“Women's role in the consolidation of peace” was theme of this year's United Nations (UN) Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security held last October 26, 2006.

Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Noeleen Heyzer, in her address, she said, “UNIFEM has learned what is needed to implement resolution 1325 effectively in peace consolidation.” She highlighted the following learnings:

1. Peace-building efforts must ensure women’s physical and economic security. Peacebuilding and consolidation require that all parties with an interest in peace are engaged in negotiating a new social contract, building institutions of new society, and re-establishing livelihoods. Women are a crucial resource in this process. Peace agreements, early recovery and post-conflict governance go better when women are involved.
2. Sustainable peace requires real justice for women. To consolidate peace there must be justice for women in accordance with international human rights standards. This means removing all laws that discriminate against women, formulating new gender equity laws, strengthening rule of law institutions to implement them, and empowering women to access these institutions and demand their rights.
3. Peace processes require institutional change and stronger accountability systems. Three changes are critical to enable public institutions to bring gender equality into their leadership, staff, and peacebuilding work. These include:
   * top-level directives that make women's rights a key element of the institution's work;
   * incentive systems to reward efforts to address women's needs and advance their rights;
   * measures to include gender equality in individual work plans and performance reviews.

Similarly, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (NGOWG), an advocate for a UN Security Council Resolution on women, peace and security, launched its Six Years on Report “SCR 1325 and the Peacebuilding Commission” on the eve of the Open Debate at the UN Security Council. The NGOWG report stressed the need to incorporate women’s experiences as well as women’s expertise in the work of the UN Peacebuilding Commission.

Sources:
“NGO Working Group launches Six Years on Report” from fem’TALK eNews, Bulletin 14/ 2006
NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, <http://www.peacewomen.org/un/ngo/wg.html>
“Women's Roles in Peace Consolidation” from UNIFEM, posted on October 26, 2006,   <http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=523>.

Backgrounder

On October 31, 2000, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security. Resolution 1325 marks the first time the Security Council addressed the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women, recognised the undervalued and underutilized contributions women make to conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peace-building, and stressed the importance of their equal and full participation as active agents in peace and security.

Sources:
PeaceWomen, <http://www.peacewomen.org/un/UN1325/1325index.html>
UNSC Resolution 1325, <http://www.un.org/events/res_1325e.pdf>