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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gina Torry, Coordinator
Tel: 1-212-682-3633
Fax: 1-212-682-5354

Making Peace Work for Women

17 October 2005

Iraq, Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, CÔte d'Ivoire, Colombia...

NO Women. NO Peace.

To mark the 5th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security brought six leading international peacemakers to United Nations Headquarters in New York. These six women peacebuilders met and spoke with senior UN officials, government representatives, and civil society leaders, as well as international press, on ways to fully involve women in peace and security decision-making in their countries.

On October 25th the Permanent Mission of Denmark to the United Nations hosted an Arria-style Security Council meeting. Four civil society representatives were able to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Council members on ways to better integrate the provisions of SCR 1325 in the daily work of the Security Council.

On October 27th the Security Council, under the Presidency of Romania, held an excellent Open Debate on the role of women in peacemaking and peacebuilding. Two civil society representatives-Sweeta Noori from Afghanistan and Helen Dandi from Cote d'Ivoire-addressed the Council on the implementation of SCR 1325 in their countries.

The NGO Working Group in partnership with women peace advocates from around the world called on the Security Council and governments to:

  1. Develop national policies to ensure women's equal participation in peace and security decision-making
  2. Ensure women's equal participation and integration of women's concerns in the work of the Peacebuilding Commission
  3. End impunity for gender-based violence and protect women's human rights

The NGO Working Group also released a SCR 1325 Five Years on Report: From Local to Global: Making Peace Work for Women, which provides a comprehensive resource for understanding SCR 1325 and ways to implement this important resolution at the international, national and local levels.

In addition, the NGOWG and the six women peacemakers organized and participated in a number of panels during the week, including a panel on the Responsibility to Protect and Security Council Resolution 1325, on National Implementation of SCR 1325, and on the Role of Women in National Elections.

In collaboration with the Department of Public Information, NGWOWG organized 26 interviews and press events.