Participation

The Participation theme focuses on women’s representation and participation in peace processes, electoral process – as both the candidate and voter – UN decision-making positions, and in the broader social-political sphere.

The Security Council acknowledges the need for strategies to increase women’s participation in all UN missions and appointments to high-level positions in SCR 1325(OP3) and 1889(OP4) and further emphasises the need for women’s participation in peacebuilding processes (1889). 

Specifically, it calls for the mobilisation of resources for advancing gender equality and empowering women (OP14), reporting on the progress of women’s participation in UN missions (OP18), equal access to education for women and girls in post-conflict societies (OP11), and the increase of women’s participation in political and economic decision-making (OP15). Until this language translates into action, the potential for women’s full and equal contribution to international peace and security will remain unrealized.

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GUATEMALA: Justice Delayed But Not Denied for Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala

“Everything changed when the soldiers arrived,” said Rosa, an Indigenous Ixil woman living in the Quiché region of Guatemala. “They burned our homes, raped the women and killed many of my friends and neighbors.”

LIBERIA: 'Wars Wouldn't Exist if Women Ruled'

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been President of Liberia for a while now and is the first ever African woman to be elected President and has been credited together with other women in Liberia with ending the war in that country. Many African leaders have touted her a front of the United States of America. Deborah Solomon (DS) editor of the World Women Forum talks to her on this and other issues.

GUATEMALA: Take Action: Protect Guatemalan Human Rights Defender Norma Cruz

Guatemalan human rights defender Norma Cruz – leader of the women's rights organization ‘Survivors' Foundation' (Fundación Sobrevivientes) – has received repeated death threats because of her work supporting victims of violence against women and calling for those responsible to be prosecuted.

LEBANON: Author Hanan al Shaykh Welcomes Role of Women in Arab Spring

When her father told her at the age of 10 that she should cover her hair with a veil, Hanan al Shaykh was quick to shoot him down with child-like curiosity and a rebellious streak, asking him why would God give her hair in the first place if they were meant to be covered.

INTERNATIONAL: Women's Economic Empowerment My 2012 Priority - UN's Bachelet

With democracy protests still sweeping the Arab world and the global financial crisis continuing to bite, the push for women's economic empowerment and political participation is paramount, the head of the U.N. women's agency Michelle Bachelet says.

INTERNATIONAL: Women's Economic Empowerment My 2012 Priority - UN's Bachelet

With democracy protests still sweeping the Arab world and the global financial crisis continuing to bite, the push for women's economic empowerment and political participation is paramount, the head of the U.N. women's agency Michelle Bachelet says.

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