WUNRN
Canada’s Action Plan for the Implementation of United
Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security
PURPOSE
This
Action Plan is intended to guide the Government of Canada in the implementation
of a group of United Nations Security Council Resolutions (SCRs) on Women,
Peace and Security which recognize and address the experiences of women and
girls in conflict and post-conflict situations, and to improve Canada’s
capacity to safeguard and support affected populations during all phases of
peace operations (peacekeeping, peacebuilding, peacemaking, peace enforcement,
conflict prevention, mediation, and stabilization and reconstruction), and in
fragile states and conflict-affected situations.
Canada
regards full implementation of these resolutions as an important means of
contributing to the full realization of human rights, peace and security by
increasing, over the long term, the effectiveness of responses by the
international community to conflict situations or cases of acute fragility, and
thereby building peace that respects the fundamental equality of men and women.
The
active and meaningful participation of women and girls at all stages of
international interventions will result in improved program and project
effectiveness and sustainability at the local, national and international
levels. This includes ensuring a diverse range of women have an equal
opportunity to engage directly in the development of proposed interventions and
to assess the impact of proposed interventions on them. This approach is a
fundamental part of effective and accountable peace operations and engagements
in fragile states and as such is neither optional nor incremental, and must be
built into all stages of the design and delivery of programs.
THE
MULTILATERAL CONTEXT
UNSC
Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security was the first such
instrument to deal exclusively with women in situations of armed conflict. It
affirms that women’s participation and the inclusion of concerns regarding the
substantive equality of men and women at all stages of peace operations, are
integral to the development of stable states built on a foundation of human
rights and the rule of law. The Resolution calls for special
consideration, during and after conflict, of the differential impact of
conflict on women and girls.
Resolution
1325 requests UN Member States, within the context of conflict, to address
several key themes: prevention of conflict and of violence against women,
protection of women’s and girls’ human rights; representation and participation
of women and local women’s groups; training of deployed personnel (national and
international) to encourage their use of an approach that considers,
incorporates and adequately addresses the needs and capacities of women and
girls in their field and headquarters responsibilities; and integration of an
approach fully reflecting the equality of men and women in all aspects of peace
and security activities. The UN Secretary-General subsequently requested Member
States to develop their own national implementation plans for Resolution 1325
in order to support and strengthen UN policy and operational mechanisms.
Resolution
1820, adopted in 2008, explicitly identifies sexual violence as a tactic of war
and as a threat to international peace and security, providing the Security
Council with a clear mandate to intervene and impose sanctions where
appropriate. This Resolution also condemns the use of rape and other forms of
sexual violence, stating that rape can constitute a war crime, a crime against
humanity, or a constitutive act with respect to genocide. It identifies a need
to exclude sexual violence from amnesty provisions in conflict resolution
processes and calls upon UN Member States to prosecute persons responsible for
sexual violence, and to ensure that all victims of sexual violence have equal
protection under the law and access to justice. Furthermore, it
encourages troop and police contributing countries to, among other things, deploy a higher
percentage of women peacekeepers and police, as a strategy to prevent sexual
violence against women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations.
Resolution
1888, adopted in 2009, provides for stronger tools in implementing 1820,
including by specifically mandating peacekeeping missions to protect women and
children from rampant sexual violence during armed conflict. It also
asked the Secretary-General to appoint a special representative to coordinate a
range of UN mechanisms to fight these crimes.
Finally,
Resolution 1889, also adopted in 2009, reaffirms Resolution 1325, and calls for
a set of global indicators for the implementation of Resolution 1325, as well
as a report on gender and peace building. Resolution 1889 urges greater
participation by women in peacemaking and post-conflict recovery, and makes
recommendations for a UNSC mechanism for monitoring.
In
2010, in response to Resolution 1889, the Secretary-General proposed specific
performance indicators to the Security Council, providing a new and essential
dimension of accountability to the implementation of Resolution 1325. While
these indicators are not all applicable to the national efforts of all Member
States, they offer inspiration for the identification of specific and
measurable ways in which Member States can monitor their own performance.
To
date, some 18 countries, including states emerging from conflict, have
established National Action Plans on the Women, Peace and Security Resolutions
or have made substantial progress in the development of such Plans.
Multilateral actors and institutions are also taking action on Women,
Peace and Security issues. For example, a joint directive from the two
Strategic Commands of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in
September 2009 sets out clear parameters for implementation of SCR 1325 through
training, staffing, standards of behaviour, reporting and a range of
operationally-relevant issues under the aegis of Women, Peace and Security. The
African Union, meanwhile, addresses such issues in its Solemn Declaration on Gender
Equality in Africa.
Cumulatively,
these resolutions form a framework that recognizes as international peace and
security issues the interrelation of women’s equality, human rights, and
women’s participation, and the specific roles and responsibilities of women and
men as shaped by their communities. Further, this group of resolutions
represents a strong foundation upon which UN member states can plan, implement
and evaluate how their activities respond to the Resolutions.
CANADA’S
APPROACH
In
keeping with its core values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule
of law, Canada is committed to the effective implementation of the UNSC Women,
Peace and Security Resolutions. In line with this commitment, Canada further
reaffirms the importance of implementing the international agendas and
Resolutions on the protection of civilians and on children and armed conflict
(including those measures intended to make perpetrators of grave violations
against children in conflict situations more accountable). Canada’s efforts to
implement the Women, Peace and Security Resolutions are also linked to the
overall promotion and protection of women’s and girls’ human rights and
equality within the framework of the 1995 Beijing
Declaration and Platform for Action, and Canada’s obligations under
the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, and other international human rights instruments.
Canada
regards the Women, Peace and Security Resolutions as identifying major and
enduring issues in the conduct of international peace and security. Both
the letter and the spirit of these Resolutions are fully consistent with
Canada’s approach to promoting equality between men and women and ensuring that
the differential impact of conflict on women and girls is recognized and
addressed within peace and security policies and programming. Systematic
integration of the concerns and experiences of women and men, boys and girls is
seen as essential to ensuring equality. In the realm of peace operations,
fragile states and conflict-affected situations, the purpose of this approach
is to make missions more effective and to reinforce the Government’s consistent
emphasis on accountability.
Canada’s
approach to equality recognizes the patterns of disadvantage that many women
and girls face and requires that they be taken into account. This approach also
examines the impact of laws, policies and programs within their surrounding
social context to examine how they can provide equal benefit and promote the
active and meaningful participation of everyone. The intent is to conduct
analyses and set in motion policies at the national and international level
that address disparity between women and men.
Canada’s
approach is oriented to empowering women and girls by creating and reinforcing
systems and structures that enable equality between men and women, and among
women and girls of different status in their communities. In peace
operations or fragile states this could mean, for example, the deliberate
engagement of women, including indigenous women, in bodies that are able to
make binding decisions, or indeed the devolution of decision making authority
to existing venues, statutory and non-statutory, where women historically have
enjoyed greater influence. As noted in the Implementation Framework below, it
is crucial to recognize both the needs and capacities of women and girls
affected by conflict, drawing upon their knowledge and skills to craft and
implement effective policies and projects.
Canada’s
approach will be pursued on a variety of fronts including, as appropriate,
through advancing international norms and standards, conducting sustained
advocacy on a bilateral and multilateral basis; seeking mechanisms for
accountability and implementation; engaging Canadian, international and local
civil society organizations; and building knowledge and skills for
practitioners. These approaches are intended to be mutually reinforcing and
will take place at both the policy and operational levels, nationally and
internationally.
Canada’s
Action Plan:
Implementation
Framework
Canada’s
Action Plan provides a framework for a cohesive whole-of-government approach
that will support Canadian and UN efforts to implement the UNSC Resolutions on
Women, Peace and Security. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
(DFAIT), the Department of National Defence (DND), the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Public
Safety Canada, Status of Women Canada and Justice Canada, as well as members of
Canadian civil society, have all contributed to the development of the Action
Plan. Canada also works with Member States of the UN, regional and other
international organizations, and civil society organizations and networks to
advance the integration of the specific concerns of women and girls and the
substantive equality of men and women throughout its foreign policy and
diplomacy, development, humanitarian assistance, defence and security
activities.
Canada’s
Action Plan is organized into thematic areas that reflect the content of the
SCRs on Women, Peace and Security and the structure of the Report of the
Secretary-General on Women, Peace and Security (S/2010/173) which presents a
set of indicators to the Security Council:
Throughout
the thematic areas, the Action Plan includes key strategies for the implementation
of the UNSC Women, Peace and Security Resolutions:
Objectives
In
regard to peace operations and engagement in fragile states and conflict-affected
situations as intended by the SCRs on Women, Peace and Security, the Government
of Canada commits to:
In
order to achieve these commitments, Canada will take clear, deliberate and
sustained action in each of the four thematic areas of the SCRs on Women, Peace
and Security, including through the development and adoption of best practices
and the application of lessons learned arising progressively from
implementation of the Action Plan. To support compliance with and
implementation of the goals set out in this document, a series of indicators
are used in this Action Plan. They are inspired by the indicators
presented by the UN Secretary General in a report to the Security Council
(S/2010/173) in April 2010 and follow the same principle of being SMART —
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. While some
actions such as multilateral advocacy do not lend themselves to ready
indicators above the output level, it is important to identify all areas of
intended action.
Actions
and Indicators
Prevention:
1.
Ensure that all organizations receiving Government of Canada funds for
humanitarian assistance have organizational codes of conduct relating to sexual
exploitation and abuse consistent with the core principles of the Inter-Agency
Standing Committee (IASC) Plan of Action on Protection from Sexual Exploitation
and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises.
2.
Systematically include modules on women, peace and security, including codes of
conduct, cultural awareness, HIV/AIDS, trafficking in persons, and Canadian and
international law applicable to the human rights and protection of women and
girls in all Canadian training for military, police and civilian personnel
being deployed operationally, in a manner which addresses any differential
impact of armed conflict on women and girls.
3.
Deliver programming under Government of Canada international programs in the
justice and security sector that reflects an analysis of the differential
impact of conflict on women and girls.
4.
Continue to engage in policy dialogue with multilateral partners—including
through the UN and its various bodies, funds and programs; the World Bank and
other international financial institutions; the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development; NATO; the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe; the International Organization for Migration; the
Organization of American States; the Commonwealth; and La Francophonie—to
encourage the strengthening of their capacities to plan for, implement and
report on issues of Women, Peace and Security in peace operations, fragile
states and conflict-affected situations.
5.
Continue to work with partners, including in Canada’s role as Chair of the
Working Group of the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (“C-34”),
the Group of Friends of Women, Peace and Security, and the Group of Friends on
Children and Armed Conflict, as well as through relationships with the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the African Union, the League of Arab
States and others, to fully implement zero-tolerance policies on sexual
exploitation and abuse in peace operations and to promote the implementation of
international human rights, crime prevention and criminal justice standards
relevant to protecting the rights of women and girls.
6.
Advocate for improved accountability mechanisms on the part of the UN and
reporting by Member States on progress made to implement Resolutions on Women,
Peace and Security (SCRs 1325, 1820, 1888 and 1889).
7.
Advocate for Women, Peace and Security issues to be included in the mandates of
all UN missions for peace operations, and throughout the work of the UN Peacebuilding
Commission, while encouraging the creation and work of appropriately resourced
and influential specialist teams on Women, Peace and Security issues within new
peacekeeping operations.
8.
Promote evidence-based research and analysis, and engage in policy dialogue and
development on the Women, Peace and Security agenda, including discussions with
Canadian, international and local civil society organizations.
9.
Advocate internationally for the strengthening of crime prevention, in
particular with regard to women and girls, in a manner consistent with
international standards and norms on crime prevention, including the UN Guidelines on Crime Prevention
and the prevention components of existing conventions and other relevant
standards and norms.
Participation
and Representation:
10.
Encourage the active and meaningful participation of women in decision making
and in deployments for peace operations, including by identifying and
addressing barriers to full participation.
11.
Identify Canadian specialists and trainers from various backgrounds with
expertise in women, peace and security issues, and assist where practicable
their professional development, placement on international deployment rosters
or nomination for relevant multilateral assignments. These specialists
can also be a source of policy and program advice for Government of Canada
departments and agencies.
12.
Integrate the participation and representation of women and girls in Government
of Canada international security policy frameworks and projects for or in peace
operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations.
13.
Encourage troop- and police-contributing countries to foster the participation
of women in peace operations and in training relevant to peace operations.
14.
Actively encourage UN and other multilateral efforts to involve women,
including Indigenous women, in peace agreements and mediation processes, and
ensure that such agreements take into account the differential experiences of
women and girls, women’s and girls’ human rights and the rights of the child.
15.
Support UN human resources reform processes, particularly with regard to
recruitment, to increase the number of women in decision-making positions
relating to peace and security and, where appropriate, identify strong Canadian
candidates for such positions.
Protection:
16.
Direct Canadian diplomatic missions and deployed Canadian Forces or Canadian
police personnel to include information on observed or credibly reported
serious violations of women’s and girls’ human rights in their periodic
reporting to competent mission authorities on peace operations, and to address
reports of alleged sexual exploitation or abuse by Government of Canada
personnel with the utmost seriousness.
(a)
referred to a competent Canadian authority,
(b)
addressed in a timely, appropriate and transparent manner.
17.
Develop training modules for Government of Canada personnel being deployed to
peace operations, fragile states or conflict-affected situations, which
identify and address in a meaningful way the differential impact of conflict on
women and girls. This training will be specific to protection in the region of
assignment or mission area, will be offered either pre-deployment or in the
field, will draw on experiences/lessons learned from previous engagements, and
will address protection issues including sexual violence, sexual exploitation
and abuse of women and girls, and trafficking in persons.
18.
Integrate the promotion and protection of women’s and girls’ human rights, in a
manner which incorporates an analysis of the differential impact of conflict on
women and girls, in Government of Canada international security policy
frameworks and projects for or in peace operations, fragile states and
conflict-affected situations.
19.
Direct Government of Canada departments and agencies that deploy personnel on
peace operations to provide deploying personnel with clear context-specific
instructions on measures to protect and promote women’s and girls’ human
rights, including measures to prevent sexual violence, and to respond
appropriately if sexual violence occurs.
20.
In Government of Canada-funded projects for or in peace operations, fragile
states and conflict-affected situations, integrate support for women’s and
girls’ human rights including protection from violence, including sexual
violence, sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls, and trafficking in
persons.
Relief
and Recovery:
21.
Support projects in or for peace operations, fragile states and conflict
situations that integrate the needs and capacities of women and girls in relief
and recovery efforts including but not limited to: humanitarian assistance;
support to refugees, internally displaced persons, and returnees; disarmament,
demobilization, and reintegration (DDR); justice and security system reform
(JSSR); stabilization, reconstruction, early recovery and peace and security;
economic empowerment; and health and education programming.
22.
Engage UN Member States and agencies in improving the comprehensiveness of
their approach to the substantive equality of men and women and to the human
rights of women and girls, with respect to the UN’s support to or participation
in justice and security system reform.
23.
Continue to intervene actively with the International Criminal Court and other
international courts and tribunals to promote the implementation of the
relevant objectives of the SCRs on Women, Peace and Security in their
activities, including in mechanisms such as truth and reconciliation
commissions.
24.
Advocate, as appropriate, for the mandates of new international accountability
and judiciary mechanisms such as international courts, special tribunals and
other transitional justice mechanisms, to integrate the SCRs on Women, Peace
and Security, and women’s and girls’ human rights.
25.
Advocate for UN agencies’ consideration of the differential impact that violent
conflict and natural disasters on women and girls, and their human rights, in
all aspects of ongoing efforts to strengthen international humanitarian
response capacity, including anti-human trafficking efforts.
26.
Continue to employ a variety of remedies to promote accountability and justice
in situations where a perpetrator of a war crime or a crime against humanity
(including genocide) is in Canada or wants to come to Canada, including
extradition, prosecution in Canada under the Crimes
Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, surrender to an international
court or tribunal, revocation of citizenship obtained by fraud, denial of
visas, and where applicable under Canada’s Immigration
and Refugee Protection Act, denial of access to the refugee
determination system, and removal from Canada.
27.
Continue efforts to prevent, investigate and prosecute cases involving Canadian
citizens or permanent residents in the sexual exploitation or abuse of children
which occur in fragile states and conflict-affected situations, including child
sex tourism and trafficking in persons.
28.
Advocate internationally for equal access by female ex-combatants, and by women
and girls associated with armed forces or groups, to appropriate benefits and
resources from disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs.
Implementation
and Monitoring
Canada’s
Action Plan covers the period up to March 31, 2016 with a mid-term review. The
Action Plan is intended to be dynamic in nature and respond to changing needs
and lessons from ongoing activities in peace operations, fragile states and
conflict-affected situations, recognizing that sustainable change is a
long-term endeavour.
DFAIT’s
Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START) will coordinate the
government-wide response to the implementation of the SCRs on Women, Peace and
Security. Departments and agencies will implement the Action Plan as part
of their accountability to Canadians for human and financial resources
allocated by Government for realization of their mandates. Internal
processes within departments and agencies will specify activities and accountabilities
in support of the national plan, while capturing lessons learned and
reinforcing best practices.
The
actions and indicators included in this document will be used by the relevant
organizations (CIDA, DFAIT, DND, Public Safety and the RCMP) to collect and analyze
qualitative and quantitative information as to their progress and performance
in implementing this plan. The collection of information will be carried
out by departments and agencies set out in the indicator matrix (Annex A).
DFAIT will use the collected data to compile an annual report of Canada’s
progress in implementing the UNSC Women, Peace and Security Resolutions, which
will be made publicly available.
DFAIT
will convene regular meetings of an interdepartmental working group and inform
senior management on progress. Canada welcomes, in particular, the contribution
of Canadian civil society to the development, implementation and monitoring of
the Action Plan and looks forward to continuing and active discussion on the
issues of Women, Peace and Security.
Indicator |
Key Departments |
Prevention |
|
Indicator 1-1: Number and percentage of organizations receiving Government of Canada funding for humanitarian assistance that have organizational codes of conduct relating to sexual exploitation and abuse consistent with the core principles of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Plan of Action on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises.
|
CIDA |
Indicator 2-1: Percentage of Government of Canada departmental pre-deployment or general training courses, including courses taken while deployed on mission, for peace operations, fragile states or conflict-affected situations that examine the differential impact of armed conflict on women and girls and address key issues such as codes of conduct, cultural awareness, HIV/AIDS, trafficking in persons, and Canadian and international law applicable to the protection and promotion of women’s and girls’ human rights.
|
CIDA, DFAIT, DND, RCMP |
Indicator 2-2: Number and percentage of Government of Canada personnel deployed to peace operations, fragile states or conflict-affected situations who receive pre-deployment training or training while deployed on mission that examines the differential impact of armed conflict on women and girls and addresses key issues such as codes of conduct, cultural awareness, HIV/AIDS, trafficking in persons, and Canadian and international law applicable to the protection and promotion of women’s and girls’ human rights.
|
CIDA, DFAIT, DND, RCMP |
Indicator 2-3: Extent to which the content of mandatory training courses for deployed personnel or for policy and program staff associated with peace operations, fragile states or conflict-affected situations reflect the SCRs on Women, Peace and Security.
|
CIDA, DFAIT, DND, RCMP |
Indicator 3-1: Extent to which programming delivered under the Military Training and Cooperation Programme (MTCP), Anti-Crime Capacity-Building Program (ACCBP), Counter-Terrorism Capacity-Building Program (CTCBP) and the Global Peace and Security Fund (GPSF) and similar Government of Canada international programs in the justice and security sector operationalizes an analysis of the differential impact of conflict on women and girls.
|
DFAIT, DND
|
Participation and Representation |
|
Indicator 10-1: Number of Canadian strategic-level national and international security policy directives or guiding documents that address the participation of women in decision making.
|
DFAIT, DND |
Indicator 10-2: Number of Canadian strategic-level national and international security policy directives or guiding documents that address the deployment of women to peace operations.
|
DFAIT, DND |
Indicator 10-3: Number and percentage of female Canadian Forces personnel, police officers and civilian Government of Canada personnel deployed to peace operations.
|
DFAIT, DND, RCMP |
Indicator 10-4: Number and percentage of voluntary selection processes for Government of Canada personnel to deploy on peace operations that offer specific measures which work to identify and address barriers to women's participation.
|
DND, DFAIT, RCMP |
Indicator 10-5: Number and proportion of women in executive-level roles in Government of Canada departments and agencies involved in peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations.
|
CIDA, DFAIT, DND, RCMP |
Indicator 12-1: Number and percentage of departmental international security policy frameworks that integrate the participation and representation of women and girls.
|
DFAIT, DND |
Indicator 12-2: Number of and funding disbursed for Government of Canada-funded projects in or for peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations that integrate the participation and involvement of women and girls or work with key stakeholders, including men and boys, to promote increased participation and representation of women and girls.
|
CIDA, DFAIT |
Indicator 13-1: Number of Canadian interventions in the United Nations Security Council, General Assembly, Special Committee on Peacekeeping or other relevant international fora that explicitly encourage troop- and police-contributing countries to address the participation of women in peace operations and in training for peace operations.
|
DFAIT
|
Protection |
|
Indicator 16-1: Extent to which Canadian diplomatic offices and deployed Canadian Forces or police personnel include information on observed or credibly reported serious violations of women’s and girls’ human rights in their periodic reporting to competent mission authorities on peace operations.
|
DFAIT, DND, RCMP |
Indicator 16-2: Number of reported cases of sexual exploitation or abuse in peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations, allegedly perpetrated by Canadian military personnel, police or civilian Government officials, and the percentage that are: a) referred to a competent Canadian authority, b) addressed in a timely, appropriate and transparent manner.
|
DFAIT, DND, RCMP |
Indicator 17-1: Percentage of relevant region- or mission-specific pre-deployment or field training modules for Government of Canada personnel on protection issues that address in a meaningful way the differential impact of the conflict on women and girls.
|
DFAIT, DND, RCMP |
Indicator 17-2: Number and percentage of Government of Canada personnel deployed to peace operations, fragile states or conflict-affected situations who receive region- or mission-specific pre-deployment or field training on protection issues that addresses the differential impact of the conflict on women and girls in a meaningful way.
|
DFAIT, DND, RCMP |
Indicator 17-3: Extent to which DND/Canadian Forces strategic direction or equivalent policy guidance for deployed Canadian police address in a meaningful way the importance of protecting women’s and girls' human rights on international operational deployments.
|
DND, RCMP |
Indicator 18-1: Number of departmental international security policy frameworks that integrate the promotion and protection of women’s and girls’ human rights in a manner which incorporates an analysis of the differential impact of conflict on women and girls.
|
DFAIT, DND |
Indicator 18-2: Number of and funding disbursed for Government of Canada-funded projects that integrate the promotion and protection of women’s and girls’ human rights in a manner which incorporates an analysis of the differential impact of conflict on women and girls.
|
CIDA, DFAIT |
Indicator 19-1: Extent to which Government of Canada departmental guidance documents for specific peace operations explicitly address the protection and promotion of women's and girls' human rights, including measures to prevent sexual violence.
|
DFAIT, DND, RCMP |
Indicator 20-1: Number of and funding disbursed for Government of Canada-funded projects for or in peace operations, fragile states and conflict-affected situations that integrate support for women’s and girls’ human rights including protection from violence, sexual violence, sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls and trafficking in persons.
|
CIDA, DFAIT |
Relief and Recovery |
|
Indicator 21-1: Number and percentage of departmental planning frameworks for fragile states and conflict-affected situations that integrate the needs and capacities of women and girls.
|
CIDA, DFAIT |
Indicator 21-2: Number of and funding disbursed for Government of Canada-funded projects in or for peace operations, fragile states and conflict situations that integrate the needs and capacities of women and girls in relief and recovery efforts.
|
CIDA, DFAIT |