Reviewing the Implementation of UNSCR1325 and UNR1820: What will it take?

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

UNSCRs1325, and its derivative (R1820), can be said to represent a triumph of the collective human will for good in periods of great adversity. Peace and women‘s rights movements approach these resolutions with great passion and see them more or less as their own, and rightly so. They are after all products of decades of intense struggles, at great cost, for equality and women‘s rights. 1325 is about promoting the rights of women in periods of war and transitional peace. This includes the addressing the mainstream media characterisation of women during armed conflicts merely as victims, to the exclusion of their roles and experiences as peace-builders. In the words of Nobel Peace Price Laureate, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, ―women are not just victims of war, they are also protagonists of history, and makers of the peace‖. This denial underpins the systematic exclusion of women from the decision-making processes related to war and peace. It is this exclusion that 1325 seeks to correct in its emphasis on participation in matters related to conflict prevention and management, and post-conflict building strategies and measures.


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Reviewing the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 and 1820