United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325

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UN Security Council
Resolution 1325

Female trade union demonstration
Date 31 October 2000
Meeting no. 4,213
Code S/RES/1325 (Document)
Vote For: 15 — Abs. 0 — Against: 0
Subject Women and peace and security
Result Adopted
Security Council composition
Permanent members
Non-permanent members

United Nations Security Council resolution 1325, adopted unanimously on 31 October 2000, after recalling resolutions 1261 (1999), 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000) and 1314 (2000), the Council called for the adoption of a gender perspective that included the special needs of women and girls during repatriation and resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction.[1]

It was the first formal and legal document from the United Nations Security Council that required parties in a conflict to respect women's rights and to support their participation in peace negotiations and in post-conflict reconstruction. The resolution was initiated by Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, then Minister of Women's Affairs in Namibia when the country took its turn chairing the Security Council.[2] After lobbying by dozens of women's organizations and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the resolution was adopted unanimously.[3]

Resolution

Observations

The Security Council was concerned about civilians in armed conflict, particularly women and children, who constituted most of the victims and were increasingly targeted by armed elements. This in turn had an impact on the possibilities for peace and reconciliation. Women played an important role in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and therefore it was important that they were equally involved in the process of maintaining international peace and security. It was also recognised the need to adopt a gender perspective in peacekeeping operations and the training of personnel on women's rights.

Acts

The resolution called upon all countries to allow increased representation for women at all levels.[4] The Secretary-General Kofi Annan was requested to increase the participation of women at decision making levels in conflict resolution and peace process; appoint more women as Special Representatives and envoys; and expand their role in peacekeeping operations, particularly among military observers, police, human rights and humanitarian personnel. In this regard the Council expressed its willingness to incorporate a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations.[5]

The Security Council called upon all parties involved in negotiating and implementing peace agreements had to take into account the special needs of women and girls in armed conflict, support women's peace initiatives and implement international humanitarian law and human rights law that respects the rights of women and girls. Parties to armed conflict were also urged to take measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence such as rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and to respect the humanitarian nature of refugee camps and take the needs of women and girls into their design.

The resolution emphasised the responsibility of all countries to prosecute those responsible for crimes against them. During the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration process, the differing needs of female and male ex-combatants had to be taken into account. Finally, the Secretary-General was requested to conduct a study concerning the impact of armed conflict upon women and girls, report its findings and on gender mainstreaming as a whole in United Nations peacekeeping missions. The resolution also calls upon all countries to respect fully international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls, in particular the obligation under the Geneva Convention of 1949 and Additional Protocol thereto of 1977, the Refugee convention of 1951 and the Protocol thereto of 1967, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Optional Protocol thereto of 1999, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict as well Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, to bear in mind the provitions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.[6]

Proponents and Critics

Resolution 1325 was ground breaking in the sense that it brought women’s rights into the discussion of peace and security in the United Nations. This action of acknowledging the voices of organizations and women around the world showed understanding that protocol must be changed. “The NGO working group on Women Peaces and security seems to have been particularly influential in lobbying for resolution 1325” (Tryggestad, 2009). They did this by coming together and forming the NGOWG on Women, Peace and Security. Positioning themselves as the authority on women’s rights, consulting with Security Council members on the resolution and providing them with applicable information. Even after the resolution was adopted the collective still acts as a watchdog (Tryggestad, 2009). Incenting an alternate view into the hyper masculine structure of conflict and post conflicts resolutions. This NGO “advocates for the equal and full participation of women in all efforts to create and maintain international peace and security” ("Working Group on Women, Peace and Security " 2013). The group is active producing a monthly action points as outlines on their web page. This caucus brings a collection of outside perspective to the Security Council, that are in touch with the current issues women are encountering and the practical solutions that are able to working into the security discourse at the time. However critics point out that the parts of the resolutions such as having a Senior Gender Advisor leads all issues dealing with women’s rights separated from all other matter. Intern this would prevent “senior management getting involved in promoting a gender mainstreaming approach that would concern all sections and units, irrespective of their activities” (Puechguirbal 2010). The problem with this is that a Gender Adviser becomes synonymous with a women’s advised, further removing women from the discussion of peace and security. An example of this would be, “Political Affairs Division will organize meetings with representatives of male-dominated political parties but will omit to invite women. The perception is that the Senior Gender Advisor will convene separate meetings with women only” (Puechguirbal 2010). By not letting women into the discussion and only being able to going through their Gender Adviser it continues the male dominated system. Propionates of resolution 1325 still point out that it is being put into practice is a victory in its self, the changes are making progress. “An increasing number of Security Council resolutions include direct reference to resolution 1325” (Tryggestad, 2009). This may not be an immediate change, however it is change. Although critics suggest that the language its self used in the resolution does not help women, it victimizes them. Choosing language is extremely important; because that is how women have made gains through this resolution, it is important to be selective critics explain. “Despite its groundbreaking approach, Resolution 1325 uses this langue of victimization too, thus limiting the scope of its implementation” (Puechguirbal 2010).


Related groups

The Friends of 1325 is an informal or ad hoc group of United Nations Member States who formed as a result of the adoption of Resolution 1325 in order to advocate for the implementation of Resolution 1325; it is organized by Canada.[7]

The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security is a coalition of eighteen NGOs which collectively advocate for the equal and full participation of women in all efforts to create and maintain international peace and security. Formed in 2000 to call for a Security Council resolution on Women, Peace and Security, the NGOWG now focuses on implementation of all Security Council resolutions that address this issue. The NGOWG serves as a bridge between women’s human rights defenders working in conflict-affected situations and policy-makers at U.N. Headquarters.[8]

One of the founding members of the NGO Working Group, PeaceWomen is a project sponsored by the WILPF to promote the implementation of Resolution 1325, through providing a centralized hub of information on information related to women, peace and security.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Security Council, unanimously adopting resolution 1325 (2000), calls for broad participation of women in peace-building post-conflict reconstruction". United Nations. 31 October 2000. 
  2. ↑ Landsberg, Michele (Summer 2003). "Resolution 1325 – Use It or Lose It". Ms Magazine. 
  3. ↑ Murthy, Padmini; Smith, Clyde Lanford (2009). Women's global health and human rights. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-7637-5631-4. 
  4. ↑ Ramsbotham, Oliver; Woodhouse, Tom; Miall, Hugh (2005). Contemporary conflict resolution: the prevention, management and transformation of deadly conflicts (2nd ed.). Polity. p. 272. ISBN 978-0-7456-3213-1. 
  5. ↑ Neutwirth, Jessica (22 June 2002). "Women and Peace and Security: The Implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325". Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy 253. 
  6. ↑ Paragraph 9 of the Security Council Resolution 1325
  7. ↑ Korieh, Chima Jacob; Okeke-Ihejirika, Philomina Ezeagbor (2008). Gendering global transformations: gender, culture, race, and identity. Taylor & Francis. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-415-96325-1. 
  8. ↑ http://womenpeacesecurity.org/about/
  9. ↑ http://www.peacewomen.org/

NGOWG on Women, Peace and Security , "Working Group on Women, Peace and Security ." Last modified 2013. Accessed November 21, 2013. http://www.womenpeacesecurity.org/.

Puechguirbal, Nadine. “Peacekeeping, Peace building and Post-conflict Reconstruction.” In Gender Matters in Global Politics, edited by Katharine Sarikakis and Leslie Regan Shade, 161-175. London and New York: Routledge, 2010.

Tryggestad, Torunn L. 2009. "Trick Or Treat? the UN and Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security." Global Governance 15 (4): 539-557.

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