WUNRN
STATEMENT
OF THE WOMEN IN
AND
CONFLICT RESOLUTION CAUCUS
presented
at the 52nd Session of
the
UN Commission on the Status of Women;
February
29, 2008; UN
Excellencies and Dear Colleagues,
My name is Mavic Cabrera-Balleza
from the International Women’s Tribune Centre and I am speaking on behalf of
the Women in
In this discussion on financing for
gender equality and the empowerment of women, we wish to stress the critical
importance of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security,
which calls for the inclusion of a gender perspective in conflict prevention,
resolution and peace building, taking equal consideration of women and girls in
all their multiple identities. We call
upon state parties to reaffirm Article 9 of Resolution 1325, which places the
work on women, peace and security within the context of existing human rights conventions.
Since the unanimous adoption of
Security Council Resolution 1325 in October 2000, many countries have made
efforts to implement SCR 1325. However,
to date, very few countries have adopted National Action Plans. We express concern that the majority of these
National Action Plans fail to include gender budgeting, identifiable benchmarks
and/or timelines for the implementation of SCR 1325. We call upon Governments, relevant UN agencies
and other intergovernmental bodies to provide adequate and sustainable funding
for women’s equal and fair participation in peace building, conflict prevention
and conflict resolution processes.
We urge Member States to increase their financial
support for the full implementation of Resolution 1325;
Recalling the Agreed
Conclusions of the 48th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, we
propose an increase of or a re-direction of resources available nationally and
internationally for the prevention of conflict and women’s participation in the
elaboration and implementation of strategies for preventing conflict;
We support the call
for the establishment of a strong gender entity in the UN system as this will
enhance our advocacy for the full implementation of resolution 1325;
We strongly support
the creation, as recommended by the Secretary General, of a dedicated and
transparent Security Council mechanism to more effectively monitor women’s equal
participation in peace building and conflict prevention;
We assert that any
programme on financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment will only be
successful if carried out under an environment where all stakeholders are working
collectively towards the attainment of social justice, sustainable peace and
respect for human rights.
As we mark the 60th anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is our sincere hope that these
recommendations will be reflected in the Agreed Conclusions of this 52nd
Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
Thank you for your
attention.
The Women in
Association des Guides
du Burundi
Association des Femmes
de l’Europe Méridionale
Beyond
Canadian Voice of Women
for Peace
Coordination française
pour le Lobby Européen des Femmes
Femmes Africa Solidarité
First Steps Women’s
Center Northern
FOKUS - Forum for Women
and Development
Hague Appeal for Peace
Himalayan Human Rights
Monitors
International Sociological
Association
International Women’s
Tribune Centre
Isis International
Isis-WICCE
Joan B. Kroc Institute
for Peace & Justice
Northern Ireland Women’s
European Platform
Peace Boat
Rozaria Memorial Trust (Zimbabwe)
Sri Lanka Women’s NGO Forum
The Spanish Society
for the Advancement of International Human Rights Law
Widows for Peace through
Democracy
Women and Media Collective
Sri Lanka
Women for Justice in
Women into Politics
[
Women’s International
League for Peace and Freedom
World Association of
Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)-Women’s International Network
World Association of
Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
World YWCA
3HO Foundation
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