HOW CAN U.S. CITIZENS USE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325?
SOME ACTION AND ADVOCACY IDEAS
Compiled by PeaceWomen Project

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Influence Policy

• Write to United Nations Security Council members, all fifteen. Remind them of their commitments to women made in Resolution 1325. The contact information for UN Security Council Members can be found here.

The Security Council members, as they have responsibility for international peace and security, should be treated as your representatives, much like United States congresspeople. The members need to hear constructive recommendations for action from civil society.

• Contact the State Department. Call or email Ms. Charlie Ponticelli, the State Department's Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues. Phone: (202) 312-9670. Email: PonticelliCM@state.gov

The decision-making by the US Mission to the United Nations can be traced back to the State Department.

• Contact your US representatives and senators, as well as aspiring candidates. Educate them on Resolution 1325 and other existing UN conventions, treaties and resolutions, remind them of their responsibility for implementation, and request information about their ongoing and future actions with regard to Resolution 1325. The contact information for US representatives and senators can be found at:
http://www.vote-smart.org/

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D – TX 30th) introduced US House Resolution 432 on the domestication of Resolution 1325 in November 2003. To view this resolution, click here (html), or click here (Word document)

Ask your Congressperson in the US House of Representatives to co-sponsor Congresswoman Eddie B. Johnson’s H.R. 432.

• Organize to pass legislation on UNSC Resolution 1325 (2000) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, or CEDAW, (1979) in your city council.

Network and Share Information

• Build networks with women's organizations/groups living and working in situations of armed conflict and post-conflict. Visit them and bring the media with you. Hold press conferences, send out reports and make presentations to policy-makers and the general public upon your return. To contact women’s organizations/groups, visit PeaceWomen’s organization database.

• Support women's peace initiatives with your time and finances. For a country-specific compilation of women’s peace and security initiatives, clickhere, or visit our organization database.

Oftentimes, women's advocacy efforts, whether it be in conflict prevention, resolution, peace accord negotiations or electoral processes, will prove more effective with a small amount of capital to support their work to organize, mobilize and still provide for their families.

• Contact groups and organizations that have used Resolution 1325 in their own communities to share strategies and models for action. For more information about other groups using or interested in UNSC Resolution 1325, contact the PeaceWomen team in the WILPF UN Office and we will be happy to try and help facilitate the connection. Contact us at: (212) 682-1265, or email info@peacewomen.org.

Generate Awareness

• Organize workshops in your community for local journalists, politicians, community organizations, academia, students and others to raise awareness about Resolution 1325 and other related UN tools, such as CEDAW.

• Teach/take a course on women, peace and security issues, including Resolution 1325

• Organize a media letter-writing group and send weekly/monthly letters to newspaper editors to highlight media coverage of women, peace and security issues

• Develop a Resolution 1325 pamphlet or postcard campaign and circulate it in your community

• Translate Resolution 1325 into your local languages. Send your translation to PeaceWomen for its 1325 Translation Initiative. For more information about this initiative, click here.



Other Resolution 1325 Action and Advocacy Tools

“UN Security Council Resolution 1325 for girls and young women”

“UN Security Council Resolution 1325 Fact Sheet: Understanding UN Security Council Resolution 1325”

“UN Security Council Resolution 1325 Fact Sheet: How can we use Resolution 1325?”

All three were produced by the Gender and Peacebuilding Working Group of the Canadian Peacebuilding Coordinating Committee: http://www.peacebuild.ca/working/?load=gender

“Ten Things Young Women And Men Can Do To Support Security Council Resolution 1325”
Compiled by Sheri Gibbings, Canada

For more handouts, visit UNIFEM's Resolution 1325 Toolbox

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