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.

For more resources on this Critical Issue, visit PeaceWomen Resource Center >>

PHILIPPINES: Central Luzon Police 'Blow the Whistle' to End Maltreatment of Women

Photo courtesy of Sulekha.com

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga, Philippines — In a bid to stop violence against women in Central Luzon, police officers here literally blew their whistles to dramatize their support for the Anti-Violence Against Women (VAW) campaign of the United Nations (UN).

AFGHANISTAN: No Woman No Country

Afghan women want peace, but not at the cost of losing all they have gained in the last 10 years. Yes, they believe in peace, but their rights are non-negotiable. During this transition process, Afghan Women want to emphasize security issues for the military and police but, primarily, for civil society.

IRAN: Kurdish Woman Death Sentence Lifted, Say Reports

Iranian authorities allegedly lifted the death sentence imposed on Kurdish woman activist Zeyneb Jalalian.

Jalalian's lawyer Dr. Mihemed Serif stated that Iranian authorities had after a long-standing silence turned the death sentence into imprisonment.

CENTRAL EUROPE: Women are Increasingly Powerful in Bulgaria.

Today, one-third of company owners and top managers in Bulgaria are women. According to the (male) minister of economy, women under 30 years old make up about half of those positions. In the last five years, two women - who are also the two Bulgarian EU Commissioners - have been the most popular politicians in the country.

EGYPT: Egypt's Attack on Women Protesters a 'Disgrace', Clinton Says

Egyptian women protesters “are being attacked, stripped and beaten in the streets” by security forces, a “disgrace” that dishonors the country, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday.

The top U.S. diplomat said Egypt's leaders, in the military and in its political parties, are excluding women from decision- making as the country makes its transition to civilian-led rule.

SOUTH ASIA: The Real Femillennium Now

When Alfred Nobel drew up his will, he designated peace as the fifth and final prize area. He said that the prize must be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses"

INTERNATIONAL:

Women's rights champions are not prepared to let the dust settle on the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness that ended in this South Korean port city on Dec. 1 with the customary nod towards gender equality and empowerment.

INTERNATIOAL: Women Building Peace in Sudan, Bonn, Oslo

Imagine a world where women living directly with the realities of war help build the peace. Jacqueline O'Neill says three major events this month show that vision--and the ideals of "inclusive security"--gaining hold.

INTERNATIONAL: Nobel Prize has a Gender Imbalance

Anyone lucky enough to be teaching peace studies courses soon notices that more females are in the classes than males. Many, many more. Noticeable also is that women tend to write more passionate papers, ask more cogent questions and know how to keep class discussions lively. Puzzled by all this, I explained it away by theorizing that it must be genetic: Women have a peace gene floating around inside them.

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