WOMEN,

PEACE and SECURITY

AT A GLANCE

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 WOMEN, PEACE and SECURITY
AT A GLANCE

Contents

• Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) ...................................... 1

• Overview of Study ........................................................................ 5
• The Impact of Armed Conflict on Women and Girls ...................... 7
• International Legal Framework ..................................................... 9
• Peace Processes .......................................................................... 11
• Peacekeeping Operations ............................................................ 13
• Humanitarian Operations ............................................................ 15
• Reconstruction and Rehabilitation .............................................. 17
• Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration ....................... 19
• Statement by the President of the Security Council .................... 21
 WOMEN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

PEACE and

SECURITY Resolution 1325 (2000)

AT A GLANCE Adopted by the Security Council at its 4213th
meeting, on 31 October 2000
The Security Council,
Recalling its resolutions 1261 (1999) of 25 August 1999, 1265 (1999) of 17
September 1999, 1296 (2000) of 19 April 2000 and 1314 (2000) of 11 August
2000, as well as relevant statements of its President, and recalling also the
statement of its President to the press on the occasion of the United Nations
Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace (International Women’s
Day) of 8 March 2000 (SC/6816),
Recalling also the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform
for Action (A/52/231) as well as those contained in the outcome document of
the twenty-third Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly
entitled “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the
Twenty-First Century”(A/S-23/10/Rev.1), in particular those concerning
women and armed conflict,
Bearing in mind the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations and the primary responsibility of the Security Council under the
Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security,
Expressing concern that civilians, particularly women and children,
account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by armed conflict,
including as refugees and internally displaced persons, and increasingly are
targeted by combatants and armed elements, and recognizing the consequent
impact this has on durable peace and reconciliation,
Reaffirming the important role of women in the prevention and resolution
of conflicts and in peace-building, and stressing the importance of their equal
participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and
promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in
decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution,
Reaffirming also the need to implement fully international humanitarian
and human rights law that protects the rights of women and girls during and
after conflicts,
Emphasizing the need for all parties to ensure that mine clearance and
mine awareness programmes take into account the special needs of women
and girls,
Recognizing the urgent need to mainstream a gender perspective into
peacekeeping operations, and in this regard noting the Windhoek Declaration
and the Namibia Plan of Action on Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in
Multidimensional Peace Support Operations (S/2000/693),

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 Recognizing also the importance of the recommendation contained in the
statement of its President to the press of 8 March 2000 for specialized training
for all peacekeeping personnel on the protection, special needs and human
rights of women and children in conflict situations,
Recognizing that an understanding of the impact of armed conflict on
women and girls, effective institutional arrangements to guarantee their
protection and full participation in the peace process can significantly con-
tribute to the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security,
Noting the need to consolidate data on the impact of armed conflict on
women and girls,
1. Urges Member States to ensure increased representation of women at
all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions
and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict;
2. Encourages the Secretary-General to implement his strategic plan of
action (A/49/587) calling for an increase in the participation of women at
decision-making levels in conflict resolution and peace processes;
3. Urges the Secretary-General to appoint more women as special rep -
resentatives and envoys to pursue good offices on his behalf, and in this
regard calls on Member States to provide candidates to the Secretary-General,
for inclusion in a regularly updated centralized roster;
4. Further urges the Secretary-General to seek to expand the role and
contribution of women in United Nations field-based operations, and espe-
cially among military observers, civilian police, human rights and humani-
tarian personnel;
5. Expresses its willingness to incorporate a gender perspective into
peacekeeping operations, and urges the Secretary-General to ensure that,
where appropriate, field operations include a gender component;
6. Requests the Secretary-General to provide to Member States training
guidelines and materials on the protection, rights and the particular needs of
women, as well as on the importance of involving women in all peacekeeping
and peace-building measures, invites Member States to incorporate these ele-
ments as well as HIV/AIDS awareness training into their national training
programmes for military and civilian police personnel in preparation for
deployment, and further requests the Secretary-General to ensure that civilian
personnel of peacekeeping operations receive similar training;
7. Urges Member States to increase their voluntary financial, technical
and logistical support for gender-sensitive training efforts, including those
undertaken by relevant funds and programmes, inter alia, the United Nations
Fund for Women and United Nations Children’s Fund, and by the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other relevant bodies;
8. Calls on all actors involved, when negotiating and implementing
peace agreements, to adopt a gender perspective, including, inter alia:
(a) The special needs of women and girls during repatriation and reset-
tlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction;
(b) Measures that support local women’s peace initiatives and indige-
nous processes for conflict resolution, and that involve women in all of the
implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements;

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 (c) Measures that ensure the protection of and respect for human rights
of women and girls, particularly as they relate to the constitution, the electoral
system, the police and the judiciary;
9. Calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect fully international
law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls, especially as
civilians, in particular the obligations applicable to them under the Geneva
Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977, the Refugee
Convention of 1951 and the Protocol thereto of 1967, the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 and the
Optional Protocol thereto of 1999 and the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child of 1989 and the two Optional Protocols thereto of 25 May
2000, and to bear in mind the relevant provisions of the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court;
10. Calls on all parties to armed conflict to take special measures to pro-
tect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other
forms of sexual abuse, and all other forms of violence in situations of armed
conflict;
11. Emphasizes the responsibility of all States to put an end to impunity
and to prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, and
war crimes including those relating to sexual and other violence against
women and girls, and in this regard stresses the need to exclude these crimes,
where feasible, from amnesty provisions;
12. Calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect the civilian and
humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements, and to take into
account the particular needs of women and girls, including in their design,
and recalls its resolutions 1208 (1998) of 19 November 1998 and 1296 (2000) of
19 April 2000;
13. Encourages all those involved in the planning for disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration to consider the different needs of female and
male ex-combatants and to take into account the needs of their dependants;
14. Reaffirms its readiness, whenever measures are adopted under
Article 41 of the Charter of the United Nations, to give consideration to their
potential impact on the civilian population, bearing in mind the special needs
of women and girls, in order to consider appropriate humanitarian exemp-
tions;
15. Expresses its willingness to ensure that Security Council missions
take into account gender considerations and the rights of women, including
through consultation with local and international women’s groups;
16. Invites the Secretary-General to carry out a study on the impact of
armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peace-building and
the gender dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution, and further
invites him to submit a report to the Security Council on the results of this
study and to make this available to all Member States of the United Nations;
17. Requests the Secretary-General, where appropriate, to include in his
reporting to the Security Council progress on gender mainstreaming through-
out peacekeeping missions and all other aspects relating to women and girls;
18. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

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 WOMEN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

PEACE and

SECURITY Overview of Study

AT A GLANCE
As women and girls pay an especially heavy toll in armed conflict, their needs
should be at the centre of all United Nations peace activities, from peacekeeping to
humanitarian assistance to disarmament, reconstruction and rehabilitation, according to a
study issued by the United Nations in October 2002.

The study, Women, Peace and Security, mandated by the Security Council, identifies
the gender perspectives in peace and security issues and discusses the response of the
United Nations system, as well as the outstanding challenges. It covers the impact of
armed conflict on women and girls, the international legal framework, peace processes,
peacekeeping operations, humanitarian operations, reconstruction and rehabilitation, and
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.

On each issue, the study provides recommendations for concrete action to ensure
greater attention to gender equality at all stages of peace processes, in humanitarian
activities and in the reconstruction process. The study does not attempt to provide a
comprehensive overview of what the United Nations does in support of gender equality
in all these areas, but provides illustrative examples and points to gaps and constraints.

In resolution 1325 of 31 October 2000, the Security Council requested Secretary-

General Kofi Annan to carry out a study on women, peace and security. The Special
Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Angela E.V. King, oversaw its
preparation in close coordination with the Interagency Taskforce on Women, Peace and
Security. The study builds on existing research and inputs of the United Nations, its pro-
grammes, funds and specialized agencies, Member States, scholars, and national, regional
and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The study is based on the resolutions of the Security Council on children and
armed conflict, on the protection of civilians in armed conflict and the prevention of
armed conflict, as well as on resolution 1325. This resolution highlights the importance
of bringing gender perspectives to the centre of all United Nations peace activities. It
identifies the further steps required, and highlights the roles and responsibilities of all
those involved in United Nations activities for peace and security.

A report of the Secretary-General (S/2002/1154) based on the study’s findings

was presented to the Security Council, and discussed in an open meeting of the Council
on 25 October 2002.

This AT A GLANCE provides a summary of the key elements of the study, and
includes the recommendations for action submitted to the attention of the Security
Council in the Secretary-General’s report.

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 WOMEN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

PEACE and

SECURITY The Impact of Armed Conflict

AT A GLANCE on Women and Girls

• Many of the experiences of women and girls in armed conflict are similar to those of
men and boys. They suffer the same trauma, are forcibly displaced, injured and
killed, and have difficulties in making a living during and after conflict. But there
are important differences. Women and girls have become prime targets of armed
conflict and suffered its impact disproportionately—particularly as gender-based
and sexual violence have become weapons of warfare and one of the defining char-
acteristics of contemporary armed conflict. Women and children also constitute the
majority of the world’s refugees and internally displaced persons.

• Women and girls are vulnerable to all forms of violence, but particularly sexual vio-
lence and exploitation, including torture, rape, mass rape, forced pregnancy, sexual
slavery, enforced prostitution, and trafficking. Easy access to weapons increases
interpersonal violence, including domestic violence, which often continues and may
even increase in the aftermath of conflict.

• Armed conflict exacerbates inequalities between women and men, and discrimina-
tion against women and girls. If women do not participate in decision-making, they
are unlikely to become involved in decisions about the conflict or the peace process.

• The health consequences for women and girls during conflict are enormous. Women
and girls are highly vulnerable, due to their sexual and reproductive roles. Gender
discrimination can lead to inequitable distribution of food to women and girls, caus-
ing malnutrition and other health problems. Experiencing or witnessing death, sepa-
ration, rape, torture, destruction, loss of livelihood and material deprivation can
cause severe mental and social stress.

• Women’s daily tasks as providers and caregivers become increasingly difficult and
dangerous, especially as public services and household goods become less and less
available. Armed conflict forces women to take on more responsibilities for family
security and livelihoods. But lack of land and property rights constrains their
efforts. Women and girls take on new or non-traditional occupations. Forced out of
the formal sector, and with increasing competition in the informal sector, they may
be pushed into dangerous illegal activities.

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 • Armed conflict also changes social structures and relations. Women as well as men are vic-
tims of detention and “disappearance”. The “disappearance” of male relatives particularly
affects women in societies where their status is directly linked to their relationships with men.
Women are traumatized and cannot find closure as long as they still hope for the return of
their relatives.

• Girls face particular difficulties. They may be forced into early marriages as a coping strategy
in economically desperate households. Girls’ enrollment in schools often drops in times of
war. When forced to become heads of households, girls are particularly marginalized, suffer
social stigma, and are at an increased risk of abuse and sexual violence.

• Refugee, returnee and internally displaced women and girls suffer human rights abuses
throughout their displacement, flight, in camp settings and in resettlement. Weakened or lost
social support structures result in less security, higher risk of harassment or abuse, and prob-
lems in accessing assistance necessary for survival. Difficulties faced by women and girls are
not always identified and addressed in the planning and management of camps. Increased
participation of women in decisions regarding the organization of camps, the layout of shel-
ters and facilities and the distribution of supplies is critical for reducing the risks for women
and girls.

• Women and girls are not only victims in armed conflict: they are also active agents. They may
choose to participate in the conflict or to provide non-military support; or they may be manip-
ulated or forced into various roles. Women and girls may be forced into sexual slavery or
coerced to work as domestic servants for fighting groups. Many women organize for conflict
resolution, peacemaking and disarmament. They are involved in rebuilding the social, cultur-
al, economic and political fabric of their societies. But even where women have been involved
in informal peace processes, they are normally pushed into the background when formal
peace negotiations begin.

• The specific impact of conflict on women and girls calls for specific responses from the inter-
national community. Gender-based differences and inequalities need to be addressed in
policies, planning and implementation in all peace operations, humanitarian activities and
reconstruction efforts.

Actions Proposed by the Secretary-General:

• Recognize the extent of violations of the human rights of women and girls during armed
conflict; and ensure that awareness of these violations is a factor in planning and imple-
menting all peace support operations.

• Identify and utilize local sources of information on the impact of armed conflict, the impact
of interventions of peace operations on women and girls, and the roles and contributions
of women and girls in conflict situations, including through the establishment of regular
contacts with women’s groups and networks.

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 WOMEN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

PEACE and

SECURITY
International Legal Framework
AT A GLANCE
• International law provides a framework of protection for women and girls during
armed conflict: this includes international humanitarian law, international human
rights law, international criminal law, and international refugee law.

• International humanitarian law regulating the conduct of hostilities and protecting

combatants and non-combatants is of primary relevance to the protection of women
and girls in armed conflict. The four Geneva Conventions in 1949 and their two
additional protocols of 1977 address the protection of victims in armed conflicts.

• International human rights law is also applicable in times of armed conflict. The
protections available under international human rights law apply to women and girls
on the basis of non-discrimination. Key human rights instruments include the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which
specifically addresses traffic in women and the exploitation of prostitution of women.

• Trafficking is comprehensively covered by the United Nations Convention against

Transnational Organized Crime and its supplementary protocols, which have not yet
entered into force.

• Girls benefit from the specific protections for children set out in the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols on the sale of children, child prostitution
and child pornography, and the involvement of children in armed conflict.

• International criminal law has also increasing significance in relation to crimes against
women and girls during armed conflict, in particular crimes of sexual violence.

• Gender-sensitive interpretation of the definition of refugees contained in the 1951

Convention relating to the status of refugees allows for women and girls to seek refugee
status on the basis of gender-based persecution, including sexual violence.

• During the last decade, the international legal framework has been expanded to
address some of the particular crimes experienced by women and girls in armed
conflict, such as rape, enforced prostitution, trafficking and enslavement. These
crimes are addressed within definitions of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and
as components of the crime of genocide as well as torture. Such crimes are included
in the statutes of the International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda,
the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Statute of the Special
Court for Sierra Leone.

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 • The constituent documents of the International Tribunals include provisions to ensure the
delivery of gender-sensitive justice, including victim and witness protection measures.
The Rome Statute has provisions for achieving fair representation of male and female
judges, and for ensuring availability of legal expertise on specific issues such as violence
against women and children.

• The international legal framework has become increasingly responsive to the plight of
women and girls in armed conflict and its aftermath—particularly in relation to sexual
violence—through the international criminalization of activities in civil wars, and proce-
dural innovations that address the specific needs of women and girls. In a major advance,
the culture of impunity has been undermined through the determination of command
responsibility for many of the offences involving sexual violence against women and girls.

• In addition to sexual violence, other important aspects of the plight of women and girls in
armed conflict should be recognized and acknowledged in the legal regime.

• Compliance with international norms should be improved through efforts to disseminate

such norms and to punish perpetrators of violations. Because of the changed nature of
conflicts—in which non-State actors, militias and children are combatants, and women
and girls are directly targeted—much more attention has to be given to prevention meas-
ures, since many actors may be unaware of the international laws that apply, or may
openly flout or ignore them.

Actions Proposed by the Secretary-General:

• Condemn violations of the human rights of women and girls; take all necessary meas-
ures to bring to an end such violations; call upon parties involved in conflict to adhere
to their obligations under applicable principles of international humanitarian law,
human rights law and refugee law.

• Ensure that amnesty provisions included in conflict settlement agreements exclude

impunity from all war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including
gender-based crimes.

• Monitor the extent to which judicial mechanisms established by the Security Council as
part of conflict settlement arrangements interpret and apply the international legal
framework in a gender-sensitive manner.

• Ensure that future tribunals build on existing statutes and include judges and advisers
with legal expertise on issues such as violations of the rights of women and girls.

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 WOMEN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

PEACE and

SECURITY Peace Processes

AT A GLANCE

• A lasting peace cannot be established without the participation of women and girls and
the inclusion of gender perspectives in both formal and informal peace processes.

• Women have long been active in lobbying and organizing for peace and disarmament.
Grassroots women’s groups have organized across party and ethnic lines, advocating
for peace and carrying out reconciliation efforts. They have called for the elimina-
tion of weapons of mass destruction, campaigned against small arms, participated in
weapons collection programmes, and disseminated information on landmines.
Mothers have organized to learn the fate of their “disappeared” children, or to
prevent their children from being conscripted or sent to war.

• Women’s peace movements often focus on shared experiences and produce solidarity
across lines of division, which make it hard to cast the enemy as “the other”. The
concerns these groups have about their children and other family members give
them a social legitimacy and a linkage with women from different sides of the con-
flict. As a result, women have sometimes fewer difficulties than men in expressing
concerns about a conflict.

• Women’s groups and networks have begun to work at regional and sub-regional lev-
els. For example, the African Women’s Committee on Peace and Development,
launched in 1999, focuses on promoting conflict resolution in a number of African
countries. The Mano River Women’s Peace Network brings together women from
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

• Consultations with women’s groups and networks can provide insights on conflict
situations. Understanding gender norms and customs in a society may provide
important information for early warning. But international organizations have not
always recognized and utilized women’s knowledge, experience and informal
involvement in peace processes. Assessment missions focus almost exclusively on
political parties and other formal political actors.

• Women’s informal work for peace is seldom reflected in formal peace processes.
Women are often excluded from formal peace processes because they are not deci-
sion-makers, military leaders or combatants, or because it is assumed they lack the
necessary skills. Peace processes fail to take gender perspectives into account, and
central women’s concerns do not always reach the negotiating table.

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 • Local peace organizations may resist the involvement of women. Even groups devoted to
peace can reproduce assumptions about the appropriate roles of women in society. Where
women are invited to join a group, they may be excluded from decision-making and rele-
gated to “housekeeping” functions.

• The presence of women negotiators is, however, not a guarantee that gender equality
issues will be placed on the peace agenda. All actors in formal peace processes—male or
female—should have the awareness and capacity to bring attention to the plight and
concerns of both women and men.

• The energy and activism women exhibit in informal activities should be harnessed and
translated into increased participation and influence in formal processes. Mechanisms
need to be developed to link informal peace activities with formal peace processes.
Women’s groups and networks have identified lack of training as a basic constraint.

• If peace agreements do not explicitly address the importance of gender equality, it may be
difficult to get attention to gender perspectives and women’s concerns in the implementa-
tion phase—for example in relation to human rights provisions in new constitutions, elec-
toral processes, land reform and legislation on sexual violence.

• The Security Council has increasingly recognized and supported the informal peace initia-
tives of women’s groups and networks. It has met with women’s groups and networks in
missions to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo and Sierra Leone. Since the
adoption of resolution 1325, a number of meetings have taken place between Council
members and women representatives of NGOs. United Nations entities have supported
women’s informal peace activities and provided training on conflict resolution and negoti-
ating skills.

Actions Proposed by the Secretary-General:

• Integrate gender perspectives into the terms of reference of Security Council visits and
missions to countries and regions in conflict; request briefings on the situation of
women and girls in conflicts; include gender specialists wherever possible; and ensure
consultation with women’s groups and networks.

• Ensure that all peace accords address the consequences of the impact of armed conflict
on women and girls, their contributions to the peace process and their needs and priori-
ties in the aftermath of a conflict.

• Ensure full involvement of women in negotiations of peace agreements at national and

international levels, including through provision of training for women and women’s
organizations on formal peace processes.

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 WOMEN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

PEACE and

SECURITY
AT A GLANCE Peacekeeping Operations

• Peacekeeping operations are no longer limited to military activities or directed

only at warring parties. Operations may have broad mandates to assist in elec-
tions, monitor human rights and carry out police functions. They may help to
develop legal institutions, create administrative structures, establish mine
action programmes, repatriate refugees and deliver humanitarian aid. Multi-
dimensional peacekeeping operations have a great potential for addressing
gender issues.

• Peacekeeping operations have a profound impact on people’s lives. Women

and girls, together with men and boys, benefit from increased security and
progress in the peace process. Peacekeeping operations can have a positive
effect on gender relations and inequalities by stopping violence against women,
including sexual violence; ensuring that law-enforcement bodies address these
crimes; and facilitating women’s participation in elections.

• Few Security Council resolutions establishing the mandates of peacekeeping

missions explicitly refer to women and girls or the specific impact of armed
conflict and post-conflict recovery on them. None have included a commit-
ment to gender equality as part of a mission mandate.

• The mandate of a mission should include a commitment to promoting gender

equality from the mission’s inception until its end. Explicit support is required
from the highest level of authority within the mission. All professional staff needs
to be trained to be able to identify and address gender perspectives in their areas
of work. Attention to gender perspectives needs to be incorporated into all stan-
dard operating procedures, manuals, instructions and other instruments which
guide the work of peacekeeping missions. The United Nations Department of
Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) is developing specific guidelines and training
programmes on gender perspectives in the daily work of all missions.

• Some missions have established gender units or appointed gender advisers to

facilitate the incorporation of gender perspectives into peacekeeping opera-
tions. The role of such gender specialists is to support the mission’s leadership
in ensuring adequate attention to gender perspectives and the concerns of
women.

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 • Women have rarely been present at the highest decision-making levels in peacekeeping
missions. The first woman Special Representative of the Secretary General was appointed in
1992. Ten years later, there is one woman Special Representative and two Deputy Special
Representatives. Concrete targets for increasing the number of women Special
Representatives need to be set.

• Women in peacekeeping missions may act as role models for local women in societies where
women have traditionally played secondary roles. More women within military and police
staff would also facilitate contact with women and foster trust among the local population.

• Prostitution, often combined with trafficking, increases in the context of international interven-
tions. Further measures are needed to prevent trafficking and the sexual exploitation of
women in the context of peacekeeping operations. All missions have clear instructions to
thoroughly investigate any allegations of sexual exploitation or assault by any peacekeeping
personnel and to ensure that offenders are duly disciplined. In addition, DPKO is reviewing
and improving its procedures on disciplinary matters, and has requested missions to improve
monitoring mechanisms to ensure appropriate action.

• A number of peacekeeping operations have taken steps to address violence against women
and girls and trafficking. Activities include public awareness campaigns, training of the local
police, supporting local organizations and developing special mechanisms within local law-
enforcement structures.

• Peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and East Timor have worked to
promote gender balance in the local police force and trained new or restructured police forces
on domestic violence and trafficking in women and girls. The missions in Kosovo and East
Timor also supported the increased participation of women in the governmental and adminis-
trative structures through training and capacity building.

• Peacekeeping missions can benefit from contact with civil society, including women’s organi-
zations and networks, to understand the specific impact of armed conflict and the effects of
peacekeeping operations on women and girls.

Actions Proposed by the Secretary-General:

• Incorporate gender perspectives into the mandates of all peacekeeping missions, including
provisions to systematically address this issue in all reports to the Security Council.

• Require that data collected on peace operations be systematically disaggregated by sex and
age and provide specific data on the situation of women and girls.

• Ensure the necessary financial and human resources for gender mainstreaming, including
the establishment of gender advisers/units in multidimensional peacekeeping operations
and capacity-building activities as well as targeted projects for women and girls, as part of
mission budgets.

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 WOMEN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

PEACE and

SECURITY Humanitarian Operations

AT A GLANCE
• Humanitarian agencies are engaged in a variety of protection, assistance and relief
measures, including meeting people’s immediate and basic needs for shelter, food,
water, sanitary living conditions and medical care. Given the many ways in which
humanitarian and development concerns interact, and the long-lasting socio-econom-
ic impact of conflict, it is important to integrate the concerns of women and girls into
the full range of emergency operations from initial stages.

• The negative impact of armed conflict continues to affect women and girls during
humanitarian and emergency situations and operations, and new risks may emerge.
Protection from and prevention of violence, adequate relief distribution, and access to
resources and benefits are critical elements in ensuring that humanitarian assistance
meets the concerns of women and girls.

• With civilians comprising the primary targets and victims in contemporary conflicts—
and women and girls increasingly targeted—it is important that humanitarian opera-
tions strengthen gender-sensitive protection mechanisms. The protection needs of
women and girls, and the specific risks and experiences of violence, differ significant-
ly from those of men and boys. Protection from, and prevention of, gender-based and
sexual violence necessitates monitoring and reporting of all forms of violence against
women and girls, including domestic violence, and setting up mechanisms for
addressing the needs created by violence, such as for counseling and medical support.

• The needs and priorities of women and girls must be given attention in initial surveys,
appraisals and assessment missions so that they are fully incorporated into policy
frameworks, strategies and programming which guide activities and resource
allocations. Accurate assessment requires that data across all sectors be broken down
by sex, age and other appropriate categories, in order to understand the impact of a
crisis situation on specific groups and identify appropriate responses.

• Failure to identify and address the specific needs and priorities of women and girls in
relation to distribution of resources and services can seriously harm their health and
well-being. Women and girls face particular risks of attack and sexual abuse in carry-
ing out their daily tasks—such as collecting water, firewood and food supplies—if
their protection needs have not been taken into account. Unequal access to relief aid,
including through corruption or abuses in distribution systems, may force women to
engage in prostitution for essential goods and services.

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 • Registration of refugees and displaced persons in the name of a male head of household can
result in exclusion of women from access to basic goods and services, training programmes,
economic and employment opportunities, and project management and administration.
Opportunities need to be created for women and girls to access vocational training, credit and
income-generating activities.

• Humanitarian agencies have developed many policies, strategies and guidelines to ensure
that all staff of humanitarian operations consistently address gender perspectives and the
needs of women. More systematic utilization of these policies, strategies and guidelines has
to be assured. Monitoring and accountability mechanisms must be put in place.

• Aid agencies are increasingly aware of the importance of involving women in the design and
management of camps, particularly in the distribution of relief supplies, and of identifying
and building on the capacities and skills of both women and men. Women as teachers, nurses
and social workers can contribute to the success of humanitarian operations.

• Many agencies, however, continue to focus on specific projects for women and girls, rather
than on the full incorporation of their concerns into existing programmes. Not enough atten-
tion is given to gender-sensitive monitoring of the distribution of benefits or the impact of
interventions. Training for all staff and the appointment of gender specialists have been rec-
ognized as effective instruments for improving attention to the needs and priorities of women
and girls.

• Recent reports of sexual abuse of refugees by humanitarian workers in West Africa have demon-
strated the need for more specific and more strictly enforced codes of conduct and disciplinary
measures. A positive initiative is the Plan of Action to address sexual exploitation and abuse
developed by the Inter-agency Standing Committee Taskforce on Protection from Sexual
Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises. Humanitarian agencies are expected to integrate
the Plan of Action’s principles and standards of behaviour into all codes of conduct and staff
rules, personnel and administrative standards and agreements with partners and contractors.

Actions Proposed by the Secretary-General:

• Ensure that agencies of the United Nations and other international organizations, regional
organizations and NGOs have safe and unhindered access to populations in need, especial-
ly women and girls.

• Increase participation of women and girls, fully utilize their capacities, and give attention
to their needs and priorities, in the initial stages of programming and service delivery in
humanitarian crises.

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 WOMEN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

PEACE and

SECURITY Reconstruction and Rehabilitation

AT A GLANCE
• The period of transition after a conflict provides an opportunity to create a demo-
cratic and equal society if the different needs and priorities of women and men are
taken into account at all stages. Reconstruction efforts should be based on human
rights principles and awareness of existing gender differences and inequalities.
Discrimination and gender inequalities can persist and deepen in the aftermath of
conflict and reduce the potential of women and girls to participate in and benefit
from reconstruction and rehabilitation processes. Men usually have better access
to resources, greater participation in public life, more education, and greater con-
trol over resources.

• Constitutional reform processes during reconstruction provide opportunities to

establish principles of non-discrimination and gender equality. Legislative reform
should repeal discriminatory provisions in areas such as nationality, property
rights, or inheritance, as well as address violence against women. Promotion of a
gender-sensitive judiciary is critical to removing gender bias within courts that
curb the rights of women and perpetuate discrimination and inequality. Impunity
for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed
against women and girls may occur, at least in part, because of a disregard for their
rights. Access to truth commissions or other legal proceedings may be problematic
for women and girls, for fear of reprisals from the men they are to testify against.

• The creation of electoral systems should guarantee free and fair elections and uni-
versal suffrage. Women may not be granted full rights to political participation or
face resistance if they seek public office. Special measures, including quota and
training for women as voters and candidates, and public-awareness campaigns
may be needed to ensure that women can indeed exercise these rights.

• Reorganization of military and police institutions should include attention to the

recruitment of women. It is important that such forces adhere to international
humanitarian law and human rights standards, because they have often been
involved in human rights violations against women and girls, including sexual
violence.

• The reconstruction of civil society includes support and enhancement of local

NGOs. In addition to the general constraints facing such organizations, including
a lack of proper legislation, women’s NGOs face additional obstacles such as skep-
ticism about the specific concerns of women and their ability to organize around
those concerns.

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 • Women and men are affected differently by economic reform because of the differences and
inequalities in relation to their position in the economy, vocational skills and educational pro-
files, distribution of domestic responsibilities and mobility patterns. The lack of opportunities
for employment of women in both the formal and informal economy needs to be taken into
account. Legal and social barriers for women and girls to education and employment do not
vanish with the end of conflict; targeted legislation and other interventions are needed to
overcome those barriers.

• Reduction and dismantling of State-financed social services increases pressure on the private
sector to undertake these functions, resulting in higher prices or unavailability of services and
greater demands on women to make up for lost services. The disruption to social networks
caused by conflict contributes to growing numbers of marginalized groups, including war
widows, orphans, the disabled, former child soldiers and children heading households. The
reconstruction of damaged or destroyed social sectors, including health, education and social
services, is essential to support long-term social healing and integration. Counseling should
be culture- and gender-sensitive, involving local expertise and grounded in local realities.

• Progress in promoting gender equality in reconstruction processes is hampered by under-

resourcing and marginalization of targeted interventions for women as well as the lack of sys-
tematic attention to gender perspectives in policies, strategies and activities.

Actions Proposed by the Secretary-General:

• Develop clear strategies and action plans (with targets and timetables) on the incorporation
of gender perspectives in rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes, including moni-
toring mechanisms, and incorporate explicit attention to the situation of women and girls
in needs assessments, appraisals and implementation plans for all sectors; develop targeted
activities, with adequate resources, focused on specific constraints facing women and girls.

• Ensure that, in efforts to secure local ownership for reconstruction, women’s groups and
networks are involved, particularly at decision-making levels.

• Identify and address social and legal barriers to education and employment for women and
girls, through both mainstream and targeted interventions.

• Ensure that attention to gender perspectives in economic reconstruction entails analysis of

economic policy-making and planning from a gender perspective, as well as the increased
participation of women in decision-making; and incorporate gender perspectives into all
support to national budget processes, in line with the outcome of the 2002 International
Conference on Financing for Development.

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 WOMEN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

PEACE and

SECURITY Disarmament, Demobilization

and Reintegration
AT A GLANCE
• Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration are central components of peace
processes and post-conflict recovery. Programmes must be based on a more com-
prehensive understanding of who combatants are—women and girls as well as men
and boys—and recognition of the need to include persons who were present in
armed forces, even if not actually combatants. Most demobilization and reintegra-
tion programmes have targeted only adult males who fit the international definition
of soldiers. In addition, such programmes neglect the category of “camp follow-
ers”—women and girls in armed groups who have been forced into sexual slavery
or used as domestic servants, agricultural producers, messengers and the like.

• A more comprehensive framework has been developed for recognizing the role of
child soldiers, which takes into account children who do not bear arms but who are
part of armed forces in other capacities—such as cooks, porters and messengers.
This framework also includes girls recruited for sexual purposes and forced into
marriage.

• Women have historically played a key role in lobbying and advocating for disarma-
ment. Disarmament activities are important for women and girls because of height-
ened threats to their personal security due to the proliferation of weapons after a
conflict. Consultations with women’s groups can often provide important informa-
tion about weapons, weapon caches and other dangers. Women’s groups can sup-
port campaigns to encourage combatants to lay down their arms, and programmes
for the collection and public destruction of weapons. At times, payments in cash or
in kind are made available to provide incentives for surrendering weapons. Women
as well as men should have access to these incentives.

• Since women and girls are often not recognized as ex-combatants, discrimination
can exist throughout the entire demobilization process. This includes the screening
process, access to the demobilization certificate/discharge book, receipt of incen-
tives (such as money, food, clothing, shelter, tools, training) and the design of the
cantonment site and demobilization programmes. Security issues—including in
relation to daily tasks such as collecting water, fuelwood, and food supplies, and
access to shelter, food, health care and recreation—must be addressed in a gender-
sensitive manner. Although families often accompany ex-combatants to assembly
areas and establish temporary residences around cantonment sites, there is no clear
policy regarding these families. The types of support families can receive and the
eligibility criteria for services are not well established.

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 • Women and adolescent girls may also require protection from former captors in demobiliza-
tion processes. Many forced to serve as “wives” have had to accompany their captors to can-
tonment and encampment sites. These women and girls may also be traveling with small
children born in captivity. Camps are not designed with the needs of these groups in mind.
Women and girls in this situation may find they have no other option than to remain with
their captors who have received money, goods and training. Sometimes abducted women are
among the last to be freed, due to the fact that they are considered the “rewards” and proper-
ty of their captors and their unpaid labour is valued. In other cases, women and girls are sim-
ply deserted when demobilization begins.

• Demobilization programmes for child soldiers are rare and focus on the needs of boys. With
few exceptions, programmes do not take into full account the experiences of girls in fighting
forces and the resulting economic, social, health and psychological implications.

• Women require full access to programmes aimed at the social and economic reintegration of
former combatants. In addition, there is a need for counselling and support for women ex-
combatants or women who have suffered from extensive gender and sexual-based violence.

• Given the impact of conflict on family structures and relations, an important element of reinte-
gration programmes is to understand the impact of demobilization and reintegration on
domestic life. Women may be pushed out of jobs, domestic violence may increase, and wives
may be at risk from sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, passed on by their
returning husbands.

Actions Proposed by the Secretary-General:

• Incorporate the needs and priorities of women and girls as ex-combatants, “camp-follow-
ers” and families of ex-combatants in the design and implementation of disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration programmes, including the design of camps, the distribu-
tion of benefits, and access to basic resources and services, such as food, water, health care
and counselling, in order to ensure the success of such programmes and the participation
and full access to benefits for women and girls.

• Increase the number of programmes for child soldiers and fully incorporate attention to the
specific situation and needs of girl soldiers, and identify means to support child soldiers,
including girls, who do not enter disarmament, demobilization and reintegration pro-
grammes.

• Recognize the impact of armed conflict and displacement on family relations and develop
awareness of the risks for increased domestic violence, especially in the families of ex-com-
batants; and develop programmes on the prevention of domestic violence that target fami-
lies and communities, and especially male ex-combatants.

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 WOMEN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000)

PEACE and

SECURITY Statement by the President

AT A GLANCE of the Security Council

At the 4641st meeting of the Security Council, held on 31 October 2002 in

connection with the 2nd anniversary of the Security Council’s adoption of its res-
olution 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 on the item entitled “Women, Peace and
Security”, the President of the Security Council made the following statement on
behalf of the Council:

“The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the continuing and

full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), and welcomes the increasing
focus over the last two years on the situation of women and girls in armed
conflict, and recalls the Statement by its President of 31 October 2001
(S/PRST/2001/31) and the meetings held on 25 July 2002 and 28 October
2002 as expressions of that commitment.
“The Security Council welcomes the Report of the Secretary-General on
women, peace and security (S/2002/1154) and expresses its intention to
study the recommendations contained therein. The Council also welcomes
the efforts of the United Nations system, Member States, civil society and
other relevant actors, to promote equal participation of women in peace and
security.
“The Security Council remains concerned about the slow progress in
the appointment of women as special representatives and envoys of the
Secretary-General, and urges the Secretary-General to increase the number
of women serving as high-level representatives to achieve the overall goal of
gender balance. The Council also urges Member States to continue to pro-
vide candidates to the Secretary-General for inclusion in a database.
“The Security Council, reaffirming the importance of gender main-
streaming in peacekeeping operations and post-conflict reconstruction,
undertakes to integrate gender perspectives into the mandates of all peace-
keeping missions, and reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to
ensure that all reports submitted to the Security Council in accordance with
such mandates systematically address gender perspectives. The Council also
requests the Secretary-General to provide systematic training of all staff in
peacekeeping operations on gender perspectives, and to integrate gender
perspectives into all standard operating procedures, manuals and other
guidance materials for peacekeeping operations.
“The Security Council considers that the appointment of gender advis-
ers at sufficiently senior levels at Headquarters is necessary. The Council
notes that some progress has been made in gender mainstreaming at mission
level, specifically through the establishment of gender units and gender
advisers, but that more remains to be done in order to ensure that gender
mainstreaming in peacekeeping operations and post-conflict reconstruction
is thorough and effective, and applied systematically.

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 “The Security Council undertakes to integrate gender perspectives into
the terms of reference of its visits and Missions to countries and regions in
conflict. To that end, the Council requests the Secretary-General to establish
a database of gender specialists as well as women’s groups and networks in
countries and regions in conflict, and to include gender specialists in the
teams where relevant.
“The Security Council recognizes the vital role of women in promoting
peace, particularly in preserving social order and educating for peace. The
Council encourages its Member States and the Secretary-General to establish
regular contacts with local women’s group and networks in order to utilize
their knowledge of both the impact of armed conflict on women and girls,
including as victims and ex-combatants, and of peacekeeping operations, to
ensure that those groups are actively involved in reconstruction processes,
particularly at decision-making levels.
“The Security Council, recalling its resolutions 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000),
1324 (2000) and 1379 (2001), encourages Member States, the entities of the
United Nations system, civil society and other relevant actors, to develop
clear strategies and action plans with goals and timetables, on the integra-
tion of gender perspectives in humanitarian operations, rehabilitation and
reconstruction programmes, including monitoring mechanisms, and also to
develop targeted activities, focused on the specific constraints facing women
and girls in post-conflict situations, such as their lack of land and property
rights and access to and control over economic resources.
“The Security Council deplores the continuing occurrence of sexual
exploitation, including trafficking, of women and girls in the context of
peacekeeping operations and humanitarian activities, and calls for the fur-
ther development and full implementation of codes of conduct and of disci-
plinary procedures to prevent such exploitation. The Council encourages all
actors, in particular troop-contributing countries, to enhance monitoring
mechanisms, and to investigate and prosecute effectively cases of alleged
misconduct.
“The Security Council condemns all violations of the human rights of
women and girls in situations of armed conflict, and the use of sexual vio-
lence, including as a strategic and tactical weapon of war, which, inter alia,
places women and girls at increased risk of contracting sexually-transmitted
infections and HIV/AIDS.
“The Security Council decides to remain actively seized of this matter
and requests the Secretary-General to prepare a follow-up report on the full
implementation of resolution 1325 to be presented to the Security Council in
October 2004.”

22
 Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations, Room DC2-1220, 2 UN Plaza
New York, NY 10017, USA
Fax No.: 1-212-963-1802
E-mail: osagi@un.org
Web site:http//www.un.org/womenwatch
Media queries: mediainfo@un.org

Published by the United Nations Department of Public Information - DPI/2315—October 2003—15M