CALL FOR ACTION FROM SECURITY COUNCIL ON SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF RESOLUTION ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY

1 November 2002




NEW YORK, 31 October –- Members of the Security Council issued a strong statement to the international community today recognizing the vital role of women in promoting peace, and calling for an increased use of women’s expertise in conflict resolution and all stages of peacemaking and peacebuilding.

With this call for action, the Security Council marked the second anniversary of its historic Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security which, for the first time, called for a greater recognition of gender perspectives in all aspects of United Nations work on peace and security.

In today’s statement, the Council made a firm commitment to integrate gender perspectives into all mandates for peacekeeping missions and to consult with women’s groups and networks in its missions to war-torn countries. It also called on the Secretary-General to establish a database of gender specialists as well as of women’s groups and networks in areas of conflict and encouraged the establishment of regular contacts with such groups.

The Council also said that the appointment of gender advisers at senior levels at United Nations Headquarters was critical, and it lamented the slow progress in the appointment of women as special representatives and special envoys of the Secretary-General.

It deplored the continuing occurrence of sexual exploitation, including trafficking of women and girls in the context of peace and humanitarian operations, and asked for a stricter application of codes of conduct and disciplinary measures to prevent such exploitation by the United Nations system and troop-contributing countries.

It also “condemned all violations of the human rights of women and girls in situations of armed conflict, and the use of sexual violence, including as a strategic and tactical weapon of war”.

The Security Council encouraged Member States, the United Nations system and civil society to develop clear strategies and action plans with goals and timetables on the integration of gender perspectives in humanitarian operations and rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes.

Earlier this week, members of the Council as well as other Member States gathered for a two-day meeting on women, peace and security to examine a report by the Secretary-General, which said that women and girls were disproportionately affected by armed conflict. More than 35 speakers addressed the Council.

Introducing his report to the Security Council, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: “It is time [women] are given the voice in formal peacebuilding and peacemaking processes that they deserve”. Noting that women were key to the solution of conflicts, the Secretary-General added: “The world can no longer afford to neglect the abuses to which women and girls are subjected in armed conflict and its aftermath, or to ignore the contributions that women make to the search for peace”.



Note: For more information, contact Myriam Dessables, tel +1 (212) 963-2932;
Patsy Robertson, tel +1 (212) 963-2226; E-mail: mediainfo@un.org, subject: women and peace




* *** *