DECLARATION of the COALITION 1325, AZERBAIJAN
6 September 2002

On September 6, 2002, 24 women from Parliament, state agencies, the NGO community, political parties and mass media, gathered at the UN House in Azerbaijan to set up a women’s coalition in support of Resolution 1325 called "Coalition 1325." "Coalition 1325" is an initiative of UNIFEM’s regional project "Women for Conflict Prevention and Peace Building in the Southern Caucasus."

According to a UNIFEM press release dated October 10th: "The newly established entity will help raise the awareness of the Azerbaijani society on the content of UNSC Resolution 1325. It will advocate for increasing the role of Azerbaijani women in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution at the national, regional and international levels. "Coalition –1325" aims to involve women refugees and internally displaced persons in peacebuilding process, to promote the culture of peace and establish cooperation with women coalitions working on similar issues abroad."

We, the undersigned, having gathered in Baku, on September 6, 2002:

Referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Beijing Declaration and Action Platform passed at the Fourth World Women’s Conference held in 1995, the final documents of the 23rd Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly named "Women in 2000: Equality, Development and Peace between Men and Women in the 21 Century" and the 27th Special Session concerning children, and as well as to the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 of 31 October 31 2000, and taking into account:

• Our anxiety about the negative impact of military conflicts on civilian population, notably children and women, and their victimisation under the military occupation;

• That most refugees, as a result of military conflict, are women, children and adolescent girls, that women often are a single head of a family and carry out parental functions;

• The big role of women in peaceful resolution and settlement of conflicts and the necessity of their all-round and equal participation in preserving and maintaining peace and security;

• The unsatisfactory level of women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution and the need to strengthen their role in this field;

• The responsibility to respect human rights and abide by humanitarian legal norms protecting the rights of women and girls during and after the conflict; and

• Accentuating, once more, significance of the measures espoused in the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 of 31 October 2000,

Hereby declare the establishment in Azerbaijan of the Women’s Coalition 1325 in keeping with the relevant resolution of the UN Security Council.

The Coalition, motivated by the existence of the above-mentioned problems and the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, invests itself with the responsibility to undertake the following:

1. Strive to ensure women’s involvement and active participation in conflict prevention and resolution within the framework of national, regional and international institutions in Azerbaijan;

2. Establish relations and achieve close co-operation with women’s organisations active in various countries;

3. Make every effort to prevent any conflicts arising on ethnic and religious grounds;

4. Engage refugee and IDP women more closely in peace-building;

5. Endeavour to build civil society in Azerbaijan by propagating the culture of peace.

Women’s significance for Azerbaijani society is high and has deep historical roots. Within the course of the history, Azeri women have taken an active part not only in scientific and cultural, but also socio-political life of Azerbaijan. They have directly participated in solving vital issues of the nation and, when necessary, have fought side by side with men for the defence of the country. Nowadays, every Azeri woman also feels responsibility for the solution of crucial societal problems equally with men. Our aim is to participate in the process of strengthening the independence of our Republic, and peaceful settlement of the most acute problem of the nation – the Garabagh conflict.

Bearing in mind the century-old traditions and the reality, we consider it necessary to establish a new institution with a view of ensuring a close participation of women in the solution of the conflicts our people have confronted. We consider that this organisation, the aim of which is to establish peace in the region, will make its considerable contribution to the solution of the problems that the Azerbaijan Republic has faced and resolution of the conflict into which our peace-loving people have been involved against their will.

We, the members of the Coalition 1325, declare to the President of the Azerbaijan Republic, the National Parliament (Milli Mejlis), The Cabinet of Ministers, international organisations, foreign diplomatic representatives accredited to Azerbaijan, members of non-governmental and public organisations, leaders of political parties, business circles and mass media our hope that the study and widest possible dissemination of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 will galvanise peace-building forces towards securing respect for international legal norms by the conflict parties and will contribute to constructive dialogue at a regional level.

Coalition 1325