Women, Peace and Security Agenda a Clear Gap at Security Council Summit on Terrorism

On 24 September 2014, forty-eight speakers, predominantly heads of state, unanimously adopted SCR 2178 in a summit presided over by President Barack Obama and opened by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. One hundred and six members supported this resolution and agreed that they would prevent foreign terrorist fighters from joining or otherwise supporting terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, the Al-Nusrah Front (ANF) or Al-Qaida and its various splinter groups.

Only seven speakers made gender-sensitive statements, two of which discussed sexual violence, and five of which mentioned women as victims of the general brutality in the region. In addition, SCR 2178 encouraged member states to include local civil society groups, including those of women, in countering the violent extremist narrative and recruitment. Despite this language in the resolution, there were no statements in support of women's proactive participation in the peace process or in the prevention of violence. Clearly, despite the Council's repeated requests for the implementation of SCR 2122, the Women, Peace and Security agenda remains on the back-burner in terms of national security policy.

Read more about this summit and get more information about the Security Council's recent meeting on Iraq and ISIS.