WUNRN
______________________________________________________________________
UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325
- 8TH ANNIVERSARY - ENCOURAGE FOLLOW UP, FUNDING, ACTIVISM
|
WOMEN
ENSURE ACTION ON UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 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 osagi@un.org 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 NSmith@SalzburgGlobal.org
|
|
IWTC Women's GlobalNet International Women's Tribune Centre New York, NY 10017, USA Tel:
(1-212) 687-8633; Fax: (1-212) 661-2704 Email: iwtc@iwtc.org Web: http://www.iwtc.org |
================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to:
wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.