Monthly Action Points (MAP) for the Security Council: September 2016

For September, in which New Zealand has the presidency of the UN Security Council, the MAP provides recommendations on the situations in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and Mali, as well as migrant smuggling and trafficking.

Afghanistan

In its consideration of the report on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Council members must call on the Government of Afghanistan to ensure peace and security policies address women’s participation and protection and are prioritized in the country’s period of transition. As peace talks resume with armed insurgent groups and the international community looks to demonstrate its continued commitment to Afghanistan following the Warsaw NATO Summit and Brussels Donor Conference, it is critical for women’s voices to be included in peace and security decision-making, particularly given the sustained violence against Afghan women leaders and human rights defenders. As part of its implementation of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda and in order to strengthen the information and analysis it is receiving on the gender dimensions of the situation, the Council should invite women civil society representatives and the Executive Director of UN-Women to brief the Council (SCR 2122 (2013), OP 1(a)(c)). Security Council members should inquire as to efforts by UNAMA to assist the government in its efforts to:

  • Address the differentiated rights and concerns of women, men, girls and boys, in the context of deliberate targeting by armed groups, and further ensure women’s security and freedom of movement by protecting and promoting international human rights and humanitarian law (SCR 2242 (2015));
  • Ensure women’s participation in all efforts to establish peace in Afghanistan, including in peace jirgas and in any negotiations with all armed groups, so as not to undermine progress made in protecting women’s human rights and removing barriers to women’s participation in public life;
  • Support women’s protection and full and equal participation in the October 2016 parliamentary elections, including by ensuring temporary female security personnel are contracted to staff polling stations and female candidates are afforded same levels of protection as their male counterparts; and
  • Ensure the full implementation of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (NAP) as a critical step in elevating women as full and equal partners in creating a stable future for the country.

In its consideration of the report on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Council members must call on the Government of Afghanistan to ensure peace and security policies address women’s participation and protection and are prioritized in the country’s period of transition. As peace talks resume with armed insurgent groups and the international community looks to demonstrate its continued commitment to Afghanistan following the Warsaw NATO Summit and Brussels Donor Conference, it is critical for women’s voices to be included in peace and security decision-making, particularly given the sustained violence against Afghan women leaders and human rights defenders. As part of its implementation of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda and in order to strengthen the information and analysis it is receiving on the gender dimensions of the situation, the Council should invite women civil society representatives and the Executive Director of UN-Women to brief the Council (SCR 2122 (2013), OP 1(a)(c)). Security Council members should inquire as to efforts by UNAMA to assist the government in its efforts to:

  • Address the differentiated rights and concerns of women, men, girls and boys, in the context of deliberate targeting by armed groups, and further ensure women’s security and freedom of movement by protecting and promoting international human rights and humanitarian law (SCR 2242 (2015));
  • Ensure women’s participation in all efforts to establish peace in Afghanistan, including in peace jirgas and in any negotiations with all armed groups, so as not to undermine progress made in protecting women’s human rights and removing barriers to women’s participation in public life;
  • Support women’s protection and full and equal participation in the October 2016 parliamentary elections, including by ensuring temporary female security personnel are contracted to staff polling stations and female candidates are afforded same levels of protection as their male counterparts; and
  • Ensure the full implementation of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (NAP) as a critical step in elevating women as full and equal partners in creating a stable future for the country.

Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking

In their discussion of the report of the Secretary-General on migrant smuggling and trafficking in Libya, as well as in any additional relevant discussion in the context of other country or thematic agenda items, it is imperative that Council members have an understanding of the way in which gender factors into individuals’ experience with, and role in migrant smuggling and trafficking in order to better shape policy recommendations and interventions. Discussion and reporting should integrate gender analysis, reflecting previous Council statements regarding the particular impact of trafficking on women and girls (S/PRST/2015/25), by discussing the range of human rights abuses, including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), experienced by migrants, as well as the ways in which women are recruited, coerced, and employed in smuggling and trafficking operations. Additionally, if the information is not provided, the Council should request specific information and analysis on the way in which women are currently participating in efforts to combat and reduce smuggling and trafficking (SCR 2106 (2013), OPs 11, 16).

Further, the Council should call for explicit, detailed commitments from the UN and Member States to protect all displaced women and girls from gender-based violence, while in transit and upon reaching destinations, and, as part of a multi-sectoral approach, in consultation with women’s civil society organizations, access to comprehensive reproductive health, psychosocial, legal, and other multi-sectoral services (SCR 2106 (2013) and SCR 2122 (2013)) for smuggled and trafficked women and girls. Member States should advance effective asylum and legal protection mechanisms in domestic migration management policies to mitigate the risks of women and girls to smuggling, trafficking, and SGBV, while encouraging reforms of national, gender discriminatory laws and regulations that impede women’s full equality in accessing basic rights and services (SCR 2106 (2013), OP 2), including the right to confer nationality to their children and spouses.

In their discussion of the report of the Secretary-General on migrant smuggling and trafficking in Libya, as well as in any additional relevant discussion in the context of other country or thematic agenda items, it is imperative that Council members have an understanding of the way in which gender factors into individuals’ experience with, and role in migrant smuggling and trafficking in order to better shape policy recommendations and interventions. Discussion and reporting should integrate gender analysis, reflecting previous Council statements regarding the particular impact of trafficking on women and girls (S/PRST/2015/25), by discussing the range of human rights abuses, including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), experienced by migrants, as well as the ways in which women are recruited, coerced, and employed in smuggling and trafficking operations. Additionally, if the information is not provided, the Council should request specific information and analysis on the way in which women are currently participating in efforts to combat and reduce smuggling and trafficking (SCR 2106 (2013), OPs 11, 16).

Further, the Council should call for explicit, detailed commitments from the UN and Member States to protect all displaced women and girls from gender-based violence, while in transit and upon reaching destinations, and, as part of a multi-sectoral approach, in consultation with women’s civil society organizations, access to comprehensive reproductive health, psychosocial, legal, and other multi-sectoral services (SCR 2106 (2013) and SCR 2122 (2013)) for smuggled and trafficked women and girls. Member States should advance effective asylum and legal protection mechanisms in domestic migration management policies to mitigate the risks of women and girls to smuggling, trafficking, and SGBV, while encouraging reforms of national, gender discriminatory laws and regulations that impede women’s full equality in accessing basic rights and services (SCR 2106 (2013), OP 2), including the right to confer nationality to their children and spouses.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Security Council is expected to consider reports on the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework Agreement in the Great Lake region (PSC). It is critical that the mission prioritizes all WPS provisions of its mandate (SCR 2277 (2016), OPs 8, 38, 50(i)), and all stakeholders should ensure that gender is mainstreamed across the implementation of the PSC. Past reporting has failed to detail mission efforts to support women and women’s civil society participation in peace and security processes, and thus the Council should follow-up on any such imbalance and request that all aspects of the WPS agenda are considered and reported on equally. Security Council members should follow-up and inquire as to efforts by MONUSCO, relevant UN entities, and the relevant Framework implementation mechanism on the following:

  • Measures which ensure women’s full and equal participation in the strategic dialogue on MONUSCO’s progressive withdrawal, as well as all disarmament, justice, and security sector reform efforts;
  • Strategies which aim to protect women, men, girls and boys from SGBV, including coordinated monitoring and analysis arrangements to track SGBV, availability of comprehensive, multi-sectoral services for survivors, and deployment of women’s protection advisers (WPAs);
  • Efforts to engage civil society and women’s organizations in monitoring and implementing the PSC Framework; and
  • Status of an evaluation of the Great Lakes Women’s Platform, to ensure inclusive, participative, transparent and accountable processes in the future of the platform.

The Security Council is expected to consider reports on the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework Agreement in the Great Lake region (PSC). It is critical that the mission prioritizes all WPS provisions of its mandate (SCR 2277 (2016), OPs 8, 38, 50(i)), and all stakeholders should ensure that gender is mainstreamed across the implementation of the PSC. Past reporting has failed to detail mission efforts to support women and women’s civil society participation in peace and security processes, and thus the Council should follow-up on any such imbalance and request that all aspects of the WPS agenda are considered and reported on equally. Security Council members should follow-up and inquire as to efforts by MONUSCO, relevant UN entities, and the relevant Framework implementation mechanism on the following:

  • Measures which ensure women’s full and equal participation in the strategic dialogue on MONUSCO’s progressive withdrawal, as well as all disarmament, justice, and security sector reform efforts;
  • Strategies which aim to protect women, men, girls and boys from SGBV, including coordinated monitoring and analysis arrangements to track SGBV, availability of comprehensive, multi-sectoral services for survivors, and deployment of women’s protection advisers (WPAs);
  • Efforts to engage civil society and women’s organizations in monitoring and implementing the PSC Framework; and
  • Status of an evaluation of the Great Lakes Women’s Platform, to ensure inclusive, participative, transparent and accountable processes in the future of the platform.

Liberia

The Council is expected to consider the situation in Liberia, with a particular focus on the continued drawdown of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), and forthcoming elections. To fully implement its WPS obligations, UNMIL should ensure women’s representation and participation isis prioritized in electoral and political processes, justice and security sector reform, and efforts to strengthen the rule of law. Further, the Council should also ensure that gender is actively mainstreamed across all reintegration, post-conflict recovery, and peacebuilding processes, including through promoting education and vocational training for women and girls associated with armed groups in reintegration efforts. Survivors must be given full access to post-conflict relief and recovery programs, including access to comprehensive reproductive health and psychosocial services (SCR 2106 (2013)). Finally, it is imperative that, over the course of the transition, mission responsibilities related to WPS are upheld, and any entities which take on transferred responsibilities have the necessary capacity and resources to continue all activities. As part of its implementation of the WPS agenda and in order to strengthen the information and analysis it is receiving on the gender dimensions of the situation, the Council should invite women civil society representatives and the Executive Director of UN-Women to brief the Council (SCR 2122 (2013), OP 1(a)(c)).

Mali

As the Security Council considers a report on the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), and in the context of the forthcoming Informal Experts Group on Women, Peace and Security (IEG) meeting on Mali, the Council must ensure that progress has been made by the mission on mainstreaming gender as a cross-cutting issue, including by supporting government efforts to ensure women’s participation at all levels, particularly in implementation of peace agreements (SCR 2295 (2016), OP 26) and efforts to counter violent extremism (SCR 2242 (2015), OP 13). In addition, the Council should ensure the mission is fully equipped with its intentioned gender capacity and expertise, including through the full deployment of WPAs (SCR 2295 (2016), OP 19(c)(iii)) and is consulting with women’s civil society organizations on a consistent basis (SCR 2295 (2016), OP 9(a)(v)). The Council should also inquire into mission efforts to take into account the needs of women associated with armed groups and to provide for their full access to disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programmes, including in the provision of trauma and reintegration services and the establishment of protection mechanisms for women in cantonment sites (SCR 2106 (2013), OP 16(a)). As part of its implementation of the WPS agenda and in order to strengthen the information and analysis it is receiving on the gender dimensions of the situation, the Council should invite women civil society representatives and the Executive Director of UN-Women to brief the Council (SCR 2122 (2013), OP 1(a)(c)).