WUNRN
International
Day Of Peace
September 21,
2010
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POWER POINT - http://www.wunrn.com/powerpoint/Human_Rights_10.pps
Human Right to Peace -
Gender
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10
Years After UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Conflict Prevention Mechanisms
On 2 September 2010,
Mary Robinson (President, Realizing Rights; Member, Council of Elders), Bineta
Diop (Executive Director, Femmes Africa Solidarité) and Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda
(General Secretary, World YWCA) critically discussed the concept of conflict
prevention under Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325, and the local, national, regional and,
international mechanisms which should be linked with prevention strategies. The
event, “10 years after UN SCR 1325: Conflict Prevention Mechanisms,” was attended by over 80 representatives
from governments, the UN and civil society. It was chaired by Madeleine Rees,
Secretary General of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF).
The panel speakers
covered a broad range of women, peace and security issues, highlighting the
pervasive gap between the human rights machinery and the peace and security
agenda.
Ms. Robinson outlined five
essential ingredients of the women, peace and security agenda: 1) increase of
women as mediators and negotiators (SCR 1889,
OP4; 2) global indicators (SCR 1889, OP17; 3) process for the Security Council
to receive, analysis and taken action (SCR 1889, OP18); 4) women participation
in peacebuilding (SCR 1889, OP19) and; 5) mechanism to address sexual violence
(SCR 1888,
PW1).
Ms. Robinson further highlighted
a missing sixth element that is central to prevention: the need to link to
women, peace and security with the human rights mechanisms.
Ms. Gumbonzvanda, building on the
notion of linking human rights with SCR 1325, noted that SCR 1325 amplifies the
principles contained in existing international and regional instruments,
including the frameworks of international humanitarian law and human rights.
The panelists reinforced this idea throughout the discussion stating that
“silos” – or linear approaches – continue to be detrimental to the full
implementation of the women, peace and security resolutions and that agendas
must be integrated for the benefit of women in conflict and post-conflict
situations.
Ms. Gumbonzvanda called for
closing the knowledge gap on what SCR 1325 means to women in communities and to
what it means on the global scale. She noted that women have limited information
on SCR 1325 but that it had implications for their lives and could be used as a
tool for accountability and for creating space for their active participation
in peace and security discussions. She also noted that women’s engagement in
peace and security debates dated back much further than the ten years that SCR
1325 had been adopted; their engagement dated back as far as World War I with
women seeking accountability. Now, SCR 1325 should enable women to contribute
to substantive political discussions. However, she warned, women are often
denied this access.
Speakers also outlined the broad
framework of SCR 1325 and the current development in the lead up to the 10th
anniversary, including the activities of the Civil Society Advisory Group (CSAG).
Lessons, obstacles and
initiatives vis-à-vis prevention from the field-level were central to the
discussion. Ms. Gumbonzvanda emphasized that prevention at the community level
must address causality factors including the interlinked issues of
militarization, national resources and exploitation. Ms. Diop, referring to SCR
1325 as women in
It was also noted that timely and
accurate conflict early response systems must be integrated with early warning
indicators so that volatile situations may be monitored and responded to.
Furthermore, national, regional and international efforts must be seen as an
integrated whole which can be used to react to indications of instability and
potential threat.
The centrality of full and
meaningful participation to effective prevention was emphasized. Women’s
participation is about genuine inclusive processes at all levels – its about
content contribution, and not about numbers. It is also about ensuring
non-discrimination leading to policies, programmes and law which address issues
from a gender perspective. It is about women being part of the “space.”
In order to seriously discuss and
address prevention, participants were urged to re-conceptualize the notion of
security to include the full realization of socio-economic rights. Ms.
Gumbonzvanda underlined the indivisibility of human rights and the need to link
peace and security with other agendas such as the Millennium Development Goals;
climate justice; business and human rights.
Responding to a question from the audience, Ms. Gumbonzvanda articulated concisely four main pillars of the new UN WOMEN entity: 1) normative (legal and political); 2) implementation at country level; 3) mainstreaming agenda; and 4) the active involvement of women themselves.
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