For November, in which Senegal has the presidency of the UN Security Council, the MAP provides recommendations on the situations in Central Africa, Israel / Palestine, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan / South Sudan, and Syria.
Sudan
The Council is expected to renew the mandate of the UN mission in Abyei (UNISFA). The Council should ensure UNISFA’s human rights monitoring mandate is gender-sensitive by expanding the existing mandate (SCR 2287 (2016), OP 25) to include provisions which require UNISFA to specifically monitor for violations targeting women. Additionally, the Council should broaden its commitment to women’s participation, mentioned in the mandate’s preambular paragraphs, by providing concrete measures to promote the empowerment of women, including building women’s participation in decision-making processes, and addressing barriers to the implementation of the women, peace and security resolutions. The Council should also include gender training for security forces, and call for comprehensive implementation of the United Nations zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuses in accordance with SCRs 1990 (2011) and 2272 (2016).Middle East
As the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate in all aspects of civilian life, women remain disproportionately and systematically impacted. The Council should call for gender-sensitive humanitarian access, aid and services, and an end to indiscriminate attacks that harm civilians in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories, and ensure that the gender dimensions of the situation are considered throughout discussion of the situation. The Council, and all Member States must call for and support concrete measures towards justice and accountability mechanisms for all violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Finally, Council members should call for the effective and meaningful inclusion of women as active participants in current and ongoing peace and security processes.Central Africa
As the Security Council considers the report on the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), it should ensure that it addresses the rights and concerns of women across all components of UNOCA’s mandate, including mediation support, early warning and conflict prevention efforts, and justice and security sector reform, in addition to addressing the threat of the Lord’s Resistance Army. The Council should ensure the inclusion of gender as a cross-cutting issue in the mandate of UNOCA and call for the capacity needed to carry out its mandate, including in terms of gender analysis and local civil society consultations.Somalia
As the Council renews the counter-piracy measures and considers the overall situation in Somalia, it should discuss gender dynamics of piracy, including adverse economic impacts on women, gendered impacts of trafficking and proliferation of small arms and light weapons, roles women play in piracy, and efforts to ensure women and girls’ protection, particularly from sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) (SCR 2246 (2015), OP 25). The Council should include civil society participation, including women’s organizations, in counter-piracy activities, particularly in land-based initiatives. The Council must also ensure that any counter-piracy activities carried out by Member States, including international and regional naval coalitions, protect and promote women’s rights, ensure women’s participation, and integrate gender perspectives in design, implementation, and monitoring. Finally, the Council should call on Somali authorities, AMISOM and UNSOM to investigate violations of women’s human rights, including SEA, in pirate-controlled areas, and ensure accountability for all perpetrators and access to judicial and medical services, including psychosocial and reproductive health services, for survivors.South Sudan
In its consideration of report on the UN Mission to the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) in the context of its force level increase and the recently mandated Regional Protection Force (RPF), the Council must ensure it incorporates a gender perspective throughout its discussion, including prioritization of women’s empowerment and promoting gender equity. Past mandates have contained strong language on women’s participation in the implementation of the peace agreement and women’s protection concerns, although the most recent mandate took a step back from these commitments. The Council should ensure that future reporting on UNMISS and the situation in South Sudan remains strong by inquiring into any lack of such reporting, especially in the activities of the RPF. Given the severe security and humanitarian situation, the Council should also ensure that UNMISS continues to protect civilians and call on the mission to hold regular consultations with local women’s civil society organizations to ensure protection strategies are responsive to women’s security concerns (SCR 2252 (2015), OP 8(a)(i), (v), (vi); (b)(i)(ii), (iii)) and humanitarian aid and reintegration assistance to returnees is gender-sensitive. Specifically, the Council should:- Insist on the need for accountability for grave human rights violations and abuses, including rampant sexual violence in IDP camps and local communities, particularly by ensuring that women are part of the design and implementation of early-warning and transitional justice mechanisms;
- Insist on accountability for all UNMISS personnel, particularly for those who fail to implement the mission’s protection of civilians’ mandate, considering the violence in Juba, which included rape and SGBV;
- Call on UNMISS to ensure specific reporting mechanisms for SGBV are available and accessible;
- Incorporate gender-sensitivity training into both UNMISS and RFP’s peacekeeping training and ensure gender parity in community liaison positions; and
- Ensure that women and men can safely access humanitarian assistance, including safe access to sanitation facilities, hygiene and health assistance, reproductive health, family planning, and maternal health services.