IWTC WOMEN’S GLOBALNET #343ACTIVITIES & INITIATIVES OF WOMEN WORLDWIDE
WOMEN ENSURE ACTION ON UNSCR 1325, WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY September 25, 2008 Helena Gronberg
1. PLANNING UNDERWAY TO MARK OCTOBER PASSAGE OF UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325 ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY 2. FINLAND LAUNCHES NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON SCR 1325 3. RURAL AND REGIONAL WOMEN’S MEDIA CORRESPONDENTS MEET TO INTENSIFY ADVOCACY & OUTREACH IN ASIA-PACIFIC 4. SALZBURG GLOBAL SEMINAR 455 MAKES RECOMMENDATIONS ON SCR 1325 5. OTHER MEETINGS ON PEACEBUILDING 6. SITES AND SOURCES FOR KEEPING CURRENT ON WOMEN, PEACE & SECURITY ISSUES
1. PLANNING UNDERWAY TO MARK OCTOBER PASSAGE OF UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325 ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY This October will mark 8 years since the UN Security Council passed its landmark resolution on women, peace and security. As in previous years, planning is underway in countries worldwide and among the New York-based international community including UN agencies, governments and civil society on what debates, seminars and discussions will take place to give new impetus to the implementation of SCR 1325 and to identify new issues and challenges.
In the United Nations, the Inter Agency Task Force on Women, Peace and Security plays a critical role in the advocacy for and coordination of the United Nations systems joint response to women, peace and security, in partnership with Member States and non-governmental organizations. The Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) coordinates the work of the Inter Agency Task Force and is also responsible for the preparation of the annual report of the Secretary General detailing progress made in the system-wide plan for implementation of SCR 1325.
A focal point of SCR 1325 October activities is the Security Council. Whichever country holds the October presidency in the Security Council — this year it is China – decides on the theme and what other events the Security Council will sponsor such as an Arria Formula, an Open Debate, and/or a Presidential Statement. To respond to two themes put forward by China, the Inter- Agency Task Force supported the suggested theme of Women and Armed Conflict with a focus on women’s participation. Most agencies and NGOs make an effort to tailor their side events to the theme decided on.
The Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security is tentatively scheduled for October 29th and China has indicated that it will give civil society one slot to speak. China has also implied that there will be no Presidential Statement.
The Task Force is also advocating for an Arria Formula - an informal arrangement that allows the Security Council greater flexibility to be briefed by individuals other than government delegates and is therefore an important “opening” in Security Council deliberations for NGOs to have their voices heard. For the Arria Formula to happen, a Security Council member (there are 15 member states on the Security Council including the 5 permanent members) must agree to sponsor the Arria. To date, no country has stepped forward with an offer.
Side Events to be Important Feature of SCR 1325 October Events: The UN and its specialized agencies, NGOs and country missions to the UN are all likely to host a number of panels and seminars, exhibits, and book launches in the October 1325 program adding depth and substance to discussions in the Security Council. OSAGI will host the SCR 1325 Planned Events Calendar (UN, NGO and government events) on its website http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/index.html and all those who wish their event publicized are encouraged to submit information to [email protected] by the end of September.
- Among events currently on the agenda is the International Rescue Committee’s photo exhibit entitled Global Crescendo – Women’s Voices from Conflict Zones. The idea behind the exhibit, which is so-sponsored by OSAGI, was to use photography as a medium through which “to act and be heard.” Women in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cote d’Ivoire participated in the project in which women were given cameras and asked to capture their perspectives and challenges through the lens.
- The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, the 12-organization working group that monitors and advocates on SCR 1325 with the New York-based international community, is also planning an event which is still in the planning stages. Details of the event will be found on the OSAGI website as well as on the Working Group’s website: http://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/programs-events/
2. FINLAND LAUNCHES NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON SCR1325 On September 19, 2008 Finland became the eleventh country to launch a National Action Plan on SCR 1325. The UN Secretary-General's report of 13 October 2004, on implementation of SCR 1325, requested that Member States develop their own National Action Plans to implement the resolution. Only Austria, Cote d’Ivoire, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and now Finland have so far heeded to the request. The Finnish 1325 network, which is made up of non-governmental organizations, was very active in promoting the preparation of the national action plan in Finland. For the full action plan see http://formin.finland.fi/public/download.aspx?ID=32702&GUID={6E789E51-2C81-4F67-B12D-23E7389922F4}
3. SCR 1325 AND PEACE AND SECURITY ISSUES FOCUS OF PACIFIC WOMEN’S RURAL AND REGIONAL MEDIA CORRESPONDENTS MEETING “Amplifying Women’s Voices to Influence National and Regional Peace and Human Security Policy” was the focus of a series of meetings and training sessions organized for 38 rural and regional women’s media correspondents brought together by femLINKPACIFIC (Media Initiatives for Women) in Suva, Fiji. At the meeting, held from September 15 to 17, rural correspondents, focal points and partners from Tonga, Solomon Islands and Bougainville, Papua New Guinea as well as the rural Fijian communities of Ba, Nadi, Nausori and Labasa reviewed activities to date and developed plans for intensifying efforts to produce women’s news and information from their communities. The event commemorated the International Day of Peace (September 21) and particular attention was paid to the role of women’s media advocacy and promoting women’s participation in all aspects of peace building and the implementation of SCR 1325. Dr. Anne S. Walker, former Executive Director of IWTC, was a key-note speaker at the event.
4. SALZBURG GLOBAL SEMINAR 455 RECOMMENDATIONS ON SCR 1325 Participants at the Salzburg Global Seminar, held September 7 to 12, 2008, examined progress on the implementation of UNSCR 1325, recognizing that for too long parties to SCR 1325 have depended on “calls to action,” many of which had been ignored, without sufficient attention to “action itself.” Recommendations which have come out of seminar are therefore focused on how all the actors, from the highest levels of the United Nations to grass-roots, can design and implement concrete mechanisms and actions to give life to SCR 1325 and related resolutions (such as the equivalent European Parliament resolution). Among the significant recommendations are : - Follow-On Resolution to UNSCR1325: Upon receipt of the next Secretary-General’s report on women, peace, and security, issue a follow-on resolution to SCR 1325 comparable to UNSCRs 1379 and 1612 on Children and Armed Conflict which provide mechanisms for follow-up, funding and the option of sanctions. - 40/40 gender-balance formula: Ensuring the full participation of women in all aspects of peacemaking and peace building cannot be guaranteed unless women have an active role. To achieve this, the 40-40 Approach should be adopted by all parties, whether governments, organizations or groups, under which both men and women are guaranteed a minimum of 40% representation. Delegates included more than 65 women and men experts from the Philippines, Western, Central and Southern Africa, North and South America, South Asia, Australasia, Western, East and South East Europe, Britain and Northern Ireland. For more information, see http://www.salzburgglobal.org/2009/Sessions.cfm?IDSPECIAL_EVENT=1564 or contact [email protected] - 5. OTHER MEETINGS ON PEACEBUILDING - Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace &Justice: Women PeaceMakers Conference: "Crafting Human Security in an Insecure World." September 24 - 26, 2008. See http://peace.sandiego.edu/events/womenpeace/info.php - World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) will hold a final meeting in Cape Town from 6-10 October on “Communication is peace: Building viable communities.” see http://www.wacc.org.uk/wacc
6. SITES AND SOURCES FOR KEEPING CURRENT ON WOMEN, PEACE & SECURITY ISSUES - Women Watch: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/wps/ - NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security: http://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/ - Peace Women: http://www.peacewomen.org/ - Recommended Readings From Women, Ink. (i) Women Building Peace: What They Do, Why It Matters by Sanam Anderlini How and why do women's contributions matter in peace and security processes? Why should women's activities in this sphere be explored separately from peace building efforts in general? Anderlini offers a comprehensive, cross-regional analysis of women's peace building initiatives around the world and traces the evolution of international policies in this arena and highlights the endemic problems that stunt progress. https://id3410.securedata.net/womenink.org/merchantmanager/product_info.php?cPath=
(ii) Women’s Experiences during Armed Conflict in Southern Sudan, 1983-2005 The Case of Juba County Central Equatorial State by ISIS-WICCE As a result of the prolonged civil armed conflict in Southern Sudan, women experienced acute poverty, food insecurity, poor health and sexual and gender-based violence. Aimed at documenting the experiences and circumstances of the Southern Sudan women in the two decades (1983-2005) of armed conflict, this study adopts a descriptive and analytical approach that utilizes a mix of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Issues addressed include the pre-armed conflict environment, causes of the conflict and process and women’s experiences in the outbreak of conflict, including atrocities committed during the war, damages to property, sexual and gender-based violence, flight, life in refugee camps and the causes of death. https://id3410.securedata.net/womenink.org/merchantmanager/product_info.php?cPath
(iii) Gender, Conflict & Peacekeeping, edited by Dyan Mazurana, Angela Raven-Roberts and Jane Parpart This groundbreaking volume explores how gender has become a central factor in shaping current thinking about the causes and consequences of armed conflict, complex emergencies and reconstruction. Drawing on expertise ranging from the highest levels of international policy-making down to the daily struggle to implement peacekeeping operations, this work represents the full span of knowledge and experience about international intervention in local crises. Presenting a rich array of examples from Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, East Timor, El Salvador, the former Yugoslavia, Guatemala, Haiti, Kosovo, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda and Serbia, the authors offer important insights for future peacekeeping and humanitarian missions. https://id3410.securedata.net/womenink.org/merchantmanager/product_info.php?cPath=2
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