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Women, War, Peace
and
Conflict Prevention and Early
Warning
Security Council
Resolution 1325 reaffirms the “important role of women in the
prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building, and
stresses 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.”
Preventive measures
have the potential to avert disputes before they erupt into violent
confrontations. The Security Council has called on UN organs
and agencies to develop and implement appropriate preventive
strategies, by enhancing early warning capacity and drawing
information from a variety of sources given the multiple factors
that contribute to conflict in a Presidential Statement. more... To develop this strategic approach, the
Brahimi Report (S/2000/809) went further in calling for the UN to
develop sharper tools to gather and analyse relevant information.
The Security Council's resolution on women and peace and security
underscored the need for such measures to support local women's
peace initiatives for conflict resolution, and to increase women's
participation, full involvement and decision-making roles in all
preventive measures.
Effective preventive strategies must consider
the primary targets of war. The threats to civilians, and especially
women in conflict situations, have underscored the need to
incorporate gender analysis into early warning activities and the
opportunity for preventive measures to strengthen women's
protection. Such steps must be based upon timely and accurate
knowledge of facts, an understanding of developments and global
trends, and the economic, social and political causes of the
conflicts.
When documenting root or systemic causes of
war, focusing on gender analyses of power and structures will
provide insights into violent societies. For instance, countries
with very low percentages of women in parliament and the formal
labour sector, or cultures that restrict women, condone violence
against them or treat women as property, are more likely to resort
to armed conflict to settle disputes. Other data that may be
relevant include female literacy rate, average level of female
education, number of children per household, which influence women’s
ability to participate in structures that may prevent war by
engaging in other forms of conflict resolution.
The prevalence of the following occurrences,
which may only be evident to those on the ground, indicate social
discord that may result in armed conflict: gender-specific human
rights violations such as rape, abductions, trafficking, domestic
violence, sexual harassment, abuse by security forces, killings and
disappearances of women, elections-related violence, lack of
institutional prosecution of perpetrators, increased rates of
prostitution and commercial sex work due to military presence,
abrupt changes in gender roles, such as the imposition of
restrictive laws, rewards for aggressive behavior and propaganda
emphasizing hyper-masculinity, number of single female-headed
households, sex-specific refugee migrations, sex-specific
unemployment, sale of jewelry or other precious materials, hoarding
of goods.
Intervening factors that appear to increase
the likelihood of conflict include: scapegoating of women through
the media by accusing them of political or cultural betrayal,
engagement of women in a shadow war economy, resistance to women’s
participation in peace processes and negotiations, lack of presence
of women in civil society organizations and lack of women’s
organizations, growth of discriminatory movements such as
fundamentalism, and insensitive response by international
actors.
Defining Terms
The UN Early Warning and Preventive
Measures Workshop Definition of Early Warning: The process
of collecting and analysing information for the purpose of
identifying and recommending strategic options for preventive
measures.
The OSCE High Commissioner for
National Minorities Definition of Early Warning: Any
information from any source about escalatory developments, be they
slow and gradual or quick and sudden, far enough in advance in order
for a national government, or an international or regional
organisation to react timely and effectively, if possible still
leaving them time to employ preventive diplomacy and other
non-coercive and non-military preventive measures.”
UNIFEM’s Independent Experts on
Women, War and Peace: Formal early warning systems monitor
potential crisis situations, collect information and generate
analyses that will give decision makers a way to assess risk and
find openings for preventive action. Preventing an incipient armed
conflict requires time – time to gather and analyse information,
time to build political support for action and time to design and
implement preventive strategies. The signs of potential conflict or
resurgence are as many as the methods for collecting them. Some
organizations collect and report data on human rights violations;
others carry out case studies on specific conflicts or broadcast
information about drought, diseases, famine, and other potential
causes of conflict.
According to Alex Schmid’s Thesaurus
and Glossary of Early Warning and Conflict Prevention
Terms, more...
Early warning is “the systematic
collection and analysis of information coming from areas of crisis
for the purpose of:
- Anticipating the escalation of violent
conflict;
- Collecting information using specific
indicators;
- Analyzing information - attaching meaning
to indicators, setting it into context, recognizing crisis
development;
- Formulating best and worst-case scenarios
and response options;
- Communicating to policy-makers for the
purposes of decision-making and action.”
10 Principles on Conflict
Prevention, from Report of the Secretary-General to the
Security Council on Conflict Prevention, 7 June 2001. more...
1. Conflict prevention is one of the primary
obligations of Member States set forth in the Charter of the United
Nations, and the United Nations efforts in conflict prevention must
be in conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter
2. Conflict prevention must have national
ownership. The primary responsibility for conflict prevention rests
with national Governments, with civil society playing an important
role. The United Nations and the international community should
support national efforts for conflict prevention and should assist
in building national capacity in this field. Conflict prevention
activities of the United Nations can therefore help to support the
sovereignty of Member States.
3. Conflict prevention is an activity best
undertaken under Chapter VI of the Charter. In this regard, the
means described in the Charter for the peaceful settlement of
disputes are an important instrument for conflict prevention,
including such means as negotiation, enquiry, mediation,
conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement or other peaceful
means, as set forth in Article 33 of the Charter. It must also be
recognised that certain measures under Chapter VII of the Charter
such as sanctions, can have an important deterrent effect.
4. Preventive action should be initiated at
the earliest possible stage of a conflict cycle in order to be most
effective.
5. The primary focus of preventive action
should be in addressing the deep-rooted socio-economic cultural,
environmental, institutional, political and other structural causes
that often underlie the immediate symptoms of conflicts.
6. An effective preventive strategy requires
a comprehensive approach that encompasses both short-term and
long-term political, diplomatic, humanitarian, human rights,
developmental, institutional and other measures taken by the
international community, in cooperation with national and regional
actors. It also requires a strong focus on gender equality and the
situation of children.
7. Conflict prevention and sustainable and
equitable development are mutually reinforcing activities. An
investment in national and international efforts for conflict
prevention must be seen as a simultaneous investment in sustainable
development since the latter can best take place in an environmental
of sustainable peace.
8. The preceding suggests that there is a
clear need for introducing a conflict prevention element into the
United Nations system's multifaceted development programmes and
activities so that they contribute to the prevention of conflict by
design and not by default. This, in turn, requires greater coherence
and coordination in the United Nations system, with a specific focus
on conflict prevention.
9. A successful preventive strategy depends
upon the cooperation of many United Nations actors, including the
Secretary General, the Security Council, the General Assembly, the
Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice and
United Nations agencies, offices, funds and programmes, as well as
the Bretton Woods institutions. However, the United Nations is not
the only actor best suited to take the lead. Therefore, Member
States, international, regional and sub-regional organizations, the
private sector, non-governmental organizations, and other civil
society actors also have very important roles to play in this
field.
10. Effective preventive action by the United
Nations requires sustained political will on the part of Member
States. First and foremost, this includes a readiness by the
membership as a whole to provide the United Nations with the
necessary political support and resources for undertaking effective
preventive action in specific situations.
Treaties and
Institutions
- Security Council resolution 1325
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 dependents.”
- The Namibia Platform for Action to
Mainstream Gender in Multidimensional Peace Operations: “United
Nations peace operations have evolved from peacekeeping, in its
traditional sense, towards multidimensional peace support
operations. So far, women have been denied their full role in
these efforts, both nationally and internationally, and the gender
dimension in peace processes has not been adequately addressed. In
order to ensure the effectiveness of peace support operations, the
principles of gender equality must permeate the entire mission, at
all levels, thus ensuring the participation of women and men as
equal partners and beneficiaries in all aspects of the peace
process -- from peacekeeping, reconciliation and peace-building,
towards a situation of political stability in which women and men
play an equal part in the political, economic and social
development of their country.” more...
Tools &
Checklists
Inclusive Security, Sustainable Peace
Toolkit: Chapter on Conflict Prevention
Implementing the United Nations Security
Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security: Integrating Gender
into Early warning Systems (May 2001) International Alert and Swiss
Peace Foundation more...
Department of Political Affairs Preventative
Diplomacy Introduction more...
Preliminary Framework on Gender and Conflict
Early Warning, more... Eugenia Piza-Lopes and Susanne
Schmeidl.
Thesaurus and Glossary of Early Warning and
Conflict Prevention Terms, Alex Schmidt. more...
Helping Prevent Violent Conflict: The DAC
Guidelines, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), Development Assistance Committee (DAC). more...
Risk Assessment Indicator Definitions,
NPSIA/CIFP, November 2001. more...
Risk Assessment Template, Country Indicators
for Foreign Policy, Susan Ampleford, David Carmet, George Conway,
Angelia Ospina, Forum on Early Warning and Early Response. more...
Conflict Analysis and Response Definition,
Abridged Methodology, Forum on Early Warning and Early Response
(FEWER), 2001. more...
Conflict Impact Assessment of EU Development
Cooperation with APC Countries: A Review of Literature and Practice,
Manuela Leonhardt, International Alert and Safer World. more...
The European Commission has developed a Check
List for the Root Causes of Conflict available. more...
International Peace Academy conducted a
series of seminars on Conflict Prevention over 1999-2000, generating
a very useful set of research and discussion papers. The purpose of
the series was to determine the degree of consensus and discord in
recent research on conflict trends and the causes of conflict and
peace, and use this to help shape policy and action on conflict
prevention initiatives within the UN system. more...
World Bank: “Mainstreaming Gender in Conflict
Analysis: Issues and Recommendations” (2006)
This paper was
commissioned by the Crisis Prevention and Recovery unit of the World
Bank to “improve the gender sensitivity of the Bank’s Conflict
Analysis Framework (CAF).” The report points to several areas which
have been problematic in the past with regard to gender and the CAF,
offers a number of specific recommendations for adjusting the CAF,
and notes resources which should be used in consultation for a
gender-sensitive conflict analysis approach. more....
Powerpoint presentations
What is Conflict Prevention?
Felicity Hill,
UNIFEM
Phases of Conflict
Excerpts from UN Staff
College Manual
What is Conflict Early Warning?
Sanam Naraghi
Anderlini, Women Waging Peace, September 2003
Causes of Conflict, A Brief Overview:A
Presentation for UNIFEM
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, Women Waging
Peace, September 2003
UNIFEM Action
& Analysis
To strengthen conflict prevention mechanisms
with gender perspectives, UNIFEM has identified the following key
strategies:
(a) Develop common indicators for early
warning taking into account women and gender issues, in partnership
with the UN system, and especially UN Funds and Programs, as well as
with NGOs, regional and sub-regional organizations.
(b) Adopt measures to improve the flow of
information from a variety of sources about women's role in peace
efforts and about gender-based violations, and especially among the
funds, program, regional and sub-regional organizations, and
non-governmental organizations.
(c) Support fact-finding missions that take
into account women and gender issues and encourage the participation
therein of local and international women's groups and advocates.
As a component of the overall Peace and
Security Programme, UNIFEM will conduct a two-year programme
“Strengthening Information Collection and Analysis on the Situation
of Women in Conflict Situations” with the goal of strengthening
early warning and preventive actions in relation to peace processes.
Under this programme, UNIFEM is field-testing gender based early
warning indicators in four regions and has established a web portal
on women, peace and security. The Fund has responded to requests for
information from the UN system, governments and NGOs with
information and analysis resulting from field activities and
experience in peace and post-conflict reconstruction processes.
UNIFEM has joined the UN’s Framework Team, which fosters
multi-dimensional Headquarters-field cooperation on conflict
prevention.
The Elusive Role of Women in Conflict
Prevention, Felicity Hill, UNIFEM. more...
Women’s Contribution to Conflict Prevention,
Early Warning and Disarmament, Felicity Hill, UNIFEM. more...
UNIFEM has set up a project office in the
Solomon Islands in order to implement one of a series of pilot
projects on gender and conflict early warning systems, under
UNIFEM's global Women, Peace and Security Programme. The project,
entitled ‘Monitoring Peace and Conflict using Gendered Early Warning
Indicators', was launched in January 2005. It has developed a set of
gender-sensitive conflict early warning indicators, and piloted a
system for the collection, analysis and dissemination of early
warning data, with the aim of creating a more responsive policy and
programming environment for gender-sensitive conflict prevention,
and for supporting the role of women and men in peace building. A
similar project launched in Colombia has had impressive results. A
summary of the programme, produced at the end of 2005, can be found
here.
The early warning project is implemented by
UNIFEM in partnership with the National Peace Council, the Solomon
Islands Christian Association, Vois Blong Mere Solomon, the
Department of Home Affairs, and the Department of National Unity,
Reconciliation and Peace. UNIFEM also works with 20 trained project
participants in five communities around the Solomon Islands to
collect micro- as well as macro-level data. Gender-sensitive
indicator data is collected using three types of survey, as well as
structural data, a media scan and community focus groups. Male and
female responses are disaggregated to highlight any differences
between women's and men's perspectives of conflict and peace issues.
The first gendered early warning report was released in August 2005, and the second
report was released in December 2005;both have
been strongly supported by government, NGOs and other donors as a
diagnostic and strategizing tool to prevent further conflict.was
released in August 2005, and has been strongly supported by
government, NGOs and other donors as a diagnostic and
strategizing tool to prevent further conflict. An overview of the
methodology and lessons from the project is available here.
UN
Resources
The Report of the Secretary-General
to the Security Council on Conflict Prevention, 7 June 2001 provides detailed information of what
the Departments, Specialized Agencies and Funds of the UN System are
doing towards conflict prevention.
Security Council
- The Security Council first debated its
role in the prevention of armed conflict in an open session on 29
November 1999, and issued at Presidential Statement on the subject. Secretary
General Kofi Annan urged the international community to move “from
a culture of reaction to a culture of prevention,” and emphasized
that prevention was one of the main tasks of the United Nations.
- The second open session on conflict
prevention was held all day on 20 June 2000, hearing statements
from 30 governments. The Secretary-General said, "I intend to
continue to strengthen the information gathering and analysis
capacity of the Secretariat, and I look forward to a systematic
exchange with members of this Council on ways to do this." Another
Presidential Statement was issued on 20 July,
2000 Among other things, the Council recognized the important role
of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in
peace-building, and stressed the importance of their increased
participation in all aspects of the conflict prevention and
resolution process.
- In June 2001 the Secretary General issued
a report on conflict prevention (A/55/985-S/2001/574)
http://ods-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N01/404/64/PDF/N0140464.pdf?OpenElement
that underscored the importance of gender equality, the costs of
failing to prevent war and the need for non-governmental
organizations to clarify their role in conflict prevention and
their relationship to the United Nations. He stressed the need to
protect women’s human rights and encouraged the Security Council
to give greater attention to gender perspectives in its conflict
prevention and peace-building efforts.
- The Security Council responded with
resolution 1366 PDF which reiterated its recognition of the role
of women in conflict prevention and its request to the
Secretary-General “to give greater attention to gender
perspectives in the implementation of peacekeeping and
peace-building mandates as well as in conflict prevention
efforts.”
- The Security Council has passed two
resolutions on the Protection of Civilians and Armed Conflict 17 September 1999 and 19 April 2000 which mention conflict prevention,
as do the three resolutions on children of August 2000, November 2001 [ 1379children.pdf ] and January 2003
- 1674 (28 April 2006): Included in this
resolution is the reaffirmation by the Security Council of its
prior resolutions 1265 (1999) and 1296 (2000), on the protection
of civilians in armed conflict, as well as its various resolutions
on children and armed conflict and on women, peace and security.
Also within this resolution, the Security Council takes note of
the particular impact which armed conflict has on women and
children, including refugees and internally displaced persons, as
well as on other civilians who may have specific vulnerabilities.
The Council condemns in the strongest terms all acts of
violence or abuses committed against civilians in situations of
armed conflict in violation, with respect in particular to
gender-based and sexual violence, trafficking in humans, and
forced displacement. Moreover and in equally strong terms, the
Council condemns all acts of sexual exploitation, abuse and
trafficking of women and children particularly by military,
police, and civilian personnel involved in United Nations
operations. In reference to this problem, the Council welcomes the
efforts undertaken by United Nations agencies and peacekeeping
operations to implement a zero-tolerance policy for all such
acts.
Finally, this resolution calls upon all parties concerned to
ensure that peace support operations employ all feasible measures
to prevent such violence and to address its impact where it takes
place. Connected with this is the mandate that all peace
processes, peace agreements, and post-conflict recovery and
reconstruction planning have regard for the special needs of women
and children and include specific measures for the protection of
civilians including the cessation of attacks on civilians, the
facilitation of the provision of humanitarian assistance, the
creation of conditions conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified
and sustainable return of refugees and internally displace
persons, the facilitation of early access to education and
training, the re-establishment of the rule of law, and the ending
of impunity. more...
General Assembly
18
July 2003, General Assembly Resolution 57/337 on Conflict
Prevention took over three years to negotiate.
The International Commission on Intervention
and State Sovereignty was an independent panel of experts brought
together by the Canadian government to respond to Secretary-General
Kofi Annan’s plea to the General Assembly that the international
community decide how to protect the sensitivities of sovereign
states while also preventing genocides and massacres. Affirming the
primary responsibility of sovereign states to prevent conflict and
protect their citizens, the panel proposed that the responsibility
shift to the shoulders of the international community if a state
cannot or will not protect its citizen, or if it is the perpetrator
of “conscience shocking events crying out for action” such as “large
scale loss of life or large scale ethnic cleansing, whether carried
out by forced expulsion, acts of terror or rape.” The report also
emphasizes that crimes against women constituted “conscience
shocking events” and the need for a renewed commitment to
prevention, early warning and analysis as well as effective DD&R
and Security Sector Reform in post-conflict countries to prevent the
resurgence of violence. more...
Intergovernmental Bodies
- The G-8 Rome meeting of 2001 issued a
statement of Foreign Ministers on strengthening the role of women
in conflict prevention.
- The 1993 Declaration of the Assembly of
African Heads of State established the Mechanism for Conflict
Prevention, Management and Resolution. The objective of the
Mechanism, overseen by a 16 member Central Organ, is the
anticipation and prevention of situations of potential conflict
from developing into full-blown conflicts. The AU has begun to
take practical steps to include African women and utilize their
skills in resolving conflicts in Africa. For example, in 1997 the
AU dispatched an African Women’s Solidarity Mission to Burundi
with the goal of encouraging the participation of women in the
peace-building process. In 1998, in collaboration with the
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the AU created an advisory
body called the African Women’s Committee on Peace and Development
to foster the full participation of women in continental efforts
to manage conflicts, although the Committee is criticized for
being weak and not integrated into the Mechanism. Overall, the AU
could do considerably more to involve civil society groups in the
work of its Mechanism.
- In March 2000 the NGO Forum on Early
Warning and Early Response (FEWER) was commissioned to undertake a
feasibility study on the design of a conflict early warning and
response mechanism (CEWARN) for the Inter-Governmental Authority
on Development (IGAD) region (IGAD is made up of Djibouti, Kenya,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda). This culminated in
the signing of a protocol to establish the Conflict Early Warning
Mechanism. During the Ministerial Level Seminar in Khartoum in
October 2001, the programme was reviewed in recommendations were
made to include the gender dimension, which were endorsed by the
IGAD Council of Ministers. more... In November 2002, UNIFEM supported a
workshop on Engendering CEWARN.
- In October 2000 the European Parliament
received a report on Women’s Participation in the peaceful
resolution of conflicts submitted by the Committee on Women’s
Rights and Equal Opportunities, led by Maj Britt Theorin. This
report urges EP Member States to systematically encourage the
participation of women in official conflict resolution processes,
and conflict prevention in particular. more... Following on from the report, the
Parliament passed a resolution on 30 November 2000 on
Gender-related aspects of prevention of armed conflicts and the
participation of women in peaceful conflict resolution
(2000/2025(INI)), which emphasized women’s participation in
decision-making as crucial for conflict prevention to work. more...
- The European Commission adopted in April
2001 a Communication on Conflict Prevention reviewing the main
instruments in this field and putting forward recommendations for
specific actions.The Communication stated, “As part of its support
to civil society, the Commission has also provided extensive
support to initiatives by and/or for women within the framework of
the Beijing process, following on from the 1995 World Conference
on Women. Examples include promotion of the Euro-Arab dialogue
between women, establishment of a Women’s Center in Gaza and
inter-community initiatives in Cyprus launched by women. A
European Council Resolution on Integrating Gender in Development
(20 December 1995) stresses that a gender perspective must be
paramount in emergency operations and crisis prevention. …For
countries showing conflict potential, more targeted actions will
be implemented, where appropriate, to open the way to a more
favourable democratic environment. IN particular increased
emphasis will be placed on support to electoral processes,
parliamentary activities and the administration of justice. In so
doing the Commission will in particular promote the equal
participation of men and women in social, economic and political
life.
Experts' Assessement
Chapter on Women,
Conflict Prevention and Early Warning from Women War Peace by the Independent Experts
Recommendations
Recommendations from Women, Peace and
Security, the Study of the Secretary-General, October
2002
- Recognize the extent of violations of the
human rights of women and girls during armed conflict; take
measures to prevent such violations; provide appropriate redress
and prosecute perpetrators; provide support to victims; and ensure
that awareness of these violations informs planning and
implementation in all peace support operations, humanitarian
activities and reconstruction efforts.
- Identify and utilize local sources of
information on the impact of armed conflict, and the impact of
interventions – peacekeeping, peace-building, humanitarian
operations, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
programmes, and reconstruction – on women and girls, and on the
roles and contributions of women and girls in conflict situations,
including through the establishment of regular contacts with
women’s groups and networks.
- Incorporate information on the impact of
armed conflict, and the impact of interventions – peacekeeping,
peace-building, humanitarian, DDR, and reconstruction – on women
and girls, and on the roles and contributions of women and girls
in conflict situations, into all training provided to
staff.
- Promote, through existing executive bodies
and inter-agency coordination mechanisms, such as the Executive
Committee on Peace and Security, the Executive Committee on
Humanitarian Affairs, the Executive Committee on Economic and
Social Affairs, the United Nations Development Group, the
Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the Inter-Agency Network on
Women and Gender Equality, the strengthening of collaboration and
coordination on addressing the impact of armed conflict on women
and girls, including through the exchange of information and good
practice examples – for example on policies, strategies,
guidelines and codes of conduct, and through increased monitoring
and reporting on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in all
peace support activities.
- Increase access to information from
women’s groups and networks on indicators of impending conflict as
a means to ensure effective gender-sensitive early warning
mechanisms.
- Integrate prevention activities into all
areas of emergency response, including in design of camps,
provision of shelter, sanitation facilities and health-care
facilities, distribution of food supplies and other benefits,
access to water supplies, as well as specific protection
programmes, working together with health service providers, NGOs
and community groups, including women’s groups and networks, to
address both discrimination against women and girls and the
effects of gender-based and sexual violence.
- Undertake analysis of the gender
perspectives in conflict prevention and peace-building activities
and ensure that all analyses of conflict prevention and
peace-building, including negotiations, preventative diplomacy and
sanctions, adequately reflect a gender perspectives.
On the Prevention of Conflict the
Independent Experts called for:
- The Secretary-General to systematically
include information on the impact of armed conflict on women, and
women’s role in prevention and peace-building in all of his
country and thematic reports to the Security Council. Towards that
end, the Secretary-General should request relevant information
from UN operations and all relevant
bodies.
Explanation of the Recommendation:
Decision makers on the Security Council obtain analysis and
recommendations for action from a variety of sources including
their national intelligence mechanisms and through the thematic
and country-focused reports of the Secretary-General. Security
Council Resolution 1325 acknowledges the lack of data about the
impact of armed conflict on women and women’s role in
peace-building informing their deliberations. A more complete
picture of the situation on the ground in war torn societies would
include information about what women are enduring and doing. In
order for reports of the Secretary-General to include information
about what women are doing and what women are enduring in conflict
zones, UN field based staff should routinely submit information,
analysis and raw data.
Entities
Responsible:The Secretary-General, Personnel sent on
assessment missions, SRSGs, Political Affairs officers mandated to
generate inputs to the reports of the Secretary-General, UN Funds
and Agencies with field presence
Ideas for
Implementation: The SG should issue a request to all
those sent on assessment and fact-finding missions, SRSGs and all
political affairs officers to include information about the impact
of armed conflict on women and women’s role in peace-building in
their submissions and reports.The SG should request OSAGI, DAW,
UNIFEM and INSTRAW to collaborate and generate checklists,
background information and a training module for the
abovementioned personnel if required. The UN Funds and Programmes
should examine their reporting mechanisms with a view to improving
information flow and knowledge sharing on the impact of armed
conflict on women and women’s role in peace-building, through the
desegregation and analysis of data.
- The systematic collection and analysis of
information and data by all actors, using gender specific
indicators to guide policy, programmes and service delivery for
women in armed conflict. This information should be provided on a
regular basis to the secretariat, member states,
inter-governmental bodies, regional organizations, NGOs and other
relevant bodies. A central knowledge base should be established
and maintained by UNIFEM together with a network of all relevant
bodies, in particular the Department of Political Affairs
(DPA).
Explanation of the Recommendation:
Because UNIFEM’s mandate is to generate and support innovative and
catalytic strategies towards gender equality, and because it has
long-standing relationships with women’s organizing efforts in
every region of the world, including conflict areas, it is well
placed to test information collection models and provide support
to other entities collecting and analyzing information on the
impact of armed conflict on women and women’s role in
peace-building. However, the emphasis on being catalytic and
innovative in UNIFEM’s mandate has meant that it is not
operational in many countries on a continuous or long-term basis.
The Independent Experts emphasize the need for UNIFEM to work with
other agencies in order to ensure that UNIFEM’s expertise in
gender specific indicators can inform the information and analysis
of decision makers and practitioners.
Entities
Responsible: DPA country and regional desk officers, DPKO
country and regional desk officers, UNIFEM, UN Framework Team, UN
Funds and Agencies with field presence, NGOs
Ideas
for Implementation:UNIFEM to generate gender profiles of
countries in conflict.UNIFEM together with regional organizations
will convene an Expert Group Meeting to improve collaboration,
share information and develop expertise in February 2003. UNIFEM
to work within existing inter-agency networks, and where
necessary, convene inter-agency efforts to enhance information
sharing and analysis pertaining to the impact of armed conflict on
women and women’s role in peace-building.UNIFEM to test new
collection methodologies and sources of information, generating
occasional and regular information bulletins about the impact of
armed conflict on women and women’s role in peace-building to UN
secretariat, member states, inter-governmental bodies, regional
organizations, NGOs and other relevant bodies.
- The Security Council to formulate a plan
for the least diversion for armaments of the world’s human and
economic resources. Sixty years after being assigned the task, the
Security Council should implement Article 26 of the United Nations
Charter, taking into account the Women’s Peace Petition which
calls for the world’s nations to redirect at least 5 per cent of
national military expenditures to health, education and employment
programmes each year over the next five years.
Explanation of the Recommendation: The
founders of the United Nations understood that the prevention of
war was inextricably tied with the reduction and control of
armaments. In Article 26 of the Charter, the Security Council
together with the Military Staff Committee is asked to generate a
plan to divert as little of the worlds human and economic
resources to armaments as possible. The Military Staff Committee
effectively ceased to function 29 months after the founding of the
UN, perhaps the reason why this plan has never eventuated. The
Independent Experts feel that the plan called for by Article 26 is
needed more than ever as military spending surpasses what was
considered absurd Cold War levels of investment in military
solutions to security, many of which are demonstrably not working.
Entities Responsible: Security Council
member states, Military Staff Committee, UN Agencies working in
the field of disarmament, arms control and demilitarization, NGO
and academic disarmament, arms control and verification experts
could provide technical support
Ideas for
Implementation: Security Council to convene expert level
internal working group to make recommendations on compliance with
the UN Charters’ 26th Article. Military Staff Committee members to
provide advice and technical support to the Security Council
Working Group.Various UN agencies working in the field of
disarmament and arms control could also provide advice, technical
support and background documents.Academic and NGOs could
contribute expertise and broad civil society input to the Security
Council.
- The UN Development Programme (UNDP), as
the leading agency in the field of security sector reform, to
ensure that women’s protection and participation be central to the
design and reform of security sector institutions and policies,
especially in police, military and rule of law components. UNDP
should integrate a gender perspective into its country
programmes.
Explanation of the
Recommendation: Security sector reform is a term used to
describe an ordinarily gender-blind process that seeks to
establish legitimate security structures, often after a conflict,
but also as part of democratic reform. Every step in the process
of security sector reform – retraining personnel, establishing new
institutions and leadership, and providing protection and law
enforcement, has a gender component. Securing the faith of civil
society in the security apparatus and those wearing its uniform is
essential if the reform process is to succeed in stopping armed
elements of the society seeking self-help solutions to insecurity.
Women often have very particular reasons for losing that faith,
because the majority of the violence they experience during war is
by soldiers. Regaining or establishing civilian legislative
oversight of the military’s functions is another important element
in the post-conflict context when establishing the rule of law is
so crucial to maintaining the peace.
Entities
Responsible:Donor governments, UNDP and other security
focused UN Agencies and Departments, including DDA, DPA, UNMAS and
UNIDIR, UNDP and UN agencies with gender expertise including
OSAGI, UNIFEM, DAW, INSTRAW and UNFPA, NGOs supporting DDR and
development in post-conflict countries.
Ideas for
Implementation:Generally a security sector reform
programme will involve the police, military and other actors in
the security sector being recruited as part of new or reformed
formal institutions. Often, personnel are re-trained to recognize
international standards and laws. All training packages offered to
police, border guards, military, and rule of law personnel must
include material on the laws and standards pertaining to the
protection of women’s human rights.UN country programmes and
country teams engaged with supporting reform of the security
sector should be provided with technical assistance on gender and
the rule of law, gender and security concepts, and should engage
with women’s organizations and advocates when formulating country
responses and plans.
- Operational humanitarian, human rights and
development bodies to develop indicators to determine the extent
to which gender is mainstreamed throughout their operations in
conflict and post-conflict situations and ensure that ‘gender
mainstreaming’ produces measurable results and is not lost in
generalities and vague references to gender. Measures should be
put in place to address the gaps and obstacles encountered in
implementation.
Explanation of the
Recommendation:This recommendation suggests that all
organizations undertaking activities in conflict and post-conflict
situations should take gender content in their programmes
seriously enough to produce measurable results rather than
disingenuous references and gestures towards the worthy but
ambitious goal of gender mainstreaming. Gender mainstreaming is
much more than a buzzword, but to many that is all it is. The
enthusiasm for mainstreaming gender throughout the work of
institutions is partly due to a strong aversion to the idea of
isolating women’s concerns to a marginalized ghetto. However not
enough resources have been invested into gender mainstreaming by
the governments and UN agencies for gender mainstreaming to
actually work in preparing agencies to deliver, especially for
women in crisis.
Entities
Responsible:Humanitarian, human rights and development
focused UN agencies operational in conflict zones, Humanitarian,
human rights and development focused NGOs operational in conflict
zones.
Ideas for Implementation:
Operational agencies need technical support in reconfiguring or
developing information and data collection systems to disaggregate
data by sex.UNIFEM may ask IASC gender task force to develop a
model set of indicators and best practices to measure (1)
methodology, (2) funding and (3) reporting procedures for gender
mainstreaming at HQ and field levels. The survey should also
include how gender is taken into account in the design and
delivery of humanitarian and development assistance to women.
UNIFEM may want to call on bilateral donors to undertake a similar
exercise.
- Inter-governmental and regional
organizations to strengthen and expand women’s role in conflict
prevention and peace-building. To this end, the UN together with
regional organizations should convene an Expert Group Meeting to
improve collaboration, share information and develop expertise.
Explanation of the Recommendation:The UN
Secretary-General’s July 2001 report on conflict prevention calls
on the Security Council to include a gender perspective in its
work and to make protecting women’s human rights part of conflict
prevention and peace-building. In response, the Security Council
passed Resolution 1366 on conflict prevention calling for greater
attention to gender perspectives in the implementation of
peacekeeping and peace-building mandates as well as in conflict
prevention. Many other regional security organizations have made
similar commitments to incorporating gender issues, especially
after the passage of Security Council resolution 1325. An Expert
Group Meeting between these organizations to share strategies and
best practices in strengthening the role of women in prevention
would inform and possibly harmonize these
efforts.
Entities Responsible:SRSGs and UN
agencies operational in conflict zones, UN agencies that collect
and analyse information for reporting to the Security Council of
the Secretary General, The UN Framework Team, African Union,
European Union, NATO and all other regional organizations focused
on conflict prevention.
Ideas for
Implementation: A lead agency, or the IASC, should
convene the Expert Group Meeting, inviting those staffing conflict
prevention focused efforts. Distribution of findings and
recommendations of the meeting. A segment of the next meeting
between the United Nations and regional organizations could take
up the women, peace and security agenda.NGOs meeting in regional
preparatory meetings towards a 2004 international conference on
the role of NGOs in conflict prevention should generate insights
and recommendations to regional organizations and the United
Nations on strengthening and expanding the role of women in
conflict prevention.
- In cooperation with relevant UN bodies,
UNIFEM to develop and test a set of gender-based early warning
indicators for mainstreaming into the UN Early Warning Framework
and explore use of such indicators with regional
organizations.
Explanation of the
Recommendation:While the importance of gender is
recognized, concrete measures to improve the flow of early warning
information from and about women have not been put in place. If
preventive visits and fact-finding missions to areas of potential
conflict were to routinely include gender expertise and
consultations with women’s organizations, systematic and useable
information about women could be collected and analysed. Only then
could “gender perspectives” be turned into concrete early warning
indicators.
Entities Responsible:UNIFEM
working with all relevant UN departments, agencies and funds,
especially DPA, DPKO and UN country teams, OCHA’s IRIN Network,
Framework Team
Ideas for
Implementation:UNIFEM should generate a draft early
warning indicator list for testing in field-based pilots. The
draft indicators should be examined by a group of qualified
experts who can attest to the viability of each indicator, and the
kinds of analysis that would be necessary to integrate it into the
broader early warning response trigger system in place in country
situations.UNIFEM, in cooperation with other agencies and NGOs
should then test the indicators and widely share the findings of
staff in the field based pilots working with the gender based
early warning framework.
- Disarmament, Demobilization and
Reintegration (DDR) initiatives to equitably benefit women
ex-combatants and those forced into service by armed groups.
Resettlement allowances and other forms of support should be
provided on a long-term basis.
Explanation of the
Recommendation:Each of the DDR processes involves and has
implications for women, whether they participated in combat, have
family members who did, or are members of a community trying to
integrate former combatants. While some women joined armed groups
of their own free will, large numbers were abducted into combat
and/or forced to become sexual and domestic slaves. But no matter
how they came to military groups, almost all of them are neglected
during the DDR process.
Entities
Responsible:UN peacekeeping operations working with host
governments, UNDP Regional organizations working in weapons
collection and destruction, demobilization and reintegration, NGOs
working in DDR
Ideas for
Implementation:All organizations working in the area of
DDR should integrate gender perspectives into the process,
providing separate camp facilities for women and the wide range of
health and psychosocial support needed by women former combatants
and sexual and domestic slaves. Education and training packages,
as well as other financial and concrete support in getting work
and a home, should be part of the DDR work. Those agencies
responsible for DDR should request support from relevant UN
agencies to support this work, for example UNFPA could provide
invaluable support in demobilization camps.HIV AIDS issues are
increasingly important to address in the demobilization phase of
wars. Testing and support services for those with HIV/AIDS should
be considered a routine part of the process.
- The UN to conduct a ‘lessons learned’
study on the gender aspects of DDR processes in which it has been
involved.
Explanation of the
Recommendation:In order to improve this essential
component of any peace process, the UN should share the lessons it
has learned with other organizations responsible for DDR.
Entities Responsible: UNIFEM, DDA,
UNIDIR, UNFPA
Ideas for
Implementation:Working collaboratively with all relevant
UN agencies, an independent consultant should be engaged to study
and evaluate the UN’s work in this field, making recommendations
for improvement.
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