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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IRAQ: Iraqi Women Are Seeking Greater Political Influence

For women in Iraq, the coming national elections offer both a promise and a reminder of the difficulty of change in this male-dominated culture.

SAUDI ARABIA: As Saudi Women Meet Clinton, No Talk of Rights

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke to young women at a Saudi women's college here on Tuesday, the site of a spirited exchange five years ago with a female official of the Bush administration over the rights of women in Saudi Arabia.

BOLIVIA: More Women in Parliament, With Their Own Agenda

An unprecedented 28 percent of seats in Bolivia's new parliament will soon be occupied by women. Female lawmakers have already launched a battle for women to serve in half the posts in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

Violence and Democracy in Bolivia

Bolivia's new Constitution which came into effect a year ago, recognizes upfront that women's rights are human rights, and it has led to real progress in both legislation and policies granting women equal rights.

COSTA RICA: Chinchilla to Join Club of Women Presidents

Laura Chinchilla of the governing National Liberation Party (PLN) will be the first female president of Costa Rica and the ninth in the history of Latin America.

SUDAN: Media Give Us a Fair Deal - Women

The guns have gone silent – except for sporadic conflict in parts of the vast South Sudan region, such as the Eastern Equatoria State. It may not be the absolute end of the conflict in the region, but it is a reason for renewed hope.

EAST AFRICA: Women Want Visibility in Regional Union

As the East Africa Community (EAC) gradually moves
towards a political confederation, women's rights groups from the
five member states are pushing for an East African Protocol on Gender and
Development to bridge the gender gaps within the integration process.

SUDAN: A More Gender Representative Leadership

As the general elections scheduled for April 2010 draw nearer in Africa's largest country ravaged by a long drawn war, the scramble for political positions is rife as women struggle to make their presence felt.

ARGENTINA: Women Judges Not Enough; Gender Awareness Training Needed

For Argentina's justice system to truly incorporate a gender perspective, more important than overcoming the male-female imbalance in the higher rungs of the judicial branch is providing gender-awareness training for judges of both sexes so that it is reflected in their rulings, experts say.

BOLIVIA: Unprecedented Gender Parity in Cabinet

Evo Morales began his second term as president of Bolivia by swearing in a cabinet made up of an equal number of women and men - unprecedented in this South American nation with a strong patriarchal tradition.

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