Burundi
The Council is expected to consider the final report of the United Nations Office in Burundi (BNUB) and discuss the establishment of the United Nations Electoral Observation Mission in Burundi (MENUB) which is set to begin operations on 1 January 2015, replacing BNUB. The Council should ensure that gender is a cross-cutting issue across MENUB’s work. Further, women’s full participation as candidates, voters and monitors should be promoted, and women’s civil society organizations should be engaged in any violence prevention efforts in the lead up to, during and after the election.Cyprus
The Security Council is expected to consider the report of the Secretary-General and renew the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). The Council should support efforts to ensure women’s full and meaningful participation in ongoing negotiations by including specific language in the UNFICYP mandate to this effect, and by strengthening references to the participation of civil society in the peace process (SCR 2114 (2013), OP 3(d)) in line with the recommendations in S/2010/603, para. 43.Democratic Republic of the Congo
In its consideration of the report on the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), the Council should ensure it receives the “enhanced reporting,” requested as per SCR 2147 (2014), OP 27. Furthermore, members should:- Inquire into concrete information on targeted attacks of any nature on women, including women human rights defenders and sex-disaggregated data, and efforts to consult with women’s human rights organizations and displaced women in all stabilization and peace consolidation efforts.
- Reinforce that MONUSCO, in its Security Sector Reform (SSR) efforts, must ensure that FARDC soldiers and Congolese National Police (PNC) work to prevent sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and are held accountable for any crimes they, themselves commit.
- Request that all units of MONUSCO respect the WHO Safe and Ethical Guidelines for Investigating Sexual Violence and refrain from pressuring NGOs to turn over confidential survivor information.
- Ensure that WPAs only investigate cases of conflict-related sexual violence with the consent of survivors and only after they have had access to lifesaving health care services.
Guinea-Bissau
The comprehensive review of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS), due by 30 January 2015, will include the recommendations from the UN strategic assessment mission. The Security Council should continue to call for reports to include information and analysis on 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).Iraq
The Council is expected to report on the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI). As the Security Council continues to address the situation in Iraq, Council members should hold women’s human rights central in all discussion and actions. With nearly 5,000 civilians killed and, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 2 million persons displaced since January 2014, discussion should outline measures prioritizing the POC, with specific considerations for women and girls. The Council should:- Ensure a gender lens is being applied to assistance, and women and girls, including those displaced and those with disabilities, are consulted, by all humanitarian and protection actors.
- Mainstream gender in all counterterrorism efforts. All actions taken to prevent and respond to terrorist threats should ensure women’s full and meaningful participation, and address the impact of violent extremism and terrorism on women.
- Call for consultations with women civil society leaders in order to integrate a gender lens that promotes the women, peace and security concerns. Discriminatory policies and practices must be rescinded, and institutions must be inclusive of all Iraqis, including women, in order to provide a foundation for future sustainable peace.