INTERVIEW: Building Bridges for Women

Exclusive Interview between PRAVDA.Ru* and UNIFEM Chief of Governance for Peace and Security Ms. Anne-Marie Goetz, who states that the way we think about gender and war has changed in the last decade, although a lot more needs to be done. What is the situation regarding women's rights in conflict zones, what can Governments do, and fundamentally, what can you do?

1. Resolution 1325 was passed ten years ago. What, in concrete terms, has been done?

Please see the attached PDF for the full interview.

The most significant achievement over the decade has been a change in the way we think about gender and war. People used to think of war as soldiers facing other soldiers, fighting on a defined battlefield. Few people think that way any more. Most people recognize that modern warfare has changed in character. In many conflicts it is more dangerous to be a civilian than a soldier. Women and children are often deliberately targeted.

They may be abducted to perform services for fighting forces, or they are victims of extreme forms of sexual violence, designed to demoralize and degrade the enemy in a way that lasts much longer than damage to property or other war damage. Women and children also make up the majority of refugee populations. When peace deals are negotiated, the leaders of delegations leave women out, not concerned about how conflict has affected them or about how they can contribute to long-term conflict resolution. UN Security Council Resolution 1325 passed in October 2000 recognizes all of this and calls for the international security community to respond.

In international responses to conflict, there is increasing recognition of the need to improve protection of women and the need to engage women in peace processes. Some countries that contribute troops and police to peacekeeping missions have increased the numbers of women that they send: India and Bangladesh have sent all-female formed police units to Liberia and Haiti. Women's presence amongst international peacekeepers signals the intention to prevent violence against women and encourages local women to join the police and army as part of national security sector reform.

In some peace processes, efforts have been made to include women as negotiators, observers, and experts. The talks for northern Uganda in Juba in 2007 – 9 included women as observers and there was a gender expert in the team of the facilitator to the talks. Various phases of peace talks for Darfur have included extended and committed consultations with women, who have drawn stronger attention to gender issues in peace deals.