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On 11 February 2011, the Security Council held a day-long Open Debate on the Maintenance of International Peace and Security – the Interdependence between Security and Development. The debate featured statements from the Secretary-General, the permanent and nonpermanent members of the Council, 60 other delegations, the AU and EU, the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), as well as the World Bank. Sarah Cliffe, Special Representative of the World Bank, briefed the Council on the findings of the Overview
Gender Analysis
Presidential Statements, one of the tools available to the Security Council, signal non-binding but actionable commitment on the part of the Member States. Consideration for women in this PRST represents an awareness and recognition for the relevance of the women, peace, and security agenda in the development and security nexus.
The World Bank exhibited similar appreciation for this agenda it its briefing to the Council. Special Representative to the World Bank, Sarah Cliffe, cited involving women "in both economic empowerment and the hard areas of security and justice reform” as one of the 2011 World Development Report's lessons learned in the restoration of confidence and transformation of institutions.
Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon called for inclusive development, which he cited as the most "effective route to diminishing the risks of conflict and enabling long-term stability". He specified that such inclusiveness mandated the participation of women, who "can play a critical role in negotiations and peace processes."
Chile, Colombia, Finland, France, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Thailand similarly attributed value to the participation and empowerment of women, identifying women's involvement as a means of achieving development, peace, and security. Germany cited the disadvantages of women in society, the economy, and politics as an obstacle of past and current development in the Arab world and called for a stronger role for women "in all stages of the process of building peace, signing peace agreements and introducing development programmes.” Australia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, and Turkey mentioned women and gender in more intrinsic terms by flatly stating their support for women’s empowerment and participation in peacebuilding and post-conflict activities.
Burkina Faso, exhibited comprehensive gender-mainstreaming by calling for the greater inclusion of women the prevention of conflict, programmes for refugees and internally displaced persons, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, as well as security sector reform.
Morocco, the Solomon Islands and representatives from the EU and AU referenced women in the context of human rights and gender equality while Canada referenced not only women and their unique experiences in conflict, but the women, peace and security agenda as an area of emphasis and needed engagement.
The delegation of Japan stood out for its reference to Security Council Resolution 1325 as well as the Secretary-General’s report on Women, Peace and Security. Their statement uniquely sought to advance and build off of existing gains made in the Council along women, peace and security.
Rather than merely stating the existence of a relationship between security and development, France explained how development and security affect each other in the context of women’s economic empowerment. "When insecurity prevents women from going out into the fields, the ability of families to survive is compromised. That in turn can lead to further escalation in violence." In light of the link between women, development, and security, France called upon “development actors to take into account the safeguarding of security into their strategies".
Women, while receiving notable recognition in this Open Debate, were cast in a somewhat restrictive scope. Statements characterized women as members of civil society, as a vulnerable group, and as drivers of social, family and economic lives, largely to the exclusion of their capacity as political participants. Only India and the US called for the political participation of women. India cited its 50 per cent quota for women in local bodies and quota for women in parliaments and state legislatures as an initiative to accelerate the range and depth of its social justice programmes.
This focus on women’s social and economic empowerment largely reflects Brazil’s Concept Note, which encouraged Member States to consider how the integration of security and development sectors could promote women’s rights and their participation in the socio-economic sector. While only one question in Brazil’s Concept Note explicitly mentioned women, other questions provided open opportunities to incorporate the women, peace and security agenda, opportunities few member states took.
Of particular regret was the absence of women/gender from the PBC’s statement to the Council. As the first open debate that the new chair of the Commission (Rwanda) participated in, such an omission sets a disappointing precedent. As one of the new members of the Council, Portugal’s failure to include gender in its statement to the Council bares a similar effect. Furthermore, the US's reference to women/gender, which acknowledged that it had "heard about the need to bring women into decision-making on key political, security, and economic issues,” was uncharacteristically weak.
Overall, observers expected greater consideration for women, their rights, needs, and capacity to contribute to both security and development. This stems from the linkages between insecurity, the reduction of available resources for social and economic development due to military expenditure, the impact of this on women’s participation in government systems, and the consequent absence of women’s voices in conflict prevention and resolution.
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Brazil, Germany, Colombia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, India, Slovenia, Gabon, South Africa, China, Nigeria, United States, Russian Federation, Lebanon, United Kingdom, France, Japan, Pakistan, Honduras, Australia, Belgium (on behalf of the Chairs of the Peacebuilding Commission’s country-specific configurations), Canada, Turkey, Mexico, Uganda, Luxembourg, Guatemala, Egypt (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement), Kazakhstan, Peru, Fiji (on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States), Switzerland (see written statement), Morocco, Chile, Botswana, Solomon Islands, United Republic of Tanzania, Thailand, Armenia, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Senegal, Kenya, Philippines, Finland (on behalf of the Nordic countries), Burkina Faso, Venezuela, Malaysia, Uruguay, Iran, Georgia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Sudan, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Azerbaijan. Other speakers were the acting Head of the European Union Delegation, the Chargé d’Affaires at the Office of the Permanent Observer of the African Union, the Chairperson of the Peacebuilding Commission, and the Director of the World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report. Participants in the open debate included:
Note: Bolded Names refer to statements, which referenced women/gender. These statements can be viewed below.
See the attached document for the general summary.
