Justice, Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform

The Justice, Rule of Law, and Security Sector Reform theme focuses on the application of a gender perspective into the post-conflict process of reforming security and justice institutions, with the aim of ensuring transparent, accountable, and effective services.

Huge gaps remain in area of security sector and justice reform although the United Nations and the Women, Peace and Security resolutions have stressed that Justice and SSR must be gender sensitive throughout planning, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation phases.

The Women, Peace, and Security resolutions stress the particular need for improved security sector responses to address and prevent SGBV. Member States are urged to undertake comprehensive legal and judicial reform to better protect women from violence (1888, OP6). Reiterating the call for prosecutions to end impunity (1325,OP11), Member States are called upon to investigate and bring perpetrators of sexual violence to justice (1820,OP4; 1888,OP6).

To help strengthen national judicial systems, and identify gaps in national responses to sexual violence, the Security Council requests that a UN team of experts work with national officials to enhance criminal responsibility for crimes of sexual violence (1888,OP8). Vetting armed forces to ensure the exclusion of those associated with past actions of rape and other forms of sexual violence is an essential component of Justice and SSR (1820, OP3; 1888, OP3). Finally, it is critical that access to justice, protection, and redress for survivors of sexual violence is ensured (1820, OP4; 1888,OP6-7).

The resolutions set out specific obligations, in addition to broader guidelines, for transitional justice and justice reform within SSR. Women’s rights must be ensured in the reform and rebuilding of the police and judiciary (1325,OP8), and within peace agreements. To facilitate this, SCR 1820 calls for the inclusion of women and women’s organisations in all UN-assisted reform efforts (OP10). Justice and SSR are crucial components of peacebuilding, and have a direct impact on a country’s ability to achieve sustainable peace. Both gender mainstreaming in policy making, and the participation of women, are integral to successful reform.

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S/RES/2467 (2019)

Security Council Resolution 2448: OP40

PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
Justice, Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform
Extract: 

OP 40

(c) (i): To support the CAR Authorities in developing and implementing an inclusive and progressive programme for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) and, in case of foreign elements, Repatriation (DDRR), of members of armed groups, based on the Principles of DDRR and Integration into the Uniformed Corps, signed at the Bangui Forum on 10 May 2015, while paying specific attention to the needs of children associated with armed forces and groups and the need to prevent rerecruitment, including through the implementation of the DDRR pilot project and the implementation of other DDRR projects, including gender-sensitive programmes, with the aim to disarm, demobilize and reintegrate as well as, in coordination with EUTM-RCA, the UNCT and other relevant partners, to integrate eligible and vetted armed groups

(c) (ii) To support the CAR Authorities and relevant civil society organizations in developing and implementing CVR programmes, including gender-sensitive programmes, for members of armed groups including those non-eligible for participation in the national DDRR programme, in cooperation with development partners and together with communities of return in line with the priorities highlighted in the RCPCA;

Security Council Resolution 2448: OP 39

PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
Participation
Protection
Justice, Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform
Extract: 

OP 39

(a) (iii): To provide specific protection for women and children affected by armed conflict, including through the deployment of Child Protection Advisers, Women Protection Advisers and Gender Advisers;

(b) (iii) To assist the CAR Authorities’ efforts, at national and local levels, for an increased participation of political parties, civil society, women, youth, and where and when possible, IDPs and refugees to the peace process, in cooperation with the African Initiative;

(b) (iv) To provide good offices and technical expertise in support of efforts to address the root causes of conflict, in particular to advance national reconciliation and local conflict resolution, and the preparation and conduct of an inclusive and transparent electoral process as a full part of the political process, working with relevant regional and local bodies and religious leaders, while ensuring the full and effective participation of women in line with the CAR action plan on Women, Peace and Security, and drawing upon integrated information and analysis from the United Nations system in-country;

(b) (v) To support efforts of the CAR Authorities to address transitional justice as part of the peace and reconciliation process, and marginalization and local grievances, including through dialogue with the armed groups, civil society leaders including women and youth representatives, and by assisting national, prefectoral and local authorities to foster confidence among communities;

(b) (iv) To support the Government of the CAR in developing an incentive structure for training of police and gendarmerie and for the selection, recruitment, vetting and training of police and gendarmerie elements, with the support of donors and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), taking into account the need to recruit women at all levels, and in full compliance with the United Nations HRDDP;

(d) (ii) To monitor, help investigate and ensure reporting on violations and abuses committed against children and women, including rape and other forms of sexual violence in armed conflict, in connection with the UMIRR;

Security Council Resolution 2448: OP 17

PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
Participation
Justice, Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform
Extract: 

OP17: Calls on the CAR Authorities to implement the National Security Policy and the National Strategy on SSR, including with the support of the international community, in order to put in place professional, ethnically representative, regionally balanced, taking into account the recruitment of women, and appropriately trained and equipped national defence and internal security forces, including through the adoption and implementation of appropriate vetting procedures of all defence and security personnel, including human rights vetting, as well as measures to absorb elements of armed groups meeting rigorous eligibility and vetting criteria, and requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council on progress taken in this regard as part of his regular reporting cycle;

Security Council Resolution 1888

Security Council Resolution 1820

Concept Note for the Open Debate on the Cooperation between the UN and Regional and Subregional Organizations, 6 December 2018

Women’s Economic Empowerment in Selected MENA Countries

Security Council Resolution 1325

Security Council Agenda Thematic Topic: 
Women, Peace and Security
PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
General Women, Peace and Security
Conflict Prevention
Disarmament
Participation
Peace Processes
Protection
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
Peacekeeping
Displacement and Humanitarian Response
Human Rights
Justice, Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform
Extract: 

The Security Council,

Recalling its resolutions 1261 (1999) of 25 August 1999, 1265 (1999) of 17 September 1999, 1296 (2000) of 19 April 2000 and 1314 (2000) of 11 August 2000, as well as relevant statements of its President, and recalling also the statement of its President to the press on the occasion of the United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace (International Women’s Day) of 8 March 2000 (SC/6816),

Recalling also the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (A/52/231) as well as those contained in the outcome document of the twenty-third Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century” (A/S-23/10/Rev.1), in particular those concerning women and armed conflict,

Bearing in mind the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the primary responsibility of the Security Council under the Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security,

Expressing concern that civilians, particularly women and children, account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict, including as refugees and internally displaced persons, and increasingly are targeted by combatants and armed elements, and recognizing the consequent impact this has on durable peace and reconciliation,

Reaffirming the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building, and stressing the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution,

Reaffirming also the need to implement fully international humanitarian and human rights law that protects the rights of women and girls during and after conflicts,

Emphasizing the need for all parties to ensure that mine clearance and mine awareness programmes take into account the special needs of women and girls,

Recognizing the urgent need to mainstream a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations, and in this regard noting the Windhoek Declaration and the Namibia Plan of Action on Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in Multidimensional Peace Support Operations (S/2000/693),

Recognizing also the importance of the recommendation contained in the statement of its President to the press of 8 March 2000 for specialized training for all peacekeeping personnel on the protection, special needs and human rights of women and children in conflict situations,

Recognizing that an understanding of the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, effective institutional arrangements to guarantee their protection and full participation in the peace process can significantly contribute to the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security,

Noting the need to consolidate data on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls,

1. Urges Member States to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict;

2. Encourages the Secretary-General to implement his strategic plan of action (A/49/587) calling for an increase in the participation of women at decisionmaking levels in conflict resolution and peace processes;

3. Urges the Secretary-General to appoint more women as special representatives and envoys to pursue good offices on his behalf, and in this regard calls on Member States to provide candidates to the Secretary-General, for inclusion in a regularly updated centralized roster;

4. Further urges the Secretary-General to seek to expand the role and contribution of women in United Nations field-based operations, and especially among military observers, civilian police, human rights and humanitarian personnel;

5. Expresses its willingness to incorporate a gender perspective into peacekeeping operations, and urges the Secretary-General to ensure that, where appropriate, field operations include a gender component;

6. Requests the Secretary-General to provide to Member States training guidelines and materials on the protection, rights and the particular needs of women, as well as on the importance of involving women in all peacekeeping and peacebuilding measures, invites Member States to incorporate these elements as well as HIV/AIDS awareness training into their national training programmes for military and civilian police personnel in preparation for deployment, and further requests the Secretary-General to ensure that civilian personnel of peacekeeping operations receive similar training;

7. Urges Member States to increase their voluntary financial, technical and logistical support for gender-sensitive training efforts, including those undertaken by relevant funds and programmes, inter alia, the United Nations Fund for Women and United Nations Children’s Fund, and by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other relevant bodies;

8. Calls on all actors involved, when negotiating and implementing peace agreements, to adopt a gender perspective, including, inter alia: (a) The special needs of women and girls during repatriation and resettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction; (b) Measures that support local women’s peace initiatives and indigenous processes for conflict resolution, and that involve women in all of the implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements; (c) Measures that ensure the protection of and respect for human rights of women and girls, particularly as they relate to the constitution, the electoral system, the police and the judiciary;

9. Calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect fully international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls, especially as civilians, in particular the obligations applicable to them under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977, the Refugee Convention of 1951 and the Protocol thereto of 1967, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 and the Optional Protocol thereto of 1999 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 and the two Optional Protocols thereto of 25 May 2000, and to bear in mind the relevant provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;

10. Calls on all parties to armed conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and all other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict;

11. Emphasizes the responsibility of all States to put an end to impunity and to prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes including those relating to sexual and other violence against women and girls, and in this regard stresses the need to exclude these crimes, where feasible from amnesty provisions;

12. Calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect the civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements, and to take into account the particular needs of women and girls, including in their design, and recalls its resolutions 1208 (1998) of 19 November 1998 and 1296 (2000) of 19 April 2000;

13. Encourages all those involved in the planning for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration to consider the different needs of female and male ex-combatants and to take into account the needs of their dependants;

14. Reaffirms its readiness, whenever measures are adopted under Article 41 of the Charter of the United Nations, to give consideration to their potential impact on the civilian population, bearing in mind the special needs of women and girls, in order to consider appropriate humanitarian exemptions;

15. Expresses its willingness to ensure that Security Council missions take into account gender considerations and the rights of women, including through consultation with local and international women’s groups;

16. Invites the Secretary-General to carry out a study on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peace-building and the gender dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution, and further invites him to submit a report to the Security Council on the results of this study and to make this available to all Member States of the United Nations;

17. Requests the Secretary-General, where appropriate, to include in his reporting to the Security Council progress on gender mainstreaming throughout peacekeeping missions and all other aspects relating to women and girls;

18. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

Security Council Resolution 1325

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