagement
by senior mission leadership on protection of civilians, including the prevention of
and response to instances of sexual violence in armed conflict, with a view to
ensuring that all mission components and all levels of the chain of command are
properly informed of and involved in the mission’s mandate and their relevant
responsibilities; welcoming progress made by the Secretary-General in developing
operational tools for the implementation of protection of civilians mandates; and
encouraging troop- and police-contributing countries to make full use of and
provide feedback on these important materials,
Recognizing the efforts of the Secretary-General to address the
underrepresentation of women in formal peace processes, the lack of mediators and

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ceasefire monitors with proper training in dealing with sexual violence, and the lack
of women as Chief or Lead peace mediators in United Nations-sponsored peace
talks; and encouraging further such efforts,
Welcoming the inclusion of women in peacekeeping missions in civil, military
and police functions, recognizing that their presence may encourage women from
local communities to report acts of sexual violence,
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General of 24 November 2010
(S/2010/604) and stressing that the present resolution does not seek to make any
legal determination as to whether situations that are referred to in the Secretary-
General’s report are or are not armed conflicts within the context of the Geneva
Conventions and the Additional Protocols thereto, nor does it prejudge the legal
status of non-State parties involved in these situations,
1. Reaffirms that sexual violence, when used or commissioned as a tactic of
war or as a part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilian populations,
can significantly exacerbate and prolong situations of armed conflict and may
impede the restoration of international peace and security; affirms in this regard that
effective steps to prevent and respond to such acts of sexual violence can
significantly contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security; and
expresses its readiness, when considering situations on the agenda of the Council, to
take, where necessary, appropriate steps to address widespread or systematic sexual
violence in situations of armed conflict;
2. Reiterates its demand for the complete cessation with immediate effect
by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence;
3. Encourages the Secretary-General to include in his annual reports
submitted pursuant to resolutions 1820 (2008) and 1888 (2009) detailed information
on parties to armed conflict that are credibly suspected of committing or being
responsible for acts of rape or other forms of sexual violence, and to list in an annex
to these annual reports the parties that are credibly suspected of committing or being
responsible for patterns of rape and other forms of sexual violence in situations of
armed conflict on the Security Council agenda; expresses its intention to use this list
as a basis for more focused United Nations engagement with those parties,
including, as appropriate, measures in accordance with the procedures of the
relevant sanctions committees;
4. Requests the Secretary-General, in accordance with the present resolution
and taking into account its specificity, to apply the listing and de-listing criteria for
parties listed in his annual report on sexual violence in armed conflict consistent
with paragraphs 175, 176, 178, and 180 of his report A/64/742-S/2010/181;
5. Calls upon parties to armed conflict to make and implement specific and
time-bound commitments to combat sexual violence, which should include, inter
alia, issuance of clear orders through chains of command prohibiting sexual
violence and the prohibition of sexual violence in Codes of Conduct, military field
manuals, or equivalent; and further calls upon those parties to make and implement
specific commitments on timely investigation of alleged abuses in order to hold
perpetrators accountable;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to track and monitor implementation of
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that engage in patterns of rape and other sexual violence, and regularly update the
Council in relevant reports and briefings;
7. Reiterates its intention, when adopting or renewing targeted sanctions in
situations of armed conflict, to consider including, where appropriate, designation
criteria pertaining to acts of rape and other forms of sexual violence; and calls upon
all peacekeeping and other relevant United Nations missions and United Nations
entities, in particular the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, the
Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict,
and the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in
Conflict, to share with relevant United Nations Security Council Sanctions
Committees, including through relevant United Nations Security Council Sanction
Committees’ monitoring groups and groups of experts, all pertinent information
about sexual violence;
8. Requests the Secretary General to establish monitoring, analysis and
reporting arrangements on conflict-related sexual violence, including rape in
situations of armed conflict and post-conflict and other situations relevant to the
implementation of resolution 1888 (2009), as appropriate, and taking into account
the specificity of each country, that ensure a coherent and coordinated approach at
the field-level, and encourages the Secretary-General to engage with United Nations
actors, national institutions, civil society organizations, health-care service
providers, and women’s groups to enhance data collection and analysis of incidents,
trends, and patterns of rape and other forms of sexual violence to assist the
Council’s consideration of appropriate actions, including targeted and graduated
measures, while respecting fully the integrity and specificity of the monitoring and
reporting mechanism implemented under Security Council resolutions 1612 (2005)
and 1882 (2009) on children and armed conflict;
9. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to ensure full transparency,
cooperation and coordination of efforts between the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and the Special Representative
of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict;
10. Welcomes the work of gender advisers; looks forward to the appointment
of more women protection advisers to peacekeeping missions, in accordance with
resolution 1888 (2009); notes their potential contribution in the framework of the
monitoring, analysis, and reporting arrangements to be established pursuant to OP8
of the present resolution;
11. Welcomes the elaboration by the Secretary-General of scenario-based
training materials on combating sexual violence for peacekeepers and encourages
Member States to use them as a reference for the preparation and deployment of
United Nations peacekeeping operations;
12. Underlines that, in order to carry out their mandate, missions must
communicate effectively with local communities; and encourages the Secretary-
General to improve their capacity to do so;
13. Expresses its intention to give due consideration to sexual violence in
mandate authorizations and renewals and to request the Secretary-General to
include, as appropriate, gender expertise in technical assessment missions;

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14. Encourages the entities comprising United Nations Action Against

Sexual Violence in Conflict, as well as other relevant parts of the United Nations
system, to continue to support the work of the aforementioned Special
Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and to
enhance cooperation and information-sharing among all relevant stakeholders in
order to reinforce coordination and avoid overlap at the headquarters and country
levels and improve system-wide response;
15. Encourages Member States to deploy greater numbers of female military
and police personnel to United Nations peacekeeping operations, and to provide all
military and police personnel with adequate training on sexual and gender-based
violence, inter alia, to carry out their responsibilities;
16. Requests the Secretary-General to continue and strengthen efforts to
implement the policy of zero tolerance on sexual exploitation and abuse by United
Nations peacekeeping and humanitarian personnel, and further requests the
Secretary-General to continue to provide and deploy guidance on addressing sexual
violence for predeployment and inductive training of military and police personnel,
and to assist missions in developing situation-specific procedures to address sexual
violence at the field level and to ensure that technical support is provided to troop
and police contributing countries in order to include guidance for military and
police personnel on addressing sexual violence in predeployment and induction
training;
17. Invites the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict to
continue to provide briefings on sexual violence, in accordance with resolution 1888
(2009);
18. Requests that the Secretary-General continue to submit annual reports to
the Council on the implementation of Resolutions 1820 (2008) and 1888 (2009) and
to submit his next report by December 2011 on the implementation of Resolutions
1820 (2008) and 1888 (2009) and the present resolution to include, inter alia:
(a) a detailed coordination and strategy plan on the timely and ethical
collection of information;
(b) information on progress made in the implementation of the monitoring,
analysis, and reporting arrangements mentioned in paragraph 8;
(c) detailed information on parties to armed conflict that are credibly
suspected of committing or being responsible for acts of rape or other forms of
sexual violence, and an annex with a list of parties that are credibly suspected of
committing or being responsible for patterns of rape and other forms of sexual
violence in situations of armed conflict on the Security Council agenda;
(d) updates on efforts by United Nations Mission focal points on sexual
violence to work closely with Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator
(RC/HC), the United Nations Country Team, and, where appropriate, the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict
and/or the Team of Experts, to address sexual violence;
19. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

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Appendix H: Security Council Resolution 2106 (2013)

United Nations S/RES/2106 (2013)

Security Council Distr.: General
24 June 2013

Resolution 2106 (2013)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 6984th meeting, on
24 June 2013

The Security Council,

Reaffirming its commitment to the continuing and full implementation, in a
mutually reinforcing manner, of resolutions 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), 1325 (2000),
1612 (2005), 1674 (2006), 1738 (2006), 1820 (2008), 1882 (2009), 1888 (2009),
1889 (2009), 1894 (2009), 1960 (2010), 1998 (2011) and 2068 (2012), and all
relevant statements of its President,
Thanking the Secretary-General for the report of 12 March 2013 (S/2013/149)
and taking note of the analysis and recommendations contained therein, but
remaining deeply concerned over the slow implementation of important aspects of
resolution 1960 (2010) to prevent sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict
situations and noting as documented in the Secretary-General’s report that sexual
violence occurs in such situations throughout the world,
Recognizing the Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict
adopted by G8 foreign ministers in London on 11 April 2013, and the commitments
it makes in this regard,
Recognizing that consistent and rigorous prosecution of sexual violence crimes
as well as national ownership and responsibility in addressing the root causes of
sexual violence in armed conflict are central to deterrence and prevention as is
challenging the myths that sexual violence in armed conflict is a cultural
phenomenon or an inevitable consequence of war or a lesser crime,
Affirming that women’s political, social and economic empowerment, gender
equality and the enlistment of men and boys in the effort to combat all forms of
violence against women are central to long-term efforts to prevent sexual violence
in armed conflict and post-conflict situations; and emphasizing the importance of
the full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) while noting the ongoing work on
a set of indicators for the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent
resolutions on women and peace and security, and recognizing UN-Women’s efforts
in this area,
Noting with concern that sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict
situations disproportionately affects women and girls, as well as groups that are
particularly vulnerable or may be specifically targeted, while also affecting men and

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boys and those secondarily traumatized as forced witnesses of sexual violence

against family members; and emphasizing that acts of sexual violence in such
situations not only severely impede the critical contributions of women to society,
but also impede durable peace and security as well as sustainable development,
Recognizing that States bear the primary responsibility to respect and ensure
the human rights of all persons within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction
as provided for by international law; and reaffirming that parties to armed conflict
bear the primary responsibility to ensure the protection of civilians,
Reaffirming its respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political
independence of all States in accordance with the Charter,
Recalling the inclusion of a range of sexual violence offences in the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the statutes of the ad hoc
international criminal tribunals,
Noting the provision in the Arms Trade Treaty that exporting States Parties
shall take into account the risk of covered conventional arms or items being used to
commit or facilitate serious acts of gender-based violence or serious acts of violence
against women and children,
Further recalling that international humanitarian law prohibits rape and other
forms of sexual violence,
Recalling the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy on United Nations Support
to non-United Nations Security Forces as a tool to enhance compliance with
international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law, including to address
sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations,
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General and stressing that the
present resolution does not seek to make any legal determination as to whether
situations that are referred to in the Secretary-General’s report are or are not armed
conflicts within the context of the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols
thereto, nor does it prejudge the legal status of non-State parties involved in these
situations,
1. Affirms that sexual violence, when used or commissioned as a method or
tactic of war or as a part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilian
populations, can significantly exacerbate and prolong situations of armed conflict
and may impede the restoration of international peace and security; emphasizes in
this regard that effective steps to prevent and respond to such acts significantly
contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security; and stresses
women’s participation as essential to any prevention and protection response;
2. Notes that sexual violence can constitute a crime against humanity or a
constitutive act with respect to genocide; further recalls that rape and other forms of
serious sexual violence in armed conflict are war crimes; calls upon Member States
to comply with their relevant obligations to continue to fight impunity by
investigating and prosecuting those subject to their jurisdiction who are responsible
for such crimes; encourages Member States to include the full range of crimes of
sexual violence in national penal legislation to enable prosecutions for such acts;
recognizes that effective investigation and documentation of sexual violence in
armed conflict is instrumental both in bringing perpetrators to justice and ensuring
access to justice for survivors;

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3. Notes that the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes of
international concern committed against women and girls has been strengthened
through the work of the ICC, ad hoc and mixed tribunals, as well as specialized
chambers in national tribunals; reiterates its intention to continue forcefully to fight
impunity and uphold accountability with appropriate means;
4. Draws attention to the importance of a comprehensive approach to
transitional justice in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, encompassing the
full range of judicial and non-judicial measures, as appropriate;
5. Recognizes the need for more systematic monitoring of and attention to
sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations and other women and
peace and security commitments in its own work and, in this regard, expresses its
intent to employ, as appropriate, all means at its disposal to ensure women’s
participation in all aspects of mediation, post-conflict recovery and peacebuilding
and to address sexual violence in conflict, including, inter alia, in the establishment
and review of peacekeeping and political mandates, public statements, country visits,
fact-finding missions, international commissions of inquiry, consultations with
regional bodies and in the work of relevant Security Council sanctions committees;
6. Recognizes the need for more timely, objective, accurate and reliable
information as a basis for prevention and response and requests the Secretary-
General and relevant United Nations entities to accelerate the establishment and
implementation of monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements on conflict-
related sexual violence, including rape in situations of armed conflict and
post-conflict and other situations relevant to the implementation of resolution 1888
(2009), as appropriate, and taking into account the specificity of each country;
7. Calls for the further deployment of Women Protection Advisors (WPA)
in accordance with resolution 1888 to facilitate the implementation of Security
Council resolutions on women and peace and security and calls upon the Secretary-
General to ensure that the need for, and the number and roles of WPAs are
systematically assessed during the planning and review of each United Nations
peacekeeping and political mission, and to ensure that these experts are adequately
trained and deployed in a timely manner; and recognizes the role of UN Action
against Sexual Violence in Conflict in facilitating coordinated responses of relevant
peacekeeping, humanitarian, human rights, political and security actors and
emphasizes the need for enhanced coordination, information sharing, analysis,
response planning and implementation across these sectors;
8. Recognizes the distinct role of Gender Advisors in ensuring that gender
perspectives are mainstreamed in policies, planning and implementation by all
mission elements; calls upon the Secretary-General to continue to deploy Gender
Advisors to the relevant United Nations peacekeeping and political missions as well
as humanitarian operations and to ensure comprehensive gender training of all
relevant peacekeeping and civilian personnel;
9. Acknowledges the efforts of United Nations entities in ensuring United
Nations Commissions of Inquiry in armed conflict and post-conflict situations have,
where necessary, sexual and gender-based crimes expertise to accurately document
such crimes and encourages all Member States to support these efforts;
10. Reiterates its demand for the complete cessation with immediate effect
by all parties to armed conflict of all acts of sexual violence and its call for these

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parties to make and implement specific time-bound commitments to combat sexual

violence, which should include, inter alia, issuance of clear orders through chains of
command prohibiting sexual violence and accountability for breaching these orders,
the prohibition of sexual violence in Codes of Conduct, military and police field
manuals or equivalent and to make and implement specific commitments on timely
investigation of alleged abuses; and further calls upon all relevant parties to armed
conflict to cooperate in the framework of such commitments, with appropriate
United Nations mission personnel who monitor their implementation, and calls upon
the parties to designate, as appropriate, a high-level representative responsible for
ensuring implementation of such commitments;
11. Emphasizes the important role that can be played by women, civil
society, including women’s organizations, and formal and informal community
leaders in exerting influence over parties to armed conflict with respect to
addressing sexual violence;
12. Reiterates the importance of addressing sexual violence in armed conflict
whenever relevant, in mediation efforts, ceasefires and peace agreements; requests
the Secretary-General, Member States and regional organizations, where appropriate,
to ensure that mediators and envoys, in situations where it is used as a method or
tactic of war, or as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilian
populations, engage on sexual violence issues, including with women, civil society,
including women’s organizations and survivors of sexual violence, and ensure that
such concerns are reflected in specific provisions of peace agreements, including
those related to security arrangements and transitional justice mechanisms; urges the
inclusion of sexual violence in the definition of acts prohibited by ceasefires and in
provisions for ceasefire monitoring; stresses the need for the exclusion of sexual
violence crimes from amnesty provisions in the context of conflict resolution
processes;
13. Urges existing sanctions committees, where within the scope of the
relevant criteria for designation, and consistent with resolution 1960 (2010) to apply
targeted sanctions against those who perpetrate and direct sexual violence in
conflict; and reiterates its intention, when adopting or renewing targeted sanctions
in situations of armed conflict, to consider including, where appropriate, designation
criteria pertaining to acts of rape and other forms of serious sexual violence;
14. Recognizes the role of United Nations peacekeeping contingents in
preventing sexual violence, and, in this respect, calls for all predeployment and
in-mission training of troop- and police-contributing country contingents to include
training on sexual and gender-based violence, which also takes into account the
distinct needs of children; further encourages troop- and police-contributing countries
to increase the number of women recruited and deployed in peace operations;
15. Requests the Secretary-General to continue and strengthen efforts to
implement the policy of zero tolerance on sexual exploitation and abuse by United
Nations personnel and urges concerned Member States to ensure full accountability,
including prosecutions, in cases of such conduct involving their nationals;
16. Requests the Secretary-General and relevant United Nations entities to
assist national authorities, with the effective participation of women, in addressing
sexual violence concerns explicitly in:

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(a) disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes, including, inter

alia, by establishing protection mechanisms for women and children in cantonment
sites, as well as for civilians in close proximity of cantonment sites and in
communities of return, and by offering trauma and reintegration support to women
and children formerly associated with armed groups, as well as ex-combatants;
(b) security sector reform processes and arrangements, including through the
provision of adequate training for security personnel, encouraging the inclusion of
more women in the security sector and effective vetting processes in order to
exclude from the security sector those who have perpetrated or are responsible for
acts of sexual violence;
(c) justice sector reform initiatives, including through legislative and policy
reforms that address sexual violence; training in sexual and gender-based violence
of justice and security sector professionals and the inclusion of more women at
professional levels in these sectors; and judicial proceedings that take into account
the distinct needs and protection of witnesses as well as survivors of sexual violence
in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, and their family members;
17. Recognizes that women who have been forcefully abducted into armed
groups and armed forces, as well as children, are especially vulnerable to sexual
violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations and as such demands that
parties to armed conflict immediately identify and release such persons from their
ranks;
18. Encourages concerned Member States to draw upon the expertise of the
United Nations Team of Experts established pursuant to resolution 1888 (2009) as
appropriate to strengthen the rule of law and the capacity of civilian and military
justice systems to address sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict
situations as part of broader efforts to strengthen institutional safeguards against
impunity;
19. Recognizing the importance of providing timely assistance to survivors
of sexual violence, urges United Nations entities and donors to provide
non-discriminatory and comprehensive health services, including sexual and
reproductive health, psychosocial, legal, and livelihood support and other
multi-sectoral services for survivors of sexual violence, taking into account the
specific needs of persons with disabilities; calls for support to national institutions
and local civil society networks in increasing resources and strengthening capacities
to provide the abovementioned services to survivors of sexual violence; encourages
Member States and donors to support national and international programs that assist
victims of sexual violence such as the Trust Fund for Victims established by the
Rome Statute and its implementing partners; and requests the relevant United
Nations entities to increase allocation of resources for the coordination of gender-
based violence response and service provision;
20. Notes the link between sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict
situations and HIV infection, and the disproportionate burden of HIV and AIDS on
women and girls as a persistent obstacle and challenge to gender equality; and urges
United Nations entities, Member States and donors to support the development and
strengthening of capacities of national health systems and civil society networks in
order to provide sustainable assistance to women and girls living with or affected by
HIV and AIDS in armed conflict and post-conflict situations;

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21. Underlines the important roles that civil society organizations, including
women’s organizations, and networks can play in enhancing community-level
protection against sexual violence in armed conflict and post-conflict situations and
supporting survivors in accessing justice and reparations;
22. Requests that the Secretary-General continue to submit annual reports to
the Council on the implementation of women and peace and security resolutions and
the present resolution, and to submit his next report by March 2014;
23. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

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Appendix I: Security Council Resolution 2122 (2013)

United Nations S/RES/2122 (2013)

Security Council Distr.: General
18 October 2013

Resolution 2122 (2013)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 7044th meeting, on
18 October 2013

The Security Council,

Reaffirming its commitment to the continuing and full implementation, in a
mutually reinforcing manner, of resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009),
1889 (2009), 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013) and all relevant statements of its
President,
Recalling the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
and reaffirming the obligations of States Parties to the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Optional Protocol
thereto, and urging States that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding
to them,
Bearing in mind the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations and the primary responsibility of the Security Council under the Charter for
the maintenance of international peace and security, and noting the focus of this
resolution is, in this regard, the implementation of the women, peace and security
agenda,
Reaffirming that women’s and girls’ empowerment and gender equality are
critical to efforts to maintain international peace and security, and emphasizing that
persisting barriers to full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) will only be
dismantled through dedicated commitment to women’s empowerment, participation,
and human rights, and through concerted leadership, consistent information and
action, and support, to build women’s engagement in all levels of decision-making,
Taking note with appreciation the report of the Secretary-General of
4 September 2013 and the progress and emergence of good practice across several
areas, including in prevention and protection, and the significant heightening of
policy and operational focus on the monitoring, prevention and prosecution of
violence against women in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, but
remaining deeply concerned about persistent implementation deficits in the women,
peace and security agenda, including in: protection from human rights abuses and
violations; opportunities for women to exercise leadership; resources provided to
address their needs and which will help them exercise their rights; and the capacities

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and commitment of all actors involved in the implementation of resolution 1325

(2000) and subsequent resolutions to advance women’s participation and protection,
Expressing concern at women’s exacerbated vulnerability in armed conflict
and post-conflict situations particularly in relation to forced displacement, as a result
of unequal citizenship rights, gender-biased application of asylum laws, and obstacles
to registering and accessing identity documents which occur in many situations,
Expressing deep concern at the full range of threats and human rights
violations and abuses experienced by women in armed conflict and post-conflict
situations, recognizing that those women and girls who are particularly vulnerable
or disadvantaged may be specifically targeted or at increased risk of violence, and
recognizing in this regard that more must be done to ensure that transitional justice
measures address the full range of violations and abuses of women’s human rights,
and the differentiated impacts on women and girls of these violations and abuses as
well as forced displacement, enforced disappearances, and destruction of civilian
infrastructure,
Recognizing the importance of Member States and United Nations entities
seeking to ensure humanitarian aid and funding includes provision for the full range
of medical, legal, psychosocial and livelihood services to women affected by armed
conflict and post-conflict situations, and noting the need for access to the full range
of sexual and reproductive health services, including regarding pregnancies
resulting from rape, without discrimination,
Reiterating its strong condemnation of all violations of international law
committed against and/or directly affecting civilians, including women and girls in
armed conflict and post-conflict situations, including those involving rape and other
forms of sexual and gender-based violence, killing and maiming, obstructions to
humanitarian aid, and mass forced displacement,
Recognizing that States bear the primary responsibility to respect and ensure
the human rights of all persons within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction
as provided for by international law, and reaffirming that parties to armed conflict
bear the primary responsibility to ensure the protection of civilians,
Reaffirming that sustainable peace requires an integrated approach based on
coherence between political, security, development, human rights, including gender
equality, and rule of law and justice activities, and in this regard emphasizing the
importance of the rule of law as one of the key elements of conflict prevention,
peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peacebuilding,
Recognizing the need for more systematic attention to the implementation of
women, peace and security commitments in its own work, particularly to ensure the
enhancement of women’s engagement in conflict prevention, resolution and
peacebuilding, and noting in this regard the need for timely and systematic reporting
on women, peace and security,
Taking note of the critical contributions of civil society, including women’s
organizations to conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding and in this regard
the importance of sustained consultation and dialogue between women and national
and international decision makers,
Recognizing the need to address the gaps and strengthen links between the
United Nations peace and security in the field, human rights and development work

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as a means to address root causes of armed conflict and threats to the security of
women and girls in the pursuit of international peace and security,
Recognizing that the economic empowerment of women greatly contributes to
the stabilization of societies emerging from armed conflict, and welcoming the
Peacebuilding Commission’s declaration on women’s economic empowerment for
peacebuilding of 26 September 2013 (PBC/7/OC/L.1),
Acknowledging the adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty and noting the
provisions in Article 7(4) of the Treaty that exporting States Parties shall take into
account the risk of covered conventional arms or items being used to commit or
facilitate serious acts of gender-based violence or serious acts of violence against
women and children,
Looking forward to the important contribution that implementation of the
Arms Trade Treaty can make to reducing violence perpetrated against women and
girls in armed conflict and post-conflict situations,
Welcoming the efforts of Member States, and recognizing the efforts of
regional and subregional organizations, in implementing resolution 1325 (2000) and
subsequent women, peace and security resolutions at the regional, national and local
levels, including the development of action plans and implementation frameworks,
and encouraging Member States to continue to pursue such implementation,
including through strengthened monitoring, evaluation and coordination,
1. Recognizes the need for consistent implementation of resolution 1325
(2000) in its own work and intends to focus more attention on women’s leadership
and participation in conflict resolution and peacebuilding, including by monitoring
progress in implementation, and addressing challenges linked to the lack and quality
of information and analysis on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the
role of women in peacebuilding and the gender dimensions of peace processes and
conflict resolution;
2. Recognizes the need for timely information and analysis on the impact of
armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peacebuilding and the
gender dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution for situations on the
Council’s agenda, and therefore:
(a) Welcomes more regular briefings by the Under-Secretary-General/
Executive Director of UN-Women and the Under-Secretary-General/Special
Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict on issues of
relevance to women, peace and security;
(b) Requests DPKO, DPA and relevant senior officials, as part of their
regular briefings, to update the Security Council on issues relevant to women, peace
and security, including implementation;
(c) Requests the Secretary-General and his Special Envoys and Special
Representatives to United Nations missions, as part of their regular briefings, to
update the Council on progress in inviting women to participate, including through
consultations with civil society, including women’s organizations, in discussions
pertinent to the prevention and resolution of conflict, the maintenance of peace and
security and post-conflict peacebuilding;

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(d) Requests DPKO and DPA to systematically include information and

related recommendations on issues of relevance to women, peace and security, in
their reports to the Council;
(e) Invites all United Nations-established Commissions of Inquiry
investigating situations on the Council’s agenda to include in their briefings
information on the differentiated impacts of armed conflict on women and girls,
especially emphasizing recommendations to advance accountability, justice and
protection for victims, during armed conflict and in post-conflict and transitional
contexts;
3. Expresses its intention to increase its attention to women, peace and
security issues in all relevant thematic areas of work on its agenda, including in
particular Protection of civilians in armed conflict, Post-conflict peacebuilding, The
promotion and strengthening of the rule of law in the maintenance of international
peace and security, Peace and Security in Africa, Threats to international peace and
security caused by terrorist acts, and Maintenance of international peace and security;
4. Reiterates its intention when establishing and renewing the mandates of
United Nations missions, to include provisions on the promotion of gender equality
and the empowerment of women in conflict and post-conflict situations, including
through the appointment of gender advisers as appropriate, and further expresses its
intention to include provisions to facilitate women’s full participation and protection
in: election preparation and political processes, disarmament, demobilization and
reintegration programs, security sector and judicial reforms, and wider post-conflict
reconstruction processes where these are mandated tasks within the mission;
5. Requests United Nations peacekeeping mission leadership to assess the
human rights violations and abuses of women in armed conflict and post-conflict
situations, and requests peacekeeping missions, in keeping with their mandates, to
address the security threats and protection challenges faced by women and girls in
armed conflict and post-conflict settings;
6. Recognizes the importance of interactions of civil society, including
women’s organizations, with members of the Council at headquarters and during
Council field missions and commits to ensuring that its periodic field visits to
conflict areas include interactive meetings with local women and women’s
organizations in the field;
7. Recognizes the continuing need to increase women’s participation and
the consideration of gender-related issues in all discussions pertinent to the
prevention and resolution of armed conflict, the maintenance of peace and security,
and post-conflict peacebuilding, and in this regard, the Council:
(a) Requests the Secretary-General’s Special Envoys and Special
Representatives to United Nations missions, from early on in their deployment, to
regularly consult with women’s organizations and women leaders, including socially
and/or economically excluded groups of women;
(b) Encourages concerned Member States to develop dedicated funding
mechanisms to support the work and enhance capacities of organizations that
support women’s leadership development and full participation in all levels of
decision-making, regarding the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), inter alia
through increasing contributions to local civil society;

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(c) Requests the Secretary-General to strengthen the knowledge of

negotiating delegations to peace talks, and members of mediation support teams, on
the gender dimensions of peacebuilding, by making gender expertise and gender
experts available to all United Nations mediation teams; further requests the
Secretary-General to support the appointments of women at senior levels as United
Nations mediators and within the composition of United Nations mediation teams;
and calls on all parties to such peace talks to facilitate the equal and full
participation of women at decision-making levels;
8. Stresses the importance of those Member States conducting post-conflict
electoral processes and constitutional reform continuing their efforts, with support
from United Nations entities, to ensure women’s full and equal participation in all
phases of electoral processes, noting that specific attention must be paid to women’s
safety prior to, and during, elections;
9. Encourages troop- and police-contributing countries to increase the
percentage of women military and police in deployments to United Nations
peacekeeping operations, and further encourages troop- and police-contributing
countries to provide all military and police personnel with adequate training to carry
out their responsibilities, and relevant United Nations entities to make available
appropriate guidance or training modules, including in particular the United Nations
predeployment scenario-based training on prevention of sexual and gender-based
violence;
10. Stresses the need for continued efforts to address obstacles in women’s
access to justice in conflict and post-conflict settings, including through gender-
responsive legal, judicial and security sector reform and other mechanisms;
11. Urges all parties concerned, including Member States, United Nations
entities and financial institutions, to support the development and strengthening of
the capacities of national institutions, in particular of judicial and health systems,
and of local civil society networks in order to provide sustainable assistance to
women and girls affected by armed conflict and post-conflict situations;
12. Calls upon Member States to comply with their relevant obligations to
end to impunity and to thoroughly investigate and prosecute persons responsible for
war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or other serious violations of
international humanitarian law; and further notes that the fight against impunity for
the most serious crimes of international concern against women and girls has been
strengthened through the work of the International Criminal Court, ad hoc and
mixed tribunals, as well as specialized chambers in national tribunals;
13. Recalls in this regard applicable provisions of international law on the
right to reparations for violations of individual rights;
14. Urges Member States and United Nations entities, to ensure women’s full
and meaningful participation in efforts to combat and eradicate the illicit transfer
and misuse of small arms and light weapons;
15. Reiterates its intention to convene a High-level Review in 2015 to assess
progress at the global, regional and national levels in implementing resolution 1325
(2000), renew commitments, and address obstacles and constraints that have
emerged in the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000); further recognizes with
concern that without a significant implementation shift, women and women’s

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perspectives will continue to be underrepresented in conflict prevention, resolution,

protection and peacebuilding for the foreseeable future, and as such encourages
those Member States, regional organizations as appropriate, and United Nations
entities who have developed frameworks and plans to support the implementation of
resolution 1325 (2000) to start reviewing existing implementation plans and targets,
and for Member States to assess and accelerate progress and prepare to formulate
new targets, in time for the 2015 High-level Review;
16. Invites the Secretary-General, in preparation for the High-level Review
to commission a global study on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000),
highlighting good practice examples, implementation gaps and challenges, as well
as emerging trends and priorities for action, and further invites the Secretary-
General to submit, within his annual report to the Security Council in 2015, on the
results of this study and to make this available to all Member States of the United
Nations;
17. Expresses its intention to make the implementation of the Council’s
women, peace and security mandate a focus of one of its periodic field visits in
advance of the 2015 High-level Review;
18. Requests that the Secretary-General continue to submit annual reports to
the Council providing a progress update on the implementation of resolution 1325
(2000) and to submit his next report by October 2014 and to include in that report an
update of progress across all areas of the women, peace and security agenda,
highlighting gaps and challenges;
19. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

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Appendix J: CEDAW General Recommendation Number 30

United Nations CEDAW/C/GC/30

Convention on the Elimination Distr.: General
of All Forms of Discrimination 18 October 2013

against Women
Original: English

ADVANCE UNEDITED VERSION

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination

against Women

General recommendation No. 30 on women in conflict

prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations

Contents
Page

I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
II. Scope of the general recommendation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
III. Application of the Convention to conflict prevention, conflict and post -conflict situations . . . 3
A. Territorial and extraterritorial application of the Convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
B. Application of the Convention to State and non-State actors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
C. Complementarity of the Convention and international humanitarian, refugee and
criminal law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
D. Convention and the Security Council agenda on women, peace and security . . . . . . . . . . 7
IV. Convention and conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
A. Women and conflict prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
B. Women in conflict and post-conflict contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
V. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
A. Monitoring and reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
B. Treaty ratification or accession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

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I. Introduction
1. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women decided
at its forty-seventh session, in 2010, pursuant to article 21 of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, to adopt a general
recommendation on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post -conflict
situations. The primary aim and purpose of the general recommendation is to
provide authoritative guidance to States parties on legislative, policy and other
appropriate measures to ensure full compliance with their obligations under the
Convention to protect, respect and fulfil women’s human right s. It also builds upon
principles articulated in previously adopted general recommendations.
2. Protecting women’s human rights at all times, advancing substantive gender
equality before, during and after conflict and ensuring that women’s diverse
experiences are fully integrated into all peacebuilding, peacemaking, and
reconstruction processes are important objectives of the Convention. The Committee
reiterates that States parties’ obligations continue to apply during conflict or states
of emergency without discrimination between citizens and non-citizens within their
territory or effective control, even if not situated within the territory of the State
party. The Committee has repeatedly expressed concern about the gendered impacts
of conflict and women’s exclusion from conflict prevention efforts, post-conflict
transition and reconstruction processes and the fact that reports of States parties do
not provide sufficient information on the application of the Convention in such
situations.
3. The general recommendation specifically guides States parties on the
implementation of their obligation of due diligence in respect of acts of private
individuals or entities that impair the rights enshrined in the Convention, and makes
suggestions as to how non-State actors can address women’s rights in conflict-
affected areas.

II. Scope of the general recommendation

4. The general recommendation covers the application of the Convention to
conflict prevention, international and non-international armed conflicts, situations of
foreign occupation, as well as other forms of occupation and the post-conflict phase.
In addition, the recommendation covers other situations of concern, such as internal
disturbances, protracted and low-intensity civil strife, political strife, ethnic and
communal violence, states of emergency and suppression of mass uprisings, war
against terrorism and organized crime, that may not necessarily be classified as
armed conflict under international humanitarian law and which result in serious
violations of women’s rights and are of particular concern to the Committee. For the
purpose of this general recommendation, the phases of conflict and post -conflict
have at times been divided as they can encompass different challenges and
opportunities for addressing the human rights of women and girls. However, the
Committee notes that the transition from conflict to post -conflict is often not linear
and can involve cessations of conflict and then slippages back into conflict – a cycle
that can continue for long periods of time.
5. Such situations are closely linked to crises of internal displacement,
statelessness and the struggle of refugee populations with repatriation processes. In
that respect, the Committee reiterates its observation in general recommen dation

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No. 28 (2010) that States parties continue to be responsible for all their actions
affecting the human rights of citizens and non-citizens, internally displaced persons,
refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons, within their territory or effective
control, even if not situated within their territory.
6. Women are not a homogenous group and their experiences of conflict and
specific needs in post-conflict contexts are diverse. Women are not passive
bystanders or only victims or targets. They have historically and continue to have a
role as combatants, as part of organized civil society, human rights defenders,
members of resistance movements and as active agents in both formal and informal
peacebuilding and recovery processes. States parties must address all aspects of
their obligations under the Convention to eliminate discrimination against women.
7. Discrimination against women is also compounded by intersecting forms of
discrimination as noted in general recommendation No. 28 (2010). As the
Convention reflects a life-cycle approach, States parties are also required to address
the rights and distinct needs of conflict-affected girls that arise from gender-based
discrimination.

III. Application of the Convention to conflict prevention,

conflict and post-conflict situations
A. Territorial and extraterritorial application of the Convention

8. The Committee reiterates general recommendation No. 28 (2010) to the effect

that the obligations of States parties also apply extraterritorially t o persons within
their effective control, even if not situated within the territory, and that States parties
are responsible for all their actions affecting human rights, regardless of whether the
affected persons are in their territory.
9. In conflict and post-conflict situations, States parties are bound to apply the
Convention and other international human rights and humanitarian law when they
exercise territorial or extraterritorial jurisdiction, whether individually, for example
in unilateral military action, or as members of international or intergovernmental
organizations and coalitions, for example as part of an international peacekeeping
force. The Convention applies to a wide range of situations, including wherever a
State exercises jurisdiction, such as occupation and other forms of administration of
foreign territory, for example United Nations administration of territory; to national
contingents that form part of an international peacekeeping or peace -enforcement
operation; to persons detained by agents of a State, such as the military or
mercenaries, outside its territory; to lawful or unlawful military actions in another
State; to bilateral or multilateral donor assistance for conflict prevention and
humanitarian aid, mitigation or post-conflict reconstruction; in involvement as third
parties in peace or negotiation processes; and in the formation of trade agreements
with conflict-affected countries.
10. The Convention also requires States parties to regulate the activities of
domestic non-State actors, within their effective control, who operate
extraterritorially. The Committee reaffirmed in its general recommendation No. 28
(2010) the requirement in article 2 (e) of the Convention to eliminate discrimination
by any public or private actor, which extends to acts of national corporations
operating extraterritorially. That would include cases in which national corporations
extend loans to projects in conflict-affected areas that lead to forced evictions and
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which call for the establishment of accountability and oversight mechanisms for
private security and other contractors operating in conflict zones.
11. There may be cases in which States parties also have extraterritorial
obligations of international cooperation, as set out in international law, such as
treaty law on women with disabilities (art. 32 of the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities), girls in armed conflict (art. 24 (4) of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child and the first two optional protocols thereto) and the
non-discriminatory enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights (arts. 2 (1),
11 (1), 22 and 23 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights). In such cases, the extraterritorial application of the Convention requires
States to comply with the Convention in implementing those obligations.
12. The Committee recommends that the State parties:
(a) Apply the Convention and other international human rights instruments
and humanitarian law comprehensively in the exercise of territorial or
extraterritorial jurisdiction whether acting individually or as members of
international or intergovernmental organizations and coalitions;
(b) Regulate the activities of all domestic non-State actors, within their
effective control, who operate extraterritorially and ensure full respect of the
Convention by them;
(c) Respect, protect and fulfil the rights guaranteed by the Convention,
which applies extraterritorially, as occupying power, in situations of foreign
occupation.

B. Application of the Convention to State and non-State actors

13. Women’s rights in conflict prevention, conflict and post -conflict processes are
affected by various actors, including States acting individually (e.g., as the State
within whose borders the conflict arises, neighbouring States involved in the
regional dimensions of the conflict or States involved in unilateral cross -border
military manoeuvres) as well as States acting as members of international or
intergovernmental organizations (e.g., by contributing t o international peacekeeping
forces or as donors giving money through international financial institutions to
support peace processes) and coalitions and non-State actors, such as armed groups,
paramilitaries, corporations, private military contractors, organized criminal groups
and vigilantes. In conflict and post-conflict contexts, State institutions are often
weakened or certain government functions may be performed by other
Governments, intergovernmental organizations or even non-State groups. The
Committee stresses that, in such cases, there may be simultaneous and
complementary sets of obligations under the Convention for a range of involved
actors.
14. State responsibility under the Convention also arises if a non -State actor’s acts
or omission may be attributed to the State under international law. When a State
party is acting as a member of an international organization in conflict prevention,
conflict or post-conflict processes, the State party remains responsible for its
obligations under the Convention within its territory and extraterritorially and also
has a responsibility to adopt measures to ensure that the policies and decisions of
those organizations conform to its obligations under the Convention.

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15. The Committee has also repeatedly stressed that the Convention requires
States parties to regulate non-State actors under the duty to protect, such that States
must exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, punish and ensure redress for
the acts of private individuals or entities that imp air the rights enshrined in the
Convention. In its general recommendations Nos. 19 (1992) and 28 (2010), the
Committee has outlined due diligence obligations in protecting women from
violence and discrimination, emphasizing that, alongside constitutional a nd
legislative measures, States parties must also provide adequate administrative and
financial support for the implementation of the Convention.
16. In addition to requiring States parties to regulate non-State actors, international
humanitarian law contains relevant obligations that bind non-State actors, as parties
to an armed conflict (e.g., insurgents and rebel groups) such as in common article 3
of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Protocol additional to the Geneva
Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the protection of victims of
non-international armed conflicts. Under international human rights law, although
non-State actors cannot become parties to the Convention, the Committee notes that
under certain circumstances, in particular where an armed group with an identifiable
political structure exercises significant control over territory and population,
non-State actors are obliged to respect international human rights. The Committee
emphasizes that gross violations of human rights and serious violations of
humanitarian law could entail individual criminal responsibility, including for
members and leaders of non-State armed groups and private military contractors.
17. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Ensure redress for the acts of private individuals or entities, as part of
their due diligence obligation;
(b) Reject all forms of rollbacks in women’s rights protections in order to
appease non-State actors such as terrorists, private individuals or armed groups;
(c) Engage with non-State actors to prevent human rights abuses related to
their activities in conflict-affected areas, in particular all forms of gender-based
violence; provide adequate assistance to business enterprises to assess and address
the heightened risks of abuses, paying special attention to gender-based violence;
and establish an effective accountability mechanism;
(d) Use gender-sensitive practices (e.g., use of female police officers) in the
investigation of violations during and after conflict to ensure that violations by State
and non-State actors are identified and addressed.
18. The Committee also urges non-State actors such as armed groups:
(a) To respect women’s rights in conflict and post-conflict situations, in line
with the Convention;
(b) To commit themselves to abide by codes of conduct on human rights and
the prohibition of all forms of gender-based violence.

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C. Complementarity of the Convention and international

humanitarian, refugee and criminal law

19. In all crisis situations, whether non-international or international armed

conflict, public emergencies or foreign occupation or other situations of concern,
such as political strife, women’s rights are guaranteed by an international law
regime that consists of complementary protections under the Convention and
international humanitarian, refugee and criminal law.
20. In situations that meet the threshold definition of non-international or
international armed conflict, the Convention and international humanitarian law
apply concurrently and their different protections are complementary, not mutually
exclusive. Under international humanitarian law, women affected by armed conflicts
are entitled to general protections that apply to both women and men and to some
limited specific protections, primarily protection against rape, forced prostitution
and any other form of indecent assault; priority in distribution of relief consignment
to expectant mothers, maternity cases and nursing mothers in international armed
conflict; detention in separate quarters from men and under the immediate
supervision of women; and protection from the death penalty for pregnant women or
mothers of dependent or young children.
21. International humanitarian law also imposes obligations upon occupying
powers that apply concurrently with the Convention and other international human
rights law. International humanitarian law also prohibits a State from transferring
part of its own civilian population into the territory that it occupies. Under
international humanitarian law, women under occupation are entitled to general
protections and the following specific protections: protection against rape, forced
prostitution or any other form of indecent assault; free passage of consignments of
essential clothing intended for expectant mothers and maternity cases; safety or
neutralized zones that may be established to shield the civilian population, including
in particular expectant mothers and mothers of children under 7 years of age; and
detention in separate quarters from men and under the immediate supervision of
women. Women civilian internees must receive sanitary conveniences and be
searched by women.
22. The provisions of the Convention prohibiting discrimination against women
reinforce and complement the international legal protection regime for refugees,
displaced and stateless women and girls in many settings, especially as explicit
gender equality provisions are absent in relevant international agreements, notably
the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees and its 1967 Protocol.
23. Under the Convention, States parties’ obligations to prevent, investigate and
punish trafficking and sexual and gender-based violence are reinforced by
international criminal law, including jurisprudence of the internation al and mixed
criminal tribunals and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
pursuant to which enslavement in the course of trafficking in women and girls, rape,
sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization or any
other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity may constitute a war crime, a
crime against humanity or an act of torture, or constitute an act of genocide.
International criminal law, including, in particular, the definitions of gender -based
violence, in particular sexual violence must also be interpreted consistently with the

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Convention and other internationally recognized human rights instruments without

adverse distinction as to gender.
24. The Committee recommends that State parties:
(a) Give due consideration to the complementary protections for women and
girls stemming from international humanitarian, refugee and criminal law, when
implementing their obligations under the Convention.

D. Convention and the Security Council agenda on women, peace

and security

25. The Committee recognizes that the various thematic resolutions of the Security
Council, in particular 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960
(2010) and 2106 (2013), in addition to resolutions such as 1983 (2011), which
provides specific guidance on the impact of HIV and AIDS on women in conflict
and post-conflict contexts, are crucial political frameworks for advancing advocacy
regarding women, peace and security.
26. As all the areas of concern addressed in those resolutions find expression in
the substantive provisions of the Convention, their implementation must be
premised on a model of substantive equality and cover all rights enshrined in the
Convention. The Committee reiterates the need for a concerted and integrated
approach that places the implementation of the Security Council agenda on women,
peace and security into the broader framework of the implementation of the
Convention and its Optional Protocol.
27. The Convention contains a reporting procedure, under article 18, by which
States parties are required to report on measures that they have adopted to
implement the provisions of the Convention, including in conflict prevention,
conflict and post-conflict situations. Using the reporting procedure to include
information on the implementation of Security Council commitments can
consolidate the Convention and the Council’s agenda and therefore bro aden,
strengthen and operationalize gender equality.
28. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Ensure that national action plans and strategies to implement Security
Council resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions are compliant with the
Convention, and that adequate budgets are allocated for their implementation;
(b) Ensure that the implementation of Security Council commitments reflects
a model of substantive equality and takes into account the impact of conflict and
post-conflict contexts on all rights enshrined in the Convention, in addition to those
violations concerning conflict-related gender-based violence, including sexual
violence;
(c) Cooperate with all United Nations networks, departments, agencies,
funds and programmes in relation to the full spectrum of conflict processes,
including conflict prevention, conflict, conflict resolution and post -conflict
reconstruction to give effect to the provisions of the Convention;
(d) Enhance collaboration with civil society and non-governmental
organizations working on the implementation of the Security Council agenda on
women, peace and security.

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IV. Convention and conflict prevention, conflict and

post-conflict situations
A. Women and conflict prevention

29. Obligations under the Convention require States parties to focus on the
prevention of conflict and all forms of violence. Such conflict prevention includes
effective early warning systems to collect and analyse open -source information,
preventive diplomacy and mediation, and prevention efforts that tackle the root
causes of conflict. It also includes robust and effective regulation of the arms trade,
in addition to appropriate control over the circulation of existing an d often illicit
conventional arms, including small arms, to prevent their use to commit or facilitate
serious acts of gender-based violence. There is a correlation between the increased
prevalence of gender-based violence and discrimination and the outbreak of conflict.
For example, rapid increases in the prevalence of sexual violence can serve as an
early warning of conflict. Accordingly, efforts to eliminate gender-based violations
also contribute in the long term to preventing conflict, its escalation an d the
recurrence of violence in the post-conflict phase.
30. The importance of conflict prevention for women’s rights notwithstanding,
conflict prevention efforts often exclude women’s experiences as not relevant for
predicting conflict, and women’s participation in conflict prevention is low. The
Committee has previously noted the low participation of women in institutions
working on preventative diplomacy and on global issues such as military
expenditure and nuclear disarmament. In addition to falling sho rt of the Convention,
such gender-blind conflict prevention measures cannot adequately predict and
prevent conflict. It is only by including female stakeholders and using a gendered
analysis of conflict that States parties can design appropriate responses.
31. The Convention requires that prevention policies be non-discriminatory and
that efforts to prevent or mitigate conflict neither voluntarily or inadvertently harm
women nor create or reinforce gender inequality. Interventions by centralized
Governments or third-party States in local peace processes should respect rather
than undermine women’s leadership and peacekeeping roles at the local level.
32. The Committee has previously noted that the proliferation of conventional
arms, especially small arms, including diverted arms from the legal trade, can have a
direct or indirect effect on women as victims of conflict -related gender-based
violence, as victims of domestic violence and also as protestors or actors in
resistance movements.
33. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Reinforce and support women’s formal and informal conflict prevention
efforts;
(b) Ensure women’s equal participation in national, regional and
international organizations, as well as in informal, local or community-based
processes charged with preventive diplomacy;
(c) Establish early warning systems and adopt gender-specific security
measures to prevent the escalation of gender-based violence and other violations of
women’s rights;

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(d) Include gender-related indicators and benchmarks in the early warning

system’s result management framework;
(e) Address the gendered impact of international transfers of arms,
especially small and illicit arms including through the ratification and
implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty (2013).

B. Women in conflict and post-conflict contexts

1. Gender-based violence (arts. 1-3 and 5 (a))

34. Violence against women and girls is a form of discrimination prohibited by the
Convention and is a violation of human rights. Conflicts exacerbate existing gender
inequalities, placing women at a heightened risk of various forms of gender-based
violence by both State and non-State actors. Conflict-related violence happens
everywhere, such as in homes, detention facilities and camps for in ternally
displaced women and refugees; it happens at any time, for instance while
performing daily activities such as collecting water and firewood, going to school or
work. There are multiple perpetrators of conflict-related gender-based violence and
these may include members of government armed forces, paramilitary groups, non-
State armed groups, peacekeeping personnel and civilians. Irrespective of the
character of the armed conflict, duration or actors involved, women and girls are
increasingly deliberately targeted for and subjected to various forms of violence and
abuse, ranging from arbitrary killings, torture and mutilation, sexual violence,
forced marriage, forced prostitution and forced impregnation to forced termination
of pregnancy and sterilization.
35. It is indisputable that, while all civilians are adversely affected by armed
conflict, women and girls are primarily and increasingly targeted by the use of
sexual violence, “including as a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instil fear in,
disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group”
and that this form of sexual violence persists even after the cessation of hostilities
(Security Council resolution 1820 (2008)). For most women in post-conflict
environments, the violence does not stop with the official ceasefire or the signing of
the peace agreement and often increases in the post-conflict setting. The Committee
acknowledges the many reports confirming that, while the forms and sites of
violence change, which means that there may no longer be State-sponsored
violence, all forms of gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence escalate
in the post-conflict setting. The failure to prevent, investigate and punish all forms
of gender-based violence, in addition to other factors such as ineffective
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes, can also lead to further
violence against women in post-conflict periods.
36. During and after conflict specific groups of women and girls are at particular
risk of violence, especially sexual violence, such as internally displaced and refugee
women; women’s human rights defenders; women belonging to diverse caste,
ethnic, national, religious or other minorities or identities who are often attacked as
symbolic representatives of their community; widows; and women with disabilities.
Female combatants and women in the military are also vulnerable to sexual assault
and harassment by State and non-State armed groups and resistance movements.
37. Gender-based violence also leads to multiple additional human rights
violations, such as attacks on women’s rights defenders by State and non-State,
which undermine women’s equal and meaningful participation in political and
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public life. Conflict-related gender-based violence results in a vast range of physical

and psychological consequences for women, such as injuries and disabilities,
increased risk of HIV infection and risk of unwanted pregnancy resulting from
sexual violence. There is a strong association between gender-based violence and
HIV, including the deliberate transmission of HIV, used as a weapon of war, through
rape.
38. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Prohibit all forms of gender-based violence by State and non-State actors
including through legislation, policies and protocols;
(b) Prevent, investigate and punish all forms of gender-based violence, in
particular sexual violence perpetrated by State and non-State actors; and implement
a policy of zero tolerance;
(c) Ensure women’s and girls’ access to justice; adopt gender-sensitive
investigative procedures to address sexual and gender-based violence; conduct
gender-sensitive training and adopt codes of conduct and protocols for the police,
the military, including peacekeepers; build the capacity of the judiciary, including in
the context of transitional justice mechanisms to ensure their independence,
impartiality and integrity;
(d) Collect and standardized data collection methods on the incidence and
prevalence of gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence in different
settings and against different categories of women;
(e) Allocate adequate resources and adopt effective measures to ensure that
victims of gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence have access to
comprehensive medical treatment, mental health care and psychosocial support;
(f) Develop and disseminate standard operating procedures and referral
pathways to link security actors with service providers on gender-based violence,
including one-stop shops offering medical, legal and psychosocial services for
sexual violence survivors, multipurpose community centres that link immediate
assistance to economic and social empowerment and reintegration, and mobile
clinics;
(g) Invest in technical expertise and allocate resources to address the distinct
needs of women and girls subject to violence, including the impact of sexual
violence on their reproductive health.
(h) Ensure that national responses include specific interventions linking and
aligning the prevention and response to gender-based violence and HIV.

2. Trafficking (art. 6)
39. Trafficking in women and girls which constitutes gender-based discrimination,
is exacerbated during and after the conflict, owing to the breakdown of political,
economic and social structures, high levels of violence and increased militarism.
Conflict and post-conflict situations develop particular war related demand
structures for women’s sexual, economic and military exploitation. Conflict-affected
regions can be areas of origin, transit and destination with regard to trafficking in
women and girls with the forms of trafficking varying by region, specific economic
and political context and State and non-State actors involved. Women and girls

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living in or returning from camps for internally displaced persons or refugees or

searching for livelihoods are particularly at risk of trafficking.
40. Trafficking may also occur when third-party countries seek to restrict migrant
influxes out of conflict-affected areas through measures such as interdiction,
expulsion or detention. Restrictive, sex-specific or discriminatory migration policies
that limit opportunities for women and girls fleeing from conflict zones may
heighten their vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking.
41. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Prevent, prosecute and punish trafficking and related human rights
violations that occur under their jurisdiction, whether perpetrated by public
authorities or private actors, and adopt specific protection measures for women and
girls, including those internally displaced and refugees;
(b) Adopt a policy of zero tolerance based on international human rights
standards on trafficking and sexual exploitation and abuse, which also addresses
national troops, peacekeeping forces; border police, immigration officials and
humanitarian actors; and provide them with gender-sensitive training on how to
identify and protect vulnerable women and girls;
(c) Adopt a comprehensive gender-sensitive and rights-based migration
policy that ensures that women and girls coming from conflict -affected areas are not
subject to trafficking;
(d) Adopt bilateral or regional agreements and other forms of cooperation to
protect the rights of trafficked women and girls, and to facilitate prosecution of
perpetrators.

3. Participation (arts. 7-8)

42. While women often take on leadership roles during conflict as heads of
households, peacemakers, political leaders and combatants, the Committee has
repeatedly expressed concern that their voices are silenced and marginalized in post-
conflict and transition periods and recovery processes. The Committee reaffirms that
the inclusion of a critical mass of women in international negotiations, peacekeeping
activities, all levels of preventive diplomacy, mediation, humanitarian assistance,
social reconciliation, peace negotiations at the national, regional and international
levels as well as in the criminal justice system can make a difference. At the
national level, women’s equal, meaningful and effective participation in the various
branches of government, their appointment to leadership positions in government
sectors and their ability to participate as active members of civil society are
prerequisites for creating a society with lasting democr acy, peace and gender
equality.
43. The immediate aftermath of conflict can provide a strategic opportunity for
States parties to adopt legislative and policy measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in the political and public life of the count ry and to ensure that
women have equal opportunities to participate in the new, post -conflict structures of
governance. However, in many cases, at the official cessation of hostilities, the
promotion of gender equality and women’s participation in decision -making
processes is not seen as a priority and may even be side -lined as incompatible with
stabilization goals. The full participation and involvement of women in formal
peacemaking and post-conflict reconstruction and socioeconomic development are
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often not realized on account of deeply entrenched stereotypes, reflected in the

traditionally male leadership of State and non-State groups, which exclude women
from all aspects of decision-making, in addition to gender-based violence and other
forms of discrimination against women.
44. The fulfilment of States parties’ obligations to ensure women’s equal
representation in political and public life (art. 7) and at the international level (art. 8)
requires measures, including temporary special measures under ar ticle 4 (1), to
address this broader context of gender discrimination and inequality in conflict -
affected areas, in addition to the specific and multiple barriers to women’s equal
participation that are linked to additional conflict-related restrictions on mobility,
security, fundraising, campaigning and technical skills.
45. The implementation of these obligations apply in particular to States parties on
whose territory hostilities have occurred, in addition to other States parties involved
in peacemaking processes that are required to ensure that women are represented in
their own institutions and to support local women’s participation in peace processes.
Their implementation, in conjunction with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000)
on women, peace and security, guarantee women’s meaningful participation in
processes relating to the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.
46. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Ensure that legislative, executive, administrative and other regulatory
instruments do not restrict women’s participation in the prevention, management
and resolution of conflicts;
(b) Ensure women’s equal representation at all decision-making levels in
national institutions and mechanisms, including in the armed forces, police , justice
institutions and the transitional justice mechanisms (judicial and non-judicial)
dealing with crimes committed during the conflict;
(c) Ensure that women and civil society organizations focused on women’s
issues and representatives of civil society are included equally in all peace
negotiations and post-conflict rebuilding and reconstruction efforts;
(d) Provide leadership training to women in order to ensure their effective
participation in the post-conflict political processes.
47. The Committee recommends to third-party States participating in conflict-
resolution processes, either individually or as members of international
organizations, to:
(a) Include women in negotiation and mediation activities as delegates,
including at senior levels;
(b) Provide technical assistance on conflict-resolution processes to countries
emerging from conflict so as to promote women’s effective participation.

4. Access to education, employment and health, and rural women (arts. 10-12, 14)
48. The total breakdown of State public and service provision infrastructure is one
of the major and direct consequences of armed conflict, resulting in the lack of
delivery of essential services to the population. In such situations, women and girls
are at the front line of suffering, bearing the brunt of the socioeconomic dimensions.
In conflict-affected areas, schools are closed owing to insecurity, occupied by State
and non-State armed groups or destroyed, all of which impede girls’ access to

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school. Other factors preventing girls’ access to education include targeted attacks
and threats to them and their teachers by non-State actors, as well as the additional
caregiving and household responsibilities which they are obliged to take on.
49. Likewise, women are forced to look for alternative sources of livelihood as
family survival comes to depend heavily on them. Even though during conflict
women take on roles previously held by men in the formal employment sector, it is
not uncommon for women, in the post-conflict settings, to lose formal-sector jobs
and return to the household or to the informal sector during post -conflict settings.
While in post-conflict settings, the generation of employment is a top priority for
building a sustainable post-conflict economy, formal-sector employment generation
initiatives tend to neglect women as they focus on economic opportunities for
demobilized men. It is imperative that post-conflict reconstruction programmes
value and support women’s contributions in the informal and reproductive areas of
the economy where most economic activity occurs.
50. In conflict affected areas access to essential services such as health care,
including sexual and reproductive health services are disrupted due to inadequate
infrastructure, lack of professional medical care workers, basic medicines and health
care supplies. Consequently, women and girls are at a greater risk of unplanned
pregnancy, severe sexual and reproductive injuries and contracting sexually
transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS, as a result of conflict -related
sexual violence. The breakdown or destruction of health services, combined with
restrictions on women’s mobility and freedom of movement, further undermines
women’s equal access to health care, as guaranteed by article 12 (1 ). Power
imbalances and harmful gender norms make girls and women disproportionately
more vulnerable to HIV infection and these factors become more pronounced during
conflict and post-conflict settings. HIV-related stigma and discrimination is also
pervasive and have profound implications for HIV prevention, treatment, care and
support, especially when combined with stigma associated with gender-based
violence.
51. Rural women are often disproportionately affected by the lack of adequate
health and social services and inequitable access to land and natural resources.
Similarly, their situation in conflict settings presents particular challenges with
regard to their employment and reintegration as it is often exacerbated by the
breakdown of services, resulting in food insecurity, inadequate shelter, deprivation
of property and lack of access to water. Widows, women with disabilities, older
women, single women without family support and female -headed households are
especially vulnerable to increased economic hardship owing to their disadvantaged
situation, and often lack employment and means and opportunities for economic
survival.
52. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Develop programmes for conflict-affected girls who leave school
prematurely so that they can be reintegrated into schools/universities as soon as
possible; engage in the prompt repair and reconstruction of school infrastructure;
take measures to prevent the occurrence of attacks and threats against girls and their
teachers; and ensure that perpetrators of such acts of violence are promptly
investigated, prosecuted and punished;
(b) Ensure that economic recovery strategies promote gender equality as a
necessary pre-condition for a sustainable post-conflict economy, and target women
working in both the formal and the informal employment sectors; design specific
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interventions to leverage opportunities for women’s economic empowerment, in

particular for rural women and other disadvantaged groups of women; ensure that
women are involved in the design of those strategies and programmes and in their
monitoring; and effectively address all barriers to women’s equitable participation in
those programmes;
(c) Ensure that sexual and reproductive health care includes access to sexual
and reproductive health and rights information; psychosocial support; family
planning services, including emergency contraception; maternal health services,
including antenatal care, skilled delivery services, prevention of vertical
transmission and emergency obstetric care; safe abortion services; post -abortion
care; prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted
infections, including post-exposure prophylaxis; and care to treat injuries such as
fistula arising from sexual violence, complications of delivery or other reproductive
health complications, among others;
(d) Ensure that women and girls, including those who may be particularly
vulnerable to HIV, have access to basic health services and information, including
HIV prevention, treatment, care and support;
(e) Coordinate all activities with stakeholders from the humanitarian and
development communities to ensure a comprehensive approach that does not
duplicate efforts in the fields of education, employment and health and reaches
disadvantaged populations, including in remote and rural areas.

5. Displacement, refugees and asylum-seekers (arts. 1-3 and 15)

53. The Committee has previously noted that the Convention applies at every
stage of the displacement cycle and that situations of forced displacement and
statelessness often affect women differently from men and include gender -based
discrimination and violence. Internal and external displacement have specific gender
dimensions that occur at all stages in the displacement cycle; during flight,
settlement and return within conflict-affected areas, women and girls are especially
vulnerable to forced displacement. In addition, they are often subjected to gross
human rights violations during flight and in the displacement phase, as well as
within and outside camp settings, including risks relating to sexual violence,
trafficking and the recruitment of girls into armed forces and rebel groups.
54. Displaced women live in precarious conditions in conflict and post-conflict
environments due to their unequal access to education, income generation and skills
training activities, poor reproductive health care, exclusion from decision-making
processes which are exacerbated by male-dominated leadership structures, poor
camp layout and infrastructure both in camp and non-camp settings. This situation
of dire poverty and inequality can lead them to exchange sexual favours for money,
shelter, food or other goods under circumstances that make them vulnerable to
exploitation and violence as well as to HIV infection and other sexually transmitted
diseases.
55. Refugee women have different and additional needs than men through their
experience as refugees. Refugee women face similar assista nce and protection
concerns to internally displaced women and could therefore benefit from similar
gender-sensitive interventions to address their needs. The Committee acknowledges
the diversity within these groups, the particular challenges they may face and the
legal, social and other implications of the context of their displacement (internal

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versus external), the gaps in the international assistance provided to them and the
need for targeted responses to their needs.
56. Searches for durable solutions following conflict-related displacement
frequently exclude the perspective of displaced women, either because they rely on
decision-making by a family member or community in which women’s voices are
marginalized or because durable solutions are set as part of post-conflict processes
that exclude women. In addition, female asylum seekers from conflict -affected areas
can face gendered barriers to asylum, as their narrative may not fit the traditional
patterns of persecution, which have been largely articulated from a male
perspective.
57. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Take the preventive measures necessary to ensure protection against
forced displacement, as well as the protection of the human rights of displaced
women and girls, including access to basic services, during flight, displacement and
in the context of durable solutions;
(b) Address the specific risks and particular needs of different groups of
internally displaced and refugee women, subjected to multiple and intersecting
forms of discrimination, including women with disabilities, older women, girls,
widows, women who head households, pregnant women, women living with
HIV/AIDS, rural women, indigenous women, women belonging to ethnic, national,
sexual or religious minorities, and women human rights defenders;
(c) Promote the meaningful inclusion and participation of internally
displaced and refugee women in all decision-making processes, including in all
aspects related to the planning and implementation of assistance programm es and
camp management, decisions relating to the choice of durable solutions and
processes related to post-conflict processes;
(d) Provide protection and assistance for internally displaced and refugee
women and girls, including by safeguarding them fro m gender-based violence,
including forced and child marriage; ensure their equal access to services and health
care and full participation in the distribution of supplies, as well as in the
development and implementation of assistance programmes that take into account
their specific needs; provide protection against the displacement of indigenous, rural
and minority women with special dependency on land; and ensure education and
income generation and skill training activities are available;
(e) Adopt practical measures for the protection and prevention of gender-
based violence, as well as mechanisms for accountability, in all displacement
settings (whether in camps, settlements or out-of-camp settings);
(f) Investigate and prosecute all instances of gender-based discrimination
and violence that occur in all phases of the conflict-related displacement cycle;
(g) Provide internally displaced and refugee women and girl victims of
gender-based violence, including sexual violence with free and immediate acce ss to
medical services, legal assistance and a safe environment; provide access to female
health-care providers and services, such as reproductive health care and appropriate
counselling; and ensure that military and civilian authorities present in displac ement
contexts have received appropriate training on protection challenges, human rights
and the needs of displaced women;

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(h) Ensure that immediate humanitarian assistance needs and protection

requirements are complemented with long-term strategies in support of internally
displaced and refugee women’s socioeconomic rights and livelihood opportunities,
enhanced leadership and participation in order to empower them to choose the
durable solutions that suit their needs;
(i) Ensure that all situations of massive influx of refugee and displaced
populations, including women and girls are adequately addressed and that their
protection and assistance needs are not impeded as a result of lack of clarity in the
mandates of international agencies or resource constraints.

6. Nationality and statelessness (arts. 1-3 and 9)

58. In addition to the heightened risks faced by internally displaced persons,
refugees and asylum seekers, conflict can also be both a cause and a consequence of
statelessness, rendering women and girls particularly vulnerable to various forms of
abuse in both the private and public domains. Statelessness can arise when a
woman’s experience of conflict intersects with discrimination with respect to
nationality rights, such as laws that require women to change nationality upon
marriage or its dissolution and that deny them the ability to pass on their nationality.
59. Women may be left stateless when they cannot prove nationality because
necessary documents such as identity documents and birth r egistration are either not
issued or are lost or destroyed in conflict and are not reissued in their names.
Statelessness may also result in situations where women are denied the ability to
pass on nationality to their children owing to gender discriminato ry nationality laws.
60. There are heightened risks of abuse faced by stateless women and girls in
times of conflict because they do not enjoy the protection that flows from
citizenship, including consular assistance, and also because many are undocumente d
and/or belong to ethnic, religious or linguistic minority populations. Statelessness
also results in the widespread denial of fundamental human rights and freedoms in
post-conflict periods: women may be denied access to health care, employment and
other socioeconomic and cultural rights as Governments restrict services to
nationals in times of increased resource constraints. Women deprived of a
nationality are also often excluded from political processes and from participating in
the new government and governance of their country, in violation of articles 7 and 8
of the Convention.
61. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Ensure that measures to prevent statelessness are applied to all women
and girls and address populations that are particularly susceptible to being rendered
stateless by conflict, such as female internally displaced persons, refugees, asylum
seekers and trafficked persons;
(b) Ensure that measures to protect stateless women and girls remain in place
before, during and after conflict;
(c) Guarantee conflict-affected women and girls equal rights to obtain
documents necessary for the exercise of their legal rights and the right to have such
documentation issued in their own names, and ensure the prompt issuance or
replacement of documents without imposing unreasonable conditions, such as
requiring displaced women and girls to return to their area of original residence to
obtain documents;

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(d) Ensure individual documentation, including in post-conflict migration

flows, of internally displaced women, refugee and asylum-seeking women and
separated and unaccompanied girls, and ensure the timely and equal registration of
all births, marriages and divorces.

7. Marriage and family relations (arts. 15-16)

62. Inequalities in marriage and family relations impact women’s experiences in
conflict and post-conflict situations. In such situations, women and girls may be
coerced into marriage to placate armed groups or because women’s post -conflict
poverty forces them to marry for financial security, affecting their rights to choose a
spouse and enter freely into marriage, as guaranteed by article 16 (1) (a) and 16 (1)
(b). During conflict girls are particularly susceptible to forced marriage, a harmful
practice which is increasingly used by armed groups. Families also force girls into
marriage due to poverty and a misconception that it may protect them against rape.
63. Equal access to property, as guaranteed by article 16 (1) (h), is particularly
critical in post-conflict situations, given that housing and land are crucial to
recovery efforts, in particular for women in female -headed households, the number
of which tends to rise in crisis owing to family separation and widowhood. Women’s
limited and unequal access to property becomes particularly damaging in
post-conflict situations, especially when displaced women who have lost husbands
or close male relatives return to their homes to find that they have no legal title to
their land and, as a result, no means of earning a livelihood.
64. Forced pregnancies, abortions or sterilization of women in conflict -affected
areas violate a myriad of women’s rights, including the right under article 16 (1) (e)
to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children.
65. The Committee reiterates its general recommendations No. 21 (1994) and No.
29 (2013) and further recommends that States parties:
(a) Prevent, investigate and punish gender-based violations such as forced
marriages, forced pregnancies, abortions or sterilization of women and girls in
conflict-affected areas;
(b) Adopt gender-sensitive legislation and policies that recognize the
particular disadvantages that women face in claiming their right to inheritance as
well as their land in post-conflict contexts, including the loss or destruction of land
deeds and other documentation owing to conflict.

8. Security sector reform and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration

66. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, which is part of the broader
security sector reform framework and is one of the first security initiatives, put in
place in post-conflict and transition periods. This notwithstanding, disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration programmes are rarely developed or implemented
in coordination with security sector reform initiatives. This lack of coordination
often undermines women’s rights, such as when amnesties are granted in order to
facilitate the reintegration of ex-combatants who have committed gender-based
violations into security sector positions. Women are also excluded from positions
within newly formed security sector institutions owing to a lack of planning and
coordination in security sector reform and disarmament, demobilization and
reintegration initiatives. The inadequate vetting processes further impedes gender-
sensitive security sector reform, which is key to developing non -discriminatory,

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gender-responsive security sector institutions that address the security needs of

women and girls, including disadvantaged groups.
67. At the end of conflict, women face particular challenges as female
ex-combatants and women and girls associated with armed groups as messengers,
cooks, medics, caregivers and forced labourers and wives. Disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration programmes, given the traditionally male structure
of armed groups, often do not respond to the distinct needs of women and girls, fail
to consult them and also exclude them. It is not uncommon for female
ex-combatants to be excluded from disarmament, demobilization and rein tegration
lists. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes also fail to
recognize the status of girls associated with armed groups by characterising them as
dependants rather than abductees, or by excluding those who did not have visible
combatant roles. Many female combatants suffer sexual and gender-based violence,
resulting in children born of rape, high levels of sexually transmitted diseases,
rejection or stigmatization by families and other trauma. Disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration programmes often fail to address their experiences
as well as the psychological trauma they have undergone. As a result they are unable
to successfully reintegrate into family and community life.
68. Even when women and girls are included in disar mament, demobilization and
reintegration processes, the support is inadequate, gender stereotyped and limits
their economic empowerment by providing skills development only in traditionally
female fields. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration progr ammes also fail
to deal with the psychosocial trauma that women and girls experience in conflict
and post-conflict situations. That in turn can cause further rights violations, given
that women’s social stigma, isolation and economic disempowerment can for ce
some women to remain in exploitative situations (such as with their captors) or
force them into new ones if they have to turn to illicit activities to provide for
themselves and their dependants.
69. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Develop and implement disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
programmes in coordination and within the framework of the security sector reform;
(b) Undertake gender-sensitive and gender-responsive security sector reform
that results in representative security sector institutions that address women’s
different security experiences and priorities; liaise with women and women’s
organizations;
(c) Ensure that security sector reform is subject to inclusive oversight and
accountability mechanisms with sanctions, which includes the vetting of
ex-combatants; establish specialized protocols and units to investigate gender -based
violations; and strengthen gender expertise and the role of women in oversight of
the security sector,
(d) Ensure women’s equal participation in all stages of disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration, from negotiation of peace agreements and
establishment of national institutions to the design and implementation of
programmes;
(e) Ensure that disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes
specifically target female combatants and women and girls associated with armed
groups as beneficiaries and that barriers to their equitable participation are

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addressed; and ensure that psychosocial and other support services are pro vided to
them;
(f) Ensure that disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes
specifically address women’s distinct needs in order to provide age and gender -
specific disarmament, demobilization and reintegration support, including by
addressing the specific concerns of young mothers and their children without
targeting them excessively and exposing them to further stigma.

9. Constitutional and electoral reform (arts. 1-5 (a), 7 and 15)

70. The post-conflict electoral reform and constitution-building process represents
a crucial opportunity to lay the foundations for gender equality in the transition
period and beyond. Both the process and substance of these reforms can set a
precedent for women’s participation in social, economic and politica l life in the
post-conflict period, in addition to providing a legal base from which women’s
rights advocates can demand other types of gender-responsive reform that unfolds in
transitional periods. The importance of a gender perspective in post -conflict
electoral and constitutional reform is also emphasized in Security Council resolution
1325 (2000).
71. During the constitution-drafting process, the equal and meaningful
participation of women is fundamental for the inclusion of constitutional guarantees
of women’s rights. States parties must ensure that the new constitution enshrines the
principle of equality between women and men and of non-discrimination, in line
with the Convention. In order for women to enjoy their human rights and
fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with men, it is important that they be given
an equal start, through the adoption of temporary special measures to accelerate de
facto equality.
72. Electoral reform and constitution-drafting processes in post-conflict contexts
pose a set of unique challenges to ensuring women’s participation and promoting
gender equality, as the designs of electoral systems are not always gender-neutral.
The electoral rules and procedures that determine which interest groups are
represented on constitution-building bodies and other electoral bodies in the post-
conflict era are critical in guaranteeing the role of women in public and political
life. Decisions on the choice of electoral systems are important to overcome the
traditional gender bias that undermines women’s participation. Substantive progress
towards the equal participation of women as candidates and voters as well as the
holding of free and fair elections will not be possible unless a number of appropriate
measures are taken, including a gender-responsive electoral system and the adoption
of temporary special measures to enhance women’s participation as candidates,
ensure a proper voter’s registration system and ensure that women voters and female
political candidates are not subject to violence either by State or private actors.
73. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Ensure women’s equal participation in constitution-drafting processes
and adopt gender-sensitive mechanisms for public participation and input into
constitution-drafting processes;
(b) Ensure that constitutional reform and other legislative reforms includes
women’s human rights under the Convention and the prohibition of discrimination
against women, which encompasses both direct and indirect discrimination in the

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public and private spheres, in line with article 1 of the Convention, and also
includes provisions prohibiting all forms of discrimination against women;
(c) Ensure that new constitutions provide for temporary special measures,
apply to citizens and non-citizens, and guarantee that women’s human rights are not
subject to derogation in states of emergency;
(d) Ensure that electoral reforms incorporate the principle of gender equality,
and guarantee women’s equal representation through the adoption of tempo rary
special measures such as quotas, including for disadvantaged groups of women;
adopt a proportional representation electoral system; regulate political parties; and
mandate electoral management bodies to ensure compliance through sanctions;
(e) Ensure the registration and voting of women voters, such as by allowing
postal balloting, where appropriate, and removing all barriers, including by ensuring
an adequate and accessible number of polling stations;
(f) Adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of violence that
undermine women’s participation, including targeted violence by State and non -
State groups against women campaigning for public office or women exercising
their right to vote.

10. Access to justice (arts. 1-3, 5 (a) and 15)

74. When conflict comes to an end, society is confronted with the complex task of
‘dealing with the past’ and this involves the need to hold human rights violators
accountable for their actions, putting an end to impunity, restoring the rule of law,
addressing all the needs of survivors through the provision of justice accompanied
by reparations. Challenges related to access to justice are especially aggravated and
acute in conflict and post-conflict situations as formal justice systems may no longer
exist or function with any level of efficiency or effectiveness. Existing justice
systems may often be more likely to violate women’s rights than to protect them and
this can deter victims from seeking justice. All barriers faced by women in accessing
justice before the national courts prior to the conflict, such as legal, procedural,
institutional, social and practical, and entrenched gender discrimination are
exacerbated during conflict, persist during the post-conflict period and operate
alongside the breakdown of the police and judicial structures to deny or hinder their
access to justice.
75. In the aftermath of conflict, transitional justice mechanisms are established
with the aim of addressing the legacy of human rights abuses, dealing with the root
causes of the conflict, facilitating the transition from conflict to democratic
governance, institutionalizing the State machinery designed to protect and advance
fundamental human rights and freedoms, delivering justice and ensuring
accountability for all violations of human rights and humanitarian law and ensuring
their non-repetition. To achieve these multiple objectives, temporary judicial and/or
non-judicial mechanisms including truth commissions and hybrid courts are often
instituted either to replace dysfunctional national judicial systems or to supplement
them.
76. The most egregious and pervasive violations which have occurred during
conflict, often remain unpunished in transitional justice mechanisms and are
‘normalized’ in the post-conflict environment. Despite efforts to strengthen and/or
complement domestic justice systems, transitional justice mechanisms have and
continue to fail women by not adequately delivering justice and reparations for all

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harms suffered, thereby entrenching the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of

women’s human rights violations. Transitional justice mechanisms have not
succeeded in fully addressing the gendered impact of conflict and in taking into
account the interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights violations
which have occurred during conflict. For most women, post -conflict justice
priorities should not be limited to ending violations of civil and political rights but
should include violations of all rights including economic, social and cultural rights.
77. States parties’ obligations under the Convention require them to address all
violations of women’s rights as well as the underlying structural sex and gender -
based discrimination that underpinned such violations. Besides providing redress to
women for gender-based violations suffered during conflict, transitional justice
mechanisms have the potential to secure a transformative change in women’s lives.
Given their important role in laying the foundation for the new society, these
mechanisms represent a unique opportunity for State parties to set the ground
towards the achievement of substantive gender equality by addressing pre -existing
and entrenched sex and gender-based discrimination which have impeded women’s
enjoyment of their rights under the Convention.
78. Although international tribunals have contributed to recognizing and
prosecuting gender-based crimes, a number of challenges remain to ensure women’s
access to justice and many procedural, institutional and social barriers continue to
prevent them from participating in international justice processes. Passive
acquiescence of past violence reinforces the culture of silence and stigmatization.
Reconciliation processes, such as truth and reconciliation commissions often
provide women survivors with an opportunity to deal with their past in a safe setting
and constitute official historical records, however, they should never be used as a
substitute for investigations into and prosecutions of perpetrators for human rights
violations committed against women and girls.
79. The Committee reiterates that State parties obligations also require them to
ensure women’s right to a remedy, which encompasses the right to adequate and
effective reparations for violations of their rights under the Convention. An
assessment of the gender dimension of the harm suffered is essential to ensure that
women are provided with adequate, effective and prompt reparations for violations
suffered during conflict, notwithstanding whether remedies are ordered by national
or international courts or by administrative reparation programmes. Rather than re -
establishing the situation that existed before the violations of women’s rights,
reparation measures should seek to transform the structural inequalities which led to
the violations of women’s rights, respond to women’s specific needs and prevent
their re-occurrence.
80. In many countries emerging from conflict, existing informal justice
mechanisms represent the only form of justice available for women and these can be
a valuable tool in the aftermath of conflict. However, given that the processes and
decisions of these mechanisms may discriminate against women, it is critical to
carefully consider their role in facilitating access to justice for women, such as
defining the type of violations that they will be addressing and the possibility to
challenge their decisions in the formal justice system.
81. The Committee recommends that States parties:
(a) Ensure a comprehensive approach to transitional justice mechanisms that
incorporates both judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, including truth

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commissions and reparations, which are gender sensitive and promote women’s
rights;
(b) Ensure that substantive aspects of transitional justice mechanisms
guarantee women’s access to justice, by mandating bodies to address all gender-
based violations and by rejecting amnesties for gender-based violations and by
ensuring compliance with the recommendations and/or decisions issued by
transitional justice mechanisms;
(c) Ensure that support for reconciliation processes do not result in blanket
amnesties for any human rights violations, especially sexual violence against
women and girls and ensure that such processes reinforce its efforts to combat
impunity for such crimes;
(d) Ensure that all forms of discrimination against women are prohibited
when re-establishing the rule of law, during legal reform and establish criminal,
civil and disciplinary sanctions where appropriate; and include specific measures
aimed at protecting women against any act of discrimination;
(e) Ensure that women are involved in the design, operation and monitoring
of transitional justice mechanisms at all levels so as to guarantee that their
experience of the conflict is included, their particular needs and priorities are met
and all violations suffered are addressed; and ensure their participation in the design
of all reparations programmes.
(f) Adopt the appropriate mechanisms to facilitate and encourage women’s
full collaboration and involvement in transitional justice mechan isms including by
ensuring that their identity is protected during public hearings and their testimonies
are taken by female professionals;
(g) Provide effective and timely remedies that respond to the different types
of violations experienced by women and ensure the provision of adequate and
comprehensive reparations; address all gender-based violations, including sexual
and reproductive rights violations, domestic and sexual enslavement, forced
marriage and forced displacement, in addition to sexual violence, as well as
violations of economic, social and cultural rights;
(h) Adopt gender-sensitive procedures in order to avoid revictimization and
stigmatization; establish special protection units and gender desks in police stations ;
undertake investigations confidentially and sensitively; and ensure that during
investigations and trials equal weight is given to the testimony of women and girls
in comparison to those of men;
(i) Combat impunity for violations of women’s rights and that all human
rights violations are properly investigated, prosecuted and punished by bringing
perpetrators to justice;
(j) Enhance criminal accountability including by ensuring the independence,
impartiality and integrity of the judicial system; strengthen ing the capacity of
security, medical and judicial personnel to collect and preserve forensic evidence
related to sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict contexts; and enhancing
collaboration with other justice systems including the International Criminal Court;
(k) Enhance women’s access to justice including through the provision of
legal aid; establishment of specialized courts, such as domestic violence and family
courts, providing mobile courts for camps and settlement settings as well as for

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remote areas; and ensure adequate protection measures for victims and witnesses,
including non-disclosure of identity and the provision of shelters;
(l) Engage directly with informal justice mechanisms and encourage
appropriate reforms, where necessary, in order to bring these processes in line with
human rights and gender equality standards, and to ensure that women are not
discriminated against.

V. Conclusion
81. In addition to those made above, the Committee makes the recommendations
to States parties set out below.

A. Monitoring and reporting

82. States parties should report on the legal framework, policies and programmes
that they have implemented to ensure the human rights of women in conflict
prevention, conflict and post-conflict. States parties should collect, analyse and
make available sex-disaggregated statistics, in addition to trends over time,
concerning women, peace and security. States parties’ reports should address actions
inside and outside their territory in areas under their jurisdiction, in add ition to their
actions taken individually and as members of international organizations as they
concern women and conflict prevention, conflict and post -conflict situations.
83. States parties are to provide information on the implementation of the Securi ty
Council agenda on women, peace and security, in particular resolutions 1325
(2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013),
including by specifically reporting on compliance with any agreed United Nations
benchmarks or indicators developed as part of that agenda.
84. The Committee also welcomes submissions from relevant United Nations
missions involved in the administration of foreign territories on the situation of
women’s rights in territories under administration insofar as they pertain to conflict
prevention, conflict and post-conflict.
85. Pursuant to article 22 of the Convention, the Committee invites specialized
agencies to submit reports on the implementation of the Convention in conflict
prevention, conflict and post-conflict settings.

B. Treaty ratification or accession

86. States parties are encouraged to ratify all international instruments relevant to
the protection of women’s rights in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict,
including:
(a) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (1999);
(b) Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed conflict (2000);
(c) Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and
relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts (1977); Protocol

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additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relatin g to the

protection of victims of non-international armed conflicts (1977);
(d) Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and its Protocol
(1967);
(e) Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954) and the
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961);
(f) Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime (2000);
(g) Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998);
(h) The Arms Trade Treaty (2013).

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Appendix K: Presidential Statements on Women, Peace, and
Security

United Nations S/PRST/2001/31

Security Council Distr.: General
31 October 2001

Original: English

Statement by the President of the Security Council

At the 4402nd meeting of the Security Council, held on 31 October 2001, in

connection with the first anniversary of the Council’s adoption of its resolution 1325
(2000) of 31 October 2000 on the item entitled “Women and peace and security”, the
President of the Security Council made the following statement on behalf of the
Council:
“The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the implementation of
its resolution 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 and welcomes the efforts by the
United Nations system, Member States, civil society organizations and other
relevant actors in promoting the equal participation and full involvement of
women in the maintenance and promotion of peace and security and in
implementing the provisions of resolution 1325 (2000).
“The Council further reaffirms its strong support for increasing the role
of women in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution
and renews its call on States to include women in the negotiations and
implementation of peace accords, constitutions and strategies for resettlement
and rebuilding and to take measures to support local women’s groups and
indigenous processes for conflict resolution. In this regard it recognizes the
efforts of the Mano River Women’s Peace Network in facilitating peace and
dialogue in the Mano River Union region. It is also encouraged by the
inclusion of women in the political decision-making bodies in Burundi,
Somalia and in East Timor.
“The Security Council underscores the importance of promoting an active
and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in all policies and
programmes while addressing armed conflicts, in particular peacekeeping
operations in keeping with the statement of the President of the Security
Council on 8 March 2000.
“The Council therefore reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to
include, where appropriate, in his reporting to the Security Council, progress
in gender mainstreaming throughout United Nations peacekeeping missions
and on other aspects relating to women and girls. It expresses its intention to
give full consideration to these reports and to take appropriate action. The
Council also reaffirms its call for the inclusion of gender components as
appropriate, in peacekeeping operations.

01-61225 (E) 311001

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“The Security Council renews its support for gender-sensitive training

guidelines and material on the protection, rights and the particular needs of
women, as well as on the importance of involving women in all peacekeeping
and peace-building measures. The Council calls upon all troop-contributing
countries to include these elements in their national training programmes for
peacekeepers.
“The Council welcomes the specific proposals made by the Secretary-
General aimed at strengthening the Best Practices Unit of the Department of
Peacekeeping Operations with the appointment of gender advisers at
sufficiently senior levels.
“It also welcomes the practical efforts including the preparation of
complementary reports, already made by the United Nations and its agencies,
funds, programmes and regional bodies, in particular those participating in the
Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) Inter-agency Task Force on
Women, Peace and Security to implement all aspects of resolution 1325
(2000), as well as the timely issuance of the publication Gender Perspective in
Disarmament, which gives a clear indication of ways in which women can be
fully involved and the benefits to the parties concerned.
“The Security Council notes with satisfaction that the Secretary-
General’s study requested under paragraph 16 of its resolution 1325 (2000) on
the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peace-
building and the gender dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution
is under way and welcomes the coordinated comprehensive input of the United
Nations and all the relevant agencies, funds and programmes of the United
Nations system and looks forward to its review.
“The Security Council is concerned that there are still no women
appointed as Special Representatives or Special Envoys of the Secretary-
General to peace missions, and urges Member States to redouble their efforts
to nominate women candidates to the Secretary-General. The Council also
urges the Secretary-General to appoint women as Special Representatives and
Envoys to pursue good offices on his behalf in accordance with his strategic
plan of action (A/49/587, para. 2).
“The Security Council recognizes the need to implement fully
international humanitarian and human rights law that protects the rights of
civilians including women and girls during and after conflicts and calls on all
parties to armed conflicts to take special measures to protect women and girls
from gender-based violence, and all other forms of violence.
“The Security Council remains actively seized of the matter and
expresses its willingness to consider as appropriate, the gender dimensions of
armed conflict in carrying out its responsibility of maintaining international
peace and security under the Charter of the United Nations.”

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 United Nations S/PRST/2002/32
Security Council Distr.: General
31 October 2002

Original: English

Statement by the President of the Security Council

At the 4641st meeting of the Security Council, held on 31 October 2002 in
connection with the 2nd anniversary of the Security Council’s adoption of its
resolution 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 on the item entitled “Women, Peace and
Security”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement on
behalf of the Council:
“The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the continuing and
full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), and welcomes the increasing
focus over the last two years on the situation of women and girls in armed
conflict, and recalls the Statement by its President of 31 October 2001
(S/PRST/2001/31) and the meetings held on 25 July 2002 and 28 October 2002
as expressions of that commitment.
“The Security Council welcomes the Report of the Secretary-General on
women, peace and security (S/2002/1154) and expresses its intention to study
the recommendations contained therein. The Council also welcomes the efforts
of the United Nations system, Member States, civil society and other relevant
actors, to promote equal participation of women in peace and security.
“The Security Council remains concerned about the slow progress in the
appointment of women as special representatives and envoys of the Secretary-
General, and urges the Secretary-General to increase the number of women
serving as high-level representatives to achieve the overall goal of gender
balance. The Council also urges Member States to continue to provide
candidates to the Secretary-General for inclusion in a database.
“The Security Council, reaffirming the importance of gender
mainstreaming in peacekeeping operations and post-conflict reconstruction,
undertakes to integrate gender perspectives into the mandates of all
peacekeeping missions, and reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to
ensure that all reports submitted to the Security Council in accordance with
such mandates systematically address gender perspectives. The Council also
requests the Secretary-General to provide systematic training of all staff in
peacekeeping operations on gender perspectives, and to integrate gender
perspectives into all standard operating procedures, manuals and other
guidance materials for peacekeeping operations.
“The Security Council considers that the appointment of gender advisers
at sufficiently senior levels at Headquarters is necessary. The Council notes

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that some progress has been made in gender mainstreaming at mission level,
specifically through the establishment of gender units and gender advisers, but
that more remains to be done in order to ensure that gender mainstreaming in
peacekeeping operations and post-conflict reconstruction is thorough and
effective, and applied systematically.
“The Security Council undertakes to integrate gender perspectives into
the terms of reference of its visits and Missions to countries and regions in
conflict. To that end, the Council requests the Secretary-General to establish a
database of gender specialists as well as women’s groups and networks in
countries and regions in conflict, and to include gender specialists in the teams
where relevant.
“The Security Council recognizes the vital role of women in promoting
peace, particularly in preserving social order and educating for peace. The
Council encourages its Member States and the Secretary-General to establish
regular contacts with local women’s group and networks in order to utilize
their knowledge of both the impact of armed conflict on women and girls,
including as victims and ex-combatants, and of peacekeeping operations, to
ensure that those groups are actively involved in reconstruction processes,
particularly at decision-making levels.
“The Security Council, recalling its resolutions 1265 (1999), 1296
(2000), 1324 (2000) and 1379 (2001), encourages Member States, the entities
of the United Nations system, civil society and other relevant actors, to
develop clear strategies and action plans with goals and timetables, on the
integration of gender perspectives in humanitarian operations, rehabilitation
and reconstruction programmes, including monitoring mechanisms, and also to
develop targeted activities, focused on the specific constraints facing women
and girls in post-conflict situations, such as their lack of land and property
rights and access to and control over economic resources.
“The Security Council deplores the continuing occurrence of sexual
exploitation, including trafficking, of women and girls in the context of
peacekeeping operations and humanitarian activities, and calls for the further
development and full implementation of codes of conduct and of disciplinary
procedures to prevent such exploitation. The Council encourages all actors, in
particular troop-contributing countries, to enhance monitoring mechanisms,
and to investigate and prosecute effectively cases of alleged misconduct.
“The Security Council condemns all violations of the human rights of
women and girls in situations of armed conflict, and the use of sexual
violence, including as a strategic and tactical weapon of war, which, inter alia,
places women and girls at increased risk of contracting sexually-transmitted
infections and HIV/AIDS.
“The Security Council decides to remain actively seized of this matter
and requests the Secretary-General to prepare a follow-up report on the full
implementation of resolution 1325 to be presented to the Security Council in
October 2004.”

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Security Council Distr.: General
28 October 2004

Original: English

Statement by the President of the Security Council

At the 5066th (resumed) meeting of the Security Council, held on 28 October
2004, in connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “Women
and peace and security”, the President of the Security Council made the following
statement on behalf of the Council:
“The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the continuing and
full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), and welcomes the increasing
focus on the situation of women and girls in armed conflict since the adoption
of resolution 1325 (2000) in October 2000. The Council recalls the Statement
by its President of 31 October 2002 (S/PRST/2002/32) and the meeting held
on 29 October 2003 as valuable demonstrations of that commitment.
“The Security Council also recalls the Beijing Declaration and Platform
for Action (A/52/231) and the outcome document of the twenty-third Special
Session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled “Women 2000:
Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century (A/S-
23/10/Rev.1), in particular the commitments concerning women and armed
conflict.
“The Security Council welcomes the Report of the Secretary-General on
women, peace and security (S/2004/814) and expresses its intention to study
its recommendations. The Council welcomes the efforts of the United Nations
system, Member States, civil society and other relevant actors, to promote the
equal participation of women in efforts to build sustainable peace and security.
“The Security Council strongly condemns the continued acts of gender-
based violence in situations of armed conflict. The Council also condemns all
violations of the human rights of women and girls in situations of armed
conflict and the use of sexual exploitation, violence and abuse. The Council
urges the complete cessation by all parties of such acts with immediate effect.
The Council stresses the need to end impunity for such acts as part of a
comprehensive approach to seeking peace, justice, truth and national
reconciliation. The Council welcomes the efforts of the United Nations system
to establish and implement strategies and programmes to prevent and report on
gender-based violence, and urges the Secretary-General to further his efforts in
this regard. The Council requests the Secretary-General to ensure that human
rights monitors and members of commissions of inquiry have the necessary
expertise and training in gender-based crimes and in the conduct of
investigations, including in a culturally sensitive manner favourable to the

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needs, dignity and rights of the victims. The Council urges all international
and national courts specifically established to prosecute war-related crimes to
provide gender expertise, gender training for all staff and gender-sensitive
programmes for victims and witness protection. The Council emphasizes the
urgent need for programmes that provide support to survivors of gender-based
violence. The Council further requests that appropriate attention is given to the
issue of gender-based violence in all future reports to the Council.
“The Security Council reaffirms the important role of women in the
prevention of conflict and supports the Secretary-General’s intention to
develop a comprehensive system-wide strategy and action plan for increasing
attention to gender perspectives in conflict prevention. The Council urges all
relevant actors to work collaboratively, including through strengthened
interaction with women’s organizations, to ensure the full participation of
women and the incorporation of a gender perspective in all conflict prevention
work.
“The Security Council also welcomes the Secretary-General’s intention
to develop a comprehensive strategy and action plan for mainstreaming a
gender perspective into all peacekeeping activities and operations and to
incorporate gender perspectives in each thematic and country report to the
Council. In support of this process, the Council reaffirms its commitment to
integrate fully gender perspectives into the mandates of all peacekeeping
missions. The Council recognizes the contribution of the gender adviser within
the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to advancing the implementation
of resolution 1325 (2000), and requests the Secretary-General to consider an
equivalent arrangement within the Department of Political Affairs to further
support such implementation.
“The Security Council considers that an increase in the representation of
women in all aspects of conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace-building
operations and humanitarian response is urgently needed. To that end, the
Council urges the Secretary-General to strengthen his efforts to identify
suitable female candidates, including, as appropriate, from troop-contributing
countries, in conformity with Article 101 of the Charter of the United Nations
and taking into account the principle of equitable geographical balance. Such
efforts should include the implementation of targeted recruitment strategies
and also seek to identify candidates for senior level positions, including in the
military and civilian police services.
“The Security Council recognizes the vital contribution of women in
promoting peace and their role in reconstruction processes. The Council
welcomes the Secretary-General’s intention to develop strategies to encourage
women’s full participation in all stages of the peace process. The Council also
requests the Secretary-General to encourage gender mainstreaming in
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes by developing
guidelines to increase attention to the needs of women and girls in such
programmes. The Council further requests the Secretary-General to
mainstream a gender perspective in all aspects of post-conflict reconstruction
programmes, including through the strengthening of gender theme groups in
countries emerging from conflict, and to ensure that all policies and
programmes in support of post-conflict constitutional, judicial and legislative

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reform, including truth and reconciliation and electoral processes, promote the
full participation of women, gender equality and women’s human rights.
“The Security Council recognizes the important contribution of civil
society to the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) and encourages
Member States to continue to collaborate with civil society, in particular with
local women’s networks and organizations, in order to strengthen
implementation. To that end, the Council welcomes the efforts of Member
States in implementing resolution 1325 (2000) at the national level, including
the development of national action plans, and encourages Member States to
continue to pursue such implementation.
“The Security Council recognizes that significant progress has been
made in the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) in certain areas of the
United Nations peace and security work. The Council expresses its readiness
to further promote the implementation of this resolution, and in particular
through active cooperation with the Economic and Social Council and the
General Assembly. In order to further consolidate this progress, the Council
requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Security Council in October
2005 an action plan, with time lines, for implementing resolution 1325 (2000)
across the United Nations system, with a view to strengthening commitment
and accountability at the highest levels, as well as to allow for improved
accountability, monitoring and reporting on progress on implementation within
the United Nations system.”

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Security Council Distr.: General
27 October 2005

Original: English

Statement by the President of the Security Council

At the 5294th meeting of the Security Council, held on 27 October 2005, in
connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “Women and peace
and security”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement
on behalf of the Council:
“The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the continuing and
full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) and recalls the Statements of its
President of 31 October 2001 (S/PRST/2001/31), 31 October 2002
(S/PRST/2002/32) and 28 October 2004 (S/PRST/2004/40), as reiterating that
commitment.
“The Security Council recalls the 2005 World Summit Outcome (General
Assembly resolution 60/1), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
(A/52/31), the outcomes of the Conference and of the twenty-third special
session of the General Assembly, entitled ‘Women 2000: gender equality,
development and peace for the twenty-first century’ and the Declaration of the
forty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women on the occasion
of the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women
(E/CN.6/2005/1).
“While welcoming the progress achieved so far, the Security Council
stresses the importance and urgency for accelerating the full and effective
implementation of resolution 1325 (2000).
“The Security Council reaffirms the importance of full and equal
participation of women in peace processes at all levels and urges Member
States, regional and subregional organizations and the United Nations system
to enhance the role of women in decision-making with regard to all peace
processes and post-conflict reconstruction and rebuilding of societies.
“The Security Council welcomes the various initiatives and actions
undertaken by Member States, the United Nations entities, civil society
organizations and other relevant actors, focused on supporting and increasing
the representation of women in peace negotiations and mainstreaming gender
perspectives into peace agreements.
“The Security Council recognizes and welcomes the roles of, and
contributions made by women as mediators, educators, peacemakers,
peacebuilders and advocates for peace, as well as their active contribution to

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reconciliation efforts and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration

processes.
“The Security Council recognizes the constant underrepresentation of
women in formal peace processes and is deeply concerned about persistent
obstacles and challenges resulting from situations such as violence against
women, shattered economies and social structures, lack of rule of law, poverty,
limited access to education and resources, various forms of discrimination and
stereotypes. The Security Council believes that more must be done in order to
achieve the greater participation and effective contribution of women at the
negotiating table and in developing and implementing post-conflict strategies
and programmes.
“The Security Council encourages Member States and the Secretary-
General to maintain regular contacts with local women organizations and
networks, to utilize their knowledge, expertise and resources and to ensure
their involvement in reconstruction processes, particularly at the decision-
making level.
“The Security Council also encourages Member States, donors and civil
society to provide financial, political and technical support, as well as
adequate training for women’s peacebuilding initiatives and networks.
“The Security Council welcomes the United Nations System-wide Action
Plan for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) across
the United Nations system, contained in the report of the Secretary-General on
women and peace and security (S/2005/636), and requests the Secretary-
General to update, monitor and review its implementation and integration on
an annual basis, and report to the Security Council, starting in October 2006.
In this context, the Security Council urges the Secretary-General to proceed
with the appointment of a gender adviser within the Department of Political
Affairs and to continue to identify women candidates for senior level positions
within the United Nations system, including as Special Representatives. In this
regard, the Council invites the Member States to provide the Secretary-General
with candidates, as appropriate.
“The Security Council reiterates its call to Member States to continue to
implement resolution 1325 (2000), including through the development of
national action plans or other national level strategies.
“The Security Council welcomes the decision taken in the 2005 World
Summit Outcome (General Assembly resolution 60/1) to establish the
Peacebuilding Commission and looks forward to its contribution to the full
implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), inviting the Commission to pay
particular attention to the knowledge and understanding women can bring,
through their participation and empowerment, in peacebuilding processes.
“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to ensure that all
peace accords concluded with United Nations assistance address the specific
effects of armed conflict on women and girls, as well as their specific needs
and priorities in the post-conflict context. Within this framework, the Security
Council underlines the importance of a broad and inclusive political
consultation with various components of civil society, in particular women’s
organizations and groups.

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“The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to integrate gender

perspectives into the terms of reference of Security Council visits and missions
and to include gender specialists in its teams wherever possible.
“The Security Council condemns sexual and other forms of violence
against women, including trafficking in persons, and calls upon all parties to
armed conflict to ensure full and effective protection of women and
emphasizes the necessity to end impunity of those responsible for gender-
based violence.
“The Security Council reiterates its condemnation, in the strongest terms,
of all acts of sexual misconduct by all categories of personnel in United
Nations Peacekeeping Missions. The Council welcomes the comprehensive
report on sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations Peacekeeping
Personnel (A/59/710). The Council also welcomes the report of the resumed
session of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping (A/59/19/Add.1) and,
taking into account resolution 59/300 of the General Assembly, urges the
Secretary-General and troop-contributing countries to ensure that the
recommendations of the Special Committee, which fall within their respective
responsibilities, are implemented without delay. In this connection, the
Council expresses its support to the efforts of the United Nations to fully
implement codes of conduct and disciplinary procedures to prevent and
respond to sexual exploitation and enhance monitoring and enforcement
mechanisms, and notes the strategies and actions included in the System-wide
Action Plan to fully implement those codes of conduct and disciplinary
procedures. The Security Council urges troop-contributing countries to take
appropriate preventive action, including the conduct of predeployment
awareness training, and to take disciplinary action and other action to ensure
full accountability in cases of misconduct involving their personnel.”

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Security Council Distr.: General
8 November 2006

Original: English

Statement by the President of the Security Council

At the 5556th meeting of the Security Council, held on 26 October 2006, in
connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “Women and peace
and security”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement
on behalf of the Council:
“The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the full and effective
implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) and recalls the Statements by its
President of 31 October 2001 (S/PRST/2001/31), 31 October 2002
(S/PRST/2002/32), 28 October 2004 (S/PRST/2004/40), and 27 October 2005
(S/PRST/2005/52), as reiterating that commitment.
“The Security Council recalls the 2005 World Summit Outcome
(A/RES/60/1), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
(A/CONF/177/20/Rev.1), the outcomes of the Conference and of the twenty-
third special session of the General Assembly, and the Declaration of the forty-
ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women on the occasion of
the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women
(E/CN.6/2005/11).
“The Security Council recognizes the vital roles of, and contributions by
women in consolidating peace. The Council welcomes the progress made in
increasing participation of women in decision-making in several countries
emerging from conflict and requests the Secretary-General to collect and
compile good practices, lessons learned and identify remaining gaps and
challenges in order to further promote the efficient and effective
implementation of resolution 1325.
“The Security Council recognizes that the protection and empowerment
of women and support for their networks and initiatives are essential in the
consolidation of peace to promote the equal and full participation of women
and to improve their human security and, encourages Member States, donors,
and civil society to provide support in this respect.
“The Security Council recognizes the importance of integrating gender
perspectives into institutional reform in post-conflict countries at both the
national and local levels. The Security Council encourages Member States in
post conflict situations to ensure that gender perspectives are mainstreamed in
its institutional reform, ensuring that the reforms, in particular of the security
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sector, justice institutions and restoration of the rule of law, provide for the
protection of women’s rights and safety. The Council also requests the
Secretary-General to ensure that United Nations assistance in this context
appropriately addresses the needs and priorities of women in the post-conflict
process.
“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to ensure that
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes take specific
account of the situation of women ex-combatants and women associated with
combatants, as well as their children, and provide for their full access to these
programmes.
“The Security Council welcomes the role that the Peacebuilding
Commission can play in mainstreaming gender perspectives into the peace
consolidation process. In this context, the Council welcomes in particular the
Chairman’s summaries at its country-specific meetings on Sierra Leone and
Burundi on 12 and 13 October 2006.
“The Security Council remains deeply concerned by the pervasiveness of
all forms of violence against women in armed conflict, including killing,
maiming, grave sexual violence, abductions and trafficking in persons. The
Council reiterates its utmost condemnation of such practices and calls upon all
parties to armed conflict to ensure full and effective protection of women, and
emphasizes the necessity to end impunity of those responsible for gender-
based violence.
“The Security Council reiterates its condemnation, in the strongest terms,
of all acts of sexual misconduct by all categories of personnel in United
Nations Peacekeeping Missions. The Council urges the Secretary-General and
troop-contributing countries to ensure the full implementation of the
recommendations of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping operations
(A/60/19). In this connection, the Council expresses its support for further
efforts by the United Nations to fully implement codes of conduct and
disciplinary procedures to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and
abuse, and enhance monitoring and enforcement mechanisms based on a zero-
tolerance policy.
“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to include in his
reporting to the Security Council, progress in gender mainstreaming
throughout United Nations peacekeeping missions as well as on other aspects
relating specifically to women and girls. The Council emphasizes the need for
the inclusion of gender components in peacekeeping operations. The Council
further encourages Member States and the Secretary-General to increase, the
participation of women in all areas and all levels of peacekeeping operations,
civilian, police and military, where possible.
“The Security Council reiterates its call to Member States to continue to
implement resolution 1325 (2000), including through the development and
implementation of national action plans or other national level strategies.
“The Security Council recognizes the important contribution of civil
society to the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) and encourages
Member States to continue to collaborate with civil society, in particular with

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local women’s networks and organizations, in order to strengthen

implementation.
“The Security Council looks forward to the report of the High-Level
Panel on the United Nations System-wide Coherence in the Areas of
Development, Humanitarian Assistance and the Environment and hopes this
will play a role in ensuring a coordinated UN approach to Women and Peace
and Security.
“The Security Council welcomes the first follow-up report of the
Secretary-General (S/2006/770) on the United Nations System-wide Action
Plan for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) across
the United Nations system. The Council requests the Secretary-General to
continue to update, monitor and review the implementation and integration of
the Action Plan and report to the Security Council as stipulated in the
Statement by the President of the Security Council of 27 October 2005
(S/PRST/2005/52).”

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Security Council Distr.: General
24 October 2007

Original: English

Statement by the President of the Security Council

At the 5766th meeting of the Security Council, held on 23 October 2007, in
connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “Women and peace
and security”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement
on behalf of the Council:
“The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the full and effective
implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security
and recalls the relevant statements of its President as reiterating that
commitment.
“The Security Council reaffirms the purposes and principles of the
Charter of the United Nations and the primary responsibility of the Security
Council under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and
security.
“The Security Council recalls the 2005 World Summit Outcome (General
Assembly resolution 60/1), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
(A/CONF.177/20/Rev.1), the outcome document of the twenty-third special
session of the General Assembly entitled ‘Women 2000: gender equality,
development and peace for the twenty-first century’ (A/S-23/10/Rev.1), in
particular the statements in these documents concerning women and peace and
security and the Declaration of the forty-ninth session of the Commission on
the Status of Women on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Fourth
World Conference on Women (E/CN.6/2005/11).
“The Security Council recognizes the importance of ensuring the respect
for the equal rights of women and, in this regard, reaffirms the importance of
the equal role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in
peacebuilding, and stresses the need for their full and equal participation in
peace processes at all levels. The Council urges Member States, regional and
subregional organizations and the United Nations system to enhance the role
of women in decision-making with regard to all peace processes and post-
conflict reconstruction and rebuilding of societies as vital in all efforts towards
the maintenance and promotion of sustainable peace and security.
“The Security Council is concerned that armed and other types of
conflicts still persist in many parts of the world and are an ongoing reality
affecting women in nearly every region. In this regard, the Council expresses
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deep concern that civilians, particularly women and children, continue to

account for the vast majority of victims of acts of violence committed by
parties to armed conflicts, including as a result of deliberate targeting,
indiscriminate and excessive use of force. The Council condemns these acts
and demands that those parties immediately put an end to such practices.
“The Security Council reaffirms in this regard that parties to armed
conflict bear the primary responsibility to take all feasible steps to ensure the
protection of affected civilians, in particular, giving attention to the specific
needs of women and girls.
“The Security Council recognizes the constant underrepresentation of
women in formal peace processes and is deeply concerned about persistent
obstacles and challenges resulting from situations such as violence against
women, shattered economies and social structures, lack of rule of law, poverty,
limited access to education and other resources, various forms of
discrimination and stereotypes.
“The Security Council remains concerned about the low number of
women appointed as Special Representatives or Special Envoys of the
Secretary-General to peace missions. The Council urges the Secretary-General
to appoint, taking into account the principle of equitable geographical
representation, more women to pursue good offices on his behalf. The Council
urges Member States to redouble their efforts to nominate women candidates
to the Secretary-General, for inclusion in a regularly updated centralized
roster. In turn, the Council calls on the Secretary-General to increase the
profile and transparency of this procedure, and issue guidelines to Member
States on the process of nomination to senior posts. In addition, the Council
reaffirms its call for broader gender mainstreaming in all peacekeeping
operations, and welcomes United Nations peacekeeping operations policies to
promote and protect the rights of women and to take into account a gender
perspective as set out in resolution 1325 (2000).
“The Security Council takes note of the second follow-up report of the
Secretary-General on women, peace and security (S/2007/567), and the various
initiatives and actions undertaken by the United Nations entities in the context
of the United Nations System-wide Action Plan on implementation of Security
Council resolution 1325 (2000); calls on the Secretary-General to update,
monitor and review the implementation and integration of the Plan; conduct a
system-wide evaluation in 2010 of progress achieved in implementing the Plan
in 2008-2009, and report thereon to the Council.
“While welcoming the progress achieved so far, the Security Council
recognizes the need for full and more effective implementation of resolution
1325 (2000).
“In this regard, the Security Council reiterates its call on Member States
to continue to fully and effectively implement resolution 1325 (2000),
including, where appropriate, through the development and strengthening of
national efforts and capacities, as well as the implementation of national action
plans or other relevant national level strategies.
“The Security Council calls on the international community to provide,
where needed, financial and technical support, as well as adequate training, for

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national implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), and on the United Nations

system, civil society and other relevant actors to collaborate and provide
assistance in line with national priorities to Member States, particularly those
affected by armed conflict, in the rapid development of national action plans,
and work closely with national mechanisms responsible for the implementation
of the resolution, including, where appropriate, through the United Nations
country teams. To this end, requests the Secretary-General to include in his
annual report to the Council, information on progress on measures taken to
improve, where appropriate, the capacity of relevant Member States, to
implement resolution 1325 (2000), including information on best practices.
“The Council emphasizes the importance of strengthening cooperation
between Member States as well as the United Nations entities and regional
organizations in adopting and promoting regional approaches to the full
implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) in all its aspects.
“The Security Council strongly condemns all violations of international
law, including international humanitarian law, human rights law and refugee
law, committed against women and girls in situations of armed conflict,
including killing, maiming, sexual violence, exploitation and abuse. In this
regard, the Council urges the complete cessation by all parties of such acts
with immediate effect.
“The Security Council is deeply concerned that despite its repeated
condemnation of all acts of violence, including killing, maiming, sexual
violence, exploitation and abuse in situations of armed conflict, and despite its
calls addressed to all parties to armed conflict for the cessation of such acts
with immediate effect, and for the adoption of specific measures to protect
women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape, and other
forms of sexual abuse, as well as all other forms of violence, such acts remain
pervasive, and in some situations have become systematic, and have reached
appalling levels of atrocity. The Council stresses the need to end impunity for
such acts as part of a comprehensive approach to seeking peace, justice, truth
and national reconciliation.
“In this context, the Council reiterates paragraph 9 of resolution
1325 (2000) and calls on all parties to armed conflict to respect fully
international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls,
especially as civilians, in particular the obligations applicable to them under
the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977,
the refugee Convention of 1951 and the Protocols thereto of 1967, the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
of 1979 and the Optional Protocols thereto of 1999 and the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 and the two Optional Protocols
thereto of 25 May 2000, and to bear in mind relevant provisions of the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court.
“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to include in his
reporting to the Council on situations of armed conflict, information on:
progress in gender mainstreaming throughout the United Nations
peacebuilding and peacekeeping missions; data on the impact of armed
conflicts on women and girls, including account of instances of all forms of
violence against women and girls, including killing, maiming, grave sexual

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violence, abductions and trafficking in persons, committed by the parties to

armed conflict; special measures proposed and taken to protect women and
girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape, and other forms of sexual
abuse, and all other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict, in order
to end impunity, ensure accountability and uphold a zero tolerance policy for
violence against women and girls.
“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to prepare a
follow-up report on the full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000),
incorporating information on the impact of armed conflicts on women and
girls in situations that are on the agenda of the Council, and also information
on their protection and on the enhancement of their role in peace processes, to
be submitted to the Security Council in October 2008, and may request the
Secretary-General to give an oral briefing on the progress of the report.
“The Security Council decides to remain actively seized of this matter.”

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 United Nations S/PRST/2008/39
Security Council Distr.: General
29 October 2008

Original: English

Statement by the President of the Security Council

At the 6005th meeting of the Security Council, held on 29 October 2008, in

connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “Women and peace
and security”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement
on behalf of the Council:
“The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the full and effective
implementation of resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008) on ‘Women and
peace and security’ and recalls the relevant statements of its President.
“The Security Council takes note of the report of the Secretary-General
on ‘Women and peace and security’ (S/2008/622).
“The Security Council remains concerned about the under-representation
of women at all stages of a peace process and in peacebuilding, and recognises
the need to facilitate the full and effective participation of women in these
areas, given the vital role of women in the prevention and resolution of
conflicts and in peacebuilding.
“The Security Council urges Member States, international, regional and
sub-regional organisations to take measures to increase the participation of
women in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding and to
strengthen the role of women as decision-makers in these areas. The Council
calls upon the Secretary-General to appoint more women to pursue good
offices on his behalf, particularly as Special Representatives and Special
Envoys.
“The Security Council strongly condemns all violations of international
law committed against women and girls during and after armed conflicts; urges
the complete cessation by all parties of such acts with immediate effect, and
also urges Member States to bring to justice those responsible for crimes of
this nature.
“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to provide a report
on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) over the coming year,
including information on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls in
situations of which the Council is seized; on the obstacles and challenges to
strengthening women’s participation in conflict prevention, conflict resolution
and peacebuilding, and recommendations to address those issues, to be
submitted to the Security Council by October 2009.”

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 United Nations S/PRST/2010/22*
Security Council Distr.: General
26 October 2010

Original: English

Statement by the President of the Security Council

At the 6411th meeting of the Security Council, held on 26 October 2010, in

connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “Women and peace and
security”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement on behalf of
the Council:
“The Security Council, meeting on the tenth Anniversary of the adoption of its
resolution 1325 (2000), reaffirms its commitment to the continuing and full
implementation, in a mutually reinforcing manner, of resolutions 1325 (2000), 1612
(2005), 1674 (2006), 1820 (2008), 1882 (2009), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1894
(2009) and all relevant Statements of its Presidents.
“The Security Council welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on
Women and Peace and Security (S/2010/498), and the analysis it contains on
progress in implementing resolution 1325 (2000).
“The Security Council welcomes General Assembly resolution A/RES/64/289
establishing the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
(UN Women) that will be fully operational in January 2011. The Council invites UN
Women to regularly contribute to its work on women and peace and security and
notes the valuable role it will play in supporting women’s roles in peacebuilding and
the prevention of sexual violence in conflict, including through coordination and
coherence in policy and programming for women and girls. It welcomes the
appointment of Ms. Michele Bachelet as its head.
“The Security Council reiterates its strong condemnation of all violations of
applicable international law committed against women and girls in situations of
armed conflict and post-conflict situations, including rape, other forms of sexual and
gender-based violence and killing and maiming that contravene international law.
The Council urges the complete cessation by all parties of such acts with immediate
effect and also urges Member States to bring to justice those responsible for crimes
of this nature. Their efforts to combat impunity must be matched with assistance and
redress to victims. In this regard, it reiterates its support for the mandates of the
Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and
for Children and Armed Conflict and encourages them to continue to ensure full
transparency, cooperation and coordination of their efforts.
“The Security Council notes that the fight against impunity for the most
serious crimes of international concern committed against women and girls has been

* Reissued for technical reasons.

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S/PRST/2010/22

strengthened through the work of the International Criminal Court, ad hoc and
mixed tribunals, as well as specialized chambers in national tribunals and takes note
of the stocktaking of international criminal justice undertaken by the first Review
Conference of the Rome Statute held in Kampala, Uganda from 31 May to 11 June
2010. The Council intends to enhance its efforts to fight impunity and uphold
accountability for serious crimes against women and girls with appropriate means
and draws attention to the full range of justice and reconciliation mechanisms to be
considered, including national, international and mixed criminal courts and
tribunals, truth and reconciliation commissions as well as national reparation
programs for victims, institutional reforms and traditional dispute resolution
mechanisms.
“The Security Council recognizes the continued challenges and welcomes the
many efforts to implement resolution 1325 (2000) detailed in the Secretary-
General’s report, in particular positive examples of efforts to engage with women’s
civil society groups in conflict resolution and peacebuilding, and to protect women
and girls from sexual and gender-based violence.
“The Security Council notes with grave concern that women and girls are
disproportionately affected by conflict, and that women’s participation at all stages
of peace processes and in the implementation of peace accords remains too low,
despite the vital role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in
rebuilding their societies. The Council recognizes the need to facilitate the full and
effective participation of women in these areas and stresses that the full and
effective participation of women is very important for sustainability of peace
processes.
“The Security Council welcomes the efforts of Member States to implement
its resolution 1325 (2000) at the national level, including the increase in the number
of States that have formulated or revised national action plans and strategies, and
encourages Member States to continue to pursue such implementation.
“The Security Council welcomes the concrete commitments made by a
number of Member States at the present Ministerial Open Debate on 26 October
2010 to increase their efforts to implement its resolution 1325 (2000) and invites
those Member States and any other Member States that wish to do so to regularly
review implementation of this resolution and to report to the Security Council on
progress made as appropriate.
“The Security Council supports taking forward, including by relevant UN
entities, the set of indicators contained in the report of the Secretary-General
(S/2010/498) for use as an initial framework to track implementation of its
resolution 1325 in situations of armed conflict and post-conflict and other situations
relevant to the implementation of resolution 1325, as appropriate, and taking into
account the specificity of each country.
“The Security Council recognizes the need for consistent implementation of
resolution 1325 (2000) in its own work and for monitoring progress in
implementation. In this regard the Security Council underlines the need for timely
and systematic reporting on women and peace and security issues and urges the
Secretary-General to ensure that country-specific and relevant thematic issues
reports and briefings, provide information on women and peace and security issues

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and on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) using this set of indicators, as
appropriate.
“The Security Council encourages Member States to take into account the set
of indicators contained in the Annex of the Report of the Secretary-General on
Women and Peace and Security (S/2010/498), as appropriate, in implementing
Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions on women and
peace and security.
“The Security Council reiterates its demand to all parties to armed conflict to
immediately and completely cease all forms of violence against women and girls,
including acts of sexual violence.
“The Security Council encourages Member States to deploy greater numbers
of female military and police personnel to United Nations peacekeeping operations,
and to provide all military and police personnel with adequate training to carry out
their responsibilities. The Council requests the Secretary-General to continue and
strengthen efforts to implement the policy of zero tolerance on sexual exploitation
and abuse by United Nations peacekeeping and humanitarian personnel. The
Council requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide and deploy guidance
on addressing sexual violence for predeployment and inductive training of military
and police personnel, and to assist missions in developing situation-specific
procedures to address sexual violence at the field level and to ensure that technical
support is provided to troop and police contributing countries in order to include
guidance for military and police personnel on addressing sexual violence in
predeployment and induction training. The Security Council welcomes the work of
gender and women protection advisers appointed to peacekeeping missions. The
Council looks forward to considering the annual report of the Secretary-General on
the implementation of its resolution 1820 (2008).
“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to continue to submit an
annual report to it on the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). The Council
further requests the Secretary-General to propose in his next annual report a
strategic framework to guide the UN’s implementation of the resolution in the next
decade, which includes targets and indicators and takes account of relevant
processes within the Secretariat. In this context, the Council requests the Secretary-
General to include recommendations for policy and institutional reforms in the UN
that will facilitate improved response by the Organization to women and peace and
security issues.
“The Security Council reiterates its request to Member States, international,
regional and subregional organizations to take measures to increase the participation
of women in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peacebuilding, including in
decision-making roles in post-conflict governance institutions, appointed and
elected. The Council urges the Secretary-General to appoint more women as
mediators and special representatives and envoys to pursue good offices on his
behalf.
“The Security Council expresses its intention to convene a High-level Review
in five years to assess progress at the global, regional and national levels in
implementing resolution 1325, renew commitments and address obstacles and
constraints that have emerged in the implementation of resolution 1325.”

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End-of-Course Exam Instructions

General Information
The End-of-Course Exam is provided as a separate component of this course. It covers the material in
all the lessons of this course, including any material found in the course’s annexes and appendices. The
exam may be found in your Student Classroom at https://www.peaceopstraining.org/users/user_index.

Format of Questions
The exam consists of 50 multiple-choice questions. Each question gives the student a choice of four
answers marked A, B, C, and D, with only one of these being the correct answer.

Time Limit
There is no time limit for the exam. This allows the student to read and study the questions carefully, and
to consult the course text. Furthermore, if the student cannot complete the exam in one sitting, he or she
may save the exam and come back to it without being graded. The “Save” button is located at the bottom
of the exam, next to the “Submit my answers” button. Clicking on the “Submit my answers” button will end
the exam.

Passing Grade
To pass the exam, a score of 75 per cent or better is required. An electronic Certificate of Completion
will be awarded to those who have passed the exam. A score of less than 75 per cent is a failing grade,
and students who have received a failing grade will be provided with a second, alternate version of the
exam, which can likewise be completed without a time limit. Students who pass the second exam will be
awarded a Certificate of Completion. Those who fail the second exam will be removed from the course.

218 | UN WOMEN
 Courses at the Peace Operations Training Institute
Course Name English French Spanish
An Introduction to the UN System   
Commanding UN Peacekeeping Operations   
The Conduct of Humanitarian Relief Operations   
Core Pre-deployment Training Materials 
Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR)   
Ethics in Peacekeeping   
Gender Perspectives in UN Peacekeeping Operations   
The History of UN Peacekeeping: 1945 to 1987   
The History of UN Peacekeeping: 1988 to 1996   
The History of UN Peacekeeping: 1997 to 2006   
Human Rights 
Human Rights and Peacekeeping 
Implementation of the UNSCRs on Women, Peace, and Security
in Africa 
Implementation of the UNSCRs on Women, Peace, and Security
in Asia and the Pacific 
Implementation of the UNSCRs on Women, Peace, and Security
in Latin America and the Caribbean  
International Humanitarian Law and the Law of Armed Conflict   
Logistical Support to UN Peacekeeping Operations   
Operational Logistical Support   
Advanced Topics in UN Logistics   
Mine Action   
Peacekeeping and International Conflict Resolution   
Preventing Violence Against Women   
Principles and Guidelines  
Protection of Civilians 
United Nations Civil–Military Coordination (UN-CIMIC)   
United Nations Military Observers   
United Nations Police   
The Peace Operations Training Institute is committed to bringing essential, practical knowledge
to students and is always working to expand its curriculum with the most up-to-date and relevant
information possible. POTI’s latest course list can be found at www.peaceopstraining.org, which
includes the courses’ increasing availability in Portuguese and Arabic. Visit the website regularly
to keep abreast of the latest changes to POTI’s curriculum.
220 East 42nd Street
New York, New York 10017, USA
Tel: 646-781-4686

www.unwomen.org
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