Darfur / Sudan
The Security Council is expected to consider a report of the African Union/UN Hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID) as well as the provision of an analysis on the implementation of the review of UNAMID and other recommendations. Given the ongoing concerns regarding the grave and deteriorating human rights situation in Darfur, the Council should prioritize the call on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians, in particular women and girls, from violations, including sexual and gender-based violence. In its discussion, the Council should followup on its request in SCR 1881 (OP 14) that the Secretary-General report on the creation and implementation of a strategy to protect women and girls from sexual and gender-based violence and include women and girls in its design. In accordance with SCR 2173 (2014), the Council should also discuss the participation of women in the peace process, including the Darfur Internal Dialogue and Consultation (OP 12), and the recruitment and deployment of women’s protection advisers (OP 24).
Guinea-Bissau
The mandate of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS), set to expire on 28 February 2015, as well the recommendations from the UN strategic assessment mission and the Secretary-General’s comprehensive review of UNIOGBIS, will be on the agenda of the Security Council. The Security Council should renew UNIOGBIS’s mandate and adjust it following the recommendations to be put forward in the SG’s report in order to fully account for efforts to mainstream women, peace and security across all work within the mission, especially in the context of the mission’s efforts to support the activities of the Steering Committee on SSR and the efforts made by the ECOWAS Mission in Guinea-Bissau (ECOMIB).
Somalia
As the Council continues to consider the situation in Somalia and discusses the latest Secretary General’s report on the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia, members should promote women’s full participation in: the constitutional review process, dialogues with Somali regional actors on the federal system, the implementation of the Somali Compact, and all efforts to find a political solution to the ongoing armed violence, and detail the specific steps the UN will take to support such activities. The Council should also ensure there is progress made in implementing SCR 2102 (2013), including OPs 2(d) and 2(e) mandating UNSOM to help prevent, monitor, investigate, and report on abuses and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. The Council must call on Somali authorities, AMISOM, and UNSOM to ensure women and children are protected from sexual violence and exploitation, including sexual exploitation and abuse, as specified in SCR 2102 (2013), OP 11.
South Sudan
In its discussions of the situation in South Sudan, the Council must continue to advance efforts to implement the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS). Reports from the ground in South Sudan indicate widespread and ongoing sexual violence in IDP camps as well as local communities. There is a vast dearth in gender disaggregated data in UNMISS reporting, and further gender expertise and training of UNMISS personnel must be prioritized in 2015 as called for in OP 20 of SCR 2187 (2014). Over the course of the next several months, the Council should ensure the representation and voices of South Sudanese women are integrated throughout peace processes. Relatedly, the Council should continue to insist on the need for accountability for grave human rights violations and abuses, including rampant accounts of sexual violence, in the South Sudan conflict. Further, the Council should consider the possibility of imposing an arms embargo on the parties to the conflict in order to halt the supply of weapons to individuals and groups who have committed serious violations of human rights, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including sexual violence. Both the monitoring teams charged with implementing the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, as well as the forthcoming report by the African Union Commission on Inquiry, may offer critical reporting on the extent of these atrocities. Council members are urged to monitor these reporting instruments and take the lead in ensuring any information released is not suppressed.
Abyei / South Sudan / Sudan
The Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN mission in Abyei (UNISFA) which expires on 28 February 2015. The Council must ensure effective implementation of the human rights monitoring mandate by expanding upon language in SCR 2179 (2014) on human rights monitoring in regards to sexual and gender-based violence by requesting specific reporting on women to help operationalize such monitoring in Abyei. There should also be continued follow-up regarding gender training for security forces and the status of senior gender expertise for UNISFA and implementation of the United Nations zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuses in accordance with SCR 1990 (2011). The Council should additionally reinforce and expand upon the critical language in SCR 2126 (2013), which emphasizes “the importance of the full participation of women in the implementation of the agreements and in the prevention and resolution of conflict and peacebuilding more broadly.” Specifically, the Council should include women in the key negotiations between the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya, as well as the resumption of the Cooperation Agreements between Sudan and South Sudan.
Syria
The Council is expected to consider an OPCW report on the implementation of SCR 2118 (2013), and a report from the Secretary-General on the implementations of SCR 2139 (2014) and SCR 2165 (2014), thus remaining engaged on the situation in Syria, particularly as it discusses the expected report on humanitarian access called for in SCR 2139 (2014) and the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons. Rather than implementation, parties to the conflict are in many cases preventing necessary humanitarian services from reaching critical areas in need. Coordination and consultation with Syrian civil society, including women’s rights groups, must be increased Humanitarian actors must improve their efforts to utilize sex and age disaggregated data, ensuring its response meets the needs of displaced women and girls, and easily accessible public transportation is available to facilitate safe access to information and services. The Council should request that all briefers include information on how they are including women in the design, monitoring and implementation of programming, taking into account the most vulnerable groups, such as women and adolescent girls who head households and/or those women who have disabilities or are care-givers of persons with disabilities. In addition to following up on SCR 2139 (2014) and 2165 (2014), the Council should call for the implementation of SCR 2122 (2013) to ensure women’s participation in all political efforts to resolve the conflict, the inclusion of a Technical Expert Support Team comprised 50% of women in the next rounds of peace talks, assigning capable gender advisers to the UN Special Envoy and negotiating teams, and stronger consultation of grassroots women groups and civil society representatives to inform the content and outcome of the negotiations.
In its regular work, the Council should ensure that all country reports and mandate renewals evaluate the level of protection and promotion of women’s human rights, as per SCRs 1325, 1820 (OP 9), 1888 (OP 11), 1889 (OP 5), 1960 (OPs 6, 13), 2106 (OPs 5, 6), and 2122 (OP 2(d)). Member States should inquire about any lack of such reporting.