“The Security Council recognizes the vital roles of, and contributions by
women in consolidating peace... [it] recognises that the protection and
empowerment of women and support for their networks and initiatives are
essential in the consolidation of peace,” the 15-member body said in a
presidential statement at the end of a day-long open meeting.
“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 statement came after speeches from almost 50 UN and other officials
following up on Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s report on women, peace and
security, which was released earlier this month. Speakers also emphasized the
need to achieve gender equality, as set forth in the UN Charter and Council
resolution 1325, and acknowledged that more needed to be done, especially in
regard to peacebuilding.
“Women are critical to the consolidation of peace. In today’s mostly internal
conflicts, the socio-economic fabric of a country and its societal dynamics
become a key guide to finding entry points into resolving and preventing
conflicts,” Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General, Special Adviser on
Gender Issues and Advancement of Women told the Council.
“The past year has demonstrated that our collective efforts to ensure equal
participation of women in the consolidation of peace so far have generally
fallen short of what is required. From the Democratic Republic of the Congo to
Sudan and from Somalia to Timor-Leste, women continue to be exposed to
violence.”
Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno,
acknowledged there remained “challenges to women’s rights and gender equality in
post-conflict societies,” but he also pointed to progress made during the past
year, especially with the election in Liberia of President Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf, the first woman head of State in Africa.
However he said much remained to be done, highlighting in particular the
problem of insecurity that many women endure even after conflict has ended, and
he also repeated the call to Member States to put forward more female candidates
for UN peacekeeping operations.
“Our predominantly male profile in peacekeeping undermines the credibility of
our efforts to lead by example in the host countries in which we are engaged. We
need Member States to nominate more women candidates for senior civilian
positions in missions… Less than two per cent and five per cent respectively of
our military and police personnel are women.”
The head of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) said that through its
work in over 20 conflict-affected countries, her organization recognized that
“women are a crucial resource” in peacebuilding and consolidation, while she
also stressed that in order to strengthen any peace process there must be
justice for women.
“Peace agreements, early recovery and post-conflict governance do better when
women are involved. Women make a difference in part because they adopt a more
inclusive approach to peace and security and address key social and economic
issues that provide the foundations of sustainable peace and that would
otherwise be ignored,” said Noeleen Heyzer, UNIFEM Executive Director.
“The question is not only what women can bring to peace consolidation, but
also what peacebuilding can do to promote women’s human rights and gender
equality – transforming social structures so they do not reproduce the exclusion
and marginalization that underlie conflict.”
Carolyn McAskie, Assistant Secretary-General in the Peacebuilding Support
Office, told the Council that “all three main peacebuilding pillars” of the UN,
namely the recently set-up Peacebuilding Commission, the Peacebuilding Fund and
the Peacebuilding Support Office, have important roles to play in getting women
more involved.
“As such, the Peacebuilding Commission, supported by the Peacebuilding
Support Office, is currently exploring ways by which we can engage civil society
in general and women’s organizations in particular to support the process of
peacebuilding.”
“Women have a key role to play in building peace, in their own right, and not
only because they are disproportionately victimized nor seen more naturally as
agents of peace. Women’s key role must be recognized because societies where
women participate fully enjoy more peace, more prosperity and more
opportunity.” ___________________________________________________________________
26 October 2006
– Highlighting the role played by women in promoting peace in
countries emerging from conflict, the United Nations Security Council today
stressed it was essential to promote the full participation of women in helping
rebuild such societies and also encouraged more female involvement in UN
peacekeeping operations.
Security
Council