UNSC 1325: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

The following recommendations were compiled from the UN Secretary-General's Report on Women, Peace and Security; the UN Secretary-General Study 's on Women, Peace and Security; and UNIFEM's Report entitled "Women, War and Peace". They were compiled for the purpose of the February 3, 2003 workshop entitled "Implementing UNSC 1325: From Recommendation to Action." Their order differs from the three original documents.

Conflict Prevention: Early Warning and Early Response | Humanitarian Assistance and Protection: Impact of War on Women and Girls | Peace Support Operations and Gender Mainstreaming: Impact of Peacekeeping Operations on Communities | Women’s Inclusion in Peace Negotiations and Processes: Contributions of Civil Society | Reconstruction and Rehabilitation: Legal and Socio-Economic Issues | Disarmament, Demobilization, Reconstruction and Security Sector Reform | Justice, Truth and Reconciliation Issues

I. CONFLICT PREVENTION: EARLY WARNING AND EARLY RESPONSE

A. Secretary-General’s Report

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B. Secretary-General’s Study

1. Recognize the extent of violations of the human rights of women and girls during armed conflict; take measures to prevent such violations; provide appropriate redress and prosecute perpetrators; provide support to victims; and ensure that awareness of these violations informs planning and implementation in all peace support operations, humanitarian activities and reconstruction efforts.

2. Identify and utilize local sources of information on the impact of armed conflict, and the impact of interventions – peacekeeping, peace-building, humanitarian operations, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, and reconstruction – on women and girls, and on the roles and contributions of women and girls in conflict situations, including through the establishment of regular contacts with women’s groups and networks.

3. Incorporate information on the impact of armed conflict, and the impact of interventions – peacekeeping, peace-building, humanitarian, DDR, and reconstruction – on women and girls, and on the roles and contributions of women and girls in conflict situations, into all training provided to staff.

4. Promote, through existing executive bodies and inter-agency coordination mechanisms, such as the Executive Committee on Peace and Security, the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs, the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Development Group, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, the strengthening of collaboration and coordination on addressing the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, including through the exchange of information and good practice examples – for example on policies, strategies, guidelines and codes of conduct, and through increased monitoring and reporting on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in all peace support activities.

5. Increase access to information from women’s groups and networks on indicators of impending conflict as a means to ensure effective gender-sensitive early warning mechanisms.

6. Integrate prevention activities into all areas of emergency response, including in design of camps, provision of shelter, sanitation facilities and health-care facilities, distribution of food supplies and other benefits, access to water supplies, as well as specific protection programmes, working together with health service providers, NGOs and community groups, including women’s groups and networks, to address both discrimination against women and girls and the effects of gender-based and sexual violence.

7. Undertake analysis of the gender perspectives in conflict prevention and peace-building activities and ensure that all analyses of conflict prevention and peace-building, including negotiations, preventative diplomacy and sanctions, adequately reflect a gender perspectives.

C. UNIFEM Report

1. Operational humanitarian, human rights and development bodies to develop indicators to determine the extent to which gender is mainstreamed throughout their operations in conflict and post-conflict situations and ensure that ‘gender mainstreaming’ produces measurable results and is not lost in generalities and vague references to gender. Measures should be put in place to address the gaps and obstacles encountered in implementation.

2. The Secretary-General to systematically include information on the impact of armed conflict on women, and women’s role in prevention and peace-building in all of his country and thematic reports to the Security Council. Towards that end, the Secretary-General should request relevant information from UN operations and all relevant bodies.

3. The systematic collection and analysis of information and data by all actors, using gender specific indicators to guide policy, programmes and service delivery for women in armed conflict. This information should be provided on a regular basis to the secretariat, member states, inter-governmental bodies, regional organisations, NGOs and other relevant bodies. A central knowledge base should be established and maintained by UNIFEM together with a network of all relevant bodies, in particular the Department of Political Affairs (DPA).

4. The Security Council to formulate a plan for the least diversion for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources. Sixty years after being assigned the task, the Security Council should implement Article 26 of the United Nations Charter, taking into account the Women’s Peace Petition which calls for the world’s nations to redirect at least 5 per cent of national military expenditures to health, education and employment programmes each year over the next five years.

5. Inter-governmental and regional organizations to strengthen and expand women’s role in conflict prevention and peace-building. To this end, the UN together with regional organizations should convene an Expert Group Meeting to improve collaboration, share information and develop expertise.

6. In cooperation with relevant UN bodies, UNIFEM to develop and test a set of gender-based early warning indicators for mainstreaming into the UN Early Warning Framework and explore use of such indicators with regional organizations.

7. Increased donor resources and access for women to media and communications technology, so that gender perspectives, women’s expertise and women’s media can influence public discourse and decision-making on peace and security.

8. The UN and donors to invest in women’s organizations as a strategy for conflict prevention, resolution and peace-building. Donors should exercise flexibility in responding to urgent needs and time-sensitive opportunities, and foster partnerships and networks between international, regional and local peace initiatives.

9. Hate media, under any circumstances and particularly when used for direct and public incitement to commit crimes against women, to be prosecuted by national and international courts.

10. Donors and agencies to support the training of editors and journalists to eliminate gender bias in reporting and investigative journalism in conflict and post-conflict situations, and to promote gender equality and perspectives.

11. The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression of the Commission on Human Rights to carry out a study on gender, media and conflict.

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II. HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND PROTECTION: IMPACT OF WAR ON WOMEN AND GIRLS

A. Secretary-General’s Report

1. Condemn all violations of the human rights of women and girls in situations of armed conflict; take all necessary measures to bring to an end such violations; and call upon all parties involved in conflict to adhere at all times to their obligations under applicable principles of international humanitarian law, human rights law and refugee law as they pertain to women and girls.

2. Urge parties to conflict to ensure that agencies of the United Nations and other international organizations, regional organizations and NGOs have safe and unhindered access to populations in need, especially women and girls.

3. Increase the participation of women and girls, fully utilize their capacities and give attention to their needs and priorities in the initial stages of programming and service delivery in humanitarian crises in order to optimize the benefits for women and girls.

B. Secretary-General’s Study

1. Recognize the extent of violations of the human rights of women and girls during armed conflict; take measures to prevent such violations; provide appropriate redress and prosecute perpetrators; provide support to victims; and ensure that awareness of these violations informs planning and implementation in all peace support operations, humanitarian activities and reconstruction efforts.

2. Incorporate information on the impact of armed conflict, and the impact of interventions – peacekeeping, peace-building, humanitarian, DDR, and reconstruction – on women and girls, and on the roles and contributions of women and girls in conflict situations, into all training provided to staff.

3. Promote, through existing executive bodies and inter-agency coordination mechanisms, such as the Executive Committee on Peace and Security, the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs, the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Development Group, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, the strengthening of collaboration and coordination on addressing the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, including through the exchange of information and good practice examples – for example on policies, strategies, guidelines and codes of conduct, and through increased monitoring and reporting on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in all peace support activities.

4. Condemn all violations of the human rights of women and girls in situations of armed conflict; take all necessary measures to bring to an end such violations; and call upon all parties involved in conflict to adhere at all times to their obligations under principles of international humanitarian law, human rights law and refugee law, in particular in regard to women and girls.

5. Ensure that agencies of the United Nations and other international organizations, regional organizations and NGOs have safe and unhindered access to populations in need, especially women and girls.

6. Increase the participation of women and girls, fully utilize their capacities, and give attention to their needs and priorities, from the initial stages of programming and service delivery and advocacy activities in humanitarian crises, in order to optimise the benefits for women and girls.

7. Increase the focus on and resources for the protection of women and girls from gender-based and sexual violence, including through attention to the risks faced by women and girls, in particular related to sexual violence, abuse and exploitation, in initial needs assessments, and through the development of strategies to minimize these risks and reduce the vulnerability of women and girls, including through the provision of training on culturally appropriate interview techniques and trauma counselling and the use of female personnel (as protection officers, medical personnel, and interpreters).

8. Integrate prevention activities into all areas of emergency response, including in design of camps, provision of shelter, sanitation facilities and health-care facilities, distribution of food supplies and other benefits, access to water supplies, as well as specific protection programmes, working together with health service providers, NGOs and community groups, including women’s groups and networks, to address both discrimination against women and girls and the effects of gender-based and sexual violence.

9. Increase the capacities of women and girls affected by armed conflict to protect themselves from the risk of HIV/AIDS, principally through protection from sexual violence, abuse and exploitation, access to treatment and the provision of health care services, including sexual and reproductive health, and through HIV/AIDS prevention education that promotes gender equality within a culture- and gender-sensitive framework.

10. Increase the provision of reproductive health services, which take into account the specific vulnerabilities of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations of women and girls.

11. Ensure access to appropriate and adequate health care for victims of rape and other gender-based and sexual violence, including culturally sensitive counselling in a supportive environment which ensures confidentiality, as an integral component of reproductive health services.

12. Restore and strengthen safe access to education for girls and adolescent girls as a priority component of all humanitarian assistance, ensuring that the core curriculum includes gender-sensitive training on life skills, family life education, landmine awareness, HIV/AIDS and other STI prevention, human rights, peace education as well as psychological support.

13. Provide opportunities for women and girls as well as men and boys to expand their capabilities and develop skills to better prepare them for returning to their homes and communities.

14. Provide women and girls with identity cards or other essential documents to enable them to register and be eligible for assistance, and address problems of nationality faced by women and their children.

15. Take steps to ensure that elderly women are provided protection and that their specific needs for relief services are met.

16. Take steps to prevent the recruitment of girls and boys into armed forces and rebel groups, in particular orphans, un-accompanied, separated, refugee, displaced and street children, including by ensuring access to education and vocational training.

17. Ensure that assessments leading to Consolidated Appeals Processes incorporate attention to the situation of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations.

18. Promote utilization of existing strategies and guidelines on the protection of refugee and displaced women by all humanitarian agencies, including through the provision of training and establishment of monitoring and accountability mechanisms.

19. Promote inter-agency collaboration on development, dissemination and implementation of policies, strategies and utilization of guidelines and other materials, and increase exchange of information and good practice examples.

20. Enforce implementation of the Plan of Action developed by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Force on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises, and require regular monitoring and reporting on progress.

21. Provide humanitarian staff and local volunteers with comprehensive and appropriate training on gender perspectives, including the different forms of human rights abuses that women and girls face during and after conflict, particularly gender-based and sexual violence.

22. Ensure that humanitarian organizations responsible for provision of immediate relief systematically include attention to gender-based and sexual violence in all research, data collection and documentation, including through regular consultations with health facilities, midwives, traditional birth attendants, and women's groups and networks.

C. UNIFEM Report

1. Operational humanitarian, human rights and development bodies to develop indicators to determine the extent to which gender is mainstreamed throughout their operations in conflict and post-conflict situations and ensure that ‘gender mainstreaming’ produces measurable results and is not lost in generalities and vague references to gender. Measures should be put in place to address the gaps and obstacles encountered in implementation.

2. Targeted sanctions against trafficking of women and girls. Those complicit must be held accountable for trafficking women and girls in or through conflict areas. Existing international laws on trafficking must be applied in conflict situations and national legislation should criminalize trafficking with strong punitive measures, including such actions as freezing the assets of trafficking rings. Victims of trafficking should be protected from prosecution.

3. Domestic violence to be recognized as systematic and widespread in conflict and post-conflict situations and addressed in humanitarian, legal and security responses and training in emergencies and post-conflict reconstruction.

4. Strengthening of United Nations field operations for internally displaced women, and those bodies that support a field-based presence. Protection officers from all relevant bodies, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), should be deployed immediately if a State cannot or will not protect displaced populations or is indeed responsible for their displacement. A trust fund should be established under OCHA’s coordination for this purpose.

5. Governments to adhere to the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, and incorporate them into national laws to ensure protection, assistance and humanitarian access to internally displaced persons within their territory.

6. Refugee and internally displaced women to play a key role in camp planning, management and decision-making so that gender issues are taken into account in all aspects, especially resource distribution, security and protection.

7. All asylum policies to be reformed to take into account gender-based political persecution. Women, regardless of marital status, should be eligible for asylum and entitled to individual interview and assessment procedures.

8. Psychosocial support and reproductive health services for women affected by conflict to be an integral part of emergency assistance and post-conflict reconstruction. Special attention should be provided to those who have experienced physical trauma, torture and sexual violence. All agencies providing health support and social services should include psychosocial counseling and referrals. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) should take the lead in providing these services, working in close cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNHCR, and UNICEF.

9. Recognition of the special health needs of women who have experienced war-related injuries, including amputations, and for equal provision of physical rehabilitation and prosthesis support.

10. Special attention to providing adequate food supplies for displaced and war-affected women, girls and families in order to protect health and to prevent the sexual exploitation of women and girls. The World Food Programme (WFP) and other relief agencies should strengthen capacities to monitor the gender impact of food distribution practices.

11. The UN, donors and governments to provide long-term financial support for women survivors of violence through legal, economic, psychosocial, and reproductive health services. This should be an essential part of emergency assistance and post-conflict reconstruction.

12. Protection against HIV/AIDS and the provision of reproductive health through the implementation of the Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP) as defined by the Interagency Manual on Reproductive Health for Refugees (WHO, UNHCR, UNFPA, 1999). Special attention must be paid to the needs of particularly vulnerable groups affected by conflict, such as displaced women, adolescents, girl-headed households and sex workers.

13. Immediate provision of emergency contraception and STI treatment for rape survivors to prevent unwanted pregnancies and protect the health of women.

14. All HIV/AIDS programmes and funding in conflict situations to address the disproportionate disease burden carried by women. Mandatory gender analysis and specific strategies for meeting the needs of women and girls should seek to prevent infection and increase access to treatment, care and support.

15. HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programmes to be implemented during conflict and in post conflict situations, with care and support provided whenever there is access to affected populations. National governments, national and international non-governmental organizations, and UN agencies should incorporate HIV/AIDs prevention into all humanitarian assistance. Donors should strongly support these interventions.

16. Vulnerability assessments to be carried out in each humanitarian situation to determine links between conflict, displacement, and gender. Information and data collection should be strengthened in order to document this relationship and to guide appropriate responses. Governments and agencies should work together to document vulnerabilities.

17. The IASC Reference Group on HIV/AIDS in Emergency Settings to develop clear policy guidelines for HIV prevention and care in humanitarian situations and application of these guidelines to be supported by national authorities, humanitarian agencies and donors.

18. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to make special provisions for support of HIV/AIDS programmes in conflict situations, including in countries without the government capacity to manage the application process. In such cases NGOs and UN agencies should be eligible to submit proposals. Further, we encourage the systematic consideration of gender issues in all programme funding.

19. Regional institutions and organizations to address HIV prevention in conflict situations. In particular, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) should take a leadership role in Africa.

20. The development and enforcement of codes of conduct for all UN and international NGO staff to protect against abuse and exploitation of women and girls. All such staff should received training in prevention of sexual and gender based violence, as well as reproductive health information, including STI and HIV/AIDs prevention.

21. Gender budget analysis of humanitarian assistance and post-conflict reconstruction to ensure that women benefit directly from resources mobilized through multilateral and bilateral donors, including the Consolidated Appeals Process, the Bretton Woods Institutions and donor conferences.

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III. PEACE SUPPORT OPERATIONS AND GENDER MAINSTREAMING: IMPACT OF PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS ON COMMUNITIES

A. Secretary-General’s Report

1. Recognize the extent of the violations of the human rights of women and girls during armed conflict and ensure that awareness of these violations is a factor in planning and implementation of all peace support operations.

2. Identify and utilize local sources of information on the impact of armed conflict, the impact of interventions of peace operations on women and girls and the roles and contributions of women and girls in conflict situations, including through the establishment of regular contacts with women’s groups and networks.

3. Incorporate gender perspectives explicitly into mandates of all peacekeeping missions, including provisions to systematically address this issue in all reports to the Security Council.

4. Require that data collected in research, assessments and appraisals, monitoring and evaluation and reporting on peace operations is systematically disaggregated by sex and age and that specific data on the situation of women and girls and the impact of interventions on them is provided.

5. Ensure necessary financial and human resources for gender mainstreaming, including the establishment of gender advisers/units in multidimensional peacekeeping operations and capacity-building activities, as well as targeted projects for women and girls as part of approved mission budgets.

B. Secretary-General’s Study

1. Ensure that all initial appraisals, assessments and fact-finding missions give attention to the situation of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict contexts so that analyses, data collection, planning processes which form the basis for the establishment of missions and programmes give adequate attention to their needs and priorities.

2. Incorporate information on the impact of armed conflict, and the impact of interventions – peacekeeping, peace-building, humanitarian, DDR, and reconstruction – on women and girls, and on the roles and contributions of women and girls in conflict situations, into all training provided to staff.

3. Promote, through existing executive bodies and inter-agency coordination mechanisms, such as the Executive Committee on Peace and Security, the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs, the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Development Group, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, the strengthening of collaboration and coordination on addressing the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, including through the exchange of information and good practice examples – for example on policies, strategies, guidelines and codes of conduct, and through increased monitoring and reporting on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in all peace support activities.

4. Ensure that human rights components in peace-building and peacekeeping missions include, as a requirement for all staff, the capacity to address women’s human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, human rights law and refugee law.

5. Incorporate gender perspectives explicitly into mandates of all peacekeeping missions, including provisions for monitoring and reporting violations of international law as they pertain to women to the Security Council.

6. Increase responsiveness to the protection needs of women and girls; investigate gender-based and sexual violence; and end impunity regarding violations of the human rights of women and girls.

7. Consult with civil society, including local women’s groups and networks, to ensure collection of information from all stakeholders and attention to the specific needs, concerns and experiences of women and girls in the implementation of peacekeeping operations.

8. Systematically and explicitly address gender perspectives in all Secretary-General’s reports on peacekeeping missions to the Security Council, and for that purpose, prepare and disseminate a guidance note on the integration of gender perspectives in reports of the Secretary-General to the Security Council.

9. Ensure that peacekeeping operations have adequate capacity for fact-finding and reporting on gender-specific violations of the rights of women and girls under international humanitarian law and human rights law, including through the provision of training on culturally appropriate interview techniques and trauma counselling and the use of female personnel (such as protection officers, medical personnel, and interpreters).

10. Review and strengthen codes of conduct to ensure that expected standards of conduct to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls are clearly defined; disseminate the codes of conduct, including through training, to all personnel in peace operations – both before and during deployment; rigorously enforce these codes of conduct; and make public the accountability and disciplinary measures which apply to United Nations personnel in the event of a breach of the standards of conduct.

11. Disseminate information on standards of conduct in peacekeeping operations and ensure that troop contributing countries adhere to existing policies and codes of conduct of the United Nations on gender equality, particularly relating to sexual exploitation of women and girls, and put in place adequate accountability mechanisms and disciplinary measures.

12. Review standard operating procedures, instructions, guidelines and manuals used to guide operational activities and incorporate gender perspectives.

13. Monitor and report on gender issues in peacekeeping, including on all forms of violence against women and girls, as an integral part of mission reporting.

14. Require that all data collected in research, assessments and appraisals, monitoring and evaluation and reporting on peace operations is systematically disaggregated by sex and age and that specific data on the situation of women and girls and the impact of interventions on them is provided.

15. Increase the recruitment of women as military observers, peacekeeping troops, and civilian police by troop contributing countries.

16. Ensure necessary financial and human resources for gender mainstreaming, including for capacity-building activities, as well as for targeted projects for women and girls, as part of approved mission budgets.

17. Establish awareness of and capacity to address gender issues as a standard professional requirement for all senior staff in peace operations, for example, Special
Representatives of the Secretary-General, Force Commanders, Chief Administrative Officers, Special Envoys and peace negotiators; clearly incorporate responsibilities for promoting gender equality into the job descriptions of senior staff, including SRSGs; and require regular reporting on gender mainstreaming.

18. Create the post of a Senior Gender Adviser at Headquarters in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, reporting to the Under-Secretary-General, to support mainstreaming of gender perspectives in all departmental activities at Headquarters as well as provide adequate backstopping to field operations.

19. Appoint gender advisers/gender focal points in missions with complex, multi-faceted mandates to support the work of the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on incorporation of gender perspectives throughout the work of peacekeeping missions; and give adequate attention to location, mandates, resources, reporting lines and support from top management, as well as systematic backstopping from Headquarters, of these positions.

20. Ensure that training for all personnel in peacekeeping operations – military, police and civilian staff – both before and during deployment, adequately addresses the issue of violence against women, including domestic violence and trafficking, within a human rights framework.

21. Provide adequate training on gender perspectives to all international and local peacekeeping personnel – before and during deployment

22. Develop and disseminate training of trainer programmes on gender perspectives in peacekeeping operations to support national and regional training initiatives for military and police prior to deployment.

23. Fully incorporate gender perspectives into the UNDAF process, in particular in the preparation of the Common Country Assessments, the identification of common key indicators and the work of thematic groups.

C. UNIFEM Report

1. Operational humanitarian, human rights and development bodies to develop indicators to determine the extent to which gender is mainstreamed throughout their operations in conflict and post-conflict situations and ensure that ‘gender mainstreaming’ produces measurable results and is not lost in generalities and vague references to gender. Measures should be put in place to address the gaps and obstacles encountered in implementation.

2. Clear guidelines for HIV/AIDS Prevention in Peacekeeping Operations. All troop-contributing countries should make available voluntary and confidential HIV/AIDS testing for their peacekeeping personnel. Counseling and testing should be provided for all contingent forces and civilian personnel participating in emergency and peace operations before and during deployment on a regular basis. HIV prevention as well as gender training should be provided in all missions, to all personnel.

3. The development and enforcement of codes of conduct for all UN and international NGO staff to protect against abuse and exploitation of women and girls. All such staff should received training in prevention of sexual and gender based violence, as well as reproductive health information, including STI and HIV/AIDs prevention.

4. Gender experts and expertise to be included in all levels and aspects of peace operations, including in technical surveys, the design of concepts of operation, training, staffing and programmes. To this end, a Memorandum of Understanding should set out the roles and responsibilities among DPKO, Department of Political Affairs (DPA), UNIFEM and the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW).

5. A review of training programmes on and approaches to the gender dimensions of conflict resolution and peace-building for humanitarian, military and civilian personnel. United Nations entities active in this area should lead this process with support provided by the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and the Task Force on Women, Peace and Security with a view to developing guidance on training policy and standards.

6. The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression of the Commission on Human Rights to carry out a study on gender, media and conflict.

7. All UN peace operations to include a human rights monitoring component, with an explicit mandate and sufficient resources to investigate, document and report human rights violations against women.

8. The improvement and strengthening of codes of conduct for international and local humanitarian and peacekeeping personnel and for these codes to be consistent with international humanitarian and human rights law and made compulsory. An office of oversight for crimes against women should be established in all peace operations. The office should regularly monitor and report on compliance with the principles set forth in the IASC Task Force on the Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises.

9. No exemptions for peacekeepers from prosecution by international tribunals, the International Criminal Court and national courts in the host country for all crimes committed, including those against women. All States maintaining peacekeeping forces should take necessary measures to bring to justice their own nationals responsible for such crimes, as called for by the Security Council (S/RES/1400 (2002).

10. UN peace operations to improve opportunities for collaboration with women’s groups to address gender issues in a peacekeeping environment.

11. Member States and DPKO to increase women’s representation in peace operations, including through the recruitment of police, military and civilian personnel.

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IV. WOMEN’S INCLUSION IN PEACE NEGOTIATIONS AND PROCESSES: CONTRIBUTIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY

A. Secretary-General’s Report

1. Identify and utilize local sources of information on the impact of armed conflict, the impact of interventions of peace operations on women and girls and the roles and contributions of women and girls in conflict situations, including through the establishment of regular contacts with women’s groups and networks.

2. Ensure that amnesty provisions included in conflict settlement agreements reached under the auspices of the Security Council exclude impunity from all war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including gender-based crimes.

3. Monitor the extent to which judicial or quasi-judicial mechanisms that are established by the Security Council as part of conflict settlement arrangements interpret and apply the international legal framework pertaining to armed conflict and its aftermath in a gender-sensitive, consistent and systematic manner.

4. Ensure that future ad hoc tribunals created by the Security Council build on existing statutes and include judges and advisers with legal expertise on specific issues, such as violations of the rights of women and girls, including gender-based and sexual violence; ensure that prosecutors of such ad hoc international tribunals respect the interests and personal circumstances of women and girls victims and witnesses and take into account the nature of crimes involving gender-based violence, sexual violence and violence against children.

5. Explicitly integrate gender perspectives into the terms of reference of Security Council missions to countries and regions in conflict; request briefings for the Security Council members on the situation of women and girls in conflicts; include gender specialists in the teams wherever possible; and ensure consultation with women’s groups and networks.

6. Ensure that all peace accords brokered by the United Nations systematically and explicitly address the consequences of the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, their contributions to the peace processes and their needs and priorities in the post-conflict context.

7. Ensure full involvement of women in negotiations of peace agreements at national and international levels, including through provision of training for women and women’s organizations on formal peace processes.

B. Secretary General’s Study

1. Ensure that all initial appraisals, assessments and fact-finding missions give attention to the situation of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict contexts so that analyses, data collection, planning processes which form the basis for the establishment of missions and programmes give adequate attention to their needs and priorities.

2. Incorporate information on the impact of armed conflict, and the impact of interventions – peacekeeping, peace-building, humanitarian, DDR, and reconstruction – on women and girls, and on the roles and contributions of women and girls in conflict situations, into all training provided to staff.

3. Promote, through existing executive bodies and inter-agency coordination mechanisms, such as the Executive Committee on Peace and Security, the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs, the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Development Group, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, the strengthening of collaboration and coordination on addressing the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, including through the exchange of information and good practice examples – for example on policies, strategies, guidelines and codes of conduct, and through increased monitoring and reporting on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in all peace support activities.

4. Ensure that amnesty provisions included in conflict settlement agreements reached under the auspices of the Security Council exclude from impunity all war crimes, and crimes against humanity and genocide, including gender-based crimes.

5. Address in all support provided to electoral processes the need to ensure the equitable participation of women, through the use of quotas, where relevant; collaborate with local women’s groups and networks and support training for women. Ensure that judicial or quasi-judicial mechanisms that are established by the Security Council as part of conflict settlement arrangements interpret and apply the international legal framework relating to armed conflict and its aftermath in a consistent and gender-sensitive manner.

6. Explicitly integrate gender perspectives into the terms of reference of Security Council visits and missions to countries and regions in conflict; brief Security Council members on the gender issues in the conflict situations concerned; include gender specialists in the teams wherever possible; maintain a database on gender specialists as well as women’s groups and networks in countries and regions in conflict; and ensure consultation with these groups and networks.

7. Ensure that all peace accords brokered by the United Nations systematically and explicitly address the consequences of the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, their contributions to the peace processes and their needs and priorities in the post-conflict context.

8. Ensure full involvement of women in negotiations of peace agreements at national and international levels, including through provision of training for women and women’s organizations on formal peace processes.

9. Systematically and explicitly address relevant gender perspectives in all Secretary-General’s reports to the Security Council, and for that purpose, prepare and disseminate a guidance note on the integration of gender perspectives in reports of the Secretary-General to the Security Council.

10. Undertake analysis of the gender perspectives in conflict prevention and peace-building activities and ensure that all analyses of conflict prevention and peace-building, including negotiations, preventative diplomacy and sanctions, adequately reflect a gender perspectives.

11. Consult with civil society, including local and regional women’s and youth groups, to ensure attention to the needs, concerns and experiences of women and girls throughout the peace process.

12. Identify women’s informal peace-building initiatives and provide relevant technical and financial support and establish mechanisms to channel the outcomes of these initiatives into more formal peace processes, including through the involvement of women in Track II negotiations.

13. Ensure necessary financial and human resources for gender mainstreaming, including for capacity-building activities, as well as for targeted projects for women and girls, as part of approved mission budgets.

14. Set concrete targets for the appointment of women as Special Representatives and Special Envoys of the Secretary-General.

C. UNIFEM Report

1. Operational humanitarian, human rights and development bodies to develop indicators to determine the extent to which gender is mainstreamed throughout their operations in conflict and post-conflict situations and ensure that ‘gender mainstreaming’ produces measurable results and is not lost in generalities and vague references to gender.

2. Measures should be put in place to address the gaps and obstacles encountered in implementation.

3. The Secretary-General, in keeping with his personal commitment, to increase the number of women in senior positions in peace-related functions. Priority should be given to achieving gender parity in his appointment of women as Special Representatives and Envoys, beginning with the minimum of 30 per cent in the next three years, with a view to gender parity by 2015.

4. Gender equality to be recognized in all peace processes, agreements and transitional governance structures. International, regional organizations and all participating parties involved in peace processes should advocate for gender parity, maintaining a minimum 30 per cent representation of women in peace negotiations, and ensure that women’s needs are taken into consideration and specifically addressed in all such agreements.

5. A United Nations Trust Fund for Women’s Peace-building. This Trust Fund would leverage the political, financial and technical support needed for women’s civil society organizations and women leaders to have an impact on peace efforts nationally, regionally and internationally. The Fund should be managed by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), in consultation with other UN bodies, and women’s civil society organizations.

6. UNIFEM to work closely with the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) to ensure that gender issues are incorporated in peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction and for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to strengthen its work in emergency situations in order to build women’s capacity in conflict situations, to integrate gender perspectives in peace-building and to support women’s full and equal participation in decision-making. UNIFEM and UNFPA should be represented in all relevant inter-agency bodies.

7. Peace negotiations and agreements to have a gender perspective through the full integration of women’s concerns and participation in peace processes. Women’s peace tables should be established and enabled through financial, political and technical assistance.


8. The UN and donors to invest in women’s organizations as a strategy for conflict prevention, resolution and peace-building. Donors should exercise flexibility in responding to urgent needs and time-sensitive opportunities, and foster partnerships and networks between international, regional and local peace initiatives.

9. Inter-governmental and regional organizations to strengthen and expand women’s role in conflict prevention and peace-building. To this end, the UN together with regional organizations should convene an Expert Group Meeting to improve collaboration, share information and develop expertise.

10. Increased donor resources and access for women to media and communications technology, so that gender perspectives, women’s expertise and women’s media can influence public discourse and decision-making on peace and security.

11. UN, government, private and independent media to provide public information and education on the gender dimensions of peace processes, security, reconciliation, disarmament and human rights.

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V. RECONSTRUCTION AND REHABILITATION: LEGAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES

A. Secretary-General’s Report

1. Develop clear strategies and action plans (with targets and timetables) on the incorporation of gender perspectives in rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes, including monitoring mechanisms, and incorporate explicit attention to the situation of women and girls in needs assessments, initial appraisals and implementation plans for all sectors; and also develop targeted activities, with adequate resources, focused on specific constraints facing women and girls.

2. Ensure that, in efforts to secure local ownership for reconstruction processes, women’s groups and networks are actively involved, particularly at decision-making levels.

3. Identify and address social and legal barriers to education and employment for women and girls, through both mainstream and targeted interventions.

4. Ensure that attention to gender perspectives in economic reconstruction entails analysis of economic policy-making and planning from a gender perspective, as well as the increased participation of women in decision-making; and incorporate gender perspectives into all support for national budget processes, in line with the outcome of the International Conference on Financing for Development (2002).

B. Secretary-General’s Study

1. Incorporate information on the impact of armed conflict, and the impact of interventions – peacekeeping, peace-building, humanitarian, DDR, and reconstruction – on women and girls, and on the roles and contributions of women and girls in conflict situations, into all training provided to staff.

2. Promote, through existing executive bodies and inter-agency coordination mechanisms, such as the Executive Committee on Peace and Security, the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs, the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Development Group, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, the strengthening of collaboration and coordination on addressing the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, including through the exchange of information and good practice examples – for example on policies, strategies, guidelines and codes of conduct, and through increased monitoring and reporting on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in all peace support activities.

3. Address the special needs of girls affected by armed conflict in the design of recovery assistance programmes, in particular girls who are heads of households, internally displaced, refugees, unaccompanied, separated, or orphaned, as well as girls who have been sexually exploited and used as combatants, including through the allocation of sufficient resources.

4. Identify and address problems relating to land and property rights facing women returnees, particularly in situations where their husbands are missing.

5. Ensure that the principles of gender equality and non-discrimination are considered during the formulation of constitutions in the post-conflict era; that legal reforms are based on gender analysis of civil and criminal law, in particular in the areas of nationality, property and inheritance, and address criminalization of violence against women and girls, including sexual violence.

6. Promote sensitization of the judiciary on women’s human rights to raise their awareness of and capacity to address gender issues.

7. Increase awareness of the risk for domestic violence and other threats to the personal safety of women and girls in post-conflict contexts and develop capacity to prevent and address such threats, including by training of all United Nations personnel and local police and military.

8. Address in all support provided to electoral processes the need to ensure the equitable participation of women, through the use of quotas, where relevant; collaborate with local women’s groups and networks and support training for women.

9. Ensure that attention to gender perspectives in economic reconstruction does not only imply micro-credit programmes for women but entails analysis of economic policy-making and planning from a gender perspective and efforts to increase the participation of women in economic decision-making; and incorporate gender perspectives into all support to national budget processes, in line with the outcome of the International Conference on Financing for Development (2002).

10. Identify and address social and legal barriers to education and employment for women and girls, through both mainstream and targeted interventions.

11. Ensure in efforts to secure local ownership for reconstruction processes that women’s groups and networks are actively involved, particularly at decision-making levels.

12. Develop clear strategies and action plans (with targets and timetables) on the incorporation of gender perspectives in rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes, including monitoring mechanisms, and the development of targeted activities, with adequate resources, focused on specific constraints facing women and girls in post-conflict situations.

13. Incorporate attention to the situation of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations in needs assessments, initial appraisals and implementation plans for all sectors.

14. Fully incorporate gender perspectives into the UNDAF process, in particular in the preparation of the Common Country Assessments, the identification of common key indicators and the work of thematic groups.

15. Ensure that United Nations entities with broad multisectoral mandates and coordination responsibilities, particularly in relation to joint assessments, assume leadership roles in giving attention to gender perspectives in all reconstruction efforts.

C. UNIFEM Report

1. Operational humanitarian, human rights and development bodies to develop indicators to determine the extent to which gender is mainstreamed throughout their operations in conflict and post-conflict situations and ensure that ‘gender mainstreaming’ produces measurable results and is not lost in generalities and vague references to gender. Measures should be put in place to address the gaps and obstacles encountered in implementation.

2. Targeted sanctions against trafficking of women and girls. Those complicit must be held accountable for trafficking women and girls in or through conflict areas. Existing international laws on trafficking must be applied in conflict situations and national legislation should criminalize trafficking with strong punitive measures, including such actions as freezing the assets of trafficking rings. Victims of trafficking should be protected from prosecution.

3. Domestic violence to be recognized as systematic and widespread in conflict and post-conflict situations and addressed in humanitarian, legal and security responses and training in emergencies and post-conflict reconstruction.

4. The UN, donors and governments to provide long-term financial support for women survivors of violence through legal, economic, psychosocial and reproductive health services. This should be an essential part of emergency assistance and post-conflict reconstruction.

5. Women to be involved in all aspects of repatriation and resettlement planning and implementation. Special measures should be put in place to ensure women’s security in this process and to ensure voluntary, unhindered repatriation, and that it takes place under conditions of safety and dignity, with full respect for human rights and the rule of law.

6. Psychosocial support and reproductive health services for women affected by conflict to be an integral part of emergency assistance and post-conflict reconstruction. Special attention should be provided to those who have experienced physical trauma, torture and sexual violence. All agencies providing health support and social services should include psychosocial counseling and referrals. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) should take the lead in providing these services, working in close cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNHCR, and UNICEF.

7. The UN, donors and governments to provide long-term financial support for women survivors of violence through legal, economic, psychosocial, and reproductive health services. This should be an essential part of emergency assistance and post-conflict reconstruction.

8. Protection against HIV/AIDS and the provision of reproductive health through the implementation of the Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP) as defined by the Interagency Manual on Reproductive Health for Refugees (WHO, UNHCR, UNFPA, 1999). Special attention must be paid to the needs of particularly vulnerable groups affected by conflict, such as displaced women, adolescents, girl-headed households and sex workers.

9. Immediate provision of emergency contraception and STI treatment for rape survivors to prevent unwanted pregnancies and protect the health of women.

10. All HIV/AIDS programmes and funding in conflict situations to address the disproportionate disease burden carried by women. Mandatory gender analysis and specific strategies for meeting the needs of women and girls should seek to prevent infection and increase access to treatment, care and support.

11. HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programmes to be implemented during conflict and in post conflict situations, with care and support provided whenever there is access to affected populations. National governments, national and international non-governmental organizations, and UN agencies should incorporate HIV/AIDs prevention into all humanitarian assistance. Donors should strongly support these interventions.

12. Regional institutions and organizations to address HIV prevention in conflict situations. In particular, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) should take a leadership role in Africa.

13. Gender equality to be recognized in all peace processes, agreements and transitional governance structures. International, regional organizations and all participating parties involved in peace processes should advocate for gender parity, maintaining a minimum 30 per cent representation of women in peace negotiations, and ensure that women’s needs are taken into consideration and specifically addressed in all such agreements.

14. National legal systems to penalize and remedy all forms of violence against women in conflict and post-conflict situations. Specially trained police units should be established to investigate crimes against women and law enforcement officials, including judges, police and armed forces, should be sensitized about such crimes. Women’s access to justice should be ensured through legal literacy programmes, support services and legal aid.

15. Gender equality in constitutional, legislative and policy reforms. The principle of gender should be integrated into all relevant constitutional clauses, reaffirming the principles of non-discrimination, equality, affirmative action, freedom and security. Special attention should be given to family, civil and labour laws and land reforms.

16. National electoral laws and international electoral assistance to establish quotas to achieve gender parity in decision-making positions, beginning with a minimum of 30 per cent, to ensure voter registration and education for women, to increase the ratio of women in electoral commissions and observer missions and to provide training for women candidates.

17. Gender budget analysis of humanitarian assistance and post-conflict reconstruction to ensure that women benefit directly from resources mobilized through multilateral and bilateral donors, including the Consolidated Appeals Process, the Bretton Woods Institutions and donor conferences.

18. Establishment of macroeconomic policies in post-conflict reconstruction that prioritize the public provision of food, water, sanitation, health and energy, the key sectors in which women provide unpaid labour. Special attention should be paid to the consequences for women of decentralization policies.

19. A lead organization to be designated within the United Nations for women’s education and training in conflict and post-conflict situations. This lead organization, together with UNESCO, UNHCR and UNICEF, should ensure that all education programmes for displaced persons provide for women as well as girls.

20. Donors and agencies to support the training of editors and journalists to eliminate gender bias in reporting and investigative journalism in conflict and post-conflict situations, and to promote gender equality and perspectives.

21. The World Bank, bi-lateral donors, UNDP and all other relevant UN departments, funds and agencies to integrate gender analysis in needs assessments for post-conflict reconstruction and throughout the planning, design, implementation of and reporting on programmes.

22. International organizations and governments to introduce affirmative measures that give local women priority in recruitment during emergencies and post-conflict reconstruction.

23. Affirmative measures to be adopted to guarantee women’s socio-economic rights including employment, property ownership and inheritance and access to UN and public sector procurement in post-conflict reconstruction.

24. The International Labour Organization (ILO) to expand vocational and skills training for women in post-conflict situations including in non-traditional, public and private sectors, in a manner that is sustainable and responsive to the local and national economy.

25. Hate media, under any circumstances and particularly when used for direct and public incitement to commit crimes against women, to be prosecuted by national and international courts.

26. UN, government, private and independent media to provide public information and education on the gender dimensions of peace processes, security, reconciliation, disarmament and human rights.

27. A United Nations Trust Fund for Women’s Peace-building. This Trust Fund would leverage the political, financial and technical support needed for women’s civil society organizations and women leaders to have an impact on peace efforts nationally, regionally and internationally. The Fund should be managed by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), in consultation with other UN bodies, and women’s civil society organizations.

28. UNIFEM to work closely with the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) to ensure that gender issues are incorporated in peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction and for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to strengthen its work in emergency situations in order to build women’s capacity in conflict situations, to integrate gender perspectives in peace-building and to support women’s full and equal participation in decision-making. UNIFEM and UNFPA should be represented in all relevant inter-agency bodies.

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VI. DISARMAMENT, DEMOBILIZATION, RECONSTRUCTION AND SECURITY SECTOR REFORM

A. Secretary-General’s Report

1. Incorporate the needs and priorities of women and girls as ex-combatants, "camp-followers" and families of ex-combatants in the design and implementation of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, including the design of camps, the distribution of benefits and access to basic resources and services, such as food, water, health care and counselling, in order to ensure the success of such programmes and the participation and full access to benefits for women and girls.

2. Increase the number of programmes for child soldiers, fully incorporate attention to the specific situation and needs of girl soldiers and identify means to support child soldiers, including girls, who do not enter disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes.

3. Recognize the impact of armed conflict and displacement on family relations and develop awareness of the risk of increased domestic violence, especially in the families of ex-combatants; and develop programmes on the prevention of domestic violence, targeting families and communities, and especially male ex-combatants.

B. Secretary-General’s Study

1. Incorporate information on the impact of armed conflict, and the impact of interventions – peacekeeping, peace-building, humanitarian, DDR, and reconstruction – on women and girls, and on the roles and contributions of women and girls in conflict situations, into all training provided to staff.

2. Promote, through existing executive bodies and inter-agency coordination mechanisms, such as the Executive Committee on Peace and Security, the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs, the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Development Group, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, the strengthening of collaboration and coordination on addressing the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, including through the exchange of information and good practice examples – for example on policies, strategies, guidelines and codes of conduct, and through increased monitoring and reporting on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in all peace support activities.

3. Incorporate the needs and priorities of women and girls as ex-combatants, "camp-followers" and families of ex-combatants in the design and implementation of DDR programmes, including the design of camps, the distribution of benefits, and access to basic resources and services, including food, water, health care, counselling, in order to ensure the success of such programmes and the participation and full access to benefits for women and girl.

4. Increase the number of programmes for child soldiers and fully incorporate attention to the specific situation and needs of girl soldiers, and identify means to support child soldiers, including girls, who do not enter DDR programmes.

5. Recognize the impact of armed conflict and displacement on family relations and develop awareness of the risks for increased domestic violence, especially in the families of ex-combatants; and develop programmes on the prevention of domestic violence, which target families and communities, and especially male ex-combatants.

6. Recognize and utilize the contributions of women and girls in encouraging ex-combatants to lay down arms, in weapons collections programmes and ensure that they benefit from any incentives provided for such activities.

7. Ensure wide knowledge of international humanitarian and human rights law, including at the local level; disseminate information on the procedures for redress at domestic and inter-national levels for violations of the rights of women and girls – such as ad hoc tribunals, human rights treaty bodies and all other relevant mechanisms – to the public in local languages, including to women’s groups and NGOs; and take appropriate steps to ensure that individual women and girls, or others acting on their behalf, are not subjected to ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of accessing available domestic or international means of redress.

C. UNIFEM Report

1. Operational humanitarian, human rights and development bodies to develop indicators to determine the extent to which gender is mainstreamed throughout their operations in conflict and post-conflict situations and ensure that ‘gender mainstreaming’ produces measurable results and is not lost in generalities and vague references to gender. Measures should be put in place to address the gaps and obstacles encountered in implementation.

2. UNIFEM to work closely with the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) to ensure that gender issues are incorporated in peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction and for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to strengthen its work in emergency situations in order to build women’s capacity in conflict situations, to integrate gender perspectives in peace-building and to support women’s full and equal participation in decision-making. UNIFEM and UNFPA should be represented in all relevant inter-agency bodies.

3. The Secretary-General to appoint a panel of experts to assess the gaps in international and national laws and standards pertaining to the protection of women in conflict and post-conflict situations and women’s role in peace-building.

4. International organizations and governments to introduce affirmative measures that give local women priority in recruitment during emergencies and post-conflict reconstruction.

5. Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) initiatives to equitably benefit women ex-combatants and those forced into service by armed groups. Resettlement allowances and other forms of support should be provided on a long-term basis.

6. The UN to conduct a ‘lessons learned’ study on the gender aspects of DDR processes in which it has been involved. The UN Development Programme (UNDP), as the leading agency in the field of security sector reform, to ensure that women’s protection and participation be central to the design and reform of security sector institutions and policies, especially in police, military and rule of law components. UNDP should integrate a gender perspective into its country programmes.

7. Operational humanitarian, human rights and development bodies to develop indicators to determine the extent to which gender is mainstreamed throughout their operations in conflict and post-conflict situations and ensure that ‘gender mainstreaming’ produces measurable results and is not lost in generalities and vague references to gender. Measures should be put in place to address the gaps and obstacles encountered in implementation.

8. A panel of experts to undertake an assessment of the relevance and adequacy of standards on the military use of ‘psychological and information warfare’ and its impact on women.

9. UN, government, private and independent media to provide public information and education on the gender dimensions of peace processes, security, reconciliation, disarmament and human rights.

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VII. JUSTICE, TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION ISSUES

A. Secretary-General’s Report

1. Ensure that amnesty provisions included in conflict settlement agreements reached under the auspices of the Security Council exclude impunity from all war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including gender-based crimes.

2. Monitor the extent to which judicial or quasi-judicial mechanisms that are established by the Security Council as part of conflict settlement arrangements interpret and apply the international legal framework pertaining to armed conflict and its aftermath in a gender-sensitive, consistent and systematic manner.

3. Ensure that future ad hoc tribunals created by the Security Council build on existing statutes and include judges and advisers with legal expertise on specific issues, such as violations of the rights of women and girls, including gender-based and sexual violence; ensure that prosecutors of such ad hoc international tribunals respect the interests and personal circumstances of women and girls victims and witnesses and take into account the nature of crimes involving gender-based violence, sexual violence and violence against children.

B. Secretary-General’s Study

1. Incorporate information on the impact of armed conflict, and the impact of interventions – peacekeeping, peace building, humanitarian, DDR, and reconstruction – on women and girls, and on the roles and contributions of women and girls in conflict situations, into all training provided to staff.

2. Promote, through existing executive bodies and inter-agency coordination mechanisms, such as the Executive Committee on Peace and Security, the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs, the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Development Group, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, the strengthening of collaboration and coordination on addressing the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, including through the exchange of information and good practice examples – for example on policies, strategies, guidelines and codes of conduct, and through increased monitoring and reporting on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in all peace support activities.

3. Prosecute all perpetrators of crimes of gender-based and sexual violence directed at women and girls in situations of armed conflict, including United Nations international and local personnel.

4. Take steps to ensure that women and girls, who are victims of gender-based and sexual violence and any other forms of violence during armed conflict, have the right to reparations for damages incurred.

5. Set targets for gender balance when appointing investigators, judges, prosecutors and other legal counsel to ad hoc tribunals and the International Criminal Court, as well as in the composition of truth and reconciliation commissions, human rights commissions, and other bodies; and ensure that judges and advisers appointed have expertise on such matters as violations of the rights of women and girls, including gender-based and sexual violence; ensure that prosecutors of such ad hoc international tribunals respect the interests and personal circumstances of women and girls victims and witnesses and take into account the nature of crimes involving gender-based and sexual violence and violence against children.

6. Ensure that national legal systems provide accessible and gender-sensitive redress for victims of armed conflict; that the mandates of domestic mechanisms of redress, such as truth and reconciliation commissions, human rights commissions, clearly reflect gender perspectives, respond to the needs, concerns and experiences of women and girl victims of armed conflict, and include special measures for victim and witness protection, especially of sexual crimes and violence; and ensure during all stages of trials or other redress procedures, measures to protect their safety, physical and psychological well-being, dignity and privacy, and gender-sensitive care and protection during fact-finding, investigations, trials and post-judgment periods.

7. Ensure that amnesty provisions included in conflict settlement agreements reached under the auspices of the Security Council exclude from impunity all war crimes, and crimes against humanity and genocide, including gender-based crimes.
8. Ensure that judicial or quasi-judicial mechanisms that are established by the Security Council as part of conflict settlement arrangements interpret and apply the international legal framework relating to armed conflict and its aftermath in a consistent and gender-sensitive manner.

9. Ensure that all ad hoc tribunals created by the Security Council include judges and advisers with legal expertise on specific issues, such as violations of the rights of women and girls, including gender-based and sexual violence; ensure that prosecutors of such ad hoc international tribunals respect the interests and personal circumstances of women and girls victims and witnesses and take into account the nature of crimes involving gender-based violence, sexual violence and violence against children.

10. Promote sensitization of the judiciary on women’s human rights to raise their awareness of and capacity to address gender issues.

C. UNIFEM Report

1. Operational humanitarian, human rights and development bodies to develop indicators to determine the extent to which gender is mainstreamed throughout their operations in conflict and post-conflict situations and ensure that ‘gender mainstreaming’ produces measurable results and is not lost in generalities and vague references to gender. Measures should be put in place to address the gaps and obstacles encountered in implementation.

2. No exemptions for peacekeepers from prosecution by international tribunals, the International Criminal Court and national courts in the host country for all crimes committed, including those against women. All States maintaining peacekeeping forces should take necessary measures to bring to justice their own nationals responsible for such crimes, as called for by the Security Council (S/RES/1400 (2002).

3. An international Truth and Reconciliation Commission on violence against women in armed conflict as a step towards ending impunity. This Commission, to be convened by civil society with support from the international community, will fill the historical gap that has left these crimes unrecorded and unaddressed.

4. The Secretary-General to appoint a panel of experts to assess the gaps in international and national laws and standards pertaining to the protection of women in conflict and post-conflict situations and women’s role in peace-building.

5. State Parties to the Statute of the International Criminal Court to undertake national law reform to ensure compatibility with the Statute as a matter of priority, with particular attention given to the substantive and procedural provisions regarding crimes against women.

6. National legal systems to penalize and remedy all forms of violence against women in conflict and post-conflict situations. Specially trained police units should be established to investigate crimes against women and law enforcement officials, including judges, police and armed forces, should be sensitized about such crimes. Women’s access to justice should be ensured through legal literacy programmes, support services and legal aid.

7. Rapid establishment by the UN of interim judicial systems capable of dealing effectively with violations against women by family members and society at large. Rape and sexual violence should be addressed by post-conflict truth- and justice-seeking mechanisms at national and local levels. The treatment of crimes against women in traditional mechanisms should be consistent with international standards.

8. UN, government, private and independent media to provide public information and education on the gender dimensions of peace processes, security, reconciliation, disarmament and human rights.

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