UN-Resolution 1325
The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 from the year 2000 acknowledges women’s important role within the peace processes of post-war countries. The resolution focuses on the protection of women and girls and emphasises their central role as actors for peace. It obliges States Parties to actively involve survivors and activists in peace processes and to develop policies and measures based on their needs and perspectives.
UN Resolution 1820 from 2008 even goes a step further by acknowledging that sexualised violence is used as a weapon of war.
Excerpt from “Die Einbindung von Frauen in Friedensprozesse” [Including Women in Peace Processes] by Jeannette Böhme, published in: VEREINTE NATIONEN journal 6/2017
[...] Campaigners around the world were justified in celebrating UN Security Council Resolution 1325 as a milestone in the struggle to achieve recognition for the rights of women and girls during armed conflicts. After all, the passing of the text of the resolution was a revolutionary success, since Resolution 1325, in contrast to classical security concepts, does not put the state at the centre of security policy but rather the protection of women and girls and their core role as peacebuilders. [...]
Women and girls are not to be treated merely as passive victims of aggressive conflicts. Instead, the international community should recognise and include them as active shapers of peace. In this regard, the fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 saw an international breakthrough on the issue of women during armed conflicts. [...]
The campaigners’ main goal was to achieve credence for a change of perspective, away from “collateral damage during war” to “guarantors of peace”. In October 2000, the UN Security Council issued the following demands:
- participation of women in peace processes – including peace negotiations, demobilisation programmes and reconstruction;
- protection of women and girls and their rights during war and in post-war societies – including protection against sexualised and gender-based violence; and
- integration of a gender perspective in all field missions of the United Nations – including military, civil police and civilian measures.
With this, Resolution 1325 describes how the Security Council sees gender-equal peace being built and maintained. The demands of Resolution 1325 are directed towards both the UN Secretary-General and the UN member states, as well as all participants in peace negotiations and all parties in armed conflicts. These are mandated to implement Resolution 1325. [...]
In the following years, the United Nations Security Council continued to develop the agenda for “Women, Peace and Security” and passed a range of subsequent resolutions which supplement Resolution 1325: these are Resolutions 1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122 and 2242. [...]
A consistent implementation of Resolution 1325 would not only lead to changes in foreign, security and defence policy, but to long-term changes in fundamental sociopolitical issues, eventually resulting in more gender justice. [...]
