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SCR 1325 and the Peacebuilding Commission: SCR 1325 Six Years On Report Released

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

SCR 1325 and the Peacebuilding Commission: SCR 1325 Six Years On Report Released

23 October 2006

The work of the new United Nations (UN) Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) must be brought into conformity with the UN's own core commitments to gender equality and gender mainstreaming, including the full and effective implementation of SCR 1325. Institutional mechanisms must be created to ensure that a gender analysis is applied to every area of the Peacebuilding Commission's work, and that women fully and equally participate in the work of the Commission, particularly in its country-specific committees.

In response to this gap, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security has released the SCR 1325 Six Years On Report. This year's report examines the process leading up to the establishment of the UN Peacebuilding Commission and provides a gender analysis of the current structures and working methods of the Commission. The report urges gender equality perspectives and lessons learned in gender mainstreaming be integrated into all aspects of the PBC's work, including its institutional arrangements.

In doing so, the Commission must:

  1. Adopt an internal policy on gender mainstreaming in the PBC, addressing strategic planning and partnerships, work planning, staff training, reporting processes and accountability mechanisms, finance and operations;
  2. Create a permanent Gender Advisor position in the Peacebuilding Support Office, staffed by an individual with extensive experience and expertise in gender and peacebuilding, brought in at senior management level. Additionally, Member States should guarantee adequate funds to enable the Gender Advisor to fulfill his or her mandate and for the development of methodologies and tools for training, monitoring and reporting on gender.
  3. Ensure that staff recruited to the Peacebuilding Support Office has a comprehensive understanding of gender issues as part of their core competencies. The ability to undertake gender analyses should be part of staff terms of reference and performance evaluations;
  4. Achieve gender balance in the staffing of the Peacebuilding Support Office, reflecting SCR 1325's emphasis on women's "equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security." Additionally, Member States should be responsive to the need for gender balance when appointing their representatives to the PBC;
  5. Invite UN agencies and offices with mandates and expertise in gender issues, such as the UN Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI) and others, to regularly participate in meetings and consultations of the PBC in order to improve coordination of the UN's work in gender and peacebuilding;
  6. Build upon and strengthen existing gendered frameworks in reconstruction strategies, including Poverty Reduction Strategies, of the countries receiving assistance in order to support national ownership of peacebuilding processes. This should include coordination of financial support and resources for gender mainstreaming and gender-specific activities, in order to strengthen the peacebuilding work being done by local women's organizations and networks; and
  7. Integrate a gender analysis into all arrangements for the management, disbursement and use of funds from the Peacebuilding Fund, in order to ensure that these resources are allocated in a manner that is responsive to the needs and priorities of women. Working methods should be established to a) require a gender-impact analysis as part of all funding proposals; b) track the gender sensitivity of proposals funded; and c) create allocation mechanisms that ensure an adequate proportion of funding is reserved for gender sensitive programs.

Partnerships with women's groups and networks

To ensure that the work of the PBC optimizes the efficacy of its peacebuilding efforts and equitably responds to the needs of all members of post-conflict societies, the PBC must create mechanisms to facilitate the participation of women's civil society groups and networks as partners in its work. In doing so, the Commission must:

  1. Ensure the early creation of mechanisms to facilitate the participation of representatives of women's civil society groups and networks in its country specific configurations. The PBC should invite local women's groups to discuss issues of concern and offer recommendations alongside other international actors and stakeholders;
  2. Draw on the widest pool of expertise and knowledge of good practices in peacebuilding in civil society, including perspectives of refugees, returnees and internally displaced peoples. The PBSO, as the focal point for the Commission's analytical and planning functions, should establish formal procedures for systematic consultation with women's groups and other civil society groups and networks at the country-level, within the context of PBC meetings, as well as on an ongoing basis;
  3. Ensure transparency by widely sharing, in a timely manner, information about the issues on its agenda; the composition, working methods and working plans of the country-specific committees; and the outcome of its meetings and deliberations.