On October 28 2011, the Security Council held its annual open debate on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). 64 statements were made during the open debate, including those made by the Secretary-General Ban-ki Moon ; Head of UN Women and Under-Secretary-General Michelle Bachelet; representative of ECOSOC; and Ms. Orzala Ashraf on behalf of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG). In addition to these speakers and the 15 Council members, 43 other member states or regional bodies made statements.
The theme of the debate was “Women’s Participation and Role in Conflict Prevention and Mediation”. The annual Secretary-General Report on women and peace and security (S/2011/598) provided details on implementation of SCR 1325 over the last year and for the first time included information on a set of global indicators. The Report also contained good recommendations (see part V of Report), as well as an outline of the UN Strategic Framework on WPS to guide United Nations’ implementation of the resolution up to 2020 and to strengthen UN system accountability (see annex of Report). The closed negotiation of the Council resulted in the adoption of the Presidential Statement S/PRST/2011/20.
The closed negotiation of the Council resulted in the adoption of the Presidential Statement S/PRST/2011/20 (a non-binding political statement). Unfortunately, the Statement failed to add any substantial new elements and appears to represent a rather weak use of the presidential statement function, in simply calling for continued focus on increasing women’s access to decision-making roles in efforts to prevent, mediate and resolve conflict without responding to many of the concrete recommendations of the Secretary-General’s report (S/2011/598).
The Presidential Statement did welcome the Report of the Secretary-General in paragraph 4, however the Council Members could only agree to “take note of” the analysis and recommendation. This political disagreement was referenced by the United Kingdom in their statement, “I regret that because of the opposition of some, we were unable to unreservedly welcome the Secretary-General’s report.”
The civil society speaker, Ms. Orzala Ashraf Nemat from Afghanistan, speaking on behalf of the NGO Working Group, highlighted the role women can play in achieving sustainable peace and development and presented accordingly, three urgent actions that the United Nations and Member States must take to further women’s inclusion in efforts to achieve this aim.
Lacking the historical significance of last year’s debate for the 10th anniversary, this debate and parallel events were smaller in scale and scope. The focus of this year’s debate was on consolidation and maintaining the momentum under the theme “Women’s Participation and Role in Conflict Prevention and Mediation” (as per concept note for the Open Debate circulated by Nigeria, the Security Council President for October). However, rather than maintaining the momentum, most Member States statements seemed to return to more generalized language, away from the strong statements and commitments to action called for in 2010.
The majority of States, with the notable exception of Russia and China, welcomed the report of the Secretary-General. Moreover a majority made particular reference to the inclusion of indicators for better monitoring and reporting of progress on implementation. France for example highlighted the utility of indicators in both assessing results and “identifying shortcomings in women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution” and Austria suggested furthermore, that these indicators be used to not only monitor the UN strategic framework, but to track efforts at the national level. By contrast, India intimated that although they had acknowledged the current set of indicators, it was their belief that further discussion and “intergovernmental consultation” was needed on the final makeup of indicators before they could support their full adoption. The recommendations of the report of the Secretary-General were also generally acknowledged. Many countries emphasized the utility of the UN strategic framework.
The need to advance women’s participation in mediation was a consistent matter addressed, with representatives mentioning the critical and essential impact that women can and do have in the resolution of peace. There were many strong reference on this important issue including Croatia stating that, “the inclusion of women and gender expertise in peacebuilding activities is essential to reconstituting political, legal, cultural and socio- economic and social structures. Gender equality brings new degrees of democratic inclusiveness to peacebuilding, faster and more durable economic growth, and human and social capital recovery”.
Similarly emphasized was the essential role that women can and must play in efforts to prevent conflict, with most speakers including the Secretary-General calling on the UN to lead by example by creating more roles for women in preventative diplomacy and peacekeeping. Most statements recognized that progress had been particularly slow in this area. Senegal noted the relationship between proliferation of small arms and prevalence of gender based violence and expressed its desire for the achievement of a “robust arms trade treaty” at the diplomatic conference to be held in 2012. Certain States did come forward with positive initiatives in the area of prevention, for example, Liberia where women are able to convene in a safe place and also to monitor the early warning signs of conflict and lead peaceful demonstrations on issues that affect their well-being.
Please click here for Peacewomen’s FULL commentary on the debate.
Please click here to view Part One; Part Two; Part Three of the live webcast.
Matt Mahmoudi (he/him) is a lecturer, researcher, and organizer. He’s been leading the “Ban the Scan” campaign, Amnesty International’s research and advocacy efforts on banning facial recognition technologies and exposing their uses against racialized communities, from New York City to the occupied Palestinian territories.
Berit Aasen is a sociologist by training and has worked at the OsloMet Metropolitan University on Oslo. She has 40 years of experience in research and consultancy in development studies, including women, peace, and security, and in later years in asylum and refugee studies. Berit Aasen joined WILPF Norway five years ago. She is an alternate member of the National Board of WILPF Norway, and representing WILPF Norway in the UN Association of Norway, the Norwegian 1325 network and the Norwegian Women’s Lobby. Berit Aasen has been active in the WILPF European Liaison group and is committed to strengthening WILPF sections and membership both in Europe and relations across continents.
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Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.
Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.
Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.
In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region.
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WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.
Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.
Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.
WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.
In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.
In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.
