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UN
Security Council Resolution 1325 – Only National Action Plans Will Trigger the
Resolution’s Implementation
By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury
- This week, the United Nations
Security Council is holding an open debate to undertake its High Level Review
of the 15 years of implementation of the landmark Resolution 1325 on “Women and
Peace and Security.”
Ambassador
Anwarul K. Chowdhury
Resolution
1325 is very close to my intellectual existence and my very small contribution
to a better world for each one of us. To trace back, 15 years ago, on the
International Women’s Day in 2000, as the President of the Security Council,
following extensive stonewalling, I was able to issue an agreed statement that
formally brought to global attention the unrecognized, underutilized and
undervalued contribution women have always been making towards the prevention
of wars and building peace.
The
Council recognized in that statement that peace is inextricably linked with
equality between women and men, and affirmed the value of full and equal
participation of women in all decision-making levels. That is when the seed for
Resolution 1325 was sown. Adoption of 1325 opened a much-awaited door of
opportunity for women who have shown time and again that they bring a qualitative
improvement in structuring peace and in post-conflict architecture. When women
participate in peace negotiations and in the crafting of a peace agreement,
they have the broader and long-term interest of society in mind.
In
choosing the three women laureates for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel
Committee’s citation referred to 1325 saying that “It underlined the need for
women to become participants on an equal footing with men in peace processes
and in peace work in general.” The committee further asserted that “We cannot
achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same
opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.”
Resolution 1325 is the only UN resolution so specifically noted in the citation
of the Nobel Prize.
Thanks
to 1325, the Security Council is gradually accepting that a lasting peace
cannot be achieved without the participation of women and the inclusion of
gender perspectives and participation in peace processes. The Council has also
met with women’s groups and representatives of NGOs during its field missions
on a fairly regular basis.
Much,
nevertheless, remains to be done. We continue to find reports that women are
still very often ignored or excluded from formal processes of negotiations and
elections and in the drafting of the new constitution or legislature
frameworks. The driving force behind 1325 is “participation.”I believe the
Security Council has been neglecting this core focus of the resolution. There
is no full and equal participation of women at any level. There is no
consideration of women’s needs in the deliberations.
The
main question is not to make war safe for women but to structure the peace in a
way that there is no recurrence of war and conflict. That is why women need to
be at the peace tables, women need to be involved in the decision-making and as
peacekeepers to ensure real and faithful implementation of 1325.
Gender
perspectives must be fully integrated into the terms of reference of peace
operations related Security Council resolutions, reports and missions. A
no-tolerance, no-impunity approach is a must in cases of sexual exploitation
and abuse by peacekeepers. As a matter of fact, I would recommend that all
prospective peace-keepers must pass the “1325 test” before they leave their
countries and there should be no relaxation with regard to this qualifier.
Troop contributing countries should be aware that repeated violations by their
contingents would put them on a global blacklist.
I
recall Eleanor Roosevelt’s words saying “Too often the great decisions are
originated and given shape in bodies made up wholly of men, or so completely
dominated by them that whatever of special value women have to offer is shunted
aside without expression.” It is a reality that politics, more so security, is
still a man’s world. Empowering women’s political leadership will have ripple
effects on every level of society and the global condition. When politically
empowered, women bring important and different skills and perspectives to the
policy making table in comparison to their male counterparts. Here I would add
emphatically that, to be true to its own pronouncements, I believe it is
absolutely high time that in its seven decades of existence, the United Nations
should appoint the first woman as the next Secretary-General.
After
15 years of the adoption the UNSCR 1325, our sole focus should be on its true
and effective implementation. In real terms, the National Action Plan (NAP) is
the engine that would speed up the implementation of Resolution 1325. It should
be also underscored that all countries are obligated as per decisions of the
Security Council to prepare the NAP whether they are in a so-called conflict
situation or not. So far, only 50 out of 193 UN Member-States have prepared
their plans after 15 years – a dismal record. There has to be an increased and
pro-active engagement of the UN secretariat leadership to get a meaningfully
bigger number of NAPs – for example, setting a target of 100 NAPs by 2017. UN
Women needs to work more proactively with the Member States so that their 1325
NAPs are commenced and completed without any further delay.
Anniversaries are meaningful when they trigger renewed enthusiasm amongst all. Coming months will tell whether 1325’s 15th anniversary has been worthwhile and able to create that energy.