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Recommendations for the 2004 Report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (2004 C-34 Recommendations)

Recommendations for the 2004 Report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (2004 C-34 Recommendations)

1 April 2004

On the occasion of the meeting of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, or C-34 (29 March-16 April 2004), and the drafting of the 2004 report on the "Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects," the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, as part of its work to promote the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, would like to offer some concerns and recommendations regarding gender issues in peacekeeping.

As the Committee has addressed the issue of gender over the years, as part of its overall mandate, and responding to the interest and commitment to gender issues clearly illustrated in the statements made by Member States during the C-34 General Debate on 29 and 30 March 2004, we present here a number of issues that warrant attention in your report.

We take this opportunity to congratulate the interim DPKO Senior Gender Advisor on her excellent work to date, and are pleased to hear that a permanent Senior Gender Advisor has been identified and will begin her work shortly. We are also pleased to hear that DPKO is developing an organizational action plan for implementing Resolution 1325, and look forward to receiving more information on this.

1. Conduct and Disciplinary Issues

Noting that:

  1. Under-Secretary-General Mr. Guehenno, in his statement to the open debate of the Security Council on women, peace and security (October 2003), remarked: "In the coming year, DPKO will ensure that each mission has an active strategy to prevent and respond to the problems of sexual abuse and exploitation. Each mission will appoint a senior focal point to receive complaints of misconduct by peacekeeping personnel. DPKO will also continue to work on ensuring that senior managers in missions know how to use and apply the disciplinary directives, and that they have the in-mission capacity to investigate allegations. Training, reporting and follow-up mechanisms will also be strengthened. Lastly, DPKO will review existing efforts to prevent and respond to sexual abuse and exploitation, and identify good practice for replication elsewhere."
  2. A compilation of "Guidance and Directives of Disciplinary Issues for All Categories of Personnel Serving in UN Peacekeeping and Other Field Missions," including the Secretary-General's Bulletin on "Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse" (ST/SGB/2003/13), has been officially presented and is available to all Troop-Contributing Countries (Member States); and
  3. The European Union (EU), in their statement to the C-34 General Debate on 29 March 2004, presented by Ireland, called on DPKO to "step up efforts to ensure that each mission has an active strategy to prevent and respond to the problem of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse by and of peacekeeping personnel."

We urge the Special Committee to:

  1. Request further definition of sexual exploitation and abuse in the disciplinary directives for uniformed personnel, taking into account the Secretary-General's 2003 Bulletin;
  2. Request that DPKO develop detailed guidance for missions on implementation of the existing disciplinary directives; and
  3. Call on DPKO, the Security Council, and other relevant actors, to ensure that every peacekeeping mission is mandated to establish and make public complaints, reporting and follow-up procedures for peacekeepers that commit violations against and exploit local citizens, including refugees and other beneficiaries of assistance.

3. Gender Training

Noting that:

  1. DPKO has issued a gender-training module to Member States to be used in pre-deployment training for military and civilian police personnel;
  2. Coverage given to gender issues during the induction program for peacekeepers varies widely from mission to mission, in part, dependent on the training priorities set up by the Head of the Training Cell of the mission; and
  3. DPKO's "gender resource package for peacekeeping operations" will be available shortly and sent to Member States, with a request from DPKO to share it with their national training centers; and
  4. DPKO has developed a generic training module on standards of conduct, particularly the Code of Personal Conduct for Blue Helmets, and made them available to all Member States.

We urge the Special Committee to:

  1. Require Member States to provide mandatory context-specific gender training for their personnel predeployment, using DPKO's gender-training module and soon-available gender resource package, including clear, consistent and explicit training on standards of conduct for military and civilian peacekeeping staff with regard to sexual exploitation, abuse, and disciplinary responses, and continue this training in-mission;
  2. Request that Member States monitor and report on the status of the integration of the gender-training module, the gender resource package, and module on standards of conduct, into their pre-deployment national and regional training programmes;
  3. Call on DPKO, in providing guidance to national and regional peacekeeping training centers, as well as in facilitating bilateral and regional training arrangements between Member States, to provide gender sensitive training guidelines, materials, and monitoring and reporting mechanisms; and
  4. Request DPKO to mainstream gender throughout the Standardized Generic Training Modules (SGTMs), in addition to ensuring implementation of the gender-training module.

4. Women as Peacekeepers

Noting that:

  1. According to DPKO, "women's presence [in peacekeeping missions] improves access and support for local women; it makes male peacekeepers more reflective and responsible; and it broadens the repertoire of skills and styles available within the mission, often with the effect of reducing conflict and confrontation";
  2. The Commission on the Status of Women, in their 1998 Agreed Conclusions, called on governments and international and regional intergovernmental institutions to "develop and implement innovative strategies to increase the participation of women in peacekeeping operations."
  3. At the end of 2003, women represented 25% of civilian professional staff, 4% of civilian police and 1.5% of military personnel working in peacekeeping operations; and
  4. The Secretary-General, in his report on "Implementation of the recommendations of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations". (A/58/694), voiced his concern at the "low representation of women in peacekeeping operations...[encouraging] the submission of more female candidates for senior civilian appointments and for military and civilian police positions at all levels."

We urge the Special Committee to:

  1. Request DPKO to report on the progress of, and lessons learned from, its efforts to increase the number of women in peacekeeping operations;
  2. Actively encourage Member States to develop pro-active strategies for the recruitment of women for peacekeeping operations; and
  3. Request Member States to set up a mechanism to share best practices on strategies for recruiting more women (noting the recruitment strategies of Canada and Scandinavia).

5. Partnerships

Noting that:

  1. Under-Secretary-General Mr. Guehenno emphasized during his statement in the C-34 General Debate on 29 March 2004, "Our constant refrain must be partnership with agencies and NGOs that are close to affected populations...Our operations can be more effective and even safer by exchanging information effectively with our partners on the ground..."; and
  2. A memorandum of understanding between DPKO and UNIFEM, intended to institutionalize their cooperation and coordination, has been received and is currently under consideration.

We urge the Special Committee to:

  1. Request that all peacekeeping operations are mandated to consult and collaborate with local women's groups to address gender issues in the peacekeeping environment;
  2. Request that DPKO develop practical guidelines for use by missions on consulting, collaborating with, and sharing information with civil society, in particular with women's groups, to ensure that local peace-building initiatives are fostered and supported, and that women are full and equal participants in these processes; and
  3. Request that DPKO, through the position of Senior Gender Advisor, among others, systematically partner and coordinate with UN agencies and bodies working on related issues, including UNIFEM, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, and OSAGI in the planning process of a mission as well as in-theatre.

6. Mandates

Noting that:

  1. The Secretary-General, in his report on "Implementation of the recommendations of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations" (A/58/694), "...[looks] to Member States to take into account Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) in the mandates of peacekeeping operations..."; and
  2. The Secretary-General, in his study on "Women, Peace and Security" (2002), recommends incorporating "gender perspectives explicitly into mandates of all peacekeeping missions, including provisions for monitoring and reporting violations of international law as they pertain to women to the Security Council."

We urge the Special Committee to:

  1. Request that the Security Council and regional peacekeeping bodies ensure that gender considerations are explicitly included as a priority in the mandates for all future and expanded peacekeeping operations; and
  2. Encourage the Security Council to include in the upcoming resolution establishing the mission in Haiti, a commitment to the implementation of UNSC resolution 1325, a mandate to establish a fully staffed Gender Unit in the office of the SRSG with adequate seniority, as well as a commitment to promote the recruitment of women peacekeeping personnel in the mission.