1325 PeaceWomen E-News
Issue #74
21 February 2006

WOMEN IN CONFLICT PREVENTION

The Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, 31 October 2000. CLICK HERE for the full text of the resolution.

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For past issues of the newsletter, CLICK HERE.

THIS ISSUE OF 1325 PEACEWOMEN E-NEWS FEATURES:

1. Editorial: Linking Prevention, Protection and Participation
2. Women, Peace and Security News
3. Feature Statements: WILPF Statement to the 50th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
4. 1325 Translation Update: Hausa Translation Now Available
5. Feature Resources: Report of Workshop held by the Rural Women's Peace Link & Report of the 4th Annual Women in Peacebuilding Regional Conference
6. Feature Initiative: PeaceWomen Project Initiative: The Peace building Commission: A Call for Information on the Role of Civil Society
7. Feature Event: CEDAW: PeaceWomen Report
8. Gender & Peacekeeping Update: Recommendations to the Special Committee on Peacekeeping
9. NGO Working Group on Women, Peace & Security Update: Women Peacebuilders at the CSW
10. UNIFEM Update: UNIFEM Highlights IASC Guidelines for Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings
11. Women, Peace and Security Calendar

The PeaceWomen is a project of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Please visit us at http://www.peacewomen.org.

Prevention, Protection, Participation: the contributions and needs of women in each of these key areas is essential to building and sustaining peace. This issue of the PeaceWomen 1325 E-News focuses on the intersection of these 3 aspects of UNSCR 1325 and highlights the grassroots efforts of women to prevent conflict and participate in peace processes and also touches on efforts made in respect of protection.

UNSCR 1325 affirms the important role of women in preventing conflict and sustaining peace. Women’s full participation in political and economic systems helps to address the root causes of conflict. Women’s perspectives and experiences are important for early warning that can prevent conflict and its resurgence. In practice however, there is a lack of early warning information gathering from and about women. Our feature report from the Rural Women’s Peace Link in Kenya, illustrates this gap and demonstrates that women’s contributions as educators, advisers and providers continue to be overlooked in decision-making on peace and security matters. This newsletter also features an upcoming workshop on women’s role in conflict prevention, c0-organized by WILPF, to be held during the 50th session of the Commission on the Status of Women to focus attention on this issue.

Peacebuilding in the aftermath of war is central to the prevention of armed conflicts in the future. See our featured report from the 4th Women in Peacebuilding conference of the West African “Women In Peacebuilding Network” for the concrete ways in which women’s civil society is helping to build peace in conflict and post-conflict situations in a number of countries across the region. The report illustrates the need to ensure systematic documentation of women’s initiatives and influence on local peace-building. This documentation provides concrete evidence of the importance of including women in peace processes and entities such as the newly established Peacebuilding commission. Please send in case-examples on how civil society, including women’s groups have contributed to post-conflict peace-building and reconstruction. We will use them to demonstrate to the Peacebuilding Commission the urgency of including civil society and women’s voices in its work.

Five years after the release of the report of the Brahimi Panel on United Nations Peace-Keeping Operations, the Special Committee on peacekeeping will hold its annual comprehensive review of peacekeeping in all its aspects. This year’s session will review progress in implementing the Brahimi panel’s recommendations on improving UN peacekeeping capacity, and to set a peacekeeping agenda for the coming years. Challenges remain in defining the role of peace-keeping operations in complex political, security and humanitarian environments. As emphasized in our recommendations to the special committee, however, enhancing the impact of such operations requires the increased participation of women at all levels of peace-support operations. Increasing women’s participation in peacekeeping is particularly important to combat sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeeping personnel, as has been noted by the Secretary-General’s special adviser on sexual exploitation and abuse. Systematic consultation between UN peace operations and local women’s networks can reduce gender-based violence and ensure the participation of women in reconstruction processes. A number of featured news stories highlight the importance of such collaboration between UN actors and local stakeholders.

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As always we welcome your contributions to the newsletter’s content. The newsletter will be sent out towards the end of each month and we will feature the deadline for submissions for the next edition in each newsletter. Contributions for the March edition should be sent to enewssubmissions@peacewomen.org by Thursday 16 March 2006.

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IT’S TIME FOR A WOMAN UN SECRETARY GENERAL
In the almost 61 years of the United Nation’s (UN) existence the position of Secretary General has never been held by a woman. The irony is not lost: women’s effective participation in decision-making structures has long been a critical area of advocacy for advancing gender equality. According to the women’s rights group Equality Now, as of 30 June 2005, women occupied only 37.1 percent of professional and higher positions and only 16.2 percent of the Under-Secretaries General were women. Clearly women’s absence in these key positions raises questions about the UN’s commitment to gender equality.

NEW PRESSURE NEEDED TO SCRAP GENDER-BIASED LAWS
February 15, 2006 - (IPS) - The United Nations is studying the feasibility of appointing a special rapporteur -- a human rights expert -- who will focus specifically on national laws that discriminate against women in their home countries. "The goal of eliminating all sex discriminatory laws has so far not been achieved," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan confesses in a new report to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) scheduled to meet Feb. 27-Mar. 10. Such laws, he points out, continue to exist despite the 1979 U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and a wide-ranging Platform for Action for gender empowerment adopted at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women.

PERVASIVE GENDER GAPS NEED URGENT ADDRESSING, SAYS WORLD BANK
26 Jan, 2006 (IRIN) - A new World Bank report has warned that reconstruction and development in post-conflict Afghanistan will be severely affected unless pervasive gender gaps are addressed. In the report, National Reconstruction and Poverty Reduction (NRPR): The Role of Women in Afghanistan's Future, issued on Wednesday, the bank called for legal reforms to remove gender inequities within family law in the country.

CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR UN PEACE COMMISSION
January 4, 2006 - (ISN)The new UN Peacebuilding Commission created in December is hoping to tackle the daunting task of ensuring post-conflict peace and rebuilding the world body’s tarnished image that field. In late December, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and the UN Security Council (UNSC) announced the creation of a new Peacebuilding Commission. The new body - a subsidiary organ of the UNGA and UNSC - will, according to Resolution 1645, “marshal resources at the disposal of the international community to advise and propose integrated strategies for post-conflict recovery, focusing attention on reconstruction, institution-building, and sustainable development in countries emerging from conflict”.

OVER 100 WOZA WOMEN ARRESTED IN BULAWAYO TODAY
February 13, 2006 - Hundreds of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) members and students marched for eight blocks through central Bulawayo today to the government offices at Mhlanhlandlela, calling for 'bread and roses' - the need for daily survival and the right to a dignified life. Having completed their march, the women were beginning to disperse when riot police arrived.

WOMEN’S VOTE TILTS BALANCE IN DRC’S CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM: 3 OUT OF 5 VOTERS WOMEN
January 20, 2006, - (UNIFEM) Kinshasa — The people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) voted a resounding "yes" at their Constitutional Referendum held in December 2005. The referendum was the first time in decades that Congolese went to the polls to decide on their country's future.

A MOVEMENT BY WOMEN IN CONGO FIGHTS STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH RAPE
January 9, 2006 – (The Mercury News) MerVani Dikanza was running for her life through the wooded civil war battlegrounds of northeast Congo when five armed militiamen snared her. For the next several weeks she was their slave, made to carry their belongings and, she said, raped repeatedly. When the quiet 18-year-old finally escaped and found her husband at a refugee camp in Tchomia last January, she feared that he would leave her, the fate of so many other rape victims in a war-scarred society that often views the crime as the woman's fault. But a small group of female community leaders in Tchomia counseled Dikanza and her husband, Gilbert Gusapa.

THE OLOF PALME PRIZE 2005 TO DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is awarded the Olof Palme Prize 2005 for her unyielding fight for a democratic Burma. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is an outstanding example of the efforts to attain democracy by the people of Burma, where respect for human rights, ethnic unity, and a life in peace remain only a dream. To her compatriots she is known as the ’Iron Butterfly’, a name alluding both to her peaceful struggle and her courage and strength of character. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has devoted her life to Burma, and is a stubborn believer in the final victory of its peoples’ will. To peoples around the world fighting oppression, she is an important symbol of peaceful opposition to repressive power.


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For more country-specific women, peace and security news, CLICK HERE

For more international women, peace and security news, CLICK HERE

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WILPF Statement on the 50th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (27 February - 10 March 2006)

On the historic occasion of the 50th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) takes this opportunity to again express its full and unequivocal support for the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA) and the outcomes of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly (Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century). WILPF has, since its inception in 1915, worked to prevent armed conflicts and to establish the conditions for sustainable peace on a global scale. As an NGO with ECOSOC consultative status, WILPF has participated in all of the United Nations sponsored World Conferences on Women and Sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women. WILPF marks its commitment and continued affirmation of the struggle for full recognition and fulfillment of women’s human rights and security in all spheres and continues to work to ensure the participation of women in achieving these goals.

WILPF recognizes and applauds the efforts prior to and beyond the BPFA to ensure and enhance women’s equal participation in decision making processes. This extends from the recognition in Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the right of equal political participation, the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the basis provided in Articles 4, 7 and 8 thereof for initiatives to enhance women’s equal participation in all areas of public life, to the urging in Security Council Resolution 1325 for Member States to ensure increased representation of women in the prevention, management and resolution of conflict, the 2003 General Assembly Resolution 58/142 on Women and Political Participation and the reiteration in the BPFA and the reviews thereof that “women’s empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, development and peace.”

WILPF notes, with some regret, that even in this historic 50th Session of the Commission, the successful achievement of the Commission’s object of equal rights between men and women remains elusive. We hope that in designing its future program and methods of work the Commission will ensure the rapid and effective fulfillment of its mandate and that all Member States provide the necessary commitment and resources to make the achievement of gender equality a reality. WILPF encourages the adoption of specific, time-bound measurable targets to achieve the goal of equal participation.

To ensure the achievement of the goal of gender equality and to set a positive example, it is vital that it be pursued within the UN System itself. WILPF reiterates the call made by NGOs at the 49th Session of the Commission to more effectively pursue gender mainstreaming and to upgrade and better resource the gender architecture and related mechanisms within the UN. At the very least, the UN should set an example of gender balance and also urge and assist Member States to realize the as yet unattained BPFA goal of at least 30% women in decision making positions.
The themes under review by the Commission in this 50th Session are ones which are, in WILPF’s view, interrelated, mutually reinforcing and vital to achieving gender equality. The Outcome of the 2005 World Summit illustrates the laudable recognition by States of this crucial link between participation, equality and development and that the full and effective implementation of the BPFA and outcome of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly “is an essential contribution to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration.”

WILPF calls on Member States to implement the Millennium Development Goals and broader development goals in a gender-centered manner, without which, eleven years beyond the BPFA, women’s full and effective participation remains severely restricted.

We find it unacceptable that access to opportunities to work under humane and fair conditions and access to clean water and sanitation, health services and education remain beyond the reach of most women. We do not agree with the commodification and privatization of these essential services, especially in light of the resultant disproportionate negative impact on women of such policies. Unequal access to resources and the resultant unequal economic power and persistent and pervasive under-development is a form of violence in and of itself and, further, makes women particularly vulnerable to violence both during conflict and so-called times of peace. Without inclusive and sustainable development based on a system of gender equality, true and sustainable peace is impossible. WILPF calls upon all states to therefore include a holistic gender perspective when allocating resources and developing programs to implement the MDGs and any other development practices or projects and insists that the CSW urge them to do so.

WILPF calls on Member States urgently to act to ensure that women and men have fair and equal access to natural, economic and political resources so as to ensure equal participation in decision making in the various areas of public and private life including participation in development. We call on governments to ensure that marginalized women, including widows, indigenous, disabled and minority women, are included in programs and processes designed to improve and enhance the access of women to these resources.

Furthermore, WILPF urges Member States to recognize the importance of women’s participation in the policy decisions of government to achieve the goals of equitable distribution of resources and to facilitate this participation, including through gender mainstreaming and the adoption of temporary special measures to ensure women’s participation in political and public life provided for in CEDAW and encouraged by that Committee’s general recommendation 23 of 1997.

The challenges which remain in implementing the internationally agreed commitments on gender equality and empowerment highlight the importance of creating and ensuring an enabling environment for this and we call on national governments to take positive measures to institute policies, strategies and mechanisms to increase women’s capabilities, assets and agency in the essential areas of education, health and work.
WILPF recognizes that the participation of women in decision making at all levels includes participation in economic and trade decisions and that the disproportionate negative effects of globalization on women makes their input in the decision making of supra-national institutions, such as the World Trade Organization and the other Bretton Woods Institutions, vital. WILPF calls on Member States to provide mechanisms by which women are guaranteed an opportunity to input into the decision-making processes of these institutions at a local level and that these processes take into account the particular needs of women.

We support and commend the recent establishment of the Peacebuilding Commission and recognize the important role it can play in ensuring lasting and sustainable peace. We urge the Peacebuilding Commission to take seriously the call in the resolution establishing the Commission (A/60/L.40) to integrate a gender perspective in all its work (Article 20) and to involve women’s organizations in its activities (Article 21) both in the immediate post-conflict stage of the Commission’s operation and as it moves into the development stage in post-conflict reconstruction, keeping in mind always the call in UNSCR 1325 “to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict.”

WILPF emphazises the need for the UN system and Member States to recognize that violence against women, including sexual and gender-based violence and continuing impunity for such violence creates serious obstacles and challenges to the full and active participation of women in these and all other decision making processes. We urge all relevant actors, including those within the UN system, Member States and parties to armed conflict, to take special measures to protect women from all such forms of violence and for parties to armed conflict to respect fully international law as set out in Article 9 of UNSCR 1325 and to this end, support international and national courts (including the International Criminal Court) truth and reconciliation commissions and all other transitional justice mechanisms that pursue the goal of ending impunity.

As a 90 year old organization, WILPF reaffirms its commitment to work for collective human security and sustainable peace in collaboration with civil society, governmental and international actors, including within the United Nations system. We look forward to working with others around the world to dismantle the prevailing culture of militarism and create a culture of peace in which racism and discrimination, economic injustice, violence and every form of oppression are absent and in which women are full and equal participants.

For further WILPF resolutions and statements please visit: http://www.wilpf.int.ch/statements/sindex.htm

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CSW ON THE PEACEWOMEN WEBSITE

The PeaceWomen Project has developed web pages for the 50th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women featuring:

ß UN Documents & links,
ß NGO Documents & links,
ß Governmental Participation
ß Methods and Program of Work of the CSW

For these pages please visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ecosoc/CSW50/CSW50index.htm

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Total number of available translations: 72

Peacewomen recently received a Hausa translation.

Hausa is spoken by an estimated 22 million native speakers, primarily in northern Nigeria and the Republic of Niger.

The Hausa translation was completed by Rahila Abubakar, a former peace corps language trainer in the Republic of Niger.

The Hausa translation is available at: http://www.peacewomen.org/1325inTranslation/index.html.

Hausa is one of the languages identified as a priority for translation by women, peace and security advocates. Other languages currently on this priority list are:

Achehnese (Acheh)
Acholi/Luo (Northern Uganda,South Sudan)
Bari (Sudan)
Bengali (Bangladesh, India)
Dinka (Sudan)
Embera (Colombia)
Hindi
Hmong (spoken in Laos, Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, and Southern China)
Khmer (Cambodia)
Luganda (Uganda)
Malayalam (South Indian)
Mongolian
Nuer (Sudan)
Oshiwambo (Namibia)
Paez (Colombia)
Pashto (Afghanistan)
Pidgin (Papua New Guinea)
Quechua (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Northern Chile, Argentina, Southern Colombia)
Sangho (Central African Republic)
Shilook (Sudan)
Tajik
Wayu (Venezuela)
Wayunaiki (Colombia)
Xhosa (S. Africa)
Zande (Sudan)
Zulu (S. Africa)

If you have translated UNSC Resolution 1325, know of existing translations, would be interested in translating, or know of others who would, please contact us at: info@peacewomen.org

To view the 72 translations and their sources, please visit:
http://www.peacewomen.org/1325inTranslation/index.html

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“Using 1325 in Translation” Initiative
PeaceWomen is now collecting information on how translations of the resolution are being used and the impact of the availability of these translations on the work of women peace and security advocates. We invite anyone who has used translations of 1325 for outreach, advocacy or other purposes, or who may know how translations of the resolution are being used to provide us with information detailing among other things:
v Which particular translation(s) of 1325 you have used or know is being used
v Who carried out the translation (if known) or how the translation(s) was accessed
v The types of activities for which this translation(s) has been used (e.g. workshops, radio programs) and your opinion about the impact of such activities in promoting resolution 1325
v What you believe to be the importance of translating Resolution 1325 into local languages
v Ideas on languages which may require a 1325 translation and whether you or anyone you know may be interested translating the resolution

Kindly contribute to the “Using 1325 in Translation” effort by responding to these questions or submitting any other information on translating UNSCR 1325 to info@peacewomen.org

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Operationalization of UN Security Resolution 1325 at Grassroots Level
Report of Workshop held by the Rural Women's Peace Link, 6-9 December 2005, Eldoret, Kenya

The Rural Women Peace Link, in collaboration with other non-state actors in the North Rift region of Kenya, convened a three day regional workshop intended to give women an opportunity to direct their views on peace and security to government officials at the national level. The main focus was on local women's efforts to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325/2000, while conducting an analysis of the gaps and challenges in the implementation process. The regional workshop, brought together over 70 women and men participants from academia, policymakers, grassroots women leaders, civic bodies, civil society representatives and programme planners from the western part of Kenya as well as representatives from the Office of the president.

For complete report, please visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/1325/PDF/RWPLconference.pdf

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Revisiting United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325: Opportunities and Challenges for the Future
Report of the 4th Annual Women in Peacebuilding Regional conference, 1-3 November 2005, Contonou, Benin

This report summarizes deliberations from the Fourth Annual Women in Peacebuilding regional conference of the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET) West African Network for Peace. The conference was organized to coincide with the fifth anniversary of security council Resolution 1325 on women peace and security, and provided WIPNET, policymakers, other women’s groups and civil society the opportunity to revisit the Resolution, examine its relevance to peace and security in West Africa and strategize on how to advance its implementation.

For complete report, please visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/1325/PDF/WIPNET05.pdf

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For NGO and civil society reports, papers and statements, UN and government reports, and books, journals and articles on women, peace and security issues,
please visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/resourcesindex.html

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PeaceWomen Project Initiative: The Peace building Commission: A Call for Information on the Role of Civil Society

One of the most important outcomes of the 2005 World Summit, is the establishment of the UN Peace-building commission, as an institutional mechanism dedicated to ensuring effective and integrated UN coordination of post-conflict peacebuilding and reconciliation. The Commission, once operational, will be expected to marshal resources, devise strategies and focus sustained attention on the recovery, reconstruction and peace-building needs of nations emerging from conflict.

The resolution establishing the Commission recognizes “the important contribution of civil society and non-governmental organizations, including women’s organizations, to peacebuilding efforts”. It encourages the Commission to consult with among others, civil society and non- governmental organizations, including women’s organizations, in peacebuilding activities. But the place of civil society in the commission’s work must be clearly acknowledged and defined in its work methods that are currently being established.

To highlight the ways in which the Commission’s effectiveness could be enhanced by systematic engagement with local civil society and women’s networks, the PeaceWomen Project is compiling case examples of grassroots initiatives promoting peace and reconciliation in post-conflict situations around the world. We are seeking concrete illustrations of:

∑ The roles played by civil society, and particularly women’s groups, at a local level, to build sustainable peace
∑ the impact of grassroots civil society activities and initiatives aimed at building peace in post-conflict situations
∑ the structure of effective partnerships between grassroots NGOs, UN entities and governments in reconstruction and peace-building activities.

If you have any information to share with us on any of the above issues, kindly respond by email to info@peacewomen.org

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For more women, peace and security initiatives – in country, regional, global and international, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/campaigns/global/index.html


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The 34th session of the Committee of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
16 January – 3 February 2006 : A Women Peace and Security Analysis

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), obliges states parties to "pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women". By affirming the equality of women and men, and demanding state action to ensure the advancement and wellbeing of women, the convention shares the goals of UNSCR 1325, and provides a basis for integrating women peace and security concerns into national institutions and policies.

In its 34th session, the CEDAW committee reviewed the initial and periodic state reports of Australia, Mali, Cambodia, Eritrea, Venezuela, Thailand, Togo and Macedonia. Key concerns highlighted by the Committee included the low levels of women’s participation in public life and the prevalence of many forms and manifestations of violence and against women and sexual exploitation. Recognizing that many of the social and economic challenges faced by women are fundamentally linked to their absence in governance structures, the committee repeatedly called on the reporting states to implement concrete measures to increase representation of women at local and national decision-making levels, thus echoing the demands of Women Peace and Security advocates around the world. The relevance of UNSCR 1325 was most evident in the discussions around the reports of states that have recently experienced conflict. In the case of Eritrea, the committee noted that years of conflict in the country had subjected women to violence and displacement but had also created spaces for their participation in non-traditional roles, including as combatants. The committee pointed out that concrete measures were required to preserve and enhance leadership gains made by women in the post-conflict phase.

NGO shadow reporting in the CEDAW session provides an important source of information regarding gaps in states’ efforts to implement the convention’s provisions. During the 34th session, various NGO reports to the committee helped focus attention on failures in protecting women and ensuring their participation in decision-making. A report by Thai Women’s Watch, for example, highlighted the impact of conflict on women in the southern part of Thailand and urged the government to recognize and support women’s initiatives in peacebuilding. Similarly, a report on Togo by the International Federation on Human Rights, called attention to the impact of the country’s recent political instability on the safety and security of women. These and other civil society interventions demonstrate the relevance of the call in UNSCR 1325 for “…women’s equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security…”

Peace is a critical prerequisite for the full enjoyment of human rights. In that regard, greater integration of women, peace and security perspectives into the reporting of states parties and discussions of the CEDAW committee would help to contribute to the goal of women’s equal rights and full participation in all aspects of a nation’s life.

To view NGO shadow reports and other documentation on this CEDAW session visit:
http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ecosoc/CEDAW/CEDAW.html

Look out for a full Peacewomen report on the 34th session of CEDAW, coming soon at:
http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ecosoc/CEDAW/CEDAW.html

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Excerpts from NGO Recommendations to The Special Committee On Peacekeeping Operations 2006 Session, 27 February - 17 March
The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, and the PeaceWomen Project

On the occasion of the 2006 session of the special committee on peacekeeping operations, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, and the PeaceWomen Project of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, present the following recommendations on gender issues within peacekeeping operations.

We note that the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations plays a crucial role in ensuring that peacekeeping operations respond to the specific needs, priorities and contributions of women in situations of armed conflict, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. We accordingly urge the special committee to consider the recommendations below in its report “a Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects.”

1. Policy Framework and Strategy for Gender mainstreaming in Peacekeeping Operations

Noting the adoption of a UN system-wide Action plan on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325, the issuance of a policy statement for implementing gender mainstreaming in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and the development of a comprehensive strategy and action plan on gender mainstreaming in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, as called for in the 2005 report of the Special Committee,

We urge the special committee to:

• Review and adopt the Department of Peacekeeping Operation’s comprehensive strategy and action plan on gender mainstreaming, and call on the Department to ensure the development of strategies and action plans on gender mainstreaming in all peacekeeping missions;
• Call for the development of formal monitoring and assessment tools for gender mainstreaming activities, including systematic and regular reporting to the Special Committee about the nature, type and impact of gender mainstreaming activities.

5.Conduct and Discipline

Welcoming new measures aimed at combating sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping missions, including the development of a comprehensive strategy for assistance to victims of sexual exploitation and abuse, and a new model Memorandum of Understanding between the Secretary General and Troop Contributing Countries; and

Recognizing the important role of troop-contributing countries in pre-deployment training, participation in investigations, post-repatriation disciplinary action and prosecution, and follow-through reporting to the UN:

We urge the special committee to:

• Support the establishment of a permanent, integrated conduct and discipline unit at the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, to ensure the elaboration and monitoring of policies and guidelines for conduct and discipline and to support the work of field conduct and discipline teams;
• Recommend that Member States incorporate training materials on prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse into pre-deployment training for uniformed personnel;
• Encourage Troop Contributing Countries to incorporate a binding form of the standards set out in the 2003 Secretary-General’s bulletin on special measures for the protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (ST/SGB/2003/13), in the revised model Memorandum of Understanding between the Secretary-general and Troop Contributing Countries.

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The full set of recommendations is available at:

http://www.peacewomen.org/un/pkwatch/Events/C34/2006/NGOrecommendations.pdf

For PeaceWomen’s Peacekeeping Watch index, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/pkwatch/pkwatch.html

For more gender and peacekeeping news, visit PeaceWomen’s Gender and Peacekeeping News Index:

http://www.peacewomen.org/un/pkwatch/pknews.html

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Women Peacebuilders at the CSW

At the 50th Session of the CSW, the NGO Working Group in partnership with women peace advocates from around the world calls on the Security Council and governments to:

1. Develop national policies to ensure women’s equal participation in peace and security decision-making
2. The Security Council should establish a working group on women, peace and security in order to fully mainstream a gender perspective into all other relevant Security Council resolutions and to include gender perspectives in the mandates of all UN peacekeeping missions.
3. End impunity for gender-based violence and protect women’s human rights

Joining the NGO Working Group for the 50th Session of the CSW are two leading women peacebuilders working to advance women, peace and security in their countries:

Shobha Gautam (Nepal), is a journalist and women’s rights activist who has written extensively on the situation of women in conflict and has been advocating for the rights of women for the past twenty-two years. She is President of the Institute of Human Rights Communication in Nepal (IHRICON), Vice President of the Beyond Beijing Committee and Coordinator of Shantimalika (Women's Networking for Peace) and Executive Member of Nepal’s Citizen Peace Commission.

Shobha has worked with the South Asia Women’s Institute for Peace Studies as well as with International Alert as a National Consultant on “UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Women, Peace and Security in Nepal.” Shobha’s work as the Organizer and Coordinator of a research program on women’s participation in politics was instrumental in having all major political parties sign the Declaration on Enhancing Leadership of Women in Major Political Parties. Shobha is also a senior media, peace and gender trainer, providing training to journalists all over the country on conflict, gender and human rights reporting.

She has authored Women and Children in the Periphery of People’s War, Study of Women Living in Conflict Situation in South Asia, co-authored "Women, War and Peace in South Asia" and co-edited "Women in Nepalese Media" and "Gender and Armed Conflict,” published by McGill University Canada.

In 2005, Shobha received the "Krishna Mohan- Nudup Peace Award" for playing a leading role in raising awareness of the role of women in carrying out good governance and peace work in Nepal. She also received an Honorary Award from the Om Jaya Shree Krishna Driving Institute, Nepal and Peace Foundation, for raising awareness of women rights issues as a freelance journalist.

See http://www.peacewomen.org/news/Nepal/Feb06/women_march_for_peace.htm for an initiative run by Shoba.

Leymah Roberta Gbowee (Liberia), is the Coordinator for Women in Peacebuilding Network/ West African Women for Peacebuilding (WIPNET/WANEP) and has served as the Commissioner-designate for the Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Leymah has developed and facilitated workshops on Trauma Counseling, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding and demonstrates a lifelong commitment to social justice and sustainable development for community transformation.

As a Coordinator for WIPNET/WANEP, Leymah has provided leadership and direction to the network of women peacebuilders in nine of Liberia’s fifteen counties to promote collaborative conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiatives among community based women’s groups and organizations. She recently served as a presenter for UNIFEM’s “Women and the DDRR (disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation) Process” at the United Nations. Leymah also served as a resource person for the Liberian Women and DDRR Centre for Conflict Resolution in Cape Town, South Africa.

Leymah has a wide range of certified training in conflict prevention and peace building. The programs through which she has been trained and certified include: Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Training at the United Nations Institute for Training, the Healing Victims of War Trauma Center in Cameroon, and Non-Violent Peace Education in Liberia.

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To arrange interviews or meetings, please contact:
Gina Torry at 1-212-682-3633 ext. 3121
777 UN Plaza , New York, NY 10017
E-mail: ngowgcoordinator@peacewomen.org

For the schedule of events and more information visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ngo/wg.html

For more information about the NGOWG, CLICK HERE.

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UNIFEM Highlights IASC Guidelines for Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings

In September 2005 the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Force on Gender and Humanitarian Assistance produced the "Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings: Focusing on Prevention of and Response to Sexual Violence in Emergencies."

The members and standing invitees of the Task Force include:
FAO, ICRC, ICVA, IFRC, InterAction, IOM, OCHA, OHCHR, SCHR, UNICEF, UNDP, UNIFEM, UNHCR, UNFPA, WFP, and WHO.

While all members contributed to the development of the guidelines, UNFPA coordinated the process as well as their publication on behalf of the Task Force.

The Guidelines will be disseminated and tested at the country level in the coming months. More information, including downloadable versions of the Guidelines in English, French, Arabic and Spanish can be found at: http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/content/subsidi/tf_gender/gbv.asp.

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UNIFEM’s Web Portal on Women, Peace and Security, CLICK HERE

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The 50th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
27 February -10 March 2006, UN headquarters, New York

The 50th session of the Commission of the Status of Women is scheduled to take place between 27th February and 10th March 2006.
The themes for this session are:

• enhanced participation of women in development: an enabling environment for achieving gender equality and the advancement of women, taking into account, inter alia, the fields of education, health and work
• Equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all levels

For more information on CSW and the 50th session, please visit:
http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ecosoc/CSW50/CSW50index.htm

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Beyond Conflict Prevention: Moving Forward on Resolution 1325
27 February 2006, 12:00 -1:20pm , Church Centre of the UN, 10th Floor, New York

Global Action to Prevent War and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom will host a workshop that will explore the links between UN Security Council Resolution 1325, women in conflict prevention, early warning indicators and their implications for moving the women, peace and security agenda forward.

For more information about this event, please visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/frame/calendar/fliers/GAPW_WILPF_CSW.pdf

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Reception and launch of Photo exhibition :1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize
27 February 2006, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m, Church Center of the UN, 2nd Floor, New York

All are invited to the launch of this groundbreaking photo exhibit honoring women’s peace work around the world. This exhibit includes photos and stories from the lives of the 1,000 women from around the world selected for the unprecedented 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nomination honoring women’s local work to promote peace, security and health. The launch of the exhibition will coincide with the opening of the 50th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Mrs. Nane Annan, wife of the U.N. Secretary-General, Swiss Ambassador Peter Mauer, Noeleen Heyzer, Director of the UN Development Fund for Women and other international figures will join many of the “1,000 Women” at the opening reception.

The exhibit is open free to the public for two weeks, Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. – 9:45 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

For more information contact: Chris Norwood, tel:718-585-8585

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Conference - Gender Equality: Making a Difference through Parliament
March 1, 2006, 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, UN headquarters

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) are organizing a parliamentary conference during the 50th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), entitled "Gender Equality: Making a Difference through Parliament." This one-day event will provide a forum for debate between parliamentarians from all over the world, and will aim to contribute to the deliberations of the 50th CSW Session regarding the equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes.

For more information about this event, please visit: http://www.ipu.org/splz-e/csw06.htm

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Panel Discussion on Women's Rights through the Law and Media
March 7, 2006, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM, New York City

The National Council for Research on Women presents a discussion on the potential — and challenges — of advancing women’s human rights through international law, international media, and women's leadership.

Panelists
- Navanethem Pillay Judge, International Criminal Court, formerly Judge President, UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and leader in designating rape as a war crime
- Kathryn Rodgers President, Legal Momentum, leader in Efforts to Advance the Violence Against Women Act
- Carroll Bogert, Associate Director responsible for External Relations, Human Rights Watch, Veteran of International News Reporting

Venue: 74 Trinity Place 2nd Floor, Behind Trinity Church, New York City
RSVP with your name, affiliation, and e-mail to 212-785-7335 x100.

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International Women's Day Rally: Women Say No to War
8 March 2006, Washington D.C.

The "Women Say No To war" Campaign invites the public to join a delegation of Iraqi and American women, including mothers who have lost their children in the Iraq war, at a Peace rally on March 8th 2006 (International Womens day) in Washington DC.

For more information contact:
Gael Murphy - Email: dc@codepinkalert.org

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New York Celebrates International Women's Day
8 March, 2006, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m, St. Bartholomew’s Church, Park Avenue at 50th Street, New York

Organized by St. Bart’s and the World, The Hunger Project, MADRE, Women’s eNews and the UN Division for the Advancement of Women, this event brings together women’s rights leaders to discuss progress in the global struggle for women’s rights and the status of current efforts to end the subjugation of women in the developing world. The day also marks the conclusion of events surrounding the 50th annual meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Moderated by: The Right Reverend Catherine S. Roskam, Bishop Suffragan for The Episcopal Diocese of New York

Speakers include: Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen, lecturer and author; Charlotte Bunch, founder and executive director of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, Rutgers; Gloria Feldt, immediate past president of the Planned Parenthood Federation and author; Noleen Heyzer, executive director of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); Bianca Jagger, human rights activist and winner of the 2004 Right Livelihood Award; Dr. Speciosa Kazibwe, former Vice President of Uganda; and Vivian Stromberg, executive director of MADRE, a women’s human rights organization.

Entertainment will be provided by women musicians.

The event is open to the public. There will be an invitation to contribute that evening.

For more information contact: Carol Coonrod: 212-251-9104 csc@thp.org

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Workshop: Gender and Security
8 March 2006, Hotel Villa Carlotta, Belgirate, Italy

Organized by Global Monitoring for Security and Stability (GMOSS) this workshop will bring together the perspectives of political and sociological scientists and international bodies in the analysis of gender issues affecting Security, in particular looking at the perspective of women in conflict, post-conflict reconstruction and peacebuilding. Presentations by representatives from OXFAM, UNESCO, UNIFEM, DCAF and the Commonwealth Secretariat, as well as Susie Jacobs, Ruth Jacobson, Meredeth Turshen and Wenona Giles.

For more information, please visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/frame/calendar/fliers/GMOSS.pdf

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Gender Equity Summit
8 March 2006, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Washington DC

Organized by Churros Y Chocolate, this conference will bring together a diverse collective of concerned citizens, NGOs, political leaders, social activist and field workers striving to positively effectuate change in the lives of women.

For more information please contact:
Diane Griffin
Phone: 202-341-1594
E-Mail: dgriffin@churros-y-chocolate.org
Churros Y Chocoalte: http://www.churros-y-chocolate.org

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Course : Gender Mainstreaming in Peacekeeping Operations and in Humanitarian Assistance
15 March- 4 April 2006, University for Peace (UPeace), Costa Rica

UPEACE is holding this short course which is "designed to provide theoretical as well as field-based knowledge on the gender dimensionof peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance." It will be led by Nadine Puechguirbal, the current head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) Gender Unit.

For more information, please contact:
University for Peace, tel: + 506 205-9000, or send an e-mail to: info@upeace.org
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For the complete calendar, CLICK HERE.

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