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We promote the human security and rights of women.
Specifically, we aim to ensure that the human rights of women and girls are
protected during armed conflicts, and that women and gender issues are
integrated into conflict-resolution, peace-building, and reconstruction.
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In March 2000, the UN Security Council, in its
Proclamation on International Women’s Day, recognized that gender equality is
an integral component of peace, and in October convened a special session to
consider the situation of women in armed conflict. On 31 October 2000 it
passed Resolution 1325, calling on governments – and the Security Council
itself – to include women in negotiations and settlements with respect to
conflict-resolution and peace-building. The resolution reaffirms the
important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, and
the need to implement fully international humanitarian and human rights law
that protect the rights of women and girls during and after conflicts. Key
points of Security Council Resolution 1325 are:
- Increasing
the representation of women at all decision-making levels;
- Integrating
a gender perspective into peacekeeping missions;
- Appointing
more women as special representatives and envoys of the
Secretary-General;
- Supporting
women’s grassroots organizations in their peace initiatives;
- Involving
women as participants in peace negotiations and agreements;
- Ensuring
protection of and respect for human rights of women and girls;
- Protecting
women and girls from gender-based violence;
- Integrating
a gender perspective into disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration
of former combatants.
And yet, we see the sidelining of both women actors and gender issues in many
contemporary conflicts, peace-keeping initiatives, and reconstruction
efforts. In many conflict areas, a culture of “hegemonic masculinity”
prevails among the major political actors, be they the occupiers, the
resistance, or the state. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, women have
experienced human rights violations on a massive scale. In these and other
cases, women are neither adequately represented at decision-making levels nor
involved in peace negotiations and agreements; women’s grassroots
organizations and peace initiatives are marginalized or ignored. Far from
implementing a gender perspective into disarmament, demobilization, and
reintegration of former combatants, women face the threat of gender-based
violence. What is more, the interests and needs of women and girls are hardly
taken into account in post-conflict reconstruction. In this regard, our
activities include:
- Networking
and collaborative work with women peace activists, peace researchers,
and feminist scholars of international relations on contemporary
conflicts and their gender dynamics;
- Research
into the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 and obstacles
to its realization, in collaboration with other agencies within the UN
system;
- Dissemination
of research findings to national and international policy-makers and
other relevant actors;
- Creating
women’s observatories or research and documentation centers that will
establish programmes to promote women’s involvement in
conflict-resolution, peace processes, and reconstruction efforts, and in
post-conflict democratization processes.
Read more about our projects:
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