Participation

Recalling its visit to the Lake Chad Basin Region (the Region) from 2 to 7 March 2017 to engage in dialogue with the Governments of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, displaced persons, security and humanitarian personnel, civil society including women’s organizations, and regional bodies,

Acknowledges the important contribution of civil society, in particular women’s and youth organisations, to conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding and humanitarian efforts in the region, and encourages greater dialogue between respective Governments and civil society, as well as support;

Urges Governments in the Region to ensure women’s full and equal participation in national institutions and mechanisms for the prevention and resolution of conflicts, including in the development of strategies to counter Boko Haram and ISIL, welcomes initial efforts in the Region to address women’s representation such as the 25% quota for elected offices in Niger, and strongly encourages the further development, implementation and funding of National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security by Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria; and encourages all regional organizations engaged in peace and security efforts in the Region to ensure that gender analysis and women’s participation are integrated into their assessments, planning, and operations;

Calls on the Government of the DRC and its national partners, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), to ensure a transparent and credible electoral process, in fulfilment of their primary responsibility to create propitious conditions for the forthcoming elections, as per the 31 December 2016 agreement, including full participation of women at all stages;

Urges the Government as well as all relevant parties to ensure an environment conducive to a free, fair, credible, inclusive, transparent, peaceful and timely electoral process, in accordance with the Congolese Constitution, which includes free and constructive political debate, freedom of opinion and expression, including for the press, freedom of assembly, equitable access to media including State media, the security of all political actors, freedom of movement for all candidates, as well as for election observers and witnesses, journalists, human rights defenders and actors from civil society including women;

Requests MONUSCO to take fully into account gender considerations as a crosscutting issue throughout its mandate and to assist the Government of the DRC in ensuring the participation, involvement and representation of women at all levels, including in the creation of conditions conducive to the holding of elections, protection of civilians and support to stabilisation efforts through, inter alia, the provision of gender advisers, and further requests enhanced reporting by MONUSCO to the Council on this issue;

Calls for enhanced efforts, including on measurable and action-oriented objectives, to secure the rights and full participation of women and girls and to ensure that all women and girls in Afghanistan are protected from violence and abuse, that perpetrators of such violence and abuse are held accountable, and that women and girls enjoy equal protection under the law and equal access to justice;

10. Underscores the importance of a sustainable democratic development in Afghanistan based on inclusive, transparent and credible elections, welcomes in that regard the forthcoming organization of parliamentary elections in line with the relevant international conferences and the commitment of the Government of Afghanistan to deliver further improvements to the electoral progress and its ongoing efforts in this regard, and requests that, upon the request of the Government of Afghanistan, UNAMA provide assistance to the relevant Afghan institutions to support the integrity and inclusiveness of the electoral process, including measures to enable the full and safe participation of women and requests the Secretary General to continue to include in his reports to the Security Council relevant information on the process of integration of women into the political, economic and social life of Afghanistan and further calls upon members of the international community to provide assistance as appropriate;

 12. Welcomes the continuing efforts of the Afghan Government to advance the peace process, including by the High Peace Council and the implementation of the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Programme, to promote an inclusive, Afghan-led and Afghan-owned dialogue on reconciliation and political participation, including the participation of women and women’s rights groups, as laid forth in the Kabul Conference Communiqué on dialogue for all those who as part of an outcome of such a process renounce violence, have no links to international terrorist organizations, respect the Constitution, and are willing to join in building a peaceful Afghanistan, and as further elaborated in the principles and outcomes of the Bonn Conference Conclusions, and encourages the Government of Afghanistan to make use of UNAMA’s good offices to support this proc ess as appropriate, in full respect of the implementation of measures and procedures introduced by the relevant Security Council resolutions;