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MILLENNIUM GOALS: Gender Activists See Progress on Peace Participation

Nicola Spurr - IPS/TerraViva*

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 15 2005 (IPS) - Women’s civil society groups are congratulating themselves on the inclusion in the United Nations World Summit outcome document of important steps forward for women’s participation in peace and security processes.

The document commits member states to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Passed in 2000, this resolution promotes the role of women in peace-building and conflict prevention.

The original objective of the three-day summit, which runs through Friday, was to review progress made by the world’s poorer nations on the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set in 2000, which include halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, and promoting gender equality and empowering women.

While discussion of many of the MDGs seems to have fallen by the wayside during this gathering of more than 170 heads of state and government, the women’s groups have scored a victory on Goal 3.

“UN Resolution 1325 is a milestone in global policy,” says Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, senior programme associate of the International Women’s Tribune Centre (IWTC). “It recognises for the first time the different impact that violent conflicts have on women and men, and also recognises women’s key role in peace-building and conflict resolution.”

Although women may not often be actual combatants, they are especially vulnerable to gender-based violence during situations of war and conflict. Rape, sexual slavery and assault are common weapons of war, most recently witnessed in conflicts such as those in the Balkans, Rwanda and the Congo.

The resolution also specifically calls on national governments and inter-governmental structures to involve women in decision-making about peace and security. It further contains provisions to protect women during conflict.

Women’s groups have advocated for better mechanisms to report gender-based violence during conflict and greater participation of women at all levels of decision-making.

“The summit outcome document links Resolution 1325 to the World Summit, thereby paving the way for the UN Security Council meeting in October,” says Vina Nadjibulla, UN representative of the United Methodist Church.

The World Summit will also debate the establishment of a “Peacebuilding Commission”, a plan endorsed by the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. This proposed body would develop strategies to aid countries recovering from conflict and coordinate the activities of major actors.

At the summit, women’s groups are advocating for formalised women’s participation in this commission, and they want it to work with civil society organisations at all levels. “A lot of conflicts are simply ongoing,” states Cabrera-Balleza, “and the commission needs to have a role in supporting peacekeeping in these crucial places.”

A critical gap in the summit’s outcome document is disarmament. “The document omits the entire issue,” Nadjibulla told IPS. “You can’t talk about women’s peace and security without talking about disarmament, and you can’t have peace without disarmament.”

Women’s organisations have fought for participation in peace and security frameworks in the UN system. “There’s been a lot of collaboration between women’s groups,” says June Zeitlin, director of the Women’s Environment and Development Organisation. “Through our different expertise, we have brought different issues to the fore, and this has contributed to a solid integration of gender in such important global processes.”

However, women’s organisations – and civil society groups in general – have expressed concern at the lack of consultation with non-governmental stakeholders leading up to the summit.

As a way of including women, the IWTC has been facilitating a series of cyber-dialogues between women peace activists in Africa and Asia-Pacific, linking them online with decision-makers participating in the World Summit. In this way, women are ensuring that their voices are being heard in the corridors of power at the UN this week, even though they may be physically far removed from the policy debates occurring here.

“The World Summit needs to recognise women’s desire to work with governments and others towards the Millennium Development Goals to end poverty and foster women’s equality,” says Cabrera-Balleza. “However, women’s organisations also need to be on an equal footing with governments and the private sector in order to participate in a meaningful dialogue around these important issues.”

*This story was produced for the TerraViva Millennium Development Goals Journal.