Statement [Made on Behalf of the Security Council, at the 6642nd Meeting, 28 Oct. 2011, in Connection with the Council's Consideration of the Item Entitled "Women and Peace and Security"]

S/PRST/2011/20View 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 2011.

What subjects does this mandate have?

9 subjects

Decision-Making Gender Equality Gender-Based Violence Mediation Peacebuilding Post-Conflict Reconstruction War Prevention Women Women in Armed Conflicts

What’s in this document?

19 paragraphs

At the 6642nd meeting of the Security Council, held on 28 October 2011, 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 resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), and 1960 (2010) on Women and Peace and Security and all relevant statements of its Presidents.

“The Security Council urges all parties to fully comply with their obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women of 1979 and the Optional Protocol thereto of 1999 and strongly encourages states that have not ratified or acceded to the convention and optional protocol to consider doing so.

“The Security Council recalls the 2005 World Summit Outcome (A/RES/60/1), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 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), and the Declaration of the fifty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (E/2010/27-E/CN.6/2010/11).

“The Security Council welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on women and peace and security of 29 September 2011 (S/2011/598), and takes note of the analysis and recommendations it contains on progress in implementing commitments on women and peace and security, including on the representation and participation of women in decision-making forums, institutions and mechanisms related to the prevention and resolution of armed conflict and to peacebuilding.

“The Security Council welcomes the commitments and efforts of Member States, regional organizations and the Secretary-General to implement its resolutions on Women and Peace and Security. The Security Council, however, remains concerned about the persistence of gaps and challenges that seriously hinder the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000), including the continued low numbers of women in formal institutions of conflict prevention and resolution, particularly in preventive diplomacy and mediation efforts.

“The Security Council stresses the importance of: promoting and protecting the human rights of women and girls in the context of the implementation of 1325 (2000); fully implementing international humanitarian law and human rights law in armed conflict and post-conflict situations; increasing women’s participation in conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding and incorporating a gender perspective into UN field missions.

“The Security Council welcomes the contributions and role of UN Women in implementing resolutions on Women and Peace and Security. The Council expresses its intention to welcome briefings by the Under Secretary-General/Executive Director of UN Women. The Council notes with satisfaction the increased coordination and coherence in policy and programming for women and girls within the UN system since the creation of UN Women. In this regard, the Council underlines the importance of the mandates of the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and for Children in Armed Conflict that contribute to the work on the Women and Peace and Security agenda.

“The Security Council reiterates its strong condemnation of all violations of applicable international law committed against women and girls in armed conflict and post-conflict situations and urges the complete cessation by all parties of such acts with immediate effect. The Security Council also urges Member States to bring to justice those responsible for crimes of this nature.

“The Council notes that the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes of international concern committed against women and girls has been strengthened through the work of the International Criminal Court, ad hoc and mixed tribunals, as well as specialized chambers in national tribunals. The Council reiterates its intention to enhance its efforts to fight impunity and uphold accountability for serious crimes against women and girls with appropriate means and draws attention to the full range of justice and reconciliation mechanisms to be considered, including national, international and mixed criminal courts and tribunals, truth and reconciliation commissions as well as national reparation programs for victims, institutional reforms and traditional dispute resolution mechanisms.

“The Security Council welcomes the efforts of Member States to implement resolution 1325 (2000) at the national level, including the increase in the number of states that have formulated or revised national action plans and strategies. The Security Council reiterates its call to Member States to continue to implement resolution 1325 (2000), including through the development of national action plans or other national level strategies.

“The Security Council recalls the Statement of the President (S/PRST/2011/18) on preventive diplomacy, which inter alia recognized the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding, and reiterated its call to increase the equal participation, representation and full involvement of women in preventive diplomacy efforts. The Security Council recalls General Assembly resolution 65/283 on strengthening the role of mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes, conflict prevention and resolution and the encouragement it contains to promote equal, full and effective participation of women in all forums and at all levels of the peaceful settlement of disputes, conflict prevention and resolution, particularly the decision-making level.

“The Security Council encourages efforts by Member States, the UN Secretariat, UN field missions, UN agencies, funds and programmes, international financial institutions, regional and sub-regional organizations to, as appropriate, provide support and strengthen the capacities of relevant government institutions and women’s organizations engaged in issues related to armed conflict or post-conflict situations. The Security Council underlines the importance of the participation of women in conflict prevention and resolution efforts, including in the negotiation and implementation of peace agreements, as well as international dialogues, contact groups, engagement conferences and donor conference in support of conflict resolution. In this regard, the Security Council reiterates the need to support, as appropriate, local women’s peace initiatives, processes for conflict resolution and initiatives that involve women in implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements, including through the local-level presence of UN field missions.

“The Security Council acknowledges the significant contribution that women can have in conflict prevention and mediation efforts and encourages Member States, international and regional organizations to take measures to increase the numbers of women involved in mediation efforts and the numbers of women in representative roles in regional and international organizations. The Security Council therefore stresses the importance of creating enabling conditions for women’s participation during all stages of peace processes and for countering negative societal attitudes regarding full and equal participation of women in conflict resolution and mediation.

“The Security Council continues to encourage Member States to deploy greater numbers of female military and police personnel to United Nations peacekeeping operations and reiterates that all military and police personnel should be provided with adequate training to carry out their responsibilities.

“The Security Council encourages negotiating parties and mediation teams to adopt a gender perspective in negotiating and implementing peace agreements and to facilitate increased representation of women in peacebuilding forums. In this regard, the Council requests the Secretary-General and relevant United Nations entities to assist, as appropriate, in enabling regular consultations between women’s groups and relevant participants in conflict mediation and peacebuilding processes. The Security Council also requests the Secretary-General to ensure that regular briefings are provided to his mediators and their teams on gender issues relevant to peace-agreement provisions and specific obstacles to full and equal political participation of women.

“The Security Council recognizes the need for more systematic attention to and implementation of women and peace and security commitments in its own work and expresses its willingness to ensure that measures to enhance women’s engagement in conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding are advanced in its work including on preventive diplomacy. The Council welcomes the intention of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa to incorporate gender perspective in its work.

“The Security Council reiterates its intention to convene a High-level review in 2015 to assess progress at the global, regional and national levels in implementing resolution 1325 (2000), renew commitments and address obstacles and constraints that have emerged in the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000).

“The Security Council requests the Secretary-General in his next annual report on resolution 1325 (2000) to include, inter alia, a comprehensive overview of specific actions, achievements and challenges to the implementation of this Statement of its President, in particular those concerning the participation of women in mediation and preventive diplomacy.”

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

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