098_EG(2002)04

Strasbourg, 26 March 2002

EG (2002) 4

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“Democratisation, conflict prevention and peacebuilding: the perspectives and the roles of women”

Compilation of international texts on the role of women in conflict prevention and peacebuilding adopted since the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women

Information document prepared by
the Directorate General of Human Rights
April 2002

Table des Matières

EXTRACT FROM THE BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION

Fourth World Conference on Women - Platform for Action

Chapter IV E: Women and Armed Conflict

Strategic objective E.1. Increase the participation of women in conflict resolution at decision-making levels and protect women living in situations of armed and other conflicts or under foreign occupation.
Strategic objective E.2. Reduce excessive military expenditures and control the availability of armaments.
Strategic objective E.3. Promote non-violent forms of conflict resolution and reduce the incidence of human rights abuse in conflict situations.
Strategic objective E.4. Promote women's contribution to fostering a culture of peace. Strategic objective E.5. Provide protection, assistance and training to refugee women, other displaced women in need of international protection and internally displaced women.
Strategic objective E.6. Provide assistance to the women of the colonies and non-self-governing territories.

E. Women and Armed Conflict

131. An environment that maintains world peace and promotes and protects human rights, democracy and the peaceful settlement of disputes, in accordance with the principles of non-threat or use of force against territorial integrity or political independence and of respect for sovereignty as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, is an important factor for the advancement of women. Peace is inextricably linked with equality between women and men and development. Armed and other types of conflicts and terrorism and hostage-taking still persist in many parts of the world. Aggression, foreign occupation, ethnic and other types of conflicts are an ongoing reality affecting women and men in nearly every region. Gross and systematic violations and situations that constitute serious obstacles to the full enjoyment of human rights continue to occur in different parts of the world. Such violations and obstacles include, as well as torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, summary and arbitrary executions, disappearances, arbitrary detentions, all forms of racism and racial discrimination, foreign occupation and alien domination, xenophobia, poverty, hunger and other denials of economic, social and cultural rights, religious intolerance, terrorism, discrimination against women and lack of the rule of law. International humanitarian law, prohibiting attacks on civilian populations, as such, is at times systematically ignored and human rights are often violated in connection with situations of armed conflict, affecting the civilian population, especially women, children, the elderly and the disabled. Violations of the human rights of women in situations of armed conflict are violations of the fundamental principles of international human rights and humanitarian law. Massive violations of human rights, especially in the form of genocide, ethnic cleansing as a strategy of war and its consequences, and rape, including systematic rape of women in war situations, creating a mass exodus of refugees and displaced persons, are abhorrent practices that are strongly condemned and must be stopped immediately, while perpetrators of such crimes must be punished. Some of these situations of armed conflict have their origin in the conquest or colonialization of a country by another State and the perpetuation of that colonization through state and military repression.

132. The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 1949, and the Additional Protocols of 1977 [24] provide that women shall especially be protected against any attack on their honour, in particular against humiliating and degrading treatment, rape, enforced prostitution or any form of indecent assault. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights, states that "violations of the human rights of women in situations of armed conflict are violations of the fundamental principles of international human rights and humanitarian law". [25] All violations of this kind, including in particular murder, rape, including systematic rape, sexual slavery and forced pregnancy require a particularly effective response. Gross and systematic violations and situations that constitute serious obstacles to the full enjoyment of human rights continue to occur in different parts of the world. Such violations and obstacles include, as well as torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or summary and arbitrary detention, all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, denial of economic, social and cultural rights and religious intolerance.

133. Violations of human rights in situations of armed conflict and military occupation are violations of the fundamental principles of international human rights and humanitarian law as embodied in international human rights instruments and in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto. Gross human rights violations and policies of ethnic cleansing in war-torn and occupied areas continue to be carried out. These practices have created, inter alia, a mass flow of refugees and other displaced persons in need of international protection and internally displaced persons, the majority of whom are women, adolescent girls and children. Civilian victims, mostly women and children, often outnumber casualties among combatants. In addition, women often become caregivers for injured combatants and find themselves, as a result of conflict, unexpectedly cast as sole manager of household, sole parent, and caretaker of elderly relatives.

134. In a world of continuing instability and violence, the implementation of cooperative approaches to peace and security is urgently needed. The equal access and full participation of women in power structures and their full involvement in all efforts for the prevention and resolution of conflicts are essential for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. Although women have begun to play an important role in conflict resolution, peace- keeping and defence and foreign affairs mechanisms, they are still underrepresented in decision-making positions. If women are to play an equal part in securing and maintaining peace, they must be empowered politically and economically and represented adequately at all levels of decision-making.

135. While entire communities suffer the consequences of armed conflict and terrorism, women and girls are particularly affected because of their status in society and their sex. Parties to conflict often rape women with impunity, sometimes using systematic rape as a tactic of war and terrorism. The impact of violence against women and violation of the human rights of women in such situations is experienced by women of all ages, who suffer displacement, loss of home and property, loss or involuntary disappearance of close relatives, poverty and family separation and disintegration, and who are victims of acts of murder, terrorism, torture, involuntary disappearance, sexual slavery, rape, sexual abuse and forced pregnancy in situations of armed conflict, especially as a result of policies of ethnic cleansing and other new and emerging forms of violence. This is compounded by the life-long social, economic and psychologically traumatic consequences of armed conflict and foreign occupation and alien domination.

136. Women and children constitute some 80 per cent of the world's millions of refugees and other displaced persons, including internally displaced persons. They are threatened by deprivation of property, goods and services and deprivation of their right to return to their homes of origin as well as by violence and insecurity. Particular attention should be paid to sexual violence against uprooted women and girls employed as a method of persecution in systematic campaigns of terror and intimidation and forcing members of a particular ethnic, cultural or religious group to flee their homes. Women may also be forced to flee as a result of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons enumerated in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol, including persecution through sexual violence or other gender-related persecution, and they continue to be vulnerable to violence and exploitation while in flight, in countries of asylum and resettlement and during and after repatriation. Women often experience difficulty in some countries of asylum in being recognized as refugees when the claim is based on such persecution.

137. Refugee, displaced and migrant women in most cases display strength, endurance and resourcefulness and can contribute positively to countries of resettlement or to their country of origin on their return. They need to be appropriately involved in decisions that affect them.

138. Many women's non-governmental organizations have called for reductions in military expenditures world wide, as well as in international trade and trafficking in and the proliferation of weapons. Those affected most negatively by conflict and excessive military spending are people living in poverty, who are deprived because of the lack of investment in basic services. Women living in poverty, particularly rural women, also suffer because of the use of arms that are particularly injurious or have indiscriminate effects. There are more than 100 million anti-personnel land-mines scattered in 64 countries globally. The negative impact on development of excessive military expenditures, the arms trade, and investment for arms production and acquisition must be addressed. At the same time, maintenance of national security and peace is an important factor for economic growth and development and the empowerment of women.

139. During times of armed conflict and the collapse of communities, the role of women is crucial. They often work to preserve social order in the midst of armed and other conflicts. Women make an important but often unrecognized contribution as peace educators both in their families and in their societies.

140. Education to foster a culture of peace that upholds justice and tolerance for all nations and peoples is essential to attaining lasting peace and should be begun at an early age. It should include elements of conflict resolution, mediation, reduction of prejudice and respect for diversity.

141. In addressing armed or other conflicts, an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes should be promoted so that before decisions are taken an analysis is made of the effects on women and men, respectively.

Actions to be taken

142. By Governments and international and regional intergovernmental institutions:

a. Take action to promote equal participation of women and equal opportunities for women to participate in all forums and peace activities at all levels, particularly at the decision-making level, including in the United Nations Secretariat with due regard to equitable geographical distribution in accordance with Article 101 of the Charter of the United Nations;
b. Integrate a gender perspective in the resolution of armed or other conflicts and foreign occupation and aim for gender balance when nominating or promoting candidates for judicial and other positions in all relevant international bodies, such as the United Nations International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda and the International Court of Justice, as well as in other bodies related to the peaceful settlement of disputes;
c. Ensure that these bodies are able to address gender issues properly by providing appropriate training to prosecutors, judges and other officials in handling cases involving rape, forced pregnancy in situations of armed conflict, indecent assault and other forms of violence against women in armed conflicts, including terrorism, and integrate a gender perspective into their work.

Strategic objective E.2. Reduce excessive military expenditures and control the availability of armaments

Actions to be taken

143. By Governments:

a. Increase and hasten, as appropriate, subject to national security considerations, the conversion of military resources and related industries to development and peaceful purposes;
b. Undertake to explore new ways of generating new public and private financial resources, inter alia, through the appropriate reduction of excessive military expenditures, including global military expenditures, trade in arms and investment for arms production and acquisition, taking into consideration national security requirements, so as to permit the possible allocation of additional funds for social and economic development, in particular for the advancement of women;
c. Take action to investigate and punish members of the police, security and armed forces and others who perpetrate acts of violence against women, violations of international humanitarian law and violations of the human rights of women in situations of armed conflict;
d. While acknowledging legitimate national defence needs, recognize and address the dangers to society of armed conflict and the negative effect of excessive military expenditures, trade in arms, especially those arms that are particularly injurious or have indiscriminate effects, and excessive investment for arms production and acquisition; similarly, recognize the need to combat illicit arms trafficking, violence, crime, the production and use of and trafficking in illicit drugs, and trafficking in women and children;
e. Recognizing that women and children are particularly affected by the indiscriminate use of anti-personnel land-mines:
i. Undertake to work actively towards ratification, if they have not already done so, of the 1981 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, particularly the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby Traps and Other Devices (Protocol II), [26] with a view to universal ratification by the year 2000;
ii. Undertake to strongly consider strengthening the Convention to promote a reduction in the casualties and intense suffering caused to the civilian population by the indiscriminate use of land-mines;
iii. Undertake to promote assistance in mine clearance, notably by facilitating, in respect of the means of mine-clearing, the exchange of information, the transfer of technology and the promotion of scientific research;
iv. Within the United Nations context, undertake to support efforts to coordinate a common response programme of assistance in de-mining without unnecessary discrimination;
v. Adopt at the earliest possible date, if they have not already done so, a moratorium on the export of anti-personnel land- mines, including to non-governmental entities, noting with satisfaction that many States have already declared moratoriums on the export, transfer or sale of such mines;
vi. Undertake to encourage further international efforts to seek solutions to the problems caused by antipersonnel land-mines, with a view to their eventual elimination, recognizing that States can move most effectively towards this goal as viable and humane alternatives are developed;
f. Recognizing the leading role that women have played in the peace movement:
i. Work actively towards general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control;
ii. Support negotiations on the conclusion, without delay, of a universal and multilaterally and effectively verifiable comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty that contributes to nuclear disarmament and the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in all its aspects;
iii. Pending the entry into force of a comprehensive nuclear-test- ban treaty, exercise the utmost restraint in respect of nuclear testing.

Strategic objective E.3. Promote non-violent forms of conflict resolution and reduce the incidence of human rights abuse in conflict situations

Actions to be taken

144. By Governments:

a. Consider the ratification of or accession to international instruments containing provisions relative to the protection of women and children in armed conflicts, including the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 1949, the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) and to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II);
b. Respect fully the norms of international humanitarian law in armed conflicts and take all measures required for the protection of women and children, in particular against rape, forced prostitution and any other form of indecent assault;
c. Strengthen the role of women and ensure equal representation of women at all decision-making levels in national and international institutions which may make or influence policy with regard to matters related to peace-keeping, preventive diplomacy and related activities and in all stages of peace mediation and negotiations, taking note of the specific recommendations of the Secretary General in his strategic plan of action for the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat (1995-2000) (A/49/587, sect. IV).

145. By Governments and international and regional organizations:

a. Reaffirm the right of self-determination of all peoples, in particular of peoples under colonial or other forms of alien domination or foreign occupation, and the importance of the effective realization of this right, as enunciated, inter alia, in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, [2] adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights;
b. Encourage diplomacy, negotiation and peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, in particular Article 2, paragraphs 3 and 4 thereof;
c. Urge the identification and condemnation of the systematic practice of rape and other forms of inhuman and degrading treatment of women as a deliberate instrument of war and ethnic cleansing and take steps to ensure that full assistance is provided to the victims of such abuse for their physical and mental rehabilitation;
d. Reaffirm that rape in the conduct of armed conflict constitutes a war crime and under certain circumstances it constitutes a crime against humanity and an act of genocide as defined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; [27] take all measures required for the protection of women and children from such acts and strengthen mechanisms to investigate and punish all those responsible and bring the perpetrators to justice;
e. Uphold and reinforce standards set out in international humanitarian law and international human rights instruments to prevent all acts of violence against women in situations of armed and other conflicts; undertake a full investigation of all acts of violence against women committed during war, including rape, in particular systematic rape, forced prostitution and other forms of indecent assault and sexual slavery; prosecute all criminals responsible for war crimes against women and provide full redress to women victims;
f. Call upon the international community to condemn and act against all forms and manifestations of terrorism;
g. Take into account gender-sensitive concerns in developing training programmes for all relevant personnel on international humanitarian law and human rights awareness and recommend such training for those involved in United Nations peace-keeping and humanitarian aid, with a view to preventing violence against women, in particular;
h. Discourage the adoption of and refrain from any unilateral measure not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations, that impedes the full achievement of economic and social development by the population of the affected countries, in particular women and children, that hinders their well-being and that creates obstacles to the full enjoyment of their human rights, including the right of everyone to a standard of living adequate for their health and well-being and their right to food, medical care and the necessary social services. This Conference reaffirms that food and medicine must not be used as a tool for political pressure;
i. Take measures in accordance with international law with a view to alleviating the negative impact of economic sanctions on women and children.

Strategic objective E.4. Promote women's contribution to fostering a culture of peace

Actions to be taken

146. By Governments, international and regional intergovernmental institutions and non-governmental organizations:

a. Promote peaceful conflict resolution and peace, reconciliation and tolerance through education, training, community actions and youth exchange programmes, in particular for young women;
b. Encourage the further development of peace research, involving the participation of women, to examine the impact of armed conflict on women and children and the nature and contribution of women's participation in national, regional and international peace movements; engage in research and identify innovative mechanisms for containing violence and for conflict resolution for public dissemination and for use by women and men;
c. Develop and disseminate research on the physical, psychological, economic and social effects of armed conflicts on women, particularly young women and girls, with a view to developing policies and programmes to address the consequences of conflicts;
d. Consider establishing educational programmes for girls and boys to foster a culture of peace, focusing on conflict resolution by non-violent means and the promotion of tolerance.

Strategic objective E.5. Provide protection, assistance and training to refugee women, other displaced women in need of international protection and internally displaced women

Actions to be taken

147. By Governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and other institutions involved in providing protection, assistance and training to refugee women, other displaced women in need of international protection and internally displaced women, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme, as appropriate:

a. Take steps to ensure that women are fully involved in the planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all short-term and long-term projects and programmes providing assistance to refugee women, other displaced women in need of international protection and internally displaced women, including the management of refugee camps and resources; ensure that refugee and displaced women and girls have direct access to the services provided;
b. Offer adequate protection and assistance to women and children displaced within their country and find solutions to the root causes of their displacement with a view to preventing it and, when appropriate, facilitate their return or resettlement;
c. Take steps to protect the safety and physical integrity of refugee women, other displaced women in need of international protection and internally displaced women during their displacement and upon their return to their communities of origin, including programmes of rehabilitation; take effective measures to protect from violence women who are refugees or displaced; hold an impartial and thorough investigation of any such violations and bring those responsible to justice;
d. While fully respecting and strictly observing the principle of non-refoulement of refugees, take all the necessary steps to ensure the right of refugee and displaced women to return voluntarily to their place of origin in safety and with dignity, and their right to protection after their return;
e. Take measures, at the national level with international cooperation, as appropriate, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, to find lasting solutions to questions related to internally displaced women, including their right to voluntary and safe return to their home of origin;
f. Ensure that the international community and its international organizations provide financial and other resources for emergency relief and other longer-term assistance that takes into account the specific needs, resources and potentials of refugee women, other displaced women in need of international protection and internally displaced women; in the provision of protection and assistance, take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women and girls in order to ensure equal access to appropriate and adequate food, water and shelter, education, and social and health services, including reproductive health care and maternity care and services to combat tropical diseases;
g. Facilitate the availability of educational materials in the appropriate language - in emergency situations also - in order to minimize disruption of schooling among refugee and displaced children;
h. Apply international norms to ensure equal access and equal treatment of women and men in refugee determination procedures and the granting of asylum, including full respect and strict observation of the principle of non-refoulement through, inter alia, bringing national immigration regulations into conformity with relevant international instruments, and consider recognizing as refugees those women whose claim to refugee status is based upon the well- founded fear of persecution for reasons enumerated in the 1951 Convention [28] and the 1967 Protocol [29] relating to the Status of Refugees, including persecution through sexual violence or other gender-related persecution, and provide access to specially trained officers, including female officers, to interview women regarding sensitive or painful experiences, such as sexual assault;
i. Support and promote efforts by States towards the development of criteria and guidelines on responses to persecution specifically aimed at women, by sharing information on States' initiatives to develop such criteria and guidelines and by monitoring to ensure their fair and consistent application;
j. Promote the self-reliant capacities of refugee women, other displaced women in need of international protection and internally displaced women and provide programmes for women, particularly young women, in leadership and decision-making within refugee and returnee communities;
k. Ensure that the human rights of refugee and displaced women are protected and that refugee and displaced women are made aware of these rights; ensure that the vital importance of family reunification is recognized;
l. Provide, as appropriate, women who have been determined refugees with access to vocational/professional training programmes, including language training, small-scale enterprise development training and planning and counselling on all forms of violence against women, which should include rehabilitation programmes for victims of torture and trauma; Governments and other donors should contribute adequately to assistance programmes for refugee women, other displaced women in need of international protection and internally displaced women, taking into account in particular the effects on the host countries of the increasing requirements of large refugee populations and the need to widen the donor base and to achieve greater burden-sharing;
m. Raise public awareness of the contribution made by refugee women to their countries of resettlement, promote understanding of their human rights and of their needs and abilities and encourage mutual understanding and acceptance through educational programmes promoting cross-cultural and interracial harmony;
n. Provide basic and support services to women who are displaced from their place of origin as a result of terrorism, violence, drug trafficking or other reasons linked to violence situations;
o. Develop awareness of the human rights of women and provide, as appropriate, human rights education and training to military and police personnel operating in areas of armed conflict and areas where there are refugees.

148. By Governments:

a. Disseminate and implement the UNHCR Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women and the UNHCR Guidelines on Evaluation and Care of Victims of Trauma and Violence, or provide similar guidance, in close cooperation with refugee women and in all sectors of refugee programmes;
b. Protect women and children who migrate as family members from abuse or denial of their human rights by sponsors and consider extending their stay, should the family relationship dissolve, within the limits of national legislation.

Strategic objective E.6.Provide assistance to the women of the colonies and non-self-governing territories

Actions to be taken

149. By Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations:

a. Support and promote the implementation of the right of self- determination of all peoples as enunciated, inter alia, in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action by providing special programmes in leadership and in training for decision-making;
b. Raise public awareness, as appropriate, through the mass media, education at all levels and special programmes to create a better understanding of the situation of women of the colonies and non- self-governing territories.

FWCW PLATFORM FOR ACTION

Chapter IV G: Women in Power and decision-making

Strategic objective G.1. Take measures to ensure women's equal access to and full participation in power structures and decision-making.
Strategic objective G.2. Increase women's capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership.
G. Women in Power and Decision-making

181. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to take part in the Government of his/her country. The empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of women's social, economic and political status is essential for the achievement of both transparent and accountable government and administration and sustainable development in all areas of life. The power relations that prevent women from leading fulfilling lives operate at many levels of society, from the most personal to the highly public. Achieving the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision-making will provide a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society and is needed in order to strengthen democracy and promote its proper functioning. Equality in political decision-making performs a leverage function without which it is highly unlikely that a real integration of the equality dimension in government policy-making is feasible. In this respect, women's equal participation in political life plays a pivotal role in the general process of the advancement of women. Women's equal participation in decision-making is not only a demand for simple justice or democracy but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women's interests to be taken into account. Without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women's perspective at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved.

182. Despite the widespread movement towards democratization in most countries, women are largely underrepresented at most levels of government, especially in ministerial and other executive bodies, and have made little progress in attaining political power in legislative bodies or in achieving the target endorsed by the Economic and Social Council of having 30 per cent women in positions at decision-making levels by 1995. Globally, only 10 per cent of the members of legislative bodies and a lower percentage of ministerial positions are now held by women. Indeed, some countries, including those that are undergoing fundamental political, economic and social changes, have seen a significant decrease in the number of women represented in legislative bodies. Although women make up at least half of the electorate in almost all countries and have attained the right to vote and hold office in almost all States Members of the United Nations, women continue to be seriously underrepresented as candidates for public office. The traditional working patterns of many political parties and government structures continue to be barriers to women's participation in public life. Women may be discouraged from seeking political office by discriminatory attitudes and practices, family and child-care responsibilities, and the high cost of seeking and holding public office. Women in politics and decision-making positions in Governments and legislative bodies contribute to redefining political priorities, placing new items on the political agenda that reflect and address women's gender-specific concerns, values and experiences, and providing new perspectives on mainstream political issues.

183. Women have demonstrated considerable leadership in community and informal organizations, as well as in public office. However, socialization and negative stereotyping of women and men, including stereotyping through the media, reinforces the tendency for political decision-making to remain the domain of men. Likewise, the underrepresentation of women in decision-making positions in the areas of art, culture, sports, the media, education, religion and the law have prevented women from having a significant impact on many key institutions.

184. Owing to their limited access to the traditional avenues to power, such as the decision-making bodies of political parties, employer organizations and trade unions, women have gained access to power through alternative structures, particularly in the non-governmental organization sector. Through non-governmental organizations and grass-roots organizations, women have been able to articulate their interests and concerns and have placed women's issues on the national, regional and international agendas.

185. Inequality in the public arena can often start with discriminatory attitudes and practices and unequal power relations between women and men within the family, as defined in paragraph 29 above. The unequal division of labour and responsibilities within households based on unequal power relations also limits women's potential to find the time and develop the skills required for participation in decision-making in wider public forums. A more equal sharing of those responsibilities between women and men not only provides a better quality of life for women and their daughters but also enhances their opportunities to shape and design public policy, practice and expenditure so that their interests may be recognized and addressed. Non-formal networks and patterns of decision-making at the local community level that reflect a dominant male ethos restrict women's ability to participate equally in political, economic and social life.

186. The low proportion of women among economic and political decision makers at the local, national, regional and international levels reflects structural and attitudinal barriers that need to be addressed through positive measures. Governments, transnational and national corporations, the mass media, banks, academic and scientific institutions, and regional and international organizations, including those in the United Nations system, do not make full use of women's talents as top-level managers, policy makers, diplomats and negotiators.

187. The equitable distribution of power and decision-making at all levels is dependent on Governments and other actors undertaking statistical gender analysis and mainstreaming a gender perspective in policy development and the implementation of programmes. Equality in decision-making is essential to the empowerment of women. In some countries, affirmative action has led to 33.3 per cent or larger representation in local and national Governments.

188. National, regional and international statistical institutions still have insufficient knowledge of how to present the issues related to the equal treatment of women and men in the economic and social spheres. In particular, there is insufficient use of existing databases and methodologies in the important sphere of decision-making.

189. In addressing the inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels, Governments and other actors should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in all policies and programmes so that before decisions are taken, an analysis is made of the effects on women and men, respectively.

Strategic objective G.1. Take measures to ensure women's equal access to and full participation in power structures and decision-making

Actions to be taken

190. By Governments:

a. Commit themselves to establishing the goal of gender balance in governmental bodies and committees, as well as in public administrative entities, and in the judiciary, including, inter alia, setting specific targets and implementing measures to substantially increase the number of women with a view to achieving equal representation of women and men, if necessary through positive action, in all governmental and public administration positions;
b. Take measures, including, where appropriate, in electoral systems that encourage political parties to integrate women in elective and non-elective public positions in the same proportion and at the same levels as men;
c. Protect and promote the equal rights of women and men to engage in political activities and to freedom of association, including membership in political parties and trade unions;
d. Review the differential impact of electoral systems on the political representation of women in elected bodies and consider, where appropriate, the adjustment or reform of those systems;
e. Monitor and evaluate progress in the representation of women through the regular collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative and qualitative data on women and men at all levels in various decision-making positions in the public and private sectors, and disseminate data on the number of women and men employed at various levels in Governments on a yearly basis; ensure that women and men have equal access to the full range of public appointments and set up mechanisms within governmental structures for monitoring progress in this field;
f. Support non-governmental organizations and research institutes that conduct studies on women's participation in and impact on decision- making and the decision-making environment;
g. Encourage greater involvement of indigenous women in decision-making at all levels;
h. Encourage and, where appropriate, ensure that government-funded organizations adopt non-discriminatory policies and practices in order to increase the number and raise the position of women in their organizations;
i. Recognize that shared work and parental responsibilities between women and men promote women's increased participation in public life, and take appropriate measures to achieve this, including measures to reconcile family and professional life;
j. Aim at gender balance in the lists of national candidates nominated for election or appointment to United Nations bodies, specialized agencies and other autonomous organizations of the United Nations system, particularly for posts at the senior level.

191. By political parties:

a. Consider examining party structures and procedures to remove all barriers that directly or indirectly discriminate against the participation of women;
b. Consider developing initiatives that allow women to participate fully in all internal policy-making structures and appointive and electoral nominating processes;
c. Consider incorporating gender issues in their political agenda, taking measures to ensure that women can participate in the leadership of political parties on an equal basis with men.

192. By Governments, national bodies, the private sector, political parties, trade unions, employers' organizations, research and academic institutions, subregional and regional bodies and non-governmental and international organizations:

a. Take positive action to build a critical mass of women leaders, executives and managers in strategic decision-making positions;
b. Create or strengthen, as appropriate, mechanisms to monitor women's access to senior levels of decision-making;
c. Review the criteria for recruitment and appointment to advisory and decision-making bodies and promotion to senior positions to ensure that such criteria are relevant and do not discriminate against women;
d. Encourage efforts by non-governmental organizations, trade unions and the private sector to achieve equality between women and men in their ranks, including equal participation in their decision-making bodies and in negotiations in all areas and at all levels;
e. Develop communications strategies to promote public debate on the new roles of men and women in society, and in the family as defined in paragraph 29 above;
f. Restructure recruitment and career-development programmes to ensure that all women, especially young women, have equal access to managerial, entrepreneurial, technical and leadership training, including on-the-job training;
g. Develop career advancement programmes for women of all ages that include career planning, tracking, mentoring, coaching, training and retraining;
h. Encourage and support the participation of women's non-governmental organizations in United Nations conferences and their preparatory processes;
i. Aim at and support gender balance in the composition of delegations to the United Nations and other international forums.

193. By the United Nations:

a. Implement existing and adopt new employment policies and measures in order to achieve overall gender equality, particularly at the Professional level and above, by the year 2000, with due regard to the importance of recruiting staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible, in conformity with Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations;
b. Develop mechanisms to nominate women candidates for appointment to senior posts in the United Nations, the specialized agencies and other organizations and bodies of the United Nations system;
c. Continue to collect and disseminate quantitative and qualitative data on women and men in decision-making and analyse their differential impact on decision-making and monitor progress towards achieving the Secretary General's target of having women hold 50 per cent of managerial and decision-making positions by the year 2000.

194. By women's organizations, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, social partners, producers, and industrial and professional organizations:

a. Build and strengthen solidarity among women through information, education and sensitization activities;
b. Advocate at all levels to enable women to influence political, economic and social decisions, processes and systems, and work towards seeking accountability from elected representatives on their commitment to gender concerns;
c. Establish, consistent with data protection legislation, databases on women and their qualification for use in appointing women to senior decision-making and advisory positions, for dissemination to Governments, regional and international organizations and private enterprise, political parties and other relevant bodies.

Strategic objective G.2. Increase women's capacity to participate in decision-making and leadership

Actions to be taken

195. By Governments, national bodies, the private sector, political parties, trade unions, employers' organizations, subregional and regional bodies, non-governmental and international organizations and educational institutions:

a. Provide leadership and self-esteem training to assist women and girls, particularly those with special needs, women with disabilities and women belonging to racial and ethnic minorities to strengthen their self-esteem and to encourage them to take decision- making positions;
b. Have transparent criteria for decision-making positions and ensure that the selecting bodies have a gender-balanced composition;
c. Create a system of mentoring for inexperienced women and, in particular, offer training, including training in leadership and decision-making, public speaking and self-assertion, as well as in political campaigning;
d. Provide gender-sensitive training for women and men to promote non-discriminatory working relationships and respect for diversity in work and management styles;
e. Develop mechanisms and training to encourage women to participate in the electoral process, political activities and other leadership areas.

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

6 October 1999, Fifty-third session, Agenda item 31

53/243. Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace

A. DECLARATION ON A CULTURE OF PEACE

The General Assembly,

Recalling the Charter of the United Nations, including the purposes and principles embodied therein,

Recalling also the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which states that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed”,

Recalling further the Universal Declaration of Human Rights¹ and other relevant international instruments of the United Nations system,

Recognizing that peace not only is the absence of conflict, but also requires a positive, dynamic participatory process where dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are solved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation,

Recognizing also that the end of the cold war has widened possibilities for strengthening a culture of peace,

Expressing deep concern about the persistence and proliferation of violence and conflict in various parts of the world,

Recognizing the need to eliminate all forms of discrimination and intolerance, including those based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status,

Recalling its resolution 52/15 of 20 November 1997, by which it proclaimed the year 2000 as the “International Year for the Culture of Peace”, and its resolution 53/25 of 10 November 1998, by which it proclaimed the period 2001–2010 as the “International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World”,

Recognizing the important role that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization continues to play in the promotion of a culture of peace,

Solemnly proclaims the present Declaration on a Culture of Peace to the end that Governments, international organizations and civil society may be guided in their activity by its provisions to promote and strengthen a culture of peace in the new millennium:

Article 1

A culture of peace is a set of values, attitudes, traditions and modes of behaviour and ways of life based on:

(a) Respect for life, ending of violence and promotion and practice of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation;

(b) Full respect for the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of States and non-intervention in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law;

(d) Commitment to peaceful settlement of conflicts;

(e) Efforts to meet the developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations;

(f) Respect for and promotion of the right to development;

(g) Respect for and promotion of equal rights and opportunities for women and men;

(h) Respect for and promotion of the right of everyone to freedom of expression, opinion and information;

(i) Adherence to the principles of freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding at all levels of society and among nations; and fostered by an enabling national and international environment conducive to peace.

Article 2

Progress in the fuller development of a culture of peace comes about through values, attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of life conducive to the promotion of peace among individuals, groups and nations.

Article 3

The fuller development of a culture of peace is integrally linked to:

(a) Promoting peaceful settlement of conflicts, mutual respect and understanding and international cooperation;

(b) Complying with international obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law;

(c) Promoting democracy, development and universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms;

(d) Enabling people at all levels to develop skills of dialogue, negotiation, consensus-building and peaceful resolution of differences;

(e) Strengthening democratic institutions and ensuring full participation in the development process;

(f) Eradicating poverty and illiteracy and reducing inequalities within and among nations;

(g) Promoting sustainable economic and social development;

(h) Eliminating all forms of discrimination against women through their empowerment and equal representation at all levels of decision-making;

(i) Ensuring respect for and promotion and protection of the rights of children;

(j) Ensuring free flow of information at all levels and enhancing access thereto;

(k) Increasing transparency and accountability in governance;

(l) Eliminating all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;

(m) Advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity among all civilizations, peoples and cultures, including towards ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

(n) Realizing fully the right of all peoples, including those living under colonial or other forms of alien domination or foreign occupation, to self-determination enshrined in the Charter of the UnitedNations and embodied in the International Covenants on Human Rights,² as well as in the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples contained in General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960.

Article 4

Education at all levels is one of the principal means to build a culture of peace. In this context, human rights education is of particular importance.

Article 5

Governments have an essential role in promoting and strengthening a culture of peace.

Article 6

Civil society needs to be fully engaged in fuller development of a culture of peace.

Article 7

The educative and informative role of the media contributes to the promotion of a culture of peace.

Article 8

A key role in the promotion of a culture of peace belongs to parents, teachers, politicians, journalists, religious bodies and groups, intellectuals, those engaged in scientific, philosophical and creative and artistic activities, health and humanitarian workers, social workers, managers at various levels as well as to non-governmental organizations.

Article 9

The United Nations should continue to play a critical role in the promotion and strengthening of a culture of peace worldwide.

B. PROGRAMME OF ACTION ON A CULTURE OF PEACE

The General Assembly,

Bearing in mind the Declaration on a Culture of Peace adopted on 13 September 1999,

Adopts the following Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace:

A. Aims, strategies and main actors

1. The Programme of Action should serve as the basis for the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World.

2. Member States are encouraged to take actions for promoting a culture of peace at the national level as well as at the regional and international levels.

3. Civil society should be involved at the local, regional and national levels to widen the scope of activities on a culture of peace.
4. The United Nations system should strengthen its ongoing efforts to promote a culture of peace.

5. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization should continue to play its important role in and make major contributions to the promotion of a culture of peace.

6. Partnerships between and among the various actors as set out in the Declaration should be encouraged and strengthened for a global movement for a culture of peace.

7. A culture of peace could be promoted through sharing of information among actors on their initiatives in this regard.

8. Effective implementation of the Programme of Action requires mobilization of resources, including financial resources, by interested Governments, organizations and individuals.

B. Strengthening actions at the national, regional and international levels by all relevant actors

9. Actions to foster a culture of peace through education:

(a) Reinvigorate national efforts and international cooperation to promote the goals of education for all with a view to achieving human, social and economic development and for promoting a culture of peace;

(b) Ensure that children, from an early age, benefit from education on the values, attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of life to enable them to resolve any dispute peacefully and in a spirit of respect for human dignity and of tolerance and non-discrimination;

(d) Ensure equality of access to education for women, especially girls;

(e) Encourage revision of educational curricula, including textbooks, bearing in mind the 1995 Declaration and Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy³ for which technical cooperation should be provided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization upon request;

(f) Encourage and strengthen efforts by actors as identified in the Declaration, in particular the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, aimed at developing values and skills conducive to a culture of peace, including education and training in promoting dialogue and consensusbuilding;

(g) Strengthen the ongoing efforts of the relevant entities of the United Nations system aimed at training and education, where appropriate, in the areas of conflict prevention and crisis management, peaceful settlement of disputes, as well as in post-conflict peace-building;

(h) Expand initiatives to promote a culture of peace undertaken by institutions of higher education in various parts of the world, including the United Nations University, the University for Peace and the project for twinning universities and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Chairs Programme.

10. Actions to promote sustainable economic and social development:

(a) Undertake comprehensive actions on the basis of appropriate strategies and agreed targets to eradicate poverty through national and international efforts, including through international cooperation;

(b) Strengthen the national capacity for implementation of policies and programmes designed to reduce economic and social inequalities within nations through, inter alia, international cooperation;

(c) Promote effective and equitable development-oriented and durable solutions to the external debt and debt-servicing problems of developing countries through, inter alia, debt relief;.

(d) Reinforce actions at all levels to implement national strategies for sustainable food security, including the development of actions to mobilize and optimize the allocation and utilization of resources from all sources, including through international cooperation, such as resources coming from debt relief;

(e) Undertake further efforts to ensure that the development process is participatory and that development projects involve the full participation of all;

(f) Include a gender perspective and empowerment of women and girls as an integral part of the development process;

(g) Include in development strategies special measures focusing on needs of women and children as well as groups with special needs;

(h) Strengthen, through development assistance in post-conflict situations, rehabilitation, reintegration and reconciliation processes involving all engaged in conflicts;

(i) Incorporate capacity-building in development strategies and projects to ensure environmental sustainability, including preservation and regeneration of the natural resource base;

(j) Remove obstacles to the realization of the right of peoples to self-determination, in particular of peoples living under colonial or other forms of alien domination or foreign occupation, which adversely affect their social and economic development.

11. Actions to promote respect for all human rights:

(a) Full implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action;⁴

(b) Encouragement of development of national plans of action for the promotion and protection of all human rights;

(c) Strengthening of national institutions and capacities in the field of human rights, including through national human rights institutions;

(d) Realization and implementation of the right to development, as established in the Declaration on the Right to Development⁵ and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action;

(e) Achievement of the goals of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995–2004);⁶

(f) Dissemination and promotion of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at all levels;

(g) Further support to the activities of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the fulfilment of her or his mandate as established in General Assembly resolution 48/141 of 20 December 1993, as well as the responsibilities set by subsequent resolutions and decisions.

12. Actions to ensure equality between women and men:

(a) Integration of a gender perspective into the implementation of all relevant international instruments;

(b) Further implementation of international instruments that promote equality between women and men;

(c) Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women,⁷ with adequate resources and political will, and through, inter alia, the elaboration, implementation and follow-up of the national plans of action;

(d) Promotion of equality between women and men in economic, social and political decisionmaking;

(e) Further strengthening of efforts by the relevant entities of the United Nations system for the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against women;

(f) Provision of support and assistance to women who have become victims of any forms of violence, including in the home, workplace and during armed conflicts.
13. Actions to foster democratic participation:

(a) Reinforcement of the full range of actions to promote democratic principles and practices;

(b) Special emphasis on democratic principles and practices at all levels of formal, informal and onformal education;

(c) Establishment and strengthening of national institutions and processes that promote and sustain democracy through, inter alia, training and capacity-building of public officials;

(d) Strengthening of democratic participation through, inter alia, the provision of electoral assistance upon the request of States concerned and based on relevant United Nations guidelines;

(e) Combating of terrorism, organized crime, corruption as well as production, trafficking and consumption of illicit drugs and money laundering, as they undermine democracies and impede the fuller development of a culture of peace.

14. Actions to advance understanding, tolerance and solidarity:

(a) Implement the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance and the Follow-up Plan of Action for the United Nations Year for Tolerance (1995);⁸

(b) Support activities in the context of the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations in the year 2001;

(c) Study further the local or indigenous practices and traditions of dispute settlement and promotion of tolerance with the objective of learning from them;

(d) Support actions that foster understanding, tolerance and solidarity throughout society, in particular with vulnerable groups;

(e) Further support the attainment of the goals of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People;

(f) Support actions that foster tolerance and solidarity with refugees and displaced persons, bearing in mind the objective of facilitating their voluntary return and social integration;

(g) Support actions that foster tolerance and solidarity with migrants;

(h) Promote increased understanding, tolerance and cooperation among all peoples through, inter alia, appropriate use of new technologies and dissemination of information;

(i) Support actions that foster understanding, tolerance, solidarity and cooperation among peoples and within and among nations.

15. Actions to support participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge:

(a) Support the important role of the media in the promotion of a culture of peace;

(b) Ensure freedom of the press and freedom of information and communication;

(c) Make effective use of the media for advocacy and dissemination of information on a culture of peace involving, as appropriate, the United Nations and relevant regional, national and local mechanisms;

(d) Promote mass communication that enables communities to express their needs and participate in decision-making;

(e) Take measures to address the issue of violence in the media, including new communication technologies, inter alia, the Internet;

(f) Increase efforts to promote the sharing of information on new information technologies, including the Internet.

16. Actions to promote international peace and security:

(a) Promote general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control, taking into account the priorities established by the United Nations in the field of disarmament;

(b) Draw, where appropriate, on lessons conducive to a culture of peace learned from “military conversion” efforts as evidenced in some countries of the world;

(c) Emphasize the inadmissibility of acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in all parts of the world;

(d) Encourage confidence-building measures and efforts for negotiating peaceful settlements;

(e) Take measures to eliminate illicit production and traffic of small arms and light weapons;

(f) Support initiatives, at the national, regional and international levels, to address concrete problems arising from post-conflict situations, such as demobilization, reintegration of former combatants into society, as well as refugees and displaced persons, weapon collection programmes, exchange of information and confidence-building;

(g) Discourage the adoption of and refrain from any unilateral measure, not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations, that impedes the full achievement of economic and social development by the population of the affected countries, in particular women and children, that hinders their well-being, that creates obstacles to the full enjoyment of their human rights, including the right of everyone to a standard of living adequate for their health and well-being and their right to food, medical care and the necessary social services, while reaffirming that food and medicine must not be used as a tool for political pressure;

(h) Refrain from military, political, economic or any other form of coercion, not in accordance with international law and the Charter, aimed against the political independence or territorial integrity of any State;

(i) Recommend proper consideration for the issue of the humanitarian impact of sanctions, in particular on women and children, with a view to minimizing the humanitarian effects of sanctions;

(j) Promote greater involvement of women in prevention and resolution of conflicts and, in particular, in activities promoting a culture of peace in post-conflict situations;

(k) Promote initiatives in conflict situations such as days of tranquillity to carry out immunization and medicine distribution campaigns, corridors of peace to ensure delivery of humanitarian supplies and sanctuaries of peace to respect the central role of health and medical institutions such as hospitals and clinics;

(l) Encourage training in techniques for the understanding, prevention and resolution of conflict for the concerned staff of the United Nations, relevant regional organizations and Member States, upon request, where appropriate.

ECE regional preparatory meeting on the 2000 review of implementation of the Beijing platform for action 19-21 January 2000, Geneva

AGREED CONCLUSIONS

Chapter III: Women and girls in armed-conflict situations

Introduction

The ECE member States reaffirm their previous commitments concerning violence against women expressed in the past at various levels: the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993); the ECE Regional Platform for Action (Vienna, 1994) chapters III A and IV A; the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) - critical area of concern E; reinforced by inter alia the Commission on the Status of Women Agreed Conclusions on women and armed conflict (1998).

Positive developments

Recognition of the violation of the human rights of women in armed-conflict situations as violations of the fundamental principles of international human rights and humanitarian law; increased awareness of gender-based violence during armed conflicts; some progress in international legislation in this area; and increased acknowledgement of the importance of women participation in conflict prevention, peace-building and in post-conflict situations.

Negative developments

Recent armed conflicts of international and non-international character, resulting in a growing number of civilians affected, hence greater risk of women and girls being victims of gender-based violence in armed-conflict situations; particular vulnerability of disabled and displaced women and girls, elderly women and also those who are members of minority groups; despite the fact that since 1994, it has been recognized as a war crime, rape as a planned and systematic act is often used as a weapon of war, particularly in recent conflicts in Southeastern Europe; other forms of violence such as forced migration, sexual exploitation and forced prostitution; consequences of rape in terms of physical, psychological and mental trauma, forced pregnancy, greater risk of infection by HIV/AIDS and rejection by family and community; loss of adequate health conditions and reproductive rights, including availability of efficient contraception; consequences of the use of certain weapons like anti-personnel mines; in the aftermath of a war, traumas for refugees and internally displaced women and girls, in particular widows, women who have been subject to forced pregnancies, fatherless girls, mothers who have lost or have been separated from their children and single women without any state, family or kinship protection, and consequent risk of being marginalized by society; strong link between the ideologies of intolerance, ethnic cleansing and cultures that exclude women and violation of human rights as a major source of conflict; economic hardships for women due to loss of male members of the family, loss of means of subsistence, housing, property and land, and deprivation of means to make a living; insufficient action for addressing the specific needs of women and their children during and after repatriation; in peace-building and reconstruction processes, women often continuing to be excluded from decision-making.

In view of the above situation, the following key areas for action can be identified:

A. Developing international and national legislation against gender-based violence and enhancing its implementation

Strategic direction 1: Developing, adopting and ratifying legislation

ECE governments

to take initiatives, as appropriate, to ensure full implementation of the provisions of international legal instruments relating to gender-based violence in armed conflicts; and to consider ways to reinforce these provisions; in this context, to give particular consideration to violence against women and girls in non-international armed conflicts;

in those countries that have not yet done so, to consider becoming party to relevant international legal instruments, and to consider signing and ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Optional Protocol to CEDAW;

to review national legislation to ensure where necessary that sanctions are strengthened and prosecutions are effected against perpetrators of all forms of gender-based violence both in peaceful time as well as in armed-conflict situations.

Strategic direction 2: Enhancing the implementation of legislation

ECE governments

to adopt the necessary measures to ensure that they implement in full their international obligations with respect to the repression of war crimes and to ensure that the perpetrators of gender-based crimes are identified and prosecuted;

to consider providing effective witness protection programmes, including after trial;

to provide adequate training of judicial, military, peacekeeping and law enforcement personnel in the application and monitoring of international and national human rights, humanitarian and refugee law and standards and also the effect of gender-based violence on women and girls.

B. Protecting and supporting the victims of gender-based violence during and after conflict situations

Strategic direction 1: Ensuring the human rights of women and girls victims of violence in and after armed conflicts

ECE governments and NGOs

to consider providing assistance to women and girls affected by armed conflicts to regain their status in society in political, social, economic and legal terms and recognition that women have equal inheritance rights. Particular attention to be given to women who, due to missing family members, are left in a state of uncertainty, lose their rights and are not eligible for assistance (e.g. assistance schemes for widows and single-headed households);

to ensure that women and girls affected by armed conflicts are informed of their human rights procured under international and national international and national law, and have access at the earliest possible opportunity to legal redress against violation;

in case of repatriation of refugees and displaced persons, to provide a safe and voluntary return with dignity to their country or home of origin, taking into account the specific needs of mothers with children, widows, elderly women and unaccompanied girls;

to ensure that women affected by armed conflict receive as soon as possible support in order to be able to exercise their rights;

ECE governments

to build consensus and develop a common policy to facilitate intervention in places/countries where human rights of women and girls in particular are violated;

to apply international norms to ensure equal access and equal treatment of women and men in refugee determination procedures and the granting of asylum.

Strategic direction 2: Improving rehabilitation and reintegration programmes

ECE governments, international organizations and NGOs

to empower women involved in all conflict situations, including women refugees and displaced women, by involving them in the design and management of humanitarian activities and ensuring, that they benefit from these programmes on an equal basis with men;

to strengthen, or introduce where they do not exist, gender-sensitive and targeted policies and programmes to address the needs of women and girls during and after armed conflict situations;

to further develop, after consultations with affected women and girls and women NGOs, commonly agreed guidelines for action, integrating medical, psychological and social components of assistance programmes for women and girls victims of all forms of violence, to be used by relevant governmental entities (national and local), international organizations and NGOs;

to ensure that the sexual health and the human, reproductive and health rights of women and girls affected by armed conflict are respected, protected and fulfilled. Governments should also ensure support for women-centred health care services;

to design and support programmes for economic reintegration in particular through skills-training and income-generation programmes;

ECE governments, bilateral and multilateral aid agencies and NGOs

to consider funding and other support for empowering women, or establishing where they do not exist, specific national/international funds for empowering women and women’s organizations to contribute to building a new life for women in post-conflict periods, in particular by making available: medical, psychological and other services, shelter, legal counselling, as well as credit and skills training to enable women to regain self-reliance;

to integrate a gender perspective into all humanitarian activities.

C. Creating an enabling environment for lasting peace

Strategic direction 1: Recognizing and promoting the role of women in all peace processes

ECE governments, international organizations and NGOs

to recognize and increase the participation of women, including marginalized women, at all levels of decision-making and implementation in all peace processes: conflict prevention, conflict resolution, peace-making, peace-keeping and peace-building;

to ensure women’s participation, including marginalized women, in all conflict and peace-related processes and institutions, member States are encouraged to set benchmarks, indicators, deadlines and monitoring processes;

to bring in local women’s NGOs as partners in the design and implementation of strategies, plans and concrete programmes;

to support confidence building by strengthening civil forces, as well as peace and reconciliation groups, and in particular by fully involving women in these movements;

in the aftermath of conflict, to encourage the involvement of women in all stages of the design, planning and implementation of post-conflict transformation as opposed to simply reconstruction, and to mainstream a gender perspective in all measures to be taken;

to recognize that women in conflict regions are not only victims of armed conflicts, but also partners and contributors for non-violent conflict prevention and resolution, peacemaking, and reconstruction.

Strategic direction 2: Promoting peace

ECE governments

to support the reconstruction of democratic institutions in areas of armed conflicts as a basic condition for promoting equality between women and men;

ECE governments and international organizations

to provide support for, inter alia, professional development and gender-sensitive training for women to take roles at the highest levels; coordination of NGO networks for women, youth, children and peace; conflict prevention, management and resolution centres run by gender-sensitive organizations including women’s organizations; development and implementation of gender-sensitive curricula in all educational institutions;

ECE governments, research institutions and NGOs

to promote research on and awareness of the root causes of gender-specific violence;

Governments, educational institutions, NGOs and the media

to promote peace through public campaigns and educational programmes and foster gender-equality and non-discrimination, by opposing all forms of intolerance and racism;

to provide support to exchange programmes of youth and students, especially those including girls, between countries and different cultures to promote mutual understanding.

Chapter IV. Women in power and decision-making

Introduction:

The ECE member States reaffirm their previous commitments concerning equal participation of women and men in decision making, expressed in the past at various levels: the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the Inter-Parliamentary Union Plan of Action (1994); the ECE Regional Platform for Action (Vienna 1994) chapters III E and IV E; the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) - critical area of concern G; reinforced by inter alia the Commission on the Status of Women Agreed Conclusions on Women in Power and Decision Making (1997).

Members of the Council of Europe and the European Union respectively reaffirm their previous commitments to: the Council of Europe Declaration on Equality Between Women and Men as a Fundamental Criterion of Democracy (Istanbul, 1997); the EU Council Recommendation (96/6/94) on the balanced participation of women and men in the decision-making process; and the Paris Declaration of the Conference of the Member States of the European Union (1999).

Positive changes:

Increase in number of women parliamentarians in those countries where awareness raising on equal participation, legislative changes and positive action have taken place; more women entering into local politics in some countries in transition as a result of democratisation, decentralisation and development of civil society; hence, new opportunities for these women to gain leadership skills, experience, knowledge and networking capacity and move into national politics; in most western democracies – increased women’s participation in elected, governmental and other appointed bodies following implementation of tools such as targets, quotas, voluntary agreements and other positive action; such development due to the increasing awareness of gender issues, the existence of institutional mechanisms for gender equality, increased assertiveness and capabilities of women and, in some cases, greater political will; increased recognition and documentation of new knowledge and changes in politics as a result of women’s participation.

Obstacles and barriers:

Persistent prejudice and cultural attitudes that exclude women from leadership especially in some political parties (party culture of masculinity) and countries; persistence of racism, discrimination and other ideologies of intolerance leading to limited access to decision-making bodies for some women because of their cultural and ethnic background; in some countries in transition, representation of women has decreased; insufficient political will and mobilisation in support of positive action and, where appropriate, target-setting to increase women’s share in decision making; some electoral systems remaining unfavourable to women candidates; under-representation of women in party leadership and as a result their lower share in decision making in elected and appointed bodies; women's traditional role as caregivers, insufficient day care and family care facilities, and lack of job sharing, preventing women from increased participation in politics and other decision-making careers; persistent stereotyping including trivialization of women decision-makers and women’s achievements by the media; slow movement of women into decision-making positions due to non transparent recruitment practices and current male-dominated incumbency effect; and additional barriers to women belonging to groups exposed to various discriminations such as those linked to racial or ethnic origin, religion, belief, disability, age, sexual orientation or because they are indigenous people.

In view of the above situation, the following key areas for action can be identified:

A. Creating an enabling environment for an increased participation of women in power and decision-making

Strategic direction 1: Promoting public awareness on the positive role and contribution of women in decision-making positions

ECE governments, parliaments, political parties, media and NGOs

to organize public information campaigns and debates in order to raise awareness in public opinion and the constituencies of political, economic, social and cultural organizations on the principle of equal participation of women and men in decision-making;

to introduce a gender perspective in all debates of their executive bodies on political, economic, defence/peace, social, cultural issues and encourage the participation of women experts;

ECE governments, political parties, educational institutions, media and NGOs

to organize campaigns and programmes, including for girls and boys, aiming at removing stereotypes and prejudices about women's participation in power and decision-making, and showing the benefits of equal participation of women.

Strategic direction 2: Establishing a sound system of monitoring and evaluation

ECE governments

to set up and apply indicators for the monitoring and evaluation of the progress made through government policies in terms of equal participation of women and men in political parties and elected bodies including on the basis of internationally comparable gender disaggregated data;

to compile research findings and information on causes of problems and successes in promoting women to higher positions and to disseminate them as widely as possible;

to regularly submit reports to their parliaments on the trends, obstacles and positive experience of women's involvement in decision-making;

International parliamentarian bodies

to support ECE national parliaments in ensuring an effective monitoring system for women's participation in elected bodies.

B. Fostering women's participation in political parties and elected bodies

Strategic direction 1: Furthering legislative changes and promoting positive action

ECE governments, parliaments and political parties

to consider possible legislative changes (e.g. in the constitution or in the electoral system) which would facilitate a more balanced participation of women and men in elected bodies aiming at full and equal participation;

to recognize the need to include women with different backgrounds in politics at all levels in order to build representative democracy;

ECE governments and political parties

to consider setting time-bound targets with a view to reaching equal participation of women and men in elected assemblies and at all levels of the political parties organization;

to assess different options for the advancement of women, for example, voluntary agreements and positive action such as quotas and targets, where appropriate, and to decide on the most useful measures which will ensure equal participation of women and men in elected assemblies;

ECE governments

to introduce, where possible, incentives for political parties to develop methods to increase the likelihood of women being elected.

Strategic direction 2: Enlarging the pool of eligible women

Political parties and NGOs

to ensure women's access to targeted training, mentoring programs and information about politics;

to provide opportunities for women, including women with diverse backgrounds to gain political experience by encouraging their participation and creating positive conditions for their entry into local and regional politics as well as into national politics;

to promote balanced participation of women and men in positions of decision-making within their organizations.

C. Fostering women's participation in high-level positions in government and appointed bodies

Strategic direction 1: Setting targets and promoting positive action to reach these targets

ECE governments

to consider setting time-bound targets for women's increased representation in government and appointed bodies aiming for their full and equal participation in these bodies;

to encourage a continuous increase, at each renewal, of the number of women on public committees, commissions and public advisory bodies at all levels, to achieve equal participation;

to present more women candidates at senior positions to international organizations.

Strategic direction 2: Ensuring equal opportunity in appointing processes

ECE governments

to ensure transparency in the appointment process for high-level governmental and other bodies and to enlarge the pool of potential women candidates through an active search into existing networks of women decision-makers in relevant areas;

to make a greater number of public office positions accessible to new actors, and, in this regard, to reach out to prospective women candidates to fill these positions.

D. Promoting women’s access to high-level decision-making positions in economic and social spheres (private sector, social partners and NGOs)

Strategic direction 1: Involving women in decision-making processes

Employers, trade unions and NGOs

to take all necessary measures to involve women and women’s organizations in all policy and decision-making processes through consultations and enlarged participation of women in unions and other associations;

Employers and trade unions

to promote balanced participation of women and men in positions of responsibility within employers and workers organizations, as well as in their delegations in the context of collective bargaining;

ECE governments

to encourage government-subsidised associations providing public services or implementing public policies to ensure equal participation of women and men in their decision-making bodies and gender equality in their action strategies.

Strategic direction 2: Ensuring equal opportunity in recruitment and career development

Employers and trade unions

to take positive action, for example, developing equality plans for career development and gender balance in decision-making positions;

to review the criteria for recruitment and appointment to high-level decision-making positions in the private sector and trade unions with a view to ensuring equal opportunity between women and men;

to promote new ways of managing human resources and organizing work which facilitate access by women to positions of responsibility;

to promote career advancement of women through, among others, measures aimed at equal sharing between women and men of work and family responsibilities;

Employers, trade unions and NGOs

to facilitate women's career development in particular that of young women and women re-entering the labour force through mentoring, coaching, training and retraining;

ECE governments

to make the public sector exemplary in terms of women's career development and a balanced distribution of decision-making positions, for instance through the definition of targets and the implementation of positive action;

to stimulate and support actions taken by different actors to ensure equal participation of women and men in decision-making within their organizations.

Beijing + 5 United Nations Report of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly

E. Women and armed conflict

15. Achievements. There is a wider recognition that armed conflict has different destructive impacts on women and men and that a gender-sensitive approach to the application of international human rights law and international humanitarian law is important. Steps have been taken at the national and international levels to address abuses against women, including increased attention to ending impunity for crimes against women in situations of armed conflict. The work of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda has been an important contribution to address violence against women in the context of armed conflict. Also of historical significance is the adoption of the Crime Statute of the International Criminal Court,9 which provides that rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization and other forms of sexual violence are war crimes when committed in the context of armed conflict and also under defined circumstances, crimes against humanity. Women.s contribution in the areas of peace-building, peacemaking and conflict resolution is being increasingly recognized. Education and training on non-violent conflict resolution have been introduced. Progress has been made on the dissemination and implementation of the guidelines for the protection of refugee women, and on addressing the needs of displaced women. Gender-based persecution has been accepted as a basis for refugee status in some countries. There is recognition by Governments, the international community and organizations, in particular the United Nations, that women and men experience humanitarian emergencies differently, and there is a need for a more holistic support for refugee and displaced women, including those who have suffered all forms of abuse, including gender-specific abuse, to ensure equal access to appropriate and adequate food and nutrition, clean water, safe sanitation, shelter, education, social and health services, including reproductive health care and maternity care. There is greater recognition of the need to integrate a gender perspective in the planning, design and implementation of humanitarian assistance and to provide adequate resources. Humanitarian relief agencies and civil society, including non-governmental organizations, have played an increasingly important role in the provision of humanitarian assistance, as well as in the design, where appropriate, and implementation of programmes to address the needs of women and girls, including refugee and displaced women and girls in humanitarian emergencies, and in conflict and post-conflict situations.

16. Obstacles. Peace is inextricably linked to equality between women and men and development. Armed and other types of conflicts, wars of aggression, foreign occupation, colonial or other alien domination, as well as terrorism, continue to cause serious obstacles to the advancement of women. The targeting of civilians, including women and children, the displacement of people, and the recruitment of child soldiers in violation of national or international law, by State and/or non-State actors, which occur in armed conflicts, have had a particularly adverse impact on gender equality and women.s human rights. Armed conflict creates or exacerbates the high level of female-headed households, which in many cases are living in poverty. The underrepresentation, at all levels, of women in decision-making positions, such as special envoys or special representatives of the Secretary General, in peacekeeping, peace-building, post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction, as well as lack of gender awareness in these areas, presents serious obstacles. There has been a failure to provide sufficient resources, to adequately distribute those resources and to address the needs of increasing numbers of refugees, who are mostly women and children, particularly to developing countries hosting large numbers of refugees; international assistance has not kept pace with the increasing number of refugees. The growing number of internally displaced persons and the provision of their needs, in particular women and children, continue to represent a double burden to the affected countries and their financial resources. Inadequate training of personnel dealing with the needs of women in situations of armed conflict or as refugees, such as a shortage of specific programmes that address the healing of women from trauma and skills training, remains a problem.

17. Excessive military expenditures, including global military expenditures, trade in arms and investment for arms production, taking into consideration national security requirements, direct the possible allocation of funds away from social and economic development, in particular for the advancement of women. In several countries, economic sanctions have had social and humanitarian impacts on the civilian population, in particular women and children.

18. In some countries, advancement of women is adversely affected by unilateral measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that create obstacles to trade relations among States, impede the full realization of social and economic development and hinder the well-being of thepopulation in the affected countries, with particular consequences for women and children.

19. In situations of armed conflict, there are continued violations of human rights of women, which are violations of fundamental principles of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. There has been an increase in all forms of violence against women, including sexual slavery, rape, systematic rape, sexual abuse and forced pregnancies, in situations of armed conflict. Displacement compounded by loss of home and property, poverty, family disintegration and separation and other consequences of armed conflict are severely affecting the populations, especially women and children. Girls are also abducted or recruited, in violation of international law, into situations of armed conflict, including as combatants, sexual slaves or providers of domestic services.

G. Women in power and decision-making

22. Achievements. There has been growing acceptance of the importance to society of the full participation of women in decision-making and power at all levels and in all forums, including the intergovernmental, governmental and non-governmental sectors. In some countries, women have also attained higher positions in these spheres. An increasing number of countries applied affirmative and positive actionpolicies, including quota systems or voluntary agreements in some countries and measurable goals and targets, developed training programmes for women’s leadership, and introduced measures to reconcile family and work responsibilities of both women and men. National mechanisms and machineries for the advancement of women as well as national and international networks of women politicians, parliamentarians, activists and professionals in various fields have been established or upgraded and strengthened.

23. Obstacles. Despite general acceptance of the need for a gender balance in decision-making bodies at all levels, a gap between de jure and de facto equality has persisted. Notwithstanding substantial improvement of de jure equality between women and men, the actual participation of women at the highest levels of national and international decision-making has not significantly changed since the time of the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, and gross underrepresentation of women in decision-making bodies in all areas, including politics, conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms, the economy, the environment and the media, hinders the inclusion of a gender perspective in these critical spheres of influence. Women continue to be underrepresented at the legislative, ministerial and sub-ministerial levels, as well as at the highest levels of the corporate sector and other economic and social institutions. Traditionally assigned gender roles limit women.s choices in education and careers and compel women to assume the burden for household responsibilities. Initiatives and programmes aimed at women.s increased participation in decision-making were hindered by a lack of human and financial resources for training and advocacy for political careers; gender-sensitive attitudes towards women in society, awareness of women to engage in decision-making in some cases; accountability of elected officials and political parties for promoting gender equality and women.s participation in public life; social awareness of the importance of balanced participation of women and men in decision-making; willingness on the part of men to share power; sufficient dialogue and cooperation with women.s NGOs, along with organizational and political structures, which enable all women to participate in all spheres of political decision-making.

Resolution 1325 (2000) of the United Nations Security Council

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),

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 contribute 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 decisionmaking levels in conflict resolution and peace processes;

3. Urges the Secretary General to appoint more women as special representatives 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 especially among military observers, civilian police, human rights and humanitarian 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 peacebuilding measures, invites Member States to incorporate these elements 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 resettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction;

(b) Measures that support local women’s peace initiatives and indigenous processes for conflict resolution, and that involve women in all of the implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements;

(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 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;

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 exemptions;

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 throughout peacekeeping missions and all other aspects relating to women and girls;

18. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

APPENDIX

Windhoek Declaration on the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group

Windhoek, 31 May 2000

In a world riven by war, women and men yearn for peace and are everywhere striving to resolve conflict and bring about peace, reconciliation and stability in their communities, their countries and through the United Nations and regional organizations.

United Nations peace operations have evolved from peacekeeping, in its traditional sense, towards multidimensional peace support operations. So far, women have been denied their full role in these efforts, both nationally and internationally, nor has the gender dimension in peace processes been adequately addressed. In order to ensure the effectiveness of peace support operations, the principles of gender equity and equality must permeate the entire mission, at all levels, thus ensuring the participation of women and men as equal partners and beneficiaries in all aspects of the peace process, from peacekeeping, reconciliation and peacebuilding, towards a situation of political stability in which women and men play an equal part in the political, economic and social development of their country.

Having considered these matters in Windhoek at a seminar on mainstreaming a gender perspective in multidimensional peace support operations organized by the Lessons Learned Unit of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Secretariat and hosted by the Government of Namibia from 29 to 31 May 2000, the seminar looked at practical ways in which the United Nations system and Members States can bring the aims set out above closer to realization. In that regard, the seminar recommends the Namibia Plan of Action and urges the Secretary General to ensure that appropriate follow-up measures are taken to implement it, in consultation with Member States, and that periodic progress reviews are undertaken.

Namibia Plan of Action on ‘Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective In Multidimensional Peace Support Operations’

1. Negotiations in Furtherance of a Ceasefire and/or Peace Agreements:

Equal access and participation by women and men should be ensured in the area of conflict at all levels and stages of the peace process.
In negotiations for a ceasefire and/or peace agreements, women should be an integral part of the negotiating team and process. The negotiating team and/or facilitators should ensure that gender issues are placed on the agenda and that those issues are addressed fully in the agreement.

2. Mandate

The initial assessment mission for any peace support operation should include a senior adviser on gender mainstreaming.
The Secretary General's initial report to the Security Council, based on the assessment mission, should include the issue of gender mainstreaming, and should propose adequate budgetary provisions.
Security Council resolutions setting up and extending peace support operations should incorporate a specific mandate on gender mainstreaming.
All mandates for peace support operations should refer to the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as other relevant international legal instruments.
Follow-on mechanisms should be established within the mission's mandate to carry over tasks to implement fully gender mainstreaming in the post-conflict reconstruction period.

3. Leadership

In accordance with the Secretary General's target of 50 per cent women in managerial and decision-making positions, more determined efforts must be made to select and appoint female Special Representatives of the Secretary General and senior field staff for peace support operations.
A comprehensive database with information specifically on female candidates with their qualifications, both military and civilian, should be maintained.
An Advisory Board should be set up within the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), preferably with qualified external participation, to ensure that this database and existing lists of female candidates are given due consideration.
Special Representatives of the Secretary General and senior mission personnel should receive an in-depth briefing on gender mainstreaming issues prior to deployment.

4. Planning, Structure and Resources of Missions

A gender affairs unit is crucial for effective gender mainstreaming and should be a standard component of all missions. It should be adequately funded and staffed at appropriate levels and should have direct access to senior decision-makers.
The DPKO-led operational planning teams at United Nations Headquarters must include gender specialists and representatives of other United Nations agencies and organizations dealing with gender issues.
All DPKO and Department of Political Affairs briefings to the Security Council, as well as formal and informal briefings to the General Assembly legislative bodies, Member States and other relevant bodies, should integrate gender issues related to that particular mission.
There is a need for the financial authorities of the United Nations, particularly the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, to give priority to the funding of gender mainstreaming.
Lessons learned from current and prior missions on gender should be incorporated at the planning stage of a new mission. To this end, the compilation of good practices on gender mainstreaming should be constantly updated.

5. Recruitment

The United Nations must set an example by rapidly increasing the number of senior female civilian personnel in peace support operations in all relevant Headquarters departments, including DPKO, and in the field.
Member States should be asked to increase the number of women in their military and civilian police forces who are qualified to serve in peace support operations at all levels, including the most senior. To this end, a stronger mechanism than the current note verbale to troop-contributing nations should be developed. Requests to troop-contributing nations could be tailor-made to nations that are known to have suitable female staff, while other potential troop-contributing nations could be encouraged to develop longer-term strategies to increase the number and rank of female personnel in their respective forces.
The terms of reference, including eligibility requirements, for all heads of mission components and their personnel should be reviewed and modified to facilitate the increased participation of women, and, depending on the outcome of that review, special measures should be taken to secure this goal.
All agreements and individual contracts governing the assignment of personnel, including arrangements for United Nations Volunteers, should reflect the gender-related obligations and responsibilities of those personnel. In particular, the code of conduct should be addressed in all of these documents.

6. Training

Troop-contributing nations, which are training military, police and civilian personnel specifically for their participation in peace support operations, should involve a higher percentage of women in that training.
Gender issues should be mainstreamed throughout all regional and national training curricula and courses for peace support operations, particularly those sponsored directly by the Training Unit of DPKO.
In order to meet United Nations standards for behaviour, DPKO should provide gender awareness guidelines and materials so that Member States can incorporate these elements into their national training programmes for military and civilian police personnel in preparation for deployment. Such training should be enhanced by United Nations Training Assistance Teams and train-the-trainers programmes.
Obligatory induction training with regard to gender issues held upon arrival at mission areas should include the following:

– Code of Conduct;
– Culture, history and social norms of the host country;
– Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and
– Sexual harassment and sexual assault.

7. Procedures

DPKO should consider the gender mainstreaming mechanisms currently used by United Nations agencies and adopt an appropriate version for their field operations. DPKO directives should be amended to include gender mainstreaming.
The reporting mechanisms between the field and Headquarters on gender mainstreaming need to be clarified.
A post for a Senior Gender Adviser in DPKO, to serve as gender focal point for field missions, should be funded under the regular budget or the peacekeeping support account and filled as a matter of urgency.
The terms of reference of the Senior Gender Adviser should ensure a proper interchange of information and experience between gender units in individual missions.
The functions and roles of mission gender units/advisers should be announced to all personnel.
Standard Operating Procedures applying to all components of missions should be developed on the issues of sexual assault and sexual harassment.

8. Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability

Accountability for all issues relating to gender mainstreaming at the field level should be vested at the highest level, in the Secretary General's Special Representative, who should be assigned the responsibility of ensuring that gender mainstreaming is implemented in all areas and components of the mission.
The Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and other concerned legislative bodies should submit recommendations to the General Assembly promoting gender mainstreaming in peace operations.
Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess the implementation of the United Nations gender mainstreaming objectives should be established at United Nations Headquarters and at peacekeeping missions, in consultation with the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women.
The current format of reporting, particularly with regard to situation reports and periodic reports of the Secretary General, should include progress on gender mainstreaming throughout peacekeeping missions.
There should be periodic and end-of-mission evaluations, led by an independent external team, of the degree to which the United Nations gender mainstreaming approach and objectives have been integrated into all policies and activities of each peace support operation. The first studies should be on East Timor and Kosovo.
Reporting mechanisms should be established to monitor the effects of the implementation of the peace agreement on the host country population from a gender perspective.
Research should be encouraged on the short- and long-term effects of the gender dimension of peace support operations on the host country population. Such research should be designed to strengthen host country research capacity, in particular that of women researchers.

9. Public Awareness

All possible means should be employed to increase public awareness of the importance of gender mainstreaming in peace support operations. In this connection, the media should play a significant and positive role.

European Parliament resolution on participation of women in peaceful conflict resolution (2000/2025(INI))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948, and to the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action resulting from the World Conference on Human Rights of 14-25 June 1993, in particular paragraphs I 28-29 and II 38 on systematic rape, sexual slavery and forced pregnancy in situations of armed conflict,

- having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of 18 December 1979, to the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women of 20 December 1993, and to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989,

- having regard to the General Assembly Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 10 December 1984, and to the General Assembly Declaration 3318 on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict of 14 December 1974, in particular paragraph 4 which calls for effective measures against persecution, torture, violence and degrading treatment of women,

- having regard to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1265 on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict of 17 September 1999, in particular paragraph 14, requesting that United Nations personnel involved in peacekeeping and peace-building activities have appropriate training in human rights law, including gender-related provisions,

- having regard to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3519 on Women's Participation in the Strengthening of International Peace and Security of 15 December 1975, and to the United Nations General Assembly Declaration 37/63 on the Participation of Women in Promoting International Peace and Cooperation of 3 December 1982, in particular paragraph 12 on practical measures to increase women's representation in peace efforts,

- having regard to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action resulting from the Forth United Nations World Conference on Women of 4-15 September 1995, in particular critical concern area E on Women and Armed Conflict, and to the outcome document of the United Nations Beijing +5 Special Session on further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action of 5-9 June 2000, in particular paragraph 13 on obstacles to women's equal participation in peace-building efforts, and paragraph 124 on a 50/50 gender balance in peacekeeping missions and peace negotiations,

- having regard to the International Criminal Court resulting from the Rome Statute of 1998, in particular Articles 7 and 8 defining rape, sexual slavery, forced impregnation, forced sterilisation and any other form of sexual violence as crimes against humanity and war crimes, including as a form of torture and a grave war crime, whether they occur in a systematic or non-methodical manner, and whether these acts occur in international or internal conflicts,

- having regard to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the additional Protocols of 1977, stating that women will be protected against rape, and any other form of sexual assault,

- having regard to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950, in particular Articles 3 and 4, which prohibit inhuman treatment or punishment and torture, as well as slavery,

- having regard to the European Council resolution on Integrating Gender in Development of 20 December 1995, in particular paragraph 19 stressing that a gender perspective must be paramount in emergency operations and crisis prevention,

- having regard to the Declaration and Agenda for Action of the United Nations Millenium Forum on the Strengthening of the United Nations for the 21^st Century of 26 May 2000, in particular paragraph 11 of section B on gender training for all peacekeeping personnel,

- having regard to its resolution on women in decision-making of 2 March 2000⁽¹⁾, in particular recital I and paragraph 14 on women's participation in peace-keeping, peace-building and conflict-preventing activities,

- having regard to its resolution of 13 April 1984⁽²⁾ on the application of the Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees, in particular paragraphs 1 and 2 on providing refugee status to women who face harsh or inhumane treatment because they are considered to have transgressed the social mores of the society in which they live,

- having regard to its resolution of 17 December 1992⁽³⁾ on the rape of women in the former Yugoslavia, in particular paragraph 2 calling for the recognition of rape as a war crime and crime against humanity,

- having regard to its resolution of 11 March 1993⁽⁴⁾ on the rape of women in former Yugoslavia, in particular paragraph 14 calling for proper medical support for women rape victims, specifically facilities for termination of pregnancy, where that is the woman's wish,

- having regard to the outcome documents of its public hearing of 26-27 June 1995 on gender specific human rights violations, and its public hearing of 18 February 1993 on rape as a war crime in Bosnia, in particular their recognition of the upheaval that refugee status brings to the lives of women, and the latter's call for financial compensation for victims of rape in armed conflict,

- having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities (A5-0308/2000),

A. whereas the Geneva Convention does not refer to acts of sexual violence as a "grave breach crime" or as a specific form of torture thereby making it ambiguous whether sexual violence is always considered a war crime,

B. whereas women develop strength, power and flexibility in certain situations, recognise abuses and are prepared to take initiatives for their families and for society, thereby bringing about positive changes ,

C. whereas the United Nations General Assembly Declaration 3318 on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict is technically vague, failing to mention sexual violence or the specific needs of refugee women,

D. whereas 4/5 of the world's refugees are women and children and 90 % of war victims are now civilians, mainly women and children,

E. whereas rape and sexual violence have been shown to be highly prevalent in refugee camps in, for example, Kenya and Tanzania,

F. whereas rape as a weapon of war has been documented throughout history, most recently in the former Yugoslavia, Sudan, Liberia, Uganda, Peru, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Somalia, Rwanda, Bangladesh, as well as in other conflicts,

G. whereas a wide spectrum of studies demonstrate that the mobilisation of male soldiers - both warring factions and peacekeepers - contributes to the growth of prostitution around military bases and army camps, subsequently increasing child prostitution, and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases,

H. whereas armed factions in conflicts across the globe, for instance in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Sudan, have captured young girls and women and forced them into sexual slavery,

I. whereas women who are raped during war are often stigmatised by their local communities and often not provided with health care or psychological trauma services,

J. whereas several peacekeepers from European Union Member States have been dismissed from United Nations missions for acts of sexual violence in Somalia and Mozambique,

K. whereas only four European Union Member States - Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg - have ratified the Rome Statute out of the sixty states necessary to authorise the International Criminal Court (ICC),

L. whereas, as a consequence of armed conflict, the breakdown of socio-economic systems and increased levels of poverty, trafficking of women is a growing phenomenon in areas of conflict,

M. whereas women's peace initiatives often cross warring factions - as in the Middle East, Cyprus and Northern Ireland - and are often undertaken at great risk in areas of extreme conflict - as in Sudan, Lebanon and Russia,

N. whereas women are often marginalized or excluded from negotiation and diplomacy aimed at ending armed conflicts, as was the case in peace talks in, for example, Burundi, Tajikistan, and most recently in Kosovo,

O. whereas the rights, priorities and interests of women are frequently ignored in formal peace negotiations,

P. whereas women's full participation in decision-making, conflict prevention and resolution and all peace initiatives is vital; whereas their participation in peacekeeping missions has not been numerically significant until the 1990s, the increased presence of women in the civilian, military and police components of peacekeeping operations has resulted in improved relations with local communities, which is essential to the creation of a sustainable peace,

Q. whereas donor attention during demobilisation of military forces and warring factions generally focuses on men, resulting in women often being excluded from aid and development programs associated with reconstruction,

R. whereas the needs of girl soldiers - who have often been raped, used as sex slaves, had unwanted pregnancies, have venereal diseases and/or AIDS - are generally not incorporated in demobilisation initiatives,

S. stressing that sustainable peace is in many ways contingent on community-based involvement and ownership of the peace process - a process which can only be legitimate if women are equally involved - and that the role of the international community in supporting civil society networks that link local, national, and international initiatives is crucial to the peace process,

I. The protection of war affected populations

1. Condemns systematic rape, forced impregnation, sexual slavery, and all other forms of gender-based violence in situations of armed conflict;

2. Condemns the sexual misconduct of soldiers involved in peacekeeping operations;

3. Condemns the use of child soldiers of both sexes;

4. Calls upon the Member States to take all necessary steps to amend Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Protocol to define rape, forced impregnation, sexual slavery, forced sterilization, and any other forms of sexual violence as grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions;

5. Calls upon Member States to ratify the Treaty of Rome authorising an International Criminal Court, which formally recognises rape, forced impregnation, forced sterilisation, sexual slavery and any other form of sexual violence as crimes against humanity and war crimes, including as a form of torture and a grave war crime, whether they occur in a systematic or non-methodical manner ;

6. Calls on the Member States to take action at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and advocate the updating of the wording of the Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict to include sexual violence and the specific needs of refugee women;

7. Calls on the Member States to take action at the United Nations to ensure the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on women in armed conflict situations;

8. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to gender sensitise peace and security related initiatives, and to that end:

(a) provide training on the gender-aspects of conflict resolution and peace-building to staff engaged in policies concerning conflict at headquarters and in field offices,
(b) utilise local gender expertise in field offices,
(c) foster research on the development of gender-based violence during and after armed conflicts,
(d) provide gender training at an early stage in the training of military personnel so that respect for women becomes a matter of course and a female-friendly atmosphere prevails in the army,
(e) ensure that actions against trafficking in women in conflict affected areas form part of such initiatives;

9. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to integrate a gender perspective in the planning of refugee camps under their funding auspices, and to that end:

(a) make sure that all the initiatives they fund are in line with international agreements and norms concerning refugee women, such as the UNHCR guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women and on the Prevention of and Response to Sexual Violence against Refugees,
(b) protect refugees and internally displaced women and children from the possibility of sexual abuse through the provision of appropriate preventive measures at the very stage when camps are divided up,
(c) secure the right of women refugees to self-determination through appropriate economic opportunities and equal representation in refugee committees and other decision-making bodies in refugee camps,
(d) secure safe conditions of return for women and girls returning to their geographical areas of origin;

10. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to make available adequate financial resources so that victims of rape and assault in areas with an armed conflict can receive psychological counselling and have the choice between terminating the pregnancy or giving birth discreetly and so that victims of these outrages can be protected;

11. Calls on the Commission to set aside a certain percentage of the EUR 216 million refugee fund for the training of reception centre civil servants, police officers, and health staff to meet the particular needs of refugee women;

12. Calls on the Member States to introduce a gender perspective in their refugee policies, and to that end:

(a) under specific conditions grant temporary refugee status to women who have been raped or have been subjected to other forms of sexual violence during armed conflict, occupation and/or transition,
(b) provide rape victims with treatment for trauma and offer them practical help as outlined in paragraph 14 of its aforementioned resolution of 11 March 1993 on the rape of women in Former Yugoslavia,
(c) ensure that detention/reception centres for refugees include separate facilities for non-related men and women, concurrent with the appointment of gender trained staff in the women's section;

II. International efforts to prevent and solve armed conflicts

13. Calls on the Member States to promote equal participation of women in diplomatic conflict resolution and reconstruction initiatives at all levels, and to that end:

(a) recruit more women to the diplomatic services of Member States,
(b) train women within the diplomatic corps of Member States in negotiation, facilitation and mediation skills, creating rosters of qualified women for peace and security related assignments,
(c) nominate more women to international diplomatic assignments, specifically to senior positions (UN special representatives, peace commissions, fact-finding missions, etc.),
(d) increase the percentage of women in delegations to national, regional and international meetings concerned with peace and security, as well as in formal peace negotiations,
(e) require international diplomatic peace teams to systematically consult with women's community-based peace groups and organisations, ensuring that their problems and priorities are reflected in the official peace process;

14. Calls on the Council and the Member States to promote the gender sensitisation of peace, security and reconstruction operations in which they participate, and to that end:

(a) make a gender analysis an automatic element in the planning and practice of external interventions. Specifically, analysing the extent to which women's social, economic and political marginalization increase as a result of the conflict, as well as the opportunities for improving women's position as a result of the changed situation,
(b) ensure that all military personnel - male as well as female - and specifically peace-building, peacekeeping, and peace-enforcement personnel have thorough gender training,
(c) have magistrates and human rights observers accompany peacekeepers to ensure that international law is upheld;

15. Stresses that current conflicts demand the increased use of non-military crisis-management, which means that new non-military skills are required of peacekeepers, resulting in enhanced opportunities for women, and calls on the Member States and the Council to:

(a) include women in all reconciliation, peacekeeping, peace-enforcement, peace building, and conflict preventive posts - including fact-finding and observer missions - in which Member States participate,
(b) secure that women participating in peacekeeping operations are bound by United Nations norms and international human rights principles and not by discriminatory local restrictions,
(c) promote the use of all female fact-finding and assistance teams to respond to sexual violence and other situations where demanded by the cultural context;

16. Stresses that reconciliation of deep-seated conflicts present an unequalled opportunity to create the framework for a democratic and equal society, and to that end, calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote constitutional protections of women's equality in the design of the peace accords;

III. Community-based participation in the prevention and resolution of armed conflicts

17. Points out that most women are traditionally associated with non-violence, while their lives and value systems are interwoven with the protection of life, dialogue, reconciliation, negotiation and the peaceful settlement of disputes, values which may provide an alternative solution to the modern culture of violence and lay the foundations for a new culture, the culture of peace, the strengthening of dialogue at all levels, the equitable distribution of the planet's resources and respect for racial, religious and cultural differences;

18. Stresses the importance of active local involvement in the peace and reconciliation process; and calls upon the Member States and the Commission to:

(a) support the creation and strengthening of non-governmental organisations, including women's organisations, active in conflict prevention and in post-conflict peace and reconstruction work,
(b) work towards the education of women's organisations in non-violent conflict resolution;

19. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to systematically promote the participation of women in the official conflict resolution process, and to that end:

(a) encourage that warring factions incorporate women into their peace negotiation teams,
(b) ensure that gender inequalities and repercussions are discussed systematically in each area of negotiation,
(c) ensure that the peace process is deeply rooted, through requesting that warring factions incorporate civil society representatives into their peace negotiation teams,
(d) support public awareness raising campaigns and debates about the contents of the peace negotiations;

20. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that women who are frequently the most vulnerable, and who often have a crucial role in the rebuilding of their societies, are not marginalised by inappropriate demobilisation and reconstruction initiatives, and to that end:

(a) promote a public debate in post-conflict regions concerning gender-based abuses in order to avoid a repetition of violence,
(b) ensure that both women and men benefit from reconstruction initiatives, specifically that female ex-combatants are not excluded or made worse off from demobilisation programs,
(c) set aside a specific percentage of demobilisation and reconstruction funds for women's political and economic empowerment,
(d) pay particular attention to the specific rehabilitation needs of girl soldiers within demobilisation initiatives;

21. Calls on the Commission and the Council to inform the European Parliament on an annual basis on the progress, programmes and initiatives undertaken as a consequence of this resolution

22. Calls on the Council, Commission, and the UN Secretary General to in all reporting on peace and security related initiatives include a chapter covering gender related aspects;

23. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, and the UN Secretary General.

(1). Texts Adopted, Item 7.
(2). OJ C 127, 14.5.1984, p. 137.
(3). OJ C 21, 25.1.1993, p. 158.
(4). OJ C 115, 26.4.1993, p. 149.