United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325

UN Security Council
Resolution 1325
Date 31 October 2000
Meeting no. 4,213
Code S/RES/1325 (Document)
Subject Women, peace and security
Voting summary
 15 voted for
None voted against
None abstained
Result Adopted
Security Council composition
Permanent members
Non-permanent members

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSRC 1325) was adopted unanimously on 31 October 2000, after recalling resolutions 1261 (1999), 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), and 1314 (2000). The resolution on women, peace and security acknowledges the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and girls. It calls for the adoption of a gender perspective to consider the special needs of women and girls during conflict, repatriation and resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction.[1]

Resolution 1325 was the first formal and legal document from the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that required parties in a conflict to prevent violations of women's rights, to support women's participation in peace negotiations and in post-conflict reconstruction, and to protect women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict. It was also the first United Nations resolution to specifically mention women.[2] The resolution has since become an organizing framework for the women, peace and security agenda, which focuses on advancing the components of resolution 1325.

Resolution

Observations

The observations highlight how the Council considers the issue of women and armed conflict important to international peace and security. They express the Council's concern about civilians in armed conflict, particularly women and children, who constitute most of the victims of conflict and who are increasingly targeted by armed groups. Attacks against civilians, particularly women and children, negatively impact peace and reconciliation.

More specifically, the observations:

Acts

The operational items in resolution 1325 broadly call upon member states to address the needs of women and girls in armed conflict and support their participation in peace negotiations. The key components and recommendations of resolution 1325 are:

The resolution also calls upon all countries to fully respect 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 (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol, 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 provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

History

The resolution was passed unanimously in October 2000 after extensive lobbying by the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGO WG) and United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) (now UN Women). Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, then Minister of Women's Affairs in Namibia, initiated the resolution when the country took its turn chairing the Security Council.[3] Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, representing Bangladesh at the Council, also made significant contributions by using Bangladesh's role as Council President to bring attention to women's contributions to peace and security. Chowdhury has remained a vocal and active advocate for full implementation of UNSCR 1325.[4] The NGO Working Group played a critical role in successfully lobbying the Security Council to hold open sessions on women, peace and security, consulting with Security Council members on the resolution, and providing them with applicable information.[5]

The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action contained an entire chapter focused on women, peace and security. During the 1990s, the NGO community was increasingly concerned about the negative impacts of war on women, particularly widespread sexual violence seen in civil wars in Bosnia, West Africa and Rwanda. Activists were also upset that women faced significant barriers to entering peace talks and the negative impacts that women experienced post-conflict. The Beijing Conference's 5th anniversary (Beijing+5) provided critical momentum for progress on women, peace and security issues at the UN.

The resolution's history and passage is notable for the level of involvement by NGOs and civil society, who helped draft the resolution. The two-day debate on the resolution was also the first time the Council dedicated a discussion to women.[6]

Implementation

United Nations

The two main components of UNSCR 1325 are addressing sexual violence in armed conflict and increasing women's participation in peace processes and political institutions. Within the United Nations, UNSCR 1325 has led to an increased attention to gender mainstreaming, or assessing a policy's different impacts for women and men. The main programs implementing UNSCR 1325 are UN Women and Department of Peacekeeping Operations, although many other programs also apply UNSCR 1325 to their work.[7]

Four Pillars of Implementation

In 2009, Resolution 1889 called on the Secretary-General to develop a set of indicators to track the implementation of UNSCR 1325. The indicators are used for UN programming, but have also been adopted by member states and NGOs. The indicators developed are the four pillars of prevention, protection, participation and relief and recovery.[8]

Specific indicators include tracking numbers related to outcomes, such as the number of women in peace negotiations, the number of military manuals that include measures on women's protection or the number of cases investigated on violence against women.

National Action Plans

Since 2000, 48 countries have adopted National Action Plans (NAP) on Resolution 1325, outlining policies that the country will take to fulfill the resolution's objectives. NAPs address political, social and security policies and often require interagency coordination. Most NAPs come from donor countries and conflict-affected countries. Donor countries use NAPs to prescribe how foreign aid should support the pillars of UNSCR 1325, while developing and conflict-affected countries use NAPs to support women's participation in politics and peace processes, as well as commitments on protection from sexual and gender-based violence. As of 2014, exactly half of the countries with National Action Plans are in Europe and 14 are in Africa. While the number of countries with NAPs increased rapidly leading up to and following the ten-year anniversary of UNSCR 1325, less than one-fourth of the United Nations member states have implemented NAPs. A major gap is in troop contributing countries (TCC) to peacekeeping missions—the top four TCCs do not have national action plans.

Even though many countries have adopted NAPs, few have allocated funding for the NAP's development or implementation.[9] A survey of NAPs revealed that funding most commonly went to addressing sexual and gender-based violence and increasing women's involvement in peace processes, while the most common funding gap was security sector reform and access to justice.[9]

Several regional organizations have adopted Regional Action Plans, including the European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Pacific Islands Forum. The coordinate regional priorities on women, peace and security as well as direct regional organizations' programming and funding on the topic. NATO has used UNSCR 1325 to increase the levels of women in the military and has influenced seven NATO member states to have increasing women's participation in the military as a goal in implementing UNSCR 1325.[6]

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO)

NGOs play an important role in implementing UNSCR 1325. NGOs have lobbied their national governments to develop National Action Plans and many NAPs have a NGO oversight body to hold governments accountable to their commitments.[10] Grassroots NGOs, particularly women's organizations, also use UNSCR 1325 in conflict-affected countries to lobby their governments to comply with UNSCR 1325 on the issues of including women in conflict negotiations or holding peacekeeping missions accountable for sexual abuse and exploitation.[11] Established international NGOs play an important role in disseminating information on UNSCR 1325 to grassroots organizations and training local actors on the resolution and how to use it.[12]

Impact

Recognition and Scope

Resolution 1325 is used around the world as a policy tool to implement gender-sensitive conflict-related policies. It is also used as an organizing framework for actors outside of the United Nations, such as states, NGOs and researchers, in a way that no other Security Council resolution has been used. For example, it is the only resolution to have its anniversary celebrated with reports, conferences and special sessions of the Security Council, as well as the only resolution with NGOs dedicated to its implementation.[13] Since 2000, women, peace and security has become an important topic in international politics, undoubtedly fueled by the resolution's passage and subsequent advocacy for its implementation, as well as increased attention to sexual violence in armed conflict. Another major landmark was the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work".[14] As the topic of women and war became more prominent, more policy-making bodies turned to the resolution and supported it.

Within the UN, the resolution precipitated increased attention to the issue of women and conflict. Prior to resolution 1325, the Security Council rarely considered women with the occasional passing reference to women and children as vulnerable groups in conflict in need of protection. In fact, prior to 2000, only 33 out of 225 Security Council resolutions mentioned gender at all.[13] Since its passage, the Security Council has passed six more resolutions related to the topic of women and armed conflict. Furthermore, there has been a significant change in rhetoric, with more and more UN agencies, representatives and member states discussing how gender inequality impacts peace and security.

Outcomes

Assessments of UNSCR 1325 include annual Secretary-General reports in 2013 and 2014 and a DPKO conducted a ten-year review of UNSCR 1325 implementation looking at twelve UN peacekeeping missions and reported outcomes across the components of UNSCR 1325.[8] Findings include:

The 2014 Secretary-General's report on UNSCR 1325 implementation found that, while gender seems to be increasingly integrated into United Nations operations, challenges remain in fully implementing UNSCR 1325 at the operational level.[18] Within the UN, women, peace and security is part of the rhetoric on peace and security: UNSC resolutions increasingly mention gender, UN Mission reports frequently mention women, peace and security; and there is increased reporting on these issues in UN bodies. However, there continued to be widespread reports of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeeping operations, despite increased attention to the issue within the UN.

For the resolution's 15th anniversary in 2015, the UN will conduct a high-level review of implementation of 1325 to assess progress made at the international, regional and national levels.[19]

Criticisms

Gender Essentialism

Feminists criticize UNSCR 1325 for relying on essentialist portrayals of women, render women as perpetual victims and ignore women's agency to bring about both violence and peace violence.[20] For example, reports of violence against civilians tend to emphasize that "women and children" as victims to illustrate the brutal nature of violence. Conversely, this framing also implies that men are not victims, despite male victims of sexual violence or the gender-based violence of killing men because they are men.[21]

Gender essentialism also assumes that women are innately peaceful, usually due to their experience as mothers, which is one of the main reasons that people use to argue for including women in peace processes.[22] Another frequently cited gender essentialist argument is that women are natural coalition builders and are more likely to work with members of other groups. Resolution 1325 incorporates these assumptions and they are frequently cited in the Secretary-General Reports, advocacy movements and National Action Plans. The result is that women often feel the need to conform to certain stereotypes and that women who do not fit these ideals are marginalized in politics and policy.

Gender Mainstreaming

UNSCR supports gender mainstreaming, or the incorporation of a gender perspective into all policies and programs, in peacekeeping missions and other UN programs related to peace and security.[23] Critics argue that other parts of the resolutions, such as having a Senior Gender Advisor, lead to the segregation of women's rights from all other peace and security issues. Women's issues become sidelined in a "gender ghetto," and remain outside of the mainstream.[24] By limiting women's issues to Gender Advisers or offices, security institutions continue to view gender issues as a niche topic and the institutions remain male-dominated systems. Germany initially did not implement a 1325 National Action Plan for this reason, arguing that it had mainstreamed gender concerns into its government agencies and policies, although it later implemented one in 2012.[25]

Lack of Evidence

Despite the attention to implementing UNSCR 1325 and developing indicators, there is little evidence of impacts in conflict-affected countries. The UN's own evaluations show limited progress only in a few areas, most notably women's political participation. Furthermore, UNSCR 1325 depends on many unproven assumptions, such as the potential for women's participation to have a transformational effect on peace and security.[18] However, recent initiatives have emphasized the need for more data to track results, including the upcoming High-Level Review of UNSCR 1325, which will likely provide more thorough analysis of the resolution's implementation and effects.

Related groups

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, original members were:

The NGOWG now focuses on implementation of all Security Council resolutions that address women, peace and security. The group is still active, producing a monthly action points on the women, peace and security issues affecting countries on Council's agenda.

PeaceWomen—one of the founding members of the NGO Working Group—is a project sponsored by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom to promote the implementation of Resolution 1325, through providing a centralized hub of information on information related to women, peace, and security.[26]

The Friends of 1325 is an informal or ad hoc group of United Nations Member States who formed to advocate for the implementation of Resolution 1325; it is organized by Canada.[27]

Related Resolutions

Resolution 1325 is related to several other resolutions related to the topic of women, peace and security, passed since 2000. These include:

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. ↑ "Shattering the ‘highest, hardest’ glass ceiling - BBC News". Bbc.com. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  3. ↑ Landsberg, Michelle (2003). "Resolution 1325 - Use It or Lose It". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Chowdhury, Anwarul (31 October 2010). "A.K. Chowdhury: Women Are Essential for Sustainable Peace". Universal Peace Federation. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Tryggestad, Torunn L. (1 October 2009). "Trick or treat? The UN and implementation of security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security". Global Governance (Lynne Rienner Publishers) 15 (4): 539–557. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  6. 1 2 Cockburn, Cynthia (2011). "Snagged On The Contradiction: NATO, UNSC Resolution 1325, and Feminist Responses" (PDF). Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 "Women and peace and security: Report of the Secretary-General". United Nations Security Council. 6 April 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  8. 1 2 "Ten-year Impact Study on Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security in Peacekeeping: Final Report to the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Department of Field Support" (PDF). United Nations. 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Financing for the Implementation of National Action Plans on UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Critical for Advancing Women's Human Rights, Peace and Security" (PDF). Cordaid and GNWP. October 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  10. ↑ Dharmapuri, Sahana (November 2011). "A Survey of UN 1325 National Action Plan Mechanisms for Implementation, Monitoring, Reporting and Evaluation" (PDF). Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  11. ↑ Cohn, Carol (2003). "Mainstreaming Gender in UN Security Policy: A Path to Political Transformation?" (PDF) (204). Consortium on Gender, Security, and Human Rights. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  12. ↑ "Global Network of Women's Peacebuilders".
  13. 1 2 Hill, Felicity; Cohn, Carol; Enloe, Cynthia (20 January 2004). "U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 Three Years On: Gender, Security and Organizational Change" (PDF). Consortium on Gender, Security, and Human Rights. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Nobelprize.org".
  15. ↑ Bell, Christine; O'Rourke, Catherine (October 2010). "Peace Agreements or Pieces of Paper? The Impact of UNSC Resolution 1325 on Peace Processes and Their Agreements". International and Comparative Law Quarterly. doi:10.1017/S002058931000062X. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)". Peacewomen. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  17. ↑ Dharmapuri, Sahana (2012). "Implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Putting the Responsibility to Protect into Practice" (PDF). Global Responsibility to Protect. doi:10.1163/187598412X639728. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  18. 1 2 "Report of the Secretary-General on women and peace and security" (PDF). S/2014/693. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  19. ↑ "Preparations for the 2015 High-level Review and Global Study". UN Women. 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  20. ↑ Shepherd, Laura J. (2008). Gender, Violence & Securtiy. London, UK: Zed Books Ltd. ISBN 978 1 84277 927 9.
  21. ↑ Carpenter, R. Charli (2006). "Recognizing Gender-Based Violence Against Civilian Men and Boys in Conflict Situations". Security Dialogue. doi:10.1177/0967010606064139. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  22. ↑ Shepherd, Laura J. (2008). Gender, Violence & Security. London, UK: Zed Books Ltd. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978 1 84277 927 9.
  23. ↑ "UNSCR Resolution 1325, para. 17" (PDF). 2000.
  24. ↑ 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.
  25. ↑ Miller, Barbara; Pournik, Milad; Swaine, Aisling (May 2014). "Women in Peace and Security through United Nations Security Resolution 1325: Literature Review, Content Analysis of National Action Plans, and Implementation" (PDF). Institute for Global and International Studies: 16. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  26. ↑ "WILPF". Peacewomen. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  27. ↑ 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.

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