Language on gender and peacekeeping in international instruments and policy documents

SC Resolution 1325 | Windhoek Declaration | UN DPKO Policy Directive

SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1325(2000)

The Security Council,

....

2. Encourages the Secretary-General to implement his strategic plan of action (A/49/587) calling for an increase in the participation of women at decision-making levels in conflict resolution and peace processes;

3. Urges the Secretary-General to appoint more women as special representatives and envoys to pursue good offices on his behalf, and in this regard calls on Member States to provide candidates to the Secretary-General, for inclusion in a regularly updated centralized roster;

4 . Further urges the Secretary-General to seek to expand the role and contribution of women in United Nations field-based operations, and especially among military observers, civilian police, human rights and humanitarian personnel;

5. Expresses its willingness to incorporate a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations and urges the Secretary-General to ensure that, where appropriate, field operations include a gender component;

6. Requests the Secretary-General to provide to Member States training guidelines and materials on the protection, rights and the particular needs of women, as well as on the importance of involving women in all peacekeeping and peace-building measures, invites Member States to incorporate these elements as well as HIV/AIDS awareness training into their national training programmes for military and civilian police personnel in preparation for deployment and further requests the Secretary-General to ensure that civilian personnel of peacekeeping operations receive similar training; ...

13. Encourages all those involved in the planning for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration to consider the different needs of female and male ex-combatants and to take into account the needs of their dependants; ...

17. Requests the Secretary-General, where appropriate, to include in his reporting to the Security Council, progress on gender mainstreaming throughout peacekeeping missions and all other aspects relating to women and girls;...

 

For the full text of SCR 1325, please click HERE

 

The Windhoek Declaration and The Namibia Plan of Action On ‘Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective In Multidimensional Peace Support Operations -2000

 

United Nations peace operations have evolved from peacekeeping, in its traditional sense, towards multidimensional peace support operations. So far, women have been denied their full role in these efforts, both nationally and internationally, and the gender dimension in peace processes has not been adequately addressed.

In order to ensure the effectiveness of peace support operations, the principles of gender equality must permeate the entire mission, at all levels, thus ensuring the participation of women and men as equal partners and beneficiaries in all aspects of the peace process -- from peacekeeping, reconciliation and peace-building, towards a situation of political stability in which women and men play an equal part in the political, economic and social development of their country.

Having considered these matters in Windhoek, Namibia, at a seminar on ‘Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in Multidimensional Peace Support Operations’ organized by the Lessons Learned Unit of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and hosted by the Government of Namibia from 29 to 31 May 2000, participants looked at practical ways in which the UN system and Member States can bring the aims set out above closer to realization. In that regard, the Seminar recommends ‘The Namibia Plan of Action’ and urges the Secretary-General to ensure that appropriate follow-up measures are taken to implement it, in consultation with Member States, and that periodic progress reviews are undertaken.

For the full text of the declaration, please click HERE

DEPARTMENT OF PEACEKEPING OPERATIONS: Policy Directive ON Gender Equality in UN Peacekeeping Operations - NOVEMBER 2006

This Policy Directive defines and describes requirements for ensuring the equal participation of women, men, girls and boys in all peacekeeping activities. It embraces gender mainstreaming as a strategy to advance the goal of gender equality in post-conflict societies.

The policy applies existing United Nations system-wide mandates for advancing gender equality, to the specific context of post-conflict transitions, to which all peacekeeping personnel must adhere, with the goal of providing a more sustainable and democratic basis for the subsequent peacebuilding agenda.

For the full text of the policy directive, please click HERE

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