NGO RECOMMENDATIONS ON WOMEN AND THE MAINTENANCE OF INTERNATIONAL
PEACE AND SECURITY
The NGO grouping recognizes the enormous and difficult role of the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) in addressing international threats to peace
and security. Our suggested monitoring and follow-up mechanisms include:
1. Establish an independent Expert Panel to report, by September 2001, on a)
women's role in peacebuilding b) humanitarian issues and protection of women
during peacekeeping and post conflict peace support operations;
2. Request the SG to report on Gender Mainstreaming in Peacekeeping and Peace
Support Operations;
3. Recommend a follow-up consultation between UNSC and NGOs involved in women,
armed conflict and peace building issues within a year;
4. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the Security Council
on the implementation of these recommendations within a year.
Below we offer a set of recommendations for action to be taken by the
UN Security Council regarding mandates, use of force, rules of engagement,
peace accords, and troop-contributing country responsibilities. It is incumbent
on the Council to ensure that women are equal participants in decision-making
related to the achievement and maintenance of international peace and security,
and that gender issues are fully integrated into all UN Peace Support Operations.
The Council build on existing resolutions:
1. Routinely give special consideration to women affected by armed conflict
by requiring that all situation reported from the field to the Secretary General
and all Secretary General's reports to the Council contain a gender perspective,
including gender analysis and sex desegregated data;
2. Ensure that senior gender experts and women are included in all UNSC fact-finding
missions to areas of actual or potential conflict;
3. Ensure that comprehensive gender considerations are included in the terms
of reference of all UNSC fact-finding missions;
4. Ensure that all UN fact-finding missions are mandated to consult with local
women’s organisations;
5. Require the UN system to develop and ulitise common gender-based indicators
for conflict early warning and response procedures (building on S/PRST/2000/25);
6. Adopt a mechanism to ensure that there is a ready flow of information with
a gender dimension, from a variety of sources including NGOs to the UNSC on
issues of actual or potential conflict;
7. Ensure that in negotiations for ceasefire and/or peace agreements, all UN-sanctioned
third party negotiators, especially all Special Representatives of the Secretary
General (SRSG) are mandated to ensure indigenous women and local women’s
organizations are an integral part of the negotiating team and process, and
that gender issues are placed on the agenda and fully addressed in the agreements
reached;
8. Require other third party mediators/facilitators, including regional and
sub-regional organizations and their party mediators and encourage warring factions,
to also ensure consultation with and the participation of women’s groups
and civil society in peace processes;
9. Appoint women as special representatives and envoys to conflict regions,
and encourage that 50% of posts at D1 and higher levels of the UN Secretariat
and Peace Keeping missions are women;
10. Ensure that all Peace Support Operations have a adequately staffed gender
unit to assist senior management in fully integrating gender into all policies,
programmes and operations;
11. Ensure that all UNSC resolutions setting up or extending peacekeeping/support
operations provide for a clear mandate on gender mainstreaming, and address
protection of women and girls affected by conflict, against all sexual violence,
abduction, forced prostitution, trafficking and threats imposed by military,
paramilitary, peacekeeping and other groups (building on S/PRST/2000/25,para13
and S/Res/1296/2000 para 9 and 10);
12. Ensure that all mandates for Peace Support Operations refer to the provisions
of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against
Women and relevant international legal instruments where applicable;
13. Ensure that the human rights components of PK are fully staffed and required
to integrate women’s rights in all documents and reporting;
14. Request the Secretary general in consultation with all troops contributing
countries to establish uniformed procedures and disciplinary measures for dealing
promptly with violations of international law committed by peace keeping personnel,
particularly those against women and girls and ensure accountability of force
and contingent commanders;
15. Ensure that all DPKO personnel at headquarters and in the field have training
on gender including in the protection, rights and needs of women and girls,
DPKO code of conduct, international humanitarian and human rights law including
CEDAW, Convention on the Rights of the Child, and are aware of the impact of
local culture, history and social norms on the status of women and girls(reaffirming
and expanding S/PRST/2000/25 para 14);
16. The Council should continue to encourage member states and regional organisations
to incorporate gender awareness guidelines, training and materials into national
training programmes for military and civilian police in preparation for deployment;
Recommend that 50% women are included in all reconciliation, peacekeeping, peace-enforcement,
peace building, and conflict preventive posts – including fact-finding
and observer missions.
NGO RECOMMENDATIONS
REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BRAHIMI REPORT
The NGO group welcomes the recommendations emerging from the Brahimi Report
on UN Peace Operations. The Brahimi report offers a number of conceptual, structural
and practical opportunities for improving and enhancing the work of UN Peacekeeping
and Peace Support Operations (PK); however, a number of critical issues must
still be addressed. In particular, the gender dimension of peacekeeping and
peace support operations must be highlighted, including the potential positive
role of women and the impact of conflict on women and girls. Implementation
should include the following:
1. Create a Gender Unit at the Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)
headquarters funded under regular budgets;
2. Appoint a senior gender adviser in DPKO to serve as a gender focal point
for field missions and liaise with local gender experts associated with local
women’s groups, funded under regular budgets and filled as a matter of
urgency;
3. Request the SG to include senior level representation on gender and armed
conflict on the Executive Committee on Peace and Security;
4. Request the SG to include gender advisors and a mechanism for civil society
to have input to the Information and Strategic Analysis Secretariat (ISAS);
5. Include gender advisors in the Brahimi-proposed Integrated Mission Task Forces;
6. Request the Department of Political Affairs (DPA) to establish and maintain
a global database of expert women peacemakers with experience in conflict prevention
and mediation as well as and traditional peacemaking processes to be drawn on
for missions and peace processes;
7. Request DPKO to develop, operationalise and maintain a comprehensive database
of female candidates with military and civilian qualifications, building on
the Liechtenstein Initiative and organise a standby cadre of gender experts
ready for rapid emergency deployment;
8. Review & update PK standard operating procedures/code of conduct to comprehensively
address gender;
9. Appoint UN Protection Advisers charged with mobilizing immediate community
and international support for the protection of women and girls experiencing
violence;
10. Ensure that all women and men benefit equally from the reconstruction initiatives,
specifically that the needs of female ex-combatants and civilians are met in
demobilisation and reconstruction programmes (building on S/PSRT/2000/25);
11. Ensure that refugee and IDP women participate fully in the design and management
of humanitarian activities, so that they have equal access & benefits of
all services, including education & micro-enterprise programmes (building
on S/PRST/2000/25).