Statement [Made on Behalf of the Security Council, at the 5766th Meeting, 23 Oct. 2007, in Connection with the Council's Consideration of the Item Entitled "Women and Peace and Security"]

S/PRST/2007/40View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Presidential Statement of the Security Council, under agenda item 201 Women and peace and security, published in 2007.

What’s in this document?

21 paragraphs

* Reissued for technical reasons.

At the 5766th meeting of the Security Council, held on 23 October 2007, in connection with the Council’s consideration of the item entitled “Women and 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 full and effective implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security and recalls the relevant statements of its President as reiterating that commitment.

“The Security Council reaffirms 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.

“The Security Council recalls the 2005 World Summit Outcome (General Assembly resolution 60/1), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (A/CONF.177/20/Rev.1), the outcome document of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled ‘Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century’ (A/S-23/10/Rev.1), in particular the statements in these documents concerning women and peace and security and the Declaration of the forty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women (E/CN.6/2005/11).

“The Security Council recognizes the importance of ensuring the respect for the equal rights of women and, in this regard, reaffirms the importance of the equal role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding, and stresses the need for their full and equal participation in peace processes at all levels. The Council urges Member States, regional and subregional organizations and the United Nations system to enhance the role of women in decision-making with regard to all peace processes and post-conflict reconstruction and rebuilding of societies as vital in all efforts towards the maintenance and promotion of sustainable peace and security.

“The Security Council is concerned that armed and other types of conflicts still persist in many parts of the world and are an ongoing reality affecting women in nearly every region. In this regard, the Council expresses deep concern that civilians, particularly women and children, continue to account for the vast majority of victims of acts of violence committed by parties to armed conflicts, including as a result of deliberate targeting, indiscriminate and excessive use of force. The Council condemns these acts and demands that those parties immediately put an end to such practices.

“The Security Council reaffirms in this regard that parties to armed conflict bear the primary responsibility to take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of affected civilians, in particular, giving attention to the specific needs of women and girls.

“The Security Council recognizes the constant underrepresentation of women in formal peace processes and is deeply concerned about persistent obstacles and challenges resulting from situations such as violence against women, shattered economies and social structures, lack of rule of law, poverty, limited access to education and other resources, various forms of discrimination and stereotypes.

“The Security Council remains concerned about the low number of women appointed as Special Representatives or Special Envoys of the Secretary-General to peace missions. The Council urges the Secretary-General to appoint, taking into account the principle of equitable geographical representation, more women to pursue good offices on his behalf. The Council urges Member States to redouble their efforts to nominate women candidates to the Secretary-General, for inclusion in a regularly updated centralized roster. In turn, the Council calls on the Secretary-General to increase the profile and transparency of this procedure, and issue guidelines to Member States on the process of nomination to senior posts. In addition, the Council reaffirms its call for broader gender mainstreaming in all peacekeeping operations, and welcomes United Nations peacekeeping operations policies to promote and protect the rights of women and to take into account a gender perspective as set out in resolution 1325 (2000).

“The Security Council takes note of the second follow-up report of the Secretary-General on women, peace and security (S/2007/567), and the various initiatives and actions undertaken by the United Nations entities in the context of the United Nations System-wide Action Plan on implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000); calls on the Secretary-General to update, monitor and review the implementation and integration of the Plan; conduct a system-wide evaluation in 2010 of progress achieved in implementing the Plan in 2008-2009, and report thereon to the Council.

“While welcoming the progress achieved so far, the Security Council recognizes the need for full and more effective implementation of resolution 1325 (2000).

“In this regard, the Security Council reiterates its call on Member States to continue to fully and effectively implement resolution 1325 (2000), including, where appropriate, through the development and strengthening of national efforts and capacities, as well as the implementation of national action plans or other relevant national level strategies.

“The Security Council calls on the international community to provide, where needed, financial and technical support, as well as adequate training, for national implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), and on the United Nations system, civil society and other relevant actors to collaborate and provide assistance in line with national priorities to Member States, particularly those affected by armed conflict, in the rapid development of national action plans, and work closely with national mechanisms responsible for the implementation of the resolution, including, where appropriate, through the United Nations country teams. To this end, requests the Secretary-General to include in his annual report to the Council, information on progress on measures taken to improve, where appropriate, the capacity of relevant Member States, to implement resolution 1325 (2000), including information on best practices.

“The Council emphasizes the importance of strengthening cooperation between Member States as well as the United Nations entities and regional organizations in adopting and promoting regional approaches to the full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) in all its aspects.

“The Security Council strongly condemns all violations of international law, including international humanitarian law, human rights law and refugee law, committed against women and girls in situations of armed conflict, including killing, maiming, sexual violence, exploitation and abuse. In this regard, the Council urges the complete cessation by all parties of such acts with immediate effect.

“The Security Council is deeply concerned that despite its repeated condemnation of all acts of violence, including killing, maiming, sexual violence, exploitation and abuse in situations of armed conflict, and despite its calls addressed to all parties to armed conflict for the cessation of such acts with immediate effect, and for the adoption of specific measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape, and other forms of sexual abuse, as well as all other forms of violence, such acts remain pervasive, and in some situations have become systematic, and have reached appalling levels of atrocity. The Council stresses the need to end impunity for such acts as part of a comprehensive approach to seeking peace, justice, truth and national reconciliation.

“In this context, the Council reiterates paragraph 9 of resolution 1325 (2000) and calls on 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 Protocols thereto of 1967, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 and the Optional Protocols 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 relevant provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to include in his reporting to the Council on situations of armed conflict, information on: progress in gender mainstreaming throughout the United Nations peacebuilding and peacekeeping missions; data on the impact of armed conflicts on women and girls, including account of instances of all forms of violence against women and girls, including killing, maiming, grave sexual violence, abductions and trafficking in persons, committed by the parties to armed conflict; special measures proposed and taken to protect 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, in order to end impunity, ensure accountability and uphold a zero tolerance policy for violence against women and girls.

“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General to prepare a follow-up report on the full implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), incorporating information on the impact of armed conflicts on women and girls in situations that are on the agenda of the Council, and also information on their protection and on the enhancement of their role in peace processes, to be submitted to the Security Council in October 2008, and may request the Secretary-General to give an oral briefing on the progress of the report.

“The Security Council decides to remain actively seized of this matter.”

Statement [Made on Behalf of the Security Council, at the 5766th Meeting, 23 Oct. 2007, in Connection with the Council's Consideration of the Item Entitled "Women and Peace and Security"]

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