On 31 October 2000, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. Its wide-ranging provisions call for women's full participation in all aspects of peace-building, from negotiations to post-war reconstruction. UNSCR 1325 reaffirms the role that women play in peace-building and also marks the first time the Security Council has addressed the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women. UNSCR 1325 recognizes the under-valued and under-utilized contributions women make to conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peace-building, and stresses the importance of their equal and full participation as active agents in peace and security.
Implementing Resolution 1325 means increasing women's visibility and participation in peace processes, strengthening protection mechanisms, and incorporating gender equality provisions across the democratic systems established once hostilities come to a close.
In 2008 the Security Council passed Resolution 1820, which confronts sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations. Key provisions of the resolution recognize a direct relationship between the widespread and systematic use of sexual violence as an instrument of conflict and the maintenance of international peace and security. The resolution commits the SC to considering appropriate steps to end such atrocities and to punish their perpetrators. SCR 1820 changes the legal and political landscape for addressing sexual violence in conflict by declaring that this violence is a tactic of war and requires a planned and trained military and police reaction.
In 2009, the Security Council recognized the slow progress of implementing Resolutions 1325 and 1820 and two more Resolutions were passed; 1888 and 1889.
Resolution 1888 builds off 1820 by requiring high-level leadership on prevention of sexual violence (appointment of an SRSG), development of rapidly deployable judicial expertise to help stop impunity, deployment of women protection officers to work with peacekeepers to develop systems for stopping sexual violence, and core accountability tools, such as the potential to engage sanctions committees on the issue of sexual violence, and production of an annual report that will provide information on perpetrators.
Resolution 1889 is focused on women's low participation and the funding deficit for women's needs in the post-conflict peace building phase, and in this regard builds directly on SCR 1325. It calls for an increase in appointments of women SRSGs and SESGs and for the development of a set of global indicators to track implementation of 1325. 1889 also requests the SG to submit a report to the SC within 12 months addressing women's participation and inclusion in peace-building and planning in the aftermath of conflict.
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