“More Women, More Peace”, UN Peace and Security Debate Concludes

“More Women, More Peace”, UN Peace and Security Debate Concludes
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UN Security Council’s Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security

UN Security Council’s Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security

UN Photo / Kim Haughton

"Gender equality is one of our most reliable indicators of peace”, said UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka during the Security Council’s Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security. The event took place in the United Nations Headquarters, in New York City, on October 27.

The meeting revolved around the importance of women’s role in peacebuilding. In 2000, the groundbreaking UN Security Council resolution 1325 claimed that women were often excluded from participation in peace processes, a marginalization that negatively affects conflict management, conflict resolution, and sustainable peace. 17 years on, this reality still hinders peace efforts.

The debate also focused on conflict prevention, as it is a core pillar and key priority of the Secretary General Antonio Guterres. As women are the main victims of conflicts and violence, prevention and gender equality build on each other. “The consequences of war on women and girls go beyond sexual violence. In conflict and in natural disasters, gender inequality compounds the many obstacles to accessing food, water, sanitation, hygiene, health care, education, employment, housing and legal identity”, affirmed Mlambo-Ngcuka.

UN Security’s Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security

UN Security’s Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security

UN Photo / Cia Pak

According to the UN Secretary General’s 2017 report, gender equality helps in preventing conflicts for women remain powerful actors in sustaining peace in their communities and nations. In spite of the evidence, results show little actions are taken towards women’s inclusion, leadership and protection. “Every year, we track women’s overall participation in peace processes that are led by the UN. We track the inclusion of gender expertise and gender-sensitive provisions in peace agreements, and the requirement to consult with women’s civil society organizations. In all of these indicators, we performed slightly worse than a year ago”, explained Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Women’s views are underrepresented in both the military and humanitarian response. Only 3% of the United Nations peacekeepers are female. There is also a lack of female participation in the security, justice and political sectors. "The oppression of women is a global disease”, said Margot Wallström, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden. “We see how women, all over the world, are systematically underrepresented in decision-making, how women receive fewer resources, and how women lack fundamental rights in a number of areas”, she added.

UN Security Council’s Debate on Women, Peace and Security

UN Security Council’s Debate on Women, Peace and Security

UN Photo / Kim Haughton

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires full implementation of the women, peace and security agenda. In order to do so, the report lists concrete initiatives to strengthen UN’s capacity for effective prevention. Three impactful strategies are: tackling the root causes such as gender inequality; increasing the number of women as mediators and female uniformed personnel, and engaging more systematically with women’s organizations.

Although there is room for improvement, progress has been made as stated in the annual report, such as the international community’s will to pursue women empowerment and protection as well as the establishment of regional rosters of women mediators. “Gender equality makes societies more peaceful. Or as I like to put it: more women, more peace”, concluded Wallström.

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