WUNRN
UN WOMEN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MICHELLE
BACHELET COMMENDS UN
SECURITY COUNCIL FOR
RENEWED PROGRESS ON WOMEN, PEACE, & SECURITY
UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet addresses a
meeting of the UN Security Council marking the 10th anniversary of landmark
Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, 26 October 2010 (UN Photo/Devra
Berkowitz).
United Nations,
“The Security Council is better equipped than ever before to
ensure that women engage in peace talks and to build a stronger protection
environment for women,” said Ms. Bachelet, referring to the Security Council’s Presidential Statement issued at the end
of the Open Debate. This statement encourages use of a comprehensive set of
indicators on 1325, proposed by the Secretary-General, for improved monitoring
of the results of efforts by the UN and
“All that is needed now to move from policy to action is
determined leadership. We all know that women count for peace. But for them to
count for peace, they need all of us.”
Resolution 1325 acknowledges that women and men experience
conflict differently, and have different needs for protection and recovery. But
these needs are often ignored, while women remain sidelined in peace talks and
post-conflict planning. Member States participating in the Security Council
debate agreed that despite the resolution’s intentions to correct these
imbalances, implementation should improve.
The Security Council reviewed a new report from the Secretary-General on
women, peace and security. It proposes a comprehensive set of indicators to
track implementation, along with recommendations on how the Security Council
could better respond to information on women in conflict. “The indicators will
provide the evidence base that is badly needed for better monitoring,” said Ms.
Bachelet.
The Secretary-General, earlier this month in a report on peacebuilding, also proposed
priority actions to ensure women’s participation in peacebuilding, raise low
levels of post-conflict financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment,
and improve gender expertise in urgent recovery efforts.
The Security Council meeting is expected to help expedite future
implementation of resolution 1325 and related resolutions addressing prevention
of sexual violence, protection of civilians and peacebuilding. Twenty-three UN
Member States have now endorsed national 1325 action plans. As part of the
tenth anniversary of resolution 1325, Member States have been announcing and
tracking commitments to improve their performance, by, for instance,
contributing more women troops and police to UN peacekeeping, providing
financial incentives to delegations to peace negotiations to include women and
increasing the proportion of post-conflict funding dedicated to women’s
empowerment.
Ms. Bachelet applauded “the manifest determination of so many of
the United Nations Member States to step up their commitments.”
UN Women will support coherence and coordination across the UN
system in advancing women’s participation in conflict resolution. UN Women will
support existing and new efforts to improve the protection environment for
women during and after conflict, to engage women in conflict prevention, and to
ensure peacebuilding processes are guided by women’s perspectives and address
their needs.