Women peace activists attending the 51st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York (held from February 26 to March 9, 2007) expressed serious concern about the lack of new commitment to the development of national action plans on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Even as they welcomed the presidential statement that reaffirmed women’s role in conflict prevention and resolution issued by the Security Council on the eve of the 2007 International Women’s Day, the women demanded that it is now the time for the UN and its member states to translate words into action. 

The women peace activists also called for the establishment of a strong gender equality architecture in the UN system. In a statement sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa, incumbent president of the UN Security Council, the women called for the establishment of an independent women-specific agency with normative and operational responsibilities and with a higher mandate and more resources. They stressed that this will facilitate the full implementation of SCR 1325 at the national level. Click here for a copy of the statement.