Recommendations for the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations
28 January 2005
To further implementation of UN Security Council resolution (SCR) 1325 on women, peace and security, at the 2005 session of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (31 January-25 February 2005), the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security[1], respectfully submits the following recommendations.
We note the Secretary-General's comment in his report on women, peace and security (S/2004/814), "The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations has increasingly paid attention to issues concerning women, peace and security and has called for the full implementation of resolution [1325]." Accordingly, we set forth the following recommendations to assist the Special Committee in furthering its attention to women, peace and security issues, and respectfully urge the Special Committee to include the recommendations in its final report on the "Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects."
1. Action Plan for Mainstreaming Gender Perspectives in Peacekeeping
Noting that in its 2004 report[2], the Special Committee welcomed the decision of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to focus in the coming year on "establishing procedures for gender mainstreaming including developing an organizational action plan for implementing the elements in Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) relating to peacekeeping,"
We urge the Special Committee to:
Support and actively monitor the efforts of DPKO toward developing the department-wide action plan, including operations at Headquarters and in-country missions.
2. Gender Expertise
Congratulating the DPKO Gender Advisor at Headquarters, and the Gender Advisors in the field for their excellent work to-date, while noting the respective ongoing staffing and financial limitations,
We urge the Special Committee to:
Ensure that Gender Advisors in peacekeeping missions have access to budgetary resources to facilitate implementation of gender mainstreaming activities;
Ensure that Gender Advisors are deployed at the onset of every new mission, in order to ensure effective integration of gender issues in the early stages of the mission; and
Strengthen the gender advisory capacity at Headquarters, by providing additional support staff, and upgrading the Gender Advisor post, in line with the recommendation proposed by the Permanent Mission of Norway to the UN during the 2004 session of the Special Committee.[3]
3. Gender Training
Noting that the Gender Resource Package (GRP) has been officially launched at Headquarters (HQ), and has been distributed to all peacekeeping missions, with a request to all missions to provide periodic reporting to HQ on how they are implementing the guidance contained in the GRP; and
Noting that in the Secretary-General's report on implementation of the recommendations of the Special Committee (A/59/608), he further emphasized the importance of mandatory pre-deployment gender training for military and civilian police personnel,[4]
We urge the Special Committee to:
Support the Secretariat's efforts to monitor reporting by peacekeeping missions on their implementation of the guidance contained in the GRP; and
Call on all troop-contributing countries (TCCs) to use the gender-sensitivity training resources, such as the GRP, for national pre-deployment preparation.
4. Gender Balance and Recruitment
Noting the concern previously expressed by the Special Committee and Secretary-General regarding the low representation of women in peacekeeping operations[5],
Noting the recommendations in the 2004 Security Council Presidential Statement on women, peace and security (S/PRST/2004/40), and the Secretary-General's report on women, peace and security (S/2004/814) concerning implementing strategies aimed at the recruitment of women peacekeeping personnel,
We urge the Special Committee to:
Request TCCs and DPKO to develop and implement targeted recruitment strategies aimed at increasing the number of women participating in peacekeeping, as military and civilian personnel, particularly in decision-making positions[6];
Call on DPKO to set up a mechanism for the sharing of best practices with TCCs on strategies aimed at the recruitment of women, in line with the recommendation put forward by the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN during the 2004 Security Council Open Debate on SCR 1325[7];
Consider the proposal introduced by the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the UN during the 2004 Security Council Open Debate on SCR 1325, to include civilian observers in military observer teams, as a means to "facilitate a better gender balance"[8]; and Call on DPKO to undertake a study of the existing institutional barriers to increasing and sustaining women's participation in peacekeeping missions as military and civilian personnel.
5. Conduct and Discipline
Noting the recommendations in the Secretary-General's report on the "Investigation by the Office of Internal Oversight Services into allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse in the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (A/59/661), which have been accepted by DPKO, and the Secretary-General's report on "Implementation of the recommendations of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations" (A/59/608),
We urge the Special Committee to:
Request the Secretary-General to prepare a comprehensive report with recommendations on the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations peacekeeping personnel[9];
Support and monitor DPKO's plans to develop a comprehensive induction training programme on sexual exploitation and abuse; and
Call on TCCs to incorporate training on sexual exploitation and abuse in their national pre-deployment preparation.
6. Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR)
Noting that in its 2004 report, the Special Committee stressed the "need for all DD&R processes to take into account the special needs of child and women soldiers, as well as of children and women who are dependents of ex-combatants,"[10]
We urge the Special Committee to:
Encourage DDR assessment teams to invite appropriate gender expertise to any pre-DDR planning activities, including on assessment missions;
Support the implementation of UNIFEM's Standard Operating Procedures on Gender and DDR[11] in all upcoming or nascent DDR processes; and
Support the efforts of the Inter-Agency Working Group on DDR towards integrating a comprehensive approach to mainstreaming gender into DDR policy and operations.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Shteir, WILPF UN Office, PeaceWomen Project at: 212-682-1265 or sarah@peacewomen.org.
- [1] The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security was formed in May 2000 to call for a Security Council resolution on women, peace and security. Following the adoption of resolution 1325 in October 2000, the group now focuses on working towards its full implementation. The NGO Working Group currently consists of Hague Appeal for Peace, International Alert, International Women's Tribune Center (IWTC), Women's Action for New Directions (WAND), Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children (WCRWC), Women's Division of the United Methodist Church, Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Amnesty International is an affiliate member of the NGOWG and participates in the initiatives of the NGOWG on a case-by-case basis; Amnesty International does not affiliate itself to this document.
- [2] See A/58/19, paragraph 138
- [3] Statement presented during the General Debate, 30 March 2004. For the relevant excerpt of the statement, visit: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/pkwatch/Events/C34/Generaldebate04day2.pdf
- [4] See A/59/608, paragraph 60: "Mandatory pre-deployment gender training for military and civilian police personnel will build awareness of and sensitivity to gender issues and the human rights of women and girls, while also contributing to confidence-building between local populations and peacekeeping personnel."
- [5] See A/58/19, paragraph 136
- [6] Referred to in the Secretary-General's report on women, peace and security (S/2004/814), paragraph 98, and Security Council Presidential Statement (S/PRST/2004/40).
- [7] See: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/4thAnniversary/SC1325Nigeria2004.pdf
- [8] 28 October 2004. See: http://www.peacewomen.org/un/4thAnniversary/SC1325Sweden2004.pdf
- [9] See A/59/608, Paragraph 83.
- [10] See A/58/19, paragraph 84.
- [11] See: http://www.womenwarpeace.org/issues/ddr/ddr.htm
Member Organizations
© 2008 NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security