NORWAY - WOMEN CONTRIBUTE TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION

March 8, 2006 -(Aftenposten) Statement by:
Karita Bekkemellem, Minister of Gender equality
Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, Minister of Defense
Knut Storberget, Minister of Justice
Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Erik Solheim, Minister of Development


Women, peace and security. All statistics and experience show the same results; women are the ones that suffer most from poverty. And if women are not in majority among troops, they will be the ones to suffer the most in the wake of a conflict.

Five years after the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, there still remains a lot to do before women participate in peace processes on equal terms as men do. There still exists an understanding that women are only victims, not actors. Women’s roles and contributions to conflict resolution are disregarded.

Resolution 1325 acknowledges that conflicts cannot be prevented or solved without the participation of women. We should not forget that this is an important resolution. Women from all political parties in Stortinget (the Norwegian parliament) stand up for the contents of the resolution. The government wants to be a part of this too.

Civil wars
There is a gender dimension to civil wars. In countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo or Sudan, women are at much greater risk that men to suffer from physical harm, such as rape, torture and mutilation, slavery and abduction. The most brutal conflicts often take place in countries where human rights are not respected, where women are not represented in public life, and where violence against women is a great problem in the everyday life of women.

In areas characterized by prolonged wars, women are mostly the ones that keep what little is left of the societal functions going, despite the atrocities. Women do most of the productive labour, and in many societies, they take responsibility for the education and health care of the children. This gender dimension of conflict is often forgotten because it does not take place in the actual battleground.

War and conflicts damage women, men, girls and boys in horrifying ways. In order to build a foundation for peace, democracy and development on equal premises, it is necessary to use peoples experience, knowledge and resources, no matter what gender, and make sure that their needs are taken into consideration.

If women are asked what they want out of a peace negotiation, their answers will be different than if you would ask men the same question. Peace agreements will therefore be better if women’s voices are also heard. Equal participation of women and men in decision making is necessary in order to ensure full political and economical development, prevention of violent conflicts and to assure sustainable stability and development.

Gender Perspective
Resolution 1325 was and is a breakthrough in the struggle for integrating the gender perspective in the context of conflict. The resolution demands all involved parts to respect and protect women and girls’ human rights, prevent gender based violence and to promote equal participation of women in conflict prevention and the re-building after a conflict.


The responsibility of monitoring lies with the member states of the UN and the international organizations that work with the promotion of peace and development, including the UN, NATO, EU and AU. Norway has long been committed to look after women as well as men’s interests in the political, economical and social areas. But we have not been effective enough.

A collective strategy and action plan that sees international and regional participation in peace building from a gender perspective has been missing in Norway too. Do we provide a reasonable gender balance when participating in peacekeeping operations? Can we do more in order to recruit more women? Is our work to strengthen women in conflict areas good enough?

Action plan
We therefore launch the government’s action plan for the implementation of Resolution 1325 today. We want to intensify both the efforts to raise the participation of women in civil and military peacekeeping operations, peace negotiations and peace building, and to strengthen the protection of women’s human rights in areas suffering from conflict. Norway will be a peaceful nation and conduct politics that promote justice between the genders in a global context as well.

The national action plan has clear and achievable ambitions for our participation nationally and internationally. The implementation of the plan is the most important thing. The development of the plan will therefore be evaluated every year at the same time as the UN’s commemoration of Resolution 1325 in October, and the plan will be a living document open to changes and additions.

We want to keep things in our own country in order and keep watch and urge progress internationally. The implementation of resolution 1325 shall be pivotal in Norway’s work for peace and development.

The women in Stortinget have shown the way. The Government looks forward to do its part of the job.

Peacewomen Translation

From:http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/debatt/article1242691.ece